Blog Silence Ended

I am sitting in my studio with paint all over me. Pungent odors of oil paints are buzzing through my nasal passages causing who knows what kind of changes in my synapses. Peter Garbiel is playing in the background and I am surrounded by images that I have created. If I sit and allow my gaze to relax, the images come together in a blurred parade of color. I am tired, but satisfied. I am trying to take a break before working on something else.

My hubby took last week off. No blogging for either of us. Just yard work. It felt great to be outside just turning myself over to the task in front of me working muscles that haven't gotten to show their worth since last Summer. We got so much done. We are turning a space behind our garage into a Zen Garden. Years of overgrowth that obstructed our view has been ripped and cut out. The ground needs to be leveled and then we will put in a bamboo fence. I spent much of my time digging a path from our deck to what will be an entrance to the garden. I would dig and dig, continuously filling wheel barrel after wheel barrel full of dirt and then dumping it in front of the house to improve the grade. As I dug, I kept hitting barriers and would have to stop, get down on the ground and use a hatchet on tree roots or dig out rocks that needed close attention.

Hold on a minute. Peter Gabriel is singing Shaking the Tree. Goosebumps and the heavy swaying and rocking of my body are preventing me from typing right now.

Oh I love this song.

Souma yergon, sou nou yergon, we are shakin' the tree

Souma yergon, sou nou yergon, we are shakin' the tree

Waiting your time, dreaming of a better life

Waiting your time, you're more than just a wife

You don't want to do what your mother has done - She has done

This is your life, this new life has begun It's your day - a woman's day

It's your day - a woman's day

Turning the tide, you are on the incoming wave

Turning the tide, you know you are nobody's slave

Find your sisters and brothers

Who can hear all the truth in what you say

They can support you when you're on your way

It's your day - a woman's day It's your day - a woman's day

Souma yergon, sou nou yergon, we are shakin' the tree

Souma yergon, sou nou yergon, we are shakin' the tree

Souma yergon, sou nou yergon, we are shakin' the tree

There's nothing to gain when there's nothing to be lost

There's nothing to gain if you stay behind and count the cost

Make the decision that you can be who you can be

You can beTasting the fruit come to the liberty tree

It's your day - a woman's dayIt's your day - a woman's day

Changing your ways, changing those surrounding you

Changing your ways, more than any man can do

Open your heart, show him the anger and pain, so you heal

Maybe he's looking for his womanly side, let him feel

You had to be so strong And you do nothing wrong

Nothing wrong at all We're gonna to break it down

We have to shake it down Shake it all around

Souma yergon, sou nou yergon, we are shakin' the tree

Souma yergon, sou nou yergon, we are shakin' the tree

Souma yergon, sou nou yergon, we are shakin' the tree...

Okay, so where was I...

I was thinking about how creating my path and cutting through barriers was such a metaphor for life. I think we tend to focus so much on what is ahead of us that the tree roots and rocks really can trip us up. It was a great exercise in being in the moment. My stamina amazes me when I am able to be in the moment. I mean, you really see that you are much stronger mentally and physically when you can focus all of your energy on the task at hand instead of being divided on many things at once. Whoever said that "multitasking" was a power word for a resume has mislead us all.

It really has been a great day. It began with time with my husband. We got to run together which we don't often get to do. I was then able to meet friends for breakfast. The rest of the day has been spent in my studio. Which reminds me, I had better get back to work. Off to work on a drawing.