Monday, December 22, 2008

body psalm and art for the holy daze


here is a gate that doubles as monkey bars that ela just installed at a private residence on vashon island.
(now he has to make one for our household....sculptural monkey bars!!! yeah!)

i've just been making small things between kairos' naps!
scrap glass ornaments. my favorite were clear glass wasabi bowls soldered together with found marbles in between.
(alas, our spiff little camera gave out and i had to gift the orbical decor...your imagination will make them more interesting!)

hmmm....trying to figure out what to do with this blog..... i think it will be more art pics and less words along my journey of full integration of art into life for 2009!!

here is a poem by my friend celeste, dancer, author, professor, mother, improviser.....

Bodypsalm for the holidays

Remember each day is a hol(y)day,
a place to recall presence.
No day is more special than the other,
but you can breathe into each day differently.
Remember the simple things - a deep breath into all your cells,
the gorgeous limb of one branch, a place of connection
between a friend or a stranger.
The art of life comes to you everyday, unfolding from its skin
and asks for a greeting.
Welcome the unexpected
and have compassion on the expected.
Live with bold colors from a place of still silence.
Come back to quiet.
May the inside of your body be a zen garden.
Nap daily, for sleep is the sustenance of surrender.
Remember beauty walks before you, now just walk.
Incremental steps, even backward steps towards wonder.
Know you will not get everything done, said,
written, wrapped, made or thought of.
Celebrate incompletion and know that can be enough.
It is all about cracks of opening
into heart, body, mind, soul.
Make peace with the cracks and the interruptions,
for they are echoes of the divine.
Greet the ordinary with fresh eyes,
here is the fragrance of a day set apart.
Know you are held in a wider embrace.
Let the natural world hold you and give in to the weather.
Here you are called back to release.
Bare beauty on the back of December
and lend yourself to rest.
Sip small beginnings of calling yourself and
those around you to the juice of joy.
And drink from your own deep well
and spill when necessary.

Celeste Snowber - December 2008

By the way her full title is Dr. Celeste N. Snowber, Associate Professor, Dance Education/Arts-Based Educational Research, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University.

here are some sideways snow angels: