Reliquaries and shrines

                                                                    
                                            

It has taken me a long time but I have finally come to the place where I view all art as spiritual.  Pretty art, frightening art.  Naive and sophisticated. Art that I just can't understand and want to walk away from and art that grabs me and sucks me in.  The stuff that gives me a headache and the other stuff that causes me to feel an ecstatic jolt of lightening through my chest. Art that makes me smile and art that makes me cry.  I don't like it all but I respect it all and what it took to make it.

All manner of people make art, happy, sad, bad and good people, creepy and cool people. Centered and broken people. Those full of unjust pain (and it's all unjust) that they just can't shake and those that say - I did.  People who boast of their skill and the others who are afraid that it's no good and the, thank God, lot that just do it.

It's all made by human beings (the elephant and monkey stuff doesn't count here) and human beings are what it's all about, becoming a full dualitied (i just made that up) human being.  Being it all...being. I don't want to rise above it and I don't want to escape it, I want to BE it, human, fully. Otherwise, what the fuck are we doing here?

I'm just, Liv. And that's just what I've figured out for myself.

I'm realizing now that a lot of the art I make often has an edge of "religiosity". You couldn't drag me into a religion.  But the smell of benediction, the whole divine mother thing and all the pretty stuff associated with it, yeah, I really like that stuff. I go to it a lot and it makes me feel good and it has meaning to me.  I think that mostly it brings the feeling of comforting, because it was the place that I could go to and get a little bit of that and escape the shitty, scary other stuff.  I had somewhere to run to.

I was looking at some of the art that I make the other day, especially the ones with the little place for prayers,  the Mary stuff and the Quan Yin things  (what more could you ask for, the goddess of mercy and compassion - I need a lot of that!) and the shrine/reliquary that I keep in my house and it made me ponder what it all means for me.

The Reliquary  The Shrine

Repositories and reminders and places of remembrance

reality checks, places of reverence and
spots at which to pay respect's and rest stops

places at which to take responsibility
and places to repent

places that inspire and respond to ritual

They hold the vast and deep darkness and the light
requested or received
our fears, our pain and the hope of relief
and the beloved

Reliquaries and Shrines help us to bring forth 
all that sleeps within us. 
  
©
                                                                        

                                         in my home with a drawer beneath for prayers



geez, still with the big and little - I can not figure this out....

Jung Woo Sung

I wrote a post the other day and then deleted it a couple of hours later.  It was a short rant of bitches.  Not that bitchy, in fact I thought some of them were a bit funny.
I get totally hung up sometimes (and sometimes not!) about people thinking that I'm not chirpy or don't say enough affirmations, or such.  Hence the "they might not like me, so I'd better be nicer the next time".

I may re-post it...

But this is a real bitch........!!!!!

Last night I left the little heater on under the table where my computer is.  I was watching, shall I say...a wee bit naughty vid's (!) and got sidetracked when I finally could pull myself away and do the right and sensible thing, as in go to bed.  I'm so ashamed...ha,ha ha ha ha.  This morning  I got up and wandered here to see if any of you had anything interesting to say, when - quelle horreur - I find that my cat, who shall remain nameless to protect her identity, slept on the warm  keyboard all night, obviously a smart decision - it was warm!

It was immediately revealed that she had half installed Windows 10 ....Nooooooooo!
I like the familiar, especially when it comes to the technological aspects of my life.  I have just spent the last hour trying to uninstall it, which, believe me, Windows does not want you to do!
I have 7 and my computer guy says it is the best and will be supported for eons and that 10 is a pain in the butt.  I believe him, he is a computer god!

 Obviously I have succeeded, otherwise I would not be here, but it was a tense hour.  I'm not sure what the lesson is here?  No more wee bit naughty vid's or a sticky note on the computer to turn it off !
                                                                      

Oh, so sorry, I meant to put a picture of my cat here......


PS:  I've tried to set up the print on here to be a bit larger so that both of us can read it better and for some reason, it seems the thing starts out small and then gets big - not - my fault.  You see, I tried to adjust technology and it didn't work.




 

Checking in - the bitchy and the very good

'ello out there! I thought I'd better check in so that people don't think I've died or forgotten that I'm here. If, in fact, anyone knows I'm here in the first place.  I needed to start out with a whine, forgive me.

