Word for the Year

by Deborah


Choosing my word

Last year, I chose a word that I hoped would act as a guide for my thoughts and actions for the year.  I chose the word receive.  It's a good word.  For me, it is a reminder to encourage openness.  To let things in, to feel, and appreciate, and allow. 

And I have received much over the last 12 months.  I received love, a new home, healthy children, a loving husband, new friends, new adventures.  The only problem is that I realized that I wasn't all that specific about what I wanted to receive.  So, although I received an abundance of good things, I also received a healthy dose of hard things.  Sometimes the hard thing and the good thing were the same thing.  And you can't really prevent some hard things coming into your life, and it's better to receive them from a place of openness than to be clenched and closed.  So I would say it was a good word.

But I realized that what was lacking for me was focus.  I didn't zero in on what I wanted and work toward that.  While it is beneficial to be open to all the general things life brings, it is so important to have clarity on what you want and to laser toward that, to invite that specificity into your life.

So that is my word for this year.  Focus.


That other word is FOCH.  Not....well, it's FOCH, ok?
Geez, seriously, focus, people.




I want to focus.  Which means listening to myself, figuring out what I want, and then having focus.  Which means discipline.  I hope I can bring some discipline, order, focus, clarity to my life this year.  Those aren't always characteristics we associate with the desire to live a creative life, but they are actually essential.  I can be as messy within my creative space as I wish, as disorganized and crazy as I can possibly be, but that should be contained within a structure of discipline.  I should write a short amount every day, or craft every Thursday, or go to dance class once a month, or whatever I feel like really matters, but there has to be consistency and discipline for the benefit to accumulate.

So, for example, I used to always start my posts with a picture of the blocks Emily gave me.  I loved doing that.  Haven't done that for a long time because of the move.  I would like to start doing that again.  Only hold up?  Can't find my camera.

So that's the first thing I'm going to focus on.  Where the heck is my camera?



Nope, that's not my camera.
 

And maybe organize a few other things while I'm at it.  (Craft room, I'm looking at you.)

Focus.

What do you want to focus on this year?

Dreams Do Come True

     ~By Emily Cline

Hello, Doodlebughearts!
I'm writing from London, on my full last day, just before I head out to explore Covent Garden. I have limited internet connection and no photo connectors. So I'm simply saying this:

Dreams do come true.

What do you dream?
_________________________

***What's next?***

Join us Sunday, January 27, from 2:00-4:30 p.m. for ourmonthly crafting date.We can make & fill travel journals, create Valentine's Day holiday cards, and as always, if you have your own craft, bring it. 

Suggested donation of $10 at the door, though if it's your first time, please be our guest.
Email for details: Info@Doodlebugheart.com or at Meetup.com

Happy with Pants

by Deborah

Pants

 

One of the endless duties of parenthood is laundry.  I was working my way through yet another giant load of (granted, totally precious) size 4/5 toddler clothing, and my Youngest was helping.  By helping, I mean handing me pieces of clean clothing from the laundry basket waaaaaay faster than I could actually fold each of them, so that I ended up folding clothes with a huge growing pile of clothing on my lap.  The Oldest, who was playing nearby, suddenly took a tumble, and started crying.  My husband picked her up to console her, cuddling her on his lap, but she had gotten a pretty good little bruise on her knee, and kept crying. 

 

Youngest has always had a tender, sympathetic heart.  She tends to cry if others are crying, and is always very concerned and consoling.  So she was very distraught by her adored older sister's tears.  She kept repeating, "You ok? You ok?" and I could see she was near tears herself.

 

Suddenly, she ran over to my husband and threw the laundry she had in her hand at them.  The leggings landed on my husband's head, and both my husband and the Oldest were momentarily taken aback, and then Oldest burst into laughter. 

 

"What are you doing?"  My husband asked Youngest with a mixture of amusement and exasperation as he pulled the leggings off his head.

 

"I'm trying to make her happy...with pants."  Youngest explained.

 

                                                                ******

 

There are so many things I love about that.

 

I love that she cared so much about her sister's distress and wanted to do anything she could to make her feel better.

 

I love that she followed her impulse, and took action instead of waiting for someone else to fix it, and that she just used what she had on hand in that moment to try to make things better.

 

I love that it worked.  Oldest forgot her tears, and we were all laughing. 

 

She is three years old, and I hope she spends the rest of her life making people happy with pants.  I hope we all do.





All Aboard for London!

     by Emily Cline
I get to go to London in two days.
I get to study with Erin Faith Allen again. She is ahhhh-mazing. She does work like this.

I get to do her incredible workshop: Soul Portrait Workshop.

I get to walk around Portobello Road.

