Without stops, the drive back home from Ashland is fifteen hours. Add an overnight stay, getting gas, coffee, and meals, plus other breaks and it definitely stretches but is always a reflective time, a chance to unwind, and a way of merging back into the reality of daily life. I made it safely and this is good.
Diane's final presentation included some thought provoking questions one of which was what is inspiring in your life? I decided to look up the meaning of inspired and found this - When you are inspired, the dictionary states that mentally you are stimulated to do or feel something. Above all, an inspired person often feels compelled to be different and do better than they currently are. - https://annemckeown.com/inspiration/what-does-it-mean-to-be-inspired-and-be-an-inspiration/
That definition fit with how I was feeling - not so much inspired by a person or a thing but drawn to maximizing life. I feel called to ever increasing holistic health, to growing creativity, to joy and abundance, to not just coasting along but to leaning into the corners of life like a motorcycle ride down a twisty road. I don't want to merely survive. I want to thrive and blossom. I came back committed to continuing to shift in the new directions that have developed in this year of turning sixty.
Another question was what is going to give you the most meaning and again, I checked the definition since meaning, like inspire, is a word we're familiar with but perhaps have never clearly defined. A meaningful life was said to be one in which you feel engaged, connected to purpose, and able to connect your gifts and passions with your highest values. I understood what they meant and yet that felt too pressure filled. In contrast, a video about happiness talked about happiness being less external, about money, status, or stuff, and more internal, to do with joy and contentment. That resonates better. - https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/make-year-meaningful-living
In contrast to previous trips, this one was fairly low key with a lot of quiet, reflective time. I'm so glad that the leak in my first room required moving since I really enjoyed sitting in the chair by the window in the second room and looking at the view, drinking coffee, knitting, reading, or journal writing. It's a similar view to the one from my condo in the previous community I lived in and quite different from my current view. Both are lovely. This morning, it was so nice to wake up in my own bed, sit in my special chair, drink from my favourite mug, and watch the light change through my trees.
Before I left on my holiday, I made a list of the retailers I wanted to support and thankfully all but one were still in business. The books came from Bloomsbury Books and the yarn from Websters. In the past, I've bought several of my favourite art books at Bloomsbury so I'm hopeful about these but - of course - have only read the descriptions so far. Websters carries a wide variety of yarns as well as creative clothing, accessories like handbags and scarves, and jewelry. They had some polymer brooches by Ford Forlano that were a delight to see in person after studying their work earlier. I want to knit the sweater shown, possibly in the yarn but you ever know. I could have bought this yarn locally but I wanted to support them specifically and it wanted to come home with me.
The top two fabrics came from Sew Creative which carries quilting supplies more than fashion fabrics. If they'd had enough of the stripe, I'd have bought it for pants but unfortunately there was only just over a yard left. The striped ticking came from the Fiber Arts Collective which is a new venture since I visited last. I bought three yards of it and six yards of the pink wool blend. Some of the fabrics at the collective are new like the stripe and some are donated like the wool blend. I got it for $6.00 a yard which feels like a very good deal.
The string of African beads came from Looking Glass Beads which is across the street and slightly diagonal from the hotel. They don't appear to have a website which is rather strange but then again, I don't have a cell phone. The necklace is from Outback as it's commonly referred to rather than Outback in the Temple of Venus which is a mouthful. It's made from scraps of leather and I'm debating trying a textile version of it as well as one...
The string of African beads came from Looking Glass Beads which is across the street and slightly diagonal from the hotel. They don't appear to have a website which is rather strange but then again, I don't have a cell phone. The necklace is from Outback as it's commonly referred to rather than Outback in the Temple of Venus which is a mouthful. It's made from scraps of leather and I'm debating trying a textile version of it as well as one...
... of this purse from Kixx. I first noticed it in lime green in the window as I walked by and thought the texture was fabulous. Then, when I went into the store, I saw it in a rainbow of colours. The purple one called me and I tentatively ventured over to see if I could actually afford it only to discover it's vegan leather and was $49.00. Driving home, I wished I'd bought more colours except when I chose it I was thinking both that it would be a good book bag and that I wanted to look at the construction in greater detail for making my own.
The painted fabric was done by artist Miles Frode who is Diane's son. These are small scraps rather than resolved pieces. I bought them to support Miles, to incorporate into some larger pieces of my own, and to look at up close to see what I could learn about painting my own canvasses to make simply constructed purses like the one from Kixx, or to sell the fabric like Miles, or to teach in a workshop.
I can't remember what the exact name of the place was because I always referred to it as the art collective - however - it has unfortunately closed. It was downtown on main street and combined artist's studios with retail spaces like the art store and other businesses like a coffee shop, gallery space, and a winery. I wanted to buy some art supplies there and instead bought them at the local hardware and kitchen supply stores - a brayer, a pad of mixed media paper, some matte gloss, and different mark making tools. What fun!
When I was in my early twenties, I was a hairstylist and always thought of doing hair as something I could go back to. Thirty years later, shortly after I moved to this community, I did go back only to discover how much the profession had changed and that it was no longer for me. In the past, I taught traditional quilt making and textile art and, as with hairstyling, it has always seemed like something I could go back to. I've picked that idea up and put it down and picked it up again to the point of utter frustration and confusion but starting the assignments Paula gave us answered that question for me.
While I appreciated her comment that I could go do better with my quilting lines since it's so rare to get such honest feedback, in giving it more thought I realized that the comment applied not just to quilting but to creativity in general. For quite a while now, I haven't been pushing myself like I used to and I miss that energy. Talking it over with Diane, I realized that returning to teaching was the safe and easy answer but not the right one, or at least not right in the way that I was thinking about it as in travelling away from here - the community where I'm retiring - the place where I want to connect with other creative women.
Wish marketing is the term for putting it out to the universe and hoping it'll happen. I'm going to leave teaching elsewhere in the hands of that advertising team and I'm also going to explore teaching locally through the college since I'm qualified to teach at that level. Next week, my daughter and grandsons are coming for a visit and after that, I'll contact them and see if I can get an appointment to discuss what types of workshops have been successful in the past and what they might be looking for now to see if we can make a good match. If so, I'll look at that possibility and if not... well I'll deal with that then.
I can't remember what the exact name of the place was because I always referred to it as the art collective - however - it has unfortunately closed. It was downtown on main street and combined artist's studios with retail spaces like the art store and other businesses like a coffee shop, gallery space, and a winery. I wanted to buy some art supplies there and instead bought them at the local hardware and kitchen supply stores - a brayer, a pad of mixed media paper, some matte gloss, and different mark making tools. What fun!
When I was in my early twenties, I was a hairstylist and always thought of doing hair as something I could go back to. Thirty years later, shortly after I moved to this community, I did go back only to discover how much the profession had changed and that it was no longer for me. In the past, I taught traditional quilt making and textile art and, as with hairstyling, it has always seemed like something I could go back to. I've picked that idea up and put it down and picked it up again to the point of utter frustration and confusion but starting the assignments Paula gave us answered that question for me.
While I appreciated her comment that I could go do better with my quilting lines since it's so rare to get such honest feedback, in giving it more thought I realized that the comment applied not just to quilting but to creativity in general. For quite a while now, I haven't been pushing myself like I used to and I miss that energy. Talking it over with Diane, I realized that returning to teaching was the safe and easy answer but not the right one, or at least not right in the way that I was thinking about it as in travelling away from here - the community where I'm retiring - the place where I want to connect with other creative women.
Wish marketing is the term for putting it out to the universe and hoping it'll happen. I'm going to leave teaching elsewhere in the hands of that advertising team and I'm also going to explore teaching locally through the college since I'm qualified to teach at that level. Next week, my daughter and grandsons are coming for a visit and after that, I'll contact them and see if I can get an appointment to discuss what types of workshops have been successful in the past and what they might be looking for now to see if we can make a good match. If so, I'll look at that possibility and if not... well I'll deal with that then.
Make the thing you want to have. The wanting will inspire and motivate you. Don't make the thing that seems easier or the thing that will take less time. Make the thing that you want to live with, that you want to wear, that you want to love. - Deanne Fitzpatrick, Meditations for Makers.
In considering teaching, I am thinking of it as a way of supporting and encouraging others, of sharing what I love, and of connecting with the community I live in while realizing that it wouldn't be any kind of money maker and that's okay. I have been praying about whether I should be combining income and creativity or if they are meant to be separate things. I wish I'd thought about that sooner since it seems more and more clear that they are not to be combined but perhaps it wasn't possible for me to recognize that earlier. Perhaps now, is recognition time. I believe I am meant to be curious with creativity, to see what happens, and to explore it in my own voice. God is more than able to meet money goals in other ways and it'll be interesting to see how that unfolds as well. I am not worried, just curious.
NOT that I want to move but when I arrived home I saw that one of the units on the other side of the street is for sale. That's the side that has little sunshine and backs on to vacant land that will eventually be a new recreation center. On my side, there is amazing light, trees, green spaces, and the creek running behind. It's vastly different. Their asking price is $200k more than what I paid for my unit eighteen months ago and their place is not renovated like mine meaning that mine would sell for even more. The market always fluctuates and could go down again but probably not that far. It's a calming thing to have that potential profit.
I am grateful that I've always been able to make money from real estate even if it's currently only equity on paper. It's the way I most contributed to family finances while still being a stay at home, work from home, mother and flipping houses was a job I really enjoyed... but I won't be returning to it either - VBG.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - safe travels
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