I've been following Lisa Barth's work for a few years, and her imaginative Art Clay designs never cease to amaze and inspire me. She's also an incredibly talented wire work artisan. She teaches Art Clay design & jewelry design classes, and you can find many of her tutorials on both her own website, and on Eni Oken's Jewelry Lessons website.
View my feature on Lisa at Ronnie Unplugged http://radiantrace.blogspot.com
I'm not qualified to judge anyone else. I'm human and I have my own reactions to what other people do or say, but my reactions say more about me than they say about anyone else.
Everyone brings their own baggage with them when they pull up a chair to life's table. The only thing I really need to be concerned about is what am I doing with my baggage. Have I rid myself of enough crap so that there's room inside for me to see other people as children of God? In the big picture I'm doing what feels right to me in regards to not allowing people to hurt innocents, but what about in the little detailed areas of life? You know, those one on one encounters when I'm given an opportunity to really hear what's in someone's heart. It's in those moments that being clear of my own emotional debris can make the difference in someone else's life......even help change the course they're on.
Being genuine moment to moment in every encounter is all I care about.
Why aren't we all the same? What is the 'it' in each of us that defines our individuality? It's as if our life experiences cut and polish us into multi-faceted gems and each facet reflects our inner beauty out into the world. No two souls shine the same. Why?
What is it in us that allows us to remain as we truly are no matter what is going on around us? The core of us......that part that reveals itself to us more and more with each new experience we experience. How many times have we taken a sensual snapshot of someone else and used it to forever define who we think they are? Yet, for ourselves we refuse to allow others to pin us down into one limited definition.
When I drank I was an alcoholic; when I raised my kids I was a parent; when I work I'm a waitress; when I write I'm a writer; when I draw I'm an artist; when I make jewelry I'm a designer; when I'm with Goat I'm a partner.....everything I am....everything I've done or will ever do....all of it...defines me. But, life is liquid....it moves like the river....ever changing...never the same...always moment to moment to moment...shifting...shaping me....moving me into the next experience....the next moment....the next definition of me. Yet, every moment is now.....I AM....I AM....I AM.
Someone recently said that I have a beautiful soul. I cried when I thought about what that might mean. I cried because she touched me deep inside. She saw and acknowledged that I am what I think everyone is....deep down inside. Beautiful souls.....all of us shining out into the world and back at each other igniting this world with our love.
Read my Featured Artist entry about Metalsmith Carole Axium
http://radiantrace.blogspot.com/2010/09/metalsmith-carole-axium.html
Ten years ago I read a poem that validated the way I feel about relationships. All relationships. About life itself. Thank you Oriah, and a very happy birthday to you today.
The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon . . .
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful be realistic
remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty every day.
And if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn’t interest me to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.
Copyright © Mountain Dreaming,
from the book THE INVITATION, HarperONE,
San Francisco, 1999.
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Another thought provoking poem:
There is a crying
that happens at night
that does not come
while the light is with us.
There are things that cannot
be evaded
once the sun goes down.
Small nocturnal creatures
with sharp white teeth
silently gnaw at the edges of
belly and heart
when the darkness descends
and the void inside
grows larger.
It can split you open.
And the bone
in the centre of your chest
aches
like the cracked wishing bone
from the turkey breast.
And if we are strong enough
to be weak enough
we are given a wound
that never heals.
It is the gift
that keeps the heart open.
