What’s been going on….

I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I’ve been on here – wow!

Thanks for the link-love that you’ve been sending this way – we’re still clocking in between 30 and 140 readers a day….I find that absolutely incredible and humbling, but I’m glad you find enough here that draws you back.

I’m sure the blogging break was for a good purpose and alot has been stirred up for me this month.

This post has little to do with REPURPOSING things, but more on the REPURPOSED life I find myself living.

*** ready, go ***

When we look back in the news, history will tell the tale of panic, confusion and many more unseemly things in the month of Oct 2009.  The whole H1N1 kerfluffle has opened up a new passion in me.  That passion is to wake people up to what is going on in our world…

I’m not a nut, and this is not going to be a post about the deep, dark, evils that are lurking.,  However it is going to be a post designed to get you thinking, and quite possibly taking some action.

H1N1:

Whatever side of the spectrum that you fall on when it comes to the vaccination, this post is not intended to open up a debate for one side or the other.  It is however, designed to let you know that YOU DO HAVE A CHOICE.

I don’t want anyone reading this post to feel bad / guilty / righteous over any choice they have made regarding this issue, so please if you are finding yourself in any of those positions, take yourself out of them..finish reading this with an open mind….

For many years now, we have been slowly giving up our rights to make decisions for our own bodies, and those of our children. At the slightest cough or fever, we have started not to trust our own intuitions and rushed to the doctor’s office, taking each and every suggestion the Doctor has made as gospel for us….this has created FEAR in us, and a lack of understanding of how our bodies were created.

We abuse our bodies at every turn and every meal, and then wonder where degenerative  diseases / auto-immune diseases are coming from.  We rush to our doctor’s and pop whatever pills they prescribe and keep living our self-destructive lives.

We are so busy moving our families from place to place that we rarely take the time to decipher the things our bodies are telling us.  We accept things like acne, allergies, and constipation as normal and never take a minute to try and connect the dots.

It is unfortunate that our cutting edge medical system is now built on a system of profit motivation.  It only makes sense to get us numbed to our own bodies and signals…the more drugs they can pump out, the more their stock goes up, our investment portfolios grow and everybody’s happy, right?

Not so!

It’s time to slow down.

It’s time to connect some dots and make some changes which will result in our bodies coming into the balance they were created for.

That is a long road…we are so conditioned to being followers that it is hard, very hard to buck the trend and to simply start the process by saying NO.

The NO doesn’t have to be concrete.  It doesn’t have to be the end.  It actually signals the beginning because until we can say YES with conviction to back it up, we must say NO.

We have to take responsibility for our own health, our own bodies, and our families.  We have to stop giving up and bowing down to the modern medical system.  Now whoa Nellie…I am not saying the entire system is broken and I am extremely grateful for so many parts of our medical system that have the resources and abilities to save so many lives…..I’m just calling for a new balance.  One that looks at the front end, one that says our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made and that works to support our natural healing abilities that start with BETTER CHOICES.

I’ve always said that if I had enough time and money I’d become a Naturopathic Doctor….well that hasn’t happened yet, but I do alot of reading and research on dietary nutrition and natural remedies….not enough to make me an expert, but enough to know that there are alternatives….

There are some very good voices out there – people educated in the medical system who can see the better way….working tirelessly for a new system…a system that stops long enough to consider the health that can be achieved without a reliance on manufactured drugs.   I support these workers- especially those who don’t put down the current system with absolutes - who call for a better balance – a stopping of the drug company controlled system, and a return to a holistic philosophy.  I will feature articles and links from some of these people.

I think that some of my future posts might revolve around things that I find interesting, so if you are here for the ‘crafting / artistry’ side of REPURPOSING you might get bored…..but if you have any sense that this is something you need to pay attention to, I invite you along for the ride!

The Winds of change….

…I’ve been harboring this post for a coupla weeks, not quite sure when to pull the trigger, but I think it’s right about now….

I’ve felt for awhile that I needed to take a break from my REPURPOSED ITEMS blogging. It has started to feel like I NEED to keep my daily regular readers happy and churn out something for them to see. Don’t get me wrong…I am THRILLED when you comment, or email me but I’m just not ‘tracking with it’ right now.

For me, the time I spend REPURPOSING any item or playing in my studio has absolutely nothing to do with the final product….it has EVERYTHING to do with what is happening in my own soul as I learn to create something from nothing…as I learn to ”do” something that intrinsically has NO VALUE, and is adding nothing to my productivity driven self….THAT to me is the draw, is the life-giving energy that I get from it….