I'm not sure how I'll ever get to sleep again.
______________________________

***What's next?***

Join us Sunday, January 27, from 2:00-4:30 p.m. for ourmonthly crafting date.We can make & fill travel journals, create Valentine's Day holiday cards, and as always, if you have your own craft, bring it. 

Suggested donation of $10 at the door, though if it's your first time, please be our guest.
Email for details: Info@Doodlebugheart.com or at Meetup.com

Present for 2013

I am digging myself out of the 2012 I-Completely-Overdid-It zone. If there was a job, committee, event, task, show -- anything that could be done, I did it. In a totally frantic, needy, often ungrounded kinda way. I know part of my frenzy is to make up my guilt for not having a full-time office job; the other part is to make up my feeling stuck as a primary parent and housekeeper. Regardless.
It's time to get myself more organized, less frantic. I go to my fail-safe, Lisa Sonora Beam's Creative Entrepreneur workshop principles:
(1) name my life's primary focuses
(2) break them down individually: What it means to me, Hopes and Desires, Frustrations, Successes, Objectives, Measures, Strategies and Tactics

I cleared my Bulletin Board of Creative Happiness area. This is where I'll post my pages (below) once they're filled out.

I divvied up my life into 6 categories (because it's that easy to divvy up your life).

And went back to my Creative Entrepreneur cheat sheet.

I threw in a little feng shui bagua help from Andea Rich just so everything's in the right place.
Now it's time to turn off the computer, listen to myself, and get present. That's my word for the year: PRESENT. It's a gift; it has a lot to do with slowing down, not being frantic, and loving what I'm doing. I'll hang the sheets on the wall where my Bulletin Board of Creative Happiness was, giving myself clarity and focus in the new year.

*If you want a little help getting started, I'll give you you a peek what my categories were for 2010 and an example of how I started breaking one category down. For further, much better explanations and rockin' tutorials, contact Lisa Sonora.

For 2010:
1. Work (Lifeline) - Doodlebugheart, modeling, Buffalo Soldier (a book by Chris Bojalian I was producing into film), helping at Happy
2. Family - husband, son, parents, siblings & families, girlfriends
3. Spirit - church, quiet time, art time, play, travel
4. Health - hormones, therapy
5. Wealth - money in

1. Work
   -What it means to me: "Something for me" -- SERVICE, my contribution to society as a useful, worthwhile participant.
   -Hopes & Desires: Getting Doodlebugheart started! website, logo, advertising, marketing, pan and hold first workshop. Start modeling again -- or possibly doing commercial work after moving back to NY. Continue Buffalo Soldier. Help Heather start classes at Happy.
   -Frustrations:  Waiting until Deb and I are in close proximity, mothering obligations. Not having my own cash. Not really wanting to act in Buffalo Soldier any more, or put more money/energy into acting business and husband won't let go. Leaving LA in May.
   -Successes: A whole year at Art Center with a 4.0! Great creative connections, list of contacts and support (Lisa Sonora, art teachers, Heather Arndt, etc.) Released my commercial and legit acting agency. Signed with modeling agency. Working at Happy as a class coordinator and demonstrator. Doodlebugheart's conception! Showed art at Happy! Sold my first piece at Happy! Started a blog/site. Got a kick-ass script written for Buffalo Soldier.

A little side note to the above: my categories have changed for 2013 as has my focus:
1. Self/ health -- exercise, therapy, food, spirit, travel, sleep, journaling
2. Ruby Shea -- my art, my teaching, Etsy, shows, workshops, Pinterest + Instagram
3. Home -- husband, son, home, support people, PTA
4. (secondary) Family -- parents, in-laws, siblings
5. Work -- modeling, commericials, Doodlebugheart, What Did You Make Today?
6. My Tribes -- my girlfriends here and far

Christmas Magic!

by Deborah



I think he is taking his eye exam.

My four year old daughter is very bright.  She asks me questions every day to which I do not know the answer.  Our conversations go something like this....

"Mommy, red ants bite, right?  But black ants don't, right?" 
"Right," I reassure her.
"Then how do black ants protect themselves?"
"Umm.........."

"Mommy, what do moths eat?"
"Ummmm......

"Mommy, what makes the wind?"
"Ummmmmmm....."

Thank goodness, she is young enough to still think I am, as mother, all-knowing and omnipotent, and I am trying my best to keep that bluff in as long as I can.  Most of the time I answer something like, "That's a great question, let's talk about it later."  Then I google the crap out of it, and bring it up later, long after she's lost interest.

Inevitably, Christmas brings a lot of questions about Santa, and how he knows what to bring, and how he can tell if she's naughty or nice, and how he gets stuff to all the kids in the world, and if a child is poor and doesn't get a gift, does that mean they are naughty?  I don't find it any easier to answer these questions about made-up mythical stuff than I do scientific stuff, but it also isn't as easy to google an answer.

Santa knows, but he ain't telling

So, in the time-worn tradition of tired mothers everywhere, I tend to answer most Santa questions with the one word answer, "Magic!"  No matter what she asks, I just answer "Magic!"  The exclamation point is an important part of this answer.  If I convey sufficient enthusiasm, it seems to quell any further inquiry, even if she is just studying me to see if I'm actually crazy or not.

"Mommy, how does Santa know what toys I want?"
"Magic!"

"Mommy, how does Santa get all the toys to everyone in the world in one night?"
"Magic!"

"Mommy, how do the reindeer fly?"
"Magic!"

"Mommy, why don't some children get to have Christmas gifts?"
"Magic!"

Granted, it's not a logical response to every question, but it does stop the train of thought and it definitely seems to give her something to think about.

It works so well, that I think I am going to make it my go-to response for anything I don't want to answer the rest of the year.

"Mom, can I stay up and watch a movie?"
"Magic!"

"Mommy, can I have another cookie?"
"Magic!"

"Mommy, can you come wipe me?"
"Magic!"

The best part is there really is no good response to the "Magic!"  It is hard to argue against, and somehow you know it is futile to keep asking the same question.  I think I may be onto something here.

It is a magical time of year.  Merry Christmas!

"Magic!"



Balls

Crazy Satellite

by Deborah


I'm convinced it's pointing straight at Texas
 

Every now and then my dog, who up until that moment has been acting fairly normal, just suddenly goes berserk.  Just becomes a crazed, possessed, demondog who must immediately race around the house at full speed, grabbing wildly at toys and shoes and furniture and children as she zooms by.  She goes so fast that her back end apparently gets going just a tad faster than her front end, so her back is all hunched up, like she just can't quite keep up with all that rear locomotion.  She does this maniacal behavior for about 15 minutes, and no amount of shouting, punishing, pleading, or redirection will dissuade her.  If you put her outside, she just continues this crazed top-speed running in circles around the yard, and adds in some barking to boot, and maybe grabs at low-hanging tree branches as she careens by.

Then, as suddenly as it began, it stops.  Just....over.  No more running, no crazy mischief grabbing, no barking.  Just done.

It is mystifying.

I have a theory, however.  I am pretty sure it is the Crazy Satellite.

See, I think there is a satellite up in space that periodically passes over our house and beams down a signal that says, "Everyone and everything should now go completely apesh*t."

And everyone and everything does.  For a brief period, until the satellite goes out of range, and then the signal fades and everything returns to normal.

Pets seem particularly susceptible to this signal, but children and people and inanimate objects are not immune, either.

Take for example, this 15 minute period from our lives not long ago.  Our day was hopping along swimmingly, and my husband and I decided to take our kids with us to the gym, where they could play in childcare while we worked out.  So we all get bundled up and are heading unsuspectingly out to the car, when all of a sudden, I now see in retrospect, the Crazy Satellite beamed down it's signal.

Within a 15 minute period, between the space of our back door and our car door, here is what happened:

• a dog, fat and collared, trotted up into our driveway, clearly someone's lost pet
• the girls, excited at the appearance of this strange dog, begin running around deliriously, and bang right into each other
• both girls begin crying
• it is a holiday weekend, many people are out of town, so I know we must capture this dog, keep him somewhere safe, and locate his owner
• as my husband is attempting to catch this dog, my cell phone rings, and it is my husband's boss, asking if he can speak with my husband because he has a semi-urgent request
• I strap the crying girls into their carseats, promising ice and bandaids, hand my cell phone to my husband, take the dog from his arms, muscle the stray dog inside, forcing my overexcited dog aside as I do
• chaos with the two dogs, until I finally get them into separate rooms
• I call the number on the dog's collar, trying to hear over the frantic yelps coming from my dog in the next room, and nervously making sure the new dog doesn't pee on anything; sure enough, the owners are out of town

One moment, we are walking to the car, happy and collected.  The next moment, as the Crazy Satellite passes over, we have a stray dog, two crying kids, a phone call, a work priority, and utter chaos.  THAT is the Crazy Satellite.

It all worked out fine.  Within a few minutes, the girls were calm, we had talked to the dog's owner and arranged pickup, the work stuff was sorted out and to be taken care of later, and we were able to be on our way to the gym.

But beware.  It's up there, circling overhead, ready to beam down its evil signal at any moment.  Be ready.  It's coming for you.




Satellitus Crazius