First, I bleached my hair, ugghhh.  I've done it before and it's always turned out pretty darn good (let me say also, that I have cut my hair myself for probably 40 years !).  I've had two professional cuts in that time but they were so disappointing that I decided, gawd I can do better than that! Plus, it's free to cut your own hair. I always color it myself too because that is relatively free as well. That's also worked out pretty well...but not this time. My hair is essentially all grey.  It's not a pretty grey, it's a no body, looks like I'm depressed or about to die grey. And it is stick straight - I hate you with your curls/body. - I've bleached it before to a soft platinum - brown is just trying to fool too much - but I left it on for far too long.  I now look like the abominable snow man, only I also have a slightly pukey, fakie yellow to it.  Help me Jesus!  Yes, I am vain. I also wear lipstick, which I am going to do a post about someday.  I love lipstick.

Anyway, I am stuck in the house until it grows out enough that I don't look like a walking mistake when I go out.  I so envy women who just have that "natural" look.  I am Danish, predominantly, so I virtually disappear when without any makeup.  I get those "are you alright? you look so tired, are you not getting enough sleep? you look depressed/angry, has something happened?" shit.  I don't know, maybe being vain about those things in not really vanity, it's self preservation. I also have the most goddammedest pale skin (again, Danish) and I can't sit in the sun...age spot's as big as pennies have begun to pop out and, once again, I am vain. Personally, I think everyone is, but it's not PC to admit it.

Second, my money is disappearing like water.  There have been some unexpected expenses around here that couldn't have been ignored so that whole "I've gotta move - find someplace of my own" thing is back haunting me.  Arghh! This fucking dilemma is such a pain in the ass, not to mention virtual real nightmare.  But the good news is that at least it's not keeping me up all night with uncontrollable stress and anxiety.  I just refuse to look at my bank account and that seems to do the trick.

Third, my daughter (bless her heart)  just cut down a huge Holly tree that was in our path of vision so that we couldn't see the creek and she seems to think it is no big deal - the landlord won't even notice...??!! That one will probably cost us in more ways than one. But I do not want to start WWIII so I am just keeping my mouth shut. This is my new philosophy in growing up and becoming an adult. I'm also trying to use that in other area's of my life, so it looks like crazyness may have a silver lining. I think that was only 1/2 of a bitch.

Right now I can not think of anything more to bitch about so I think I am doing really, really well. However, I'm sure I will come up with some more soon, so I'll keep you posted on that.

The good things (yes, there is more than one) are, first, I am still continuing to work! That is exciting and very new for me. I am loving it and my brain is just flooded with thoughts of more projects that I want to tackle.  I've found a few places on the web that I can source supplies at reasonably low prices and that fills a real gap in my plans.

Second, I have hooked up with a new blog friend, Terri, at www.ladolfinalifestyle.com  and am getting a lot of good feed back about my work and connecting with someone who shares my interest in hunting and gathering "junk/treasures", one of my favorite activities.  It's putting fun in my life, which has been missing for I-can't-tell-you how long.

Third, I've gotten some good help from a Craigslist person too in figuring out Etsy. It's still a bit of a mystery for me, but if I can do it then it could be a good source of income for me...and duh!-I need that!!

And fourth, most of the yammering in my head about my fucked up family and my disappointing friend (s) has quieted and has given me a break too from sleepless nights.

Look! I had one more good than bad.  Life just may be getting better. 
Hope yours is ever so, too.
                                                                         

Love, Liv

Mother's around the world

This is part of a post that I did last year and I am republishing it today because it means a lot to me, and it will forever be true.

I think of myself a lot in my life (sometimes that's good and sometimes it's not). But today is a day when I am especially aware of others.  They have my utmost respect and they teach me how to be a better mother through their courage and love for their children.


No matter what, being a mom is divine, it brings a lot of gifts and a lot of Love under many  different guises. And it's celebration today brings many joys.

But today is also a day to take time to remember and send Love to mothers who are truly suffering all over the world, on a day that maybe belongs to them, more than any of us
.
Mothers in shelters. Mothers separated from their children for reasons they don't understand.  Mothers grieving at the graves of departed children gone before their time and mothers sitting at the beds of terminally ill children.  Mothers in prison and mothers separated from their children because of their own addictions.  Mothers without hope who are mourning children who have been taken by spouses who's whereabouts are not known. Mothers holding hungry babies in refugee camps. Mothers trying to console children hurt in ways neither they nor we can reason nor change. Mothers who have been forgotten by their children today. All mothers suffering every where in this world.   And most especially to mothers who today have lost a child.

                                            

                                                                source unknown

              It is an honor to acknowledge them today and to wish them peace and Love and solace.


My best love to all mothers everywhere in this great big world.
Love, Liv