I’ve spent so much time in my life doing things that had a visible purpose, that I’m enjoying and learning from the ‘nothingness’ of my studio time. I need to protect that and the learnings that are coming from it.

I’ll still post some fun things on my Facebook Fan Page, but it will probably be more sporadic, and showcase what others are doing instead of me….just so you know…..

(not mine…just some creative inspiration…)

The Life I have Chosen…

“ Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. “

***

Part of the REPURPOSING journey for me, for sure has been learning to let go of alot of things / ideas / plans.

Part of the REPURPOSING journey for me, for sure has been tapping in to thoughts that are higher than my own, that take into account the BIG picture and that are not so consumed with my own wishes, dreams and plans.

Part of the REPURPOSING journey for me, for sure has been learning to let go, to be still in the now, and to be content with the present, not looking to any person, thing or event to satisfy me.

Part of the REPURPOSING journey for me, for sure has been learning to look at others with a new lens – one that says they are no better, nor any worse than me and my own spiritual condition.  We all have our junk.  We all struggle with our private inner thoughts and character.  We all need redemption day after day after day.

Part of the REPURPOSING journey for me, for sure has been learning about the ability to tap into a source so satisfying that things of this life, are growing strangely dimmer and dimmer – there is so much that just doesn’t matter or take priority with me any more.

Part of the REPURPOSING journey for me, for sure has been the release of details and control in all those daily things that drive us crazy….finances…relationships…worries…

I rest differently now.  I rest in a knowing that I matter in all the right ways, and I don’t hold any false positions or ranks in all the wrong ways.  My perspective has shifted, my wants are few, my desires dimmed.  This is not a process that I could have initiated, planned, or plotted through any 5, 8 or 18 step program….this could only come about by own willingness to give up, give in, give over, give all.

I’ve chosen to become less, instead of more.

I’ve chosen the less walked path,instead of the well-marked one.

I’ve chosen the unknown, and know now that NOT knowing is somewhat freeing, gratifying and releasing. 

I, for one, stand amazed.

*

I don’t know what’s next.  Tomorrow.  Next Week.  Next Year.

I could be back in the corporate world.  I could be slinging burgers.  I could be rich - I could be poor.  I could be healthy – I could be sick.  I could be up – I could be down.

I don’t know those details.  I do know that where I am and what I do will be by His Hand, and for His Glory.

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(the words at the top are from Galatians 5:25 – the Message version)

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Stitched Bits and a 60 cent bag of scraps

I created this ’stitched bit’ almost two years ago when I began my artistic journey:

I still love looking at it – something in me connects with fabric…!

So, I thought maybe it was time to create another one, and I created one this week:

Just bits of nothing really, and yet oddly calming and quieting to work on.  As I arrange and then re-arrange the ‘bits’ I find myself transported to places of ‘nowhere’.  Everywhere but nowhere.

Thinking about lots of things, but thinking about nothing.

Dreaming many dreams but dreaming of nothing.

Odd.  Calming.  Restoring.

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On one of my jaunts through a thrift store I happened upon a bread bag of scraps in Christmas colors – reds / greens / prints….all obviously cast-off and cut-offs from Christmas Crafts Past and it was ONLY 60 CENTS, so I rescued it from the thrift store and sat down to create something….I added a few buttons, and it slowly started to take shape:

The colors seemed to dictate a Christmas theme, and so I just stayed with that:

kept finding bits….putting them together in interesting combinations:

and I emerged with this:

I included loops on the top and hung it from a rod I had….still haven’t pressed it but I stitched a back to it and I guess I will call it freehand-textile-art….!

From something that someone else considered garbage, or a waste, something (somewhat!) beautiful was able to be created…..isn’t that a great metaphor for our lives?  How many of us live thinking or feeling that all we’ve got left is the garbage, the waste…how much good do we actually have left to offer the world?

How many of us think that what we have to give is worth nothing, or maybe only 60 cents….

Maybe the magic isn’t in our offering.  Maybe the magic is in allowing someone with greater vision and creativity the opportunity to form something beautiful out of it.

I’m just sayin’.

***

All this stitching reminds me of some work my friend Julie has done….work completely done with fabric: 

 

hmmm…maybe I’ll have to keep exploring!

 *

Here is someone else exploring their love of fabric through stitched bits.

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Overcoming Perfection

 

The need to be ‘perfect’.

What the heck drives that anyways?

Comparison?  So you can do _______ as good as ______ can?

