Blabbity Blab Blab!

Well hello hello! Long time no see, my friend! Come in and have a seat – would you like some tea and cookies? I have a lot to ramble about, so pull up a chair and –oh yes, before I forget-

This week’s blog has been brought to you by the letter E: the makers of enjoy, explore, and encourage – the ingredients that make life delicious!

Now on to our progam.

Ahhhhrrghh…where is that cable thingamajig for my camera? I have things to share! See what happens when I “organize?” I even remember thinking, “I’m going to put it here so I can find it easily.”

Why does that never work?

Time is really going by quickly this year- can you believe it’s already the middle of July? Holy cow! I’m not blogging as consistently as I would like, but I don’t feel bad about it either. Been busy both planting more creative seeds and actually making stuff.

The other weekend, I decided to hang out on the coast. The Oregon Coast – if you’ve never been there and you need someplace quiet to clear your head, go there. The ocean has always, ALWAYS been a big part of my life. Like family. Whenever I feel as though I’m going to crawl out of my skin with worry, anxiety, sadness, etc., I try to go to the ocean.

Time stops for me when I’m with the ocean and without realizing it, I find myself with a still and uncluttered mind and heart. It’s the calm in the eye of the storm. For those brief moments, I am outside my problems, looking in. Looking at it from a different angle and catching glimpses of how it all fits into the big picture. How it’s all connected to others and that I am not alone. Then I sink back into my situation with a new resolve and knowing I just need to commit to pushing forward and somehow things will be provided.

When you watch the ocean, think about how old it is. For all that is done to it, it has never lost power and sometimes it reminds us of that. For all this time, the ocean has never been still. Whether I’m standing in it on the beach or looking out over a cliff, the ocean always reminds me there is more beyond and my time is small and precious. It feels like being a child in the presence of the ultimate grandparent.

Spent time in Lincoln City, then drove north to Astoria and went across the bridge (my most favorite bridge, followed by the St. John’s bridge). Stopped by Cannon Beach and Sunset Beach (very quiet, absolutely peaceful even though there were several families there) along the way and collected broken sand dollars and some small bits of driftwood. Hardly anything on the beach compared to the wintertime, but it was wonderful and much needed. My anxiety levels had been slowly building again and the ocean scrubbed my soul clean, reminding me to rely on my faith and not my worries.

Then I went back the next day. Decided one day was not enough and went to Newport and explored the area south of it. The weather was the opposite of the previous day of soft breezes and sunny skies, but I loved it. The overcast day was quieter and the mist rolling across the sand made me feel like I went back in time. Maybe to the beginning when everything was being born. Found some small agates and 2 clam fossils- the first fossils I’ve ever found! Fascinating how the earth can hold on to the past and then one day, have it roll up on the beach.

I returned home renewed and motivated to tend to the things I’ve allowed to pile up again. Took the poor tomato plants, straining in their now too small pots and planted them in the ground. Planted the tomatillos and ground cherries, too. Installed a trellis and gently guided the gourd vines up. Made a PVC niddy noddy and began to skein up the yarn from an unraveled sweater (note to self: do this asap the next time I unravel a sweater- the skein takes up MUCH less space and is much neater than a big floppy plastic bag of yarn balls! duh!). Completed a sewing project that had been waiting patiently since (not an exaggeration) summer of 2008. More was done, but I can’t remember it right now.

Hm. Looking at the list, it appears I’ve tended to things that had reached a dead end when it still had more to go. I’ve felt so much better since doing them, as if I knocked down a dam and now things are beginning to flow where it should again. Instead of looking at it all and feeling overwhelmed, I’m trying out the clean a little-craft a little method and this is much more feasible. I hate cleaning, but I like things to be clean.

Hey- if you’re a crafter and your home looks like mine and a small part of you secretly wishes you could push everything into a hole in the floor, but you know you’d never do that because you might need something in that pile BUT you know you need to do something because it’s impeding your creativity – well – try the clean a little- craft a little method. When I get home from work, I allow 1 hour of cleaning. Even if I feel like I could do more, I stop. Then I can do something else. Knowing I only have that hour actually makes me focus on cleaning efficiently and I suspect I get more done. I also relax in knowing there’s one less thing to tend to on the weekend and I still get my creativity fix.

Do you ever wonder about those houses that look like a showroom? No glitter or seed beads randomly popping out of the carpet, never keeping an empty jelly jar to store buttons in, not a single smudge of paint on the dining room table. What do these people do for entertainment? Do they just sit there and not touch anything? Then again, they probably wonder how we live the way we do- and shudder.