Handmade...

Just wanted to post some pictures of the decorations that we have around the house, and at other family members houses, that either I have made this year or others that have been made by different family members. It's a real treat to see them displayed every year, or in the house in general. Handmade gifts are some of the greatest treasures to receive, especially when they are layered in work, effort, and love.

The Rosaries were made recently as gifts out of a collection of beads. It's always good to find a way to use old materials. The snowman ornament was painted on recycled paper, with old paints, and materials that I had laying around the house. It didn't cost me a dime in materials, and it's great to know I'm giving away a recycled gift (but not in a re-gifting sort of way).







The owl and Santa were made by my Great Aunt Ardith. She has passed away many years ago, and I have never met her, but have heard a lot about her. It's a treat to be surrounded by her creativity. She suffered from rumatory arthritis, and carved many wood carving. It remains a blessing to have a piece of her creativity for inspiration, and we can honor her through the stories told of her.






The paper village houses were made by a man that my grandmother knew. He rolled magazine papers, and glued them onto small wood pieces to construct log-cabin like houses. It's a real treat to see these treasures ever year.

Monday Monday...

Christmas Decorations and embellishments!

I just wanted to post this picture of the bow I made on this gift of wine as a simple reminder that there are many ways for people to decorate in cheap an inexpensive ways this holiday. You never know what you've got laying around the house from a ball of yarn or what not, that is just screaming to be recycled or reused! I made this bow out of a ribbon that was on a package of cookies my dad got from a customer, a ball if hemp that has been sitting in my basement for years (from previous craft intentions that only had a small life), as well as another ball of red string-and it didn't cost me a dime. I've been collecting, for a while now, things that I don't want to throw out because it looks like it has potential for a project. Over time you will find that you have a large collections of different colors of 'stuff', making it easy to work with the color scheme of your gift/project. Please consider reusing and recycling this holiday season and for future give aways.

12-16-2011

A thousand implications. (12-13-11)

Sometimes I do the dance of misunderstanding, chanting to myself, 'no body gets it.' You tell me I'm confusing and I assure you the feeling is mutual. I am the fool, but for a thousand times have asked you to read implications of experiences that you do not have. No one criticizes themselves like this, where they can foresee the selfish man that others have tried to consume with condiments. No one has the tongue for the raw elements. It is the preparations of the knife, discarding the fat, and catering to your tastes that we unite in a meal. Dancing alone keeps me away, until I get tired of all that, and return to gardening.

Cursed...

Have you ever felt as though you were cursed? That is the current feeling I'm experiencing. I sometimes feel as though no one truly understands me, possibly that the majority of people are just not listening, and so they miss out on the details they could only gather if they were silent. Many others have an 'idea' of what they think I am, but ideas are just images floating around in your head. Can we look at the actual thing being observed? Can we listen to it?

I reminds me of the story of the Hindu deity Hanuman. His curse was much different than mine, but I just love sharing the beauty of his story. When Hanuman was a kid, he was disrespectful to the priests and would rearrange their altar items on them. To punish him they put a mild curse on him that he would never be able to remember his abilities. This was a blessing in disguise, because it means there was no ego; there was nothing in his mind to be prideful or boastful about, because he couldn't remember anything good about himself. He was totally devoted to God and did whatever God told him to do. When God was going around repaying everyone he couldn't repay Hanuman because his devotion was so outstanding and self-less, God had nothing he could repay Hanuman with. Then, Hanuman opens up his chest and there he gives God an image of itself, basically saying that God was already living inside of him.

In my case, I feel like in both work and my relations with others, I'm serving others and the efforts are going unrecognized; or that they'll go on in their life never realizing the contribution I made in service to them. In my case, it's total ego, but it feels like a curse when I desire to have relation-connection with others and I don't feel I have come into contact with a good set of ears. It tends to motivate loneliness and isolation. Maybe if I could be cursed like Hanuman?

Holiday preparation...

Basically, I am working all the way up until Christmas, and I am so not prepared for this holiday. I'm fortunate to have work, yet grumpy because I'm doing it all the time. In the morning I try to find private time by going to work early to write in my diary in the conference room, and it's usually interrupted by another early bird who needs to discuss work. I don't like denying others the opportunity to have constructive discussions, and so I'm a push over. I want to make art, but generally when I have the time it's spent resting or doing other non constructive activities. I know I'm not the only one within this sort of habit,so I'm trying not to complain about it and just make due. Is that possible when you tend to obsess about your concerns? Making due really is a polite way of saying I'll continue thinking about it. Blah!