Archive for May, 2012

My Foray into Pottery Making

Friday, May 18th, 2012

Recently, I ventured into pottery making.  I started with pinch pots and coils.  My first lesson was utter bliss.  As the newest student, I enjoyed my solitary work while my teacher gently taught me the basics of working with clay.  How to cut a chunk off of my block of clay.  How to use my palms instead of my fingers to gently form it into a circular shape.

It felt so soothing in my hands, this freedom to create without pressure or expectations… the liberation of using my fingers in a different way.  Instead of forming the edges with my fingertips, I used the middle of my fingers, opposite my knuckles, to form the edges.  Whether I was pinching or rolling out little grey snakes with my hands to make coils, I just allowed my hands to do the work.  Grabbing stamps or tools as I needed.  Nothing, just immersing myself in the glorious letting go of it.  Letting go of planning or analyzing, just feeling and creating by instinct.  (more…)


What Mother Earth teaches me about Motherhood

Sunday, May 13th, 2012

Mother’s Day is today.  For me, Mother’s Day is about honoring the women in my life who support and encourage me along life’s highway.  It’s also about being wrapped in Mother Earth and being protected.  I am embraced by the Earth right now.  Held in her arms, whispered to through the light breeze and the creek flowing in the distance.  I am welcomed into her sweet musky earth.  She is alive.  She is home to all of life.  As I sit upon her lap, the grasses and the leaves… her fingers caressing me and comforting me.  Her breath blowing the hair from my face.  She tells me I am loved.  That I belong.  She has seen much pain and sorrow but assures me that life proceeds, like it has for thousands of years. (more…)


Simple Joys

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Yesterday I babysat my 9 month old niece.  Nothing like having a baby for the day to remind you of what’s really important.  A baby reminds you to be in the moment, every moment.  My house isn’t ‘baby-proofed’ so I need to keep my eyes on her at all times.  She’s not a snuggly girl but rather independent.

We have men at the house this week installing a new heating/cooling system.  At one point I put her in her playpen on the back porch while I sat close by writing.  She was giggling and ‘growling’ because that’s what she does when she’s content.  A young man on a ladder nearby paused what he was doing and began talking to her in a high pitched voice, “hi, hi, hi”.  (more…)