Getting Un-Stuck

Luckily, the blog is fully functional again.  (Thank you, mighty goddess of the internet, thank you!)  With the help of the new Blogger template designer, I've also added a few layout updates.

In my June 23rd post, I alluded to a major life shake-up.  Indeed, this thing has plucked me up, tossed me about and strewn me out like a Yahtzee game piece.  My husband and I, now three days from our sixth wedding anniversary, have separated. 

Yeah.

Sad.

I am tremendously grateful that Kye and I have been such close friends and are able to remain so now.  Certainly we still love each other, but perhaps we will come to see that our friendship matters most of all.

Heartbreak.

No other sting so deeply pierces the soul.

This past week has seen the beginning of our separation.  I've found myself stuck.  There is so much that I must accomplish (you know, little things like finding a job and a place to live).  All I want to do is play in my studio - but its door looms with such melancholy and regret, harsh with the reminder of its impending abandonment.

I'm 'putting it out there in the universe' that I'd so appreciate to find an affordable, rentable room large enough to accommodate a bed and a work space.  Yet the practical voice in my head assures me that's a tall order for Vancouver.  Still, I'm determined to find shared accommodation near the flamboyant diversity of Commercial Drive.  How I love the poetry slams, art shows, international foods, colourful characters and rich, bohemian spirit of the place.  The rent is higher there, for sure, but the neighborhood hums with an eclectic mix of art and culture (not to mention fresh produce) that sings to my spirit and beckons me home.

(Oops, I hadn't intended to ramble on so.)

Rather, I wish to share with you these lovely leaping off points from Eccentric Spirit.  Today, I'm thinking that I really need to motivate myself into action.  To help me, I'm going to follow Eccentric Spirit's 10 Ways to Get Unstuck:

1. Doodle
2. Do some contour drawings
3. Splash on some colour
4. Fingerpaint
5. Consult an expert
6. Empty your head
7. Artistic cross-training
8. Go for a walk
9. Hydrate
10. Blast some tunes

Click on 10 Ways to Get Unstuck to read her notes on each suggestion.

As Eccentric Spirit notes, her ideas apply equally well for those with artists' block as for those of us stuck in the mire of life change.  And more importantly, it just sounds fun.

So, for the next ten days, I'm going to follow and post about one prompt every day.  Try it with me, if you like!

"Life is about change, 

sometimes it’s painful, 

sometimes it’s beautiful, 

but most of the time it’s both."

(Smallville) 

Spring Joy

Don't you just love spring?

I adore the scents of fresh foliage, the sweet sounds of songbirds, and the lusciously vivid colours of springtime flowers.

To share these wonders with you, here are some photos of my favorite new neighborhood blooms.

I only wish that they were scratch and sniff!   :)

In Adoration of Scented Spring Showers

It's one of those wonderful, fresh coastal days in May.  The air is pregnant with mist and scents of spring.  A warm, soft drizzle welcomes your face to the outdoors; you lean in and inhale the sweet, earthy aroma of azaleas, lilacs and cedar.

A friend of mine once told me that her late middle-eastern husband had been awed by our moisture.  He'd gaze out the window and describe rain as sacred silver threads delivered from heaven.

Similarly, I see our coastal showers as Earth-bound blessings that nourish our soils and souls.  When I see rain, I can't help but envision masses of sweet spring buds and overflows of beautiful emerald lusciousness.  To me, the rains and the bountiful coastal foliage are inseparable.  I am thoroughly enthralled by them both!