Ego?  So you can ‘be the best’?

Competition?  So that dad/mom/teacher will ‘like’ you more?

Self-Worth?  If I can’t _________ then I must not be ____________.

Are there things in your life you are waiting to do because you can’t do them ‘perfectly’?  Are you holding back on passions stirring within you because you think your current efforts won’t propel you to the top?

There is no doubt that we squash our own talents and God-given abilities for many reasons, but our fear of not being good enough probably ranks pretty highly up there….why put out any effort if it doesn’t have an appreciable reward, right?

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As I sit in my studio, cutting without a plan; creating without a clear vision, I spend a whole-lotta-time critiquing my own work….is this even good enough to show anyone? 

What actual use will this _________ have anyways? 

 Who would want to use it / display it?

I’ve been pondering lately how this is a metaphor for so many things in our life. 

To how many things do we say :

“I’m not going to _______________ until I _______________.”

“I can’t ____________ because I don’t __________________.”

“There’s no point in me ___________________ because ______________is better at it anyways”

See yourself in any of those statements?….

If you do, here’s a new truth to say to yourself in it’s place.

“I’m going to start by ____________________.  Today is only one small part in where this journey will lead.  I don’t know what the end of this road looks like, but I have today.  I have the creativity to dream, I have the heart to love, I have the hands to create, and the body to move, TODAY.”

Comment anonymously if you’d like but I’d love to hear what things you have been holding back on doing…..

…cooking?…painting?…singing? …. dancing?  …getting your driver’s license?

…teaching your kids to ______________?….exercising?…..writing?

….starting a business? …..writing a book?  …..just getting out of bed today?

I’d love to encourage you if you see any of yourself in this post.  Let’s move along this trail together…let’s bust down some fake fences that we’ve called PERFECTION and move forward!

 

Trust me, if I was ruled by perfection, I'd never create anything!

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As a Person thinketh…

 

It’s been awhile since I’ve waxed poetic on here and I thought it’s about time to share some of my thoughts on where I’ve been….where I am….and where I’m going….

There would have been lots of words to describe a person like me just a few years ago, and they might have read like this:

Driven….Productive…..Self Assured….Effective Manager….Efficient….

…those are the things that assured success in the world called “corporate “.

Now, just a few years later, my skin bristles to even think about who that was.

She was self-centered; she was fearful of not being in control; she was afraid that it would all fall apart if she didn’t handle every miniscule detail; she didn’t ever want to fail because it meant she wasn’t good enough.

Enter “The Repurposing”….

At some point I became acutely aware that living life this way, was certainly not what was intended for me, and that I had to change my thinking…..

The laws of thought really do govern our life path, and I know that our soul (mind-will-emotions) attracts that which it secretly harbors; (that which it loves, and also that which it fears).  Unless I wanted my life to reflect those things which I now found distasteful, I had to surrender.

Now, having a life change forced on you by your circumstance is one thing, and learning how to live and walk through that is entirely different than what I have been / still am walking through.  I’ve not lived through a corporate layoff, downsizing, or anyone else telling me my career world ( the way I knew it) was done with.

At any day, at any moment, I could still SO EASILY revert back to my thoughts which say:

“you can do so much more”;

“you are wasting your time and your life”;

“you are earning less than half of what you should be, and are depriving your family”.

…and it would be so EASY to jump back into that corporate lifestyle and accept the lies that governed me for so long.

 

It is because I make the choice to ignore those voices that I am misunderstood.  It is because this has not been forced on me that people think I’ve ‘lost my mojo’. 

All because I chose a better way.

The way I’ve chosen demands me to think less of myself, and to not incessantly chase some invisible goal of ’success’….

The way I’ve chosen compels me to live knowing that I could ‘be more productive  and earn my ’supply’ , but I choose to trust instead…humbling my own thoughts of who I am and what I”m capable of.

The way I’ve chosen dictates that I open my eyes to see how much we still have that we don’t need; how we live wastefully even when our consciousness states that  ‘we need more’.

The way I’ve chosen puts alot more emphasis on the organic movings of our family rhythym rather than some forced schedule that accomodates my needs.

I don’t see a visible end.  I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.  On so many days I still yearn for the ’solution’, for the ‘why I did that’ to emerge. 

Because I still look for the end, I know that I’m still on the path, and have not yet been completely transformed in my thinking.  There is still much work to do and probably always will be.

And yet….

I see someone who reflects a new creativity.

I see someone who reflects a new flexibility.

I see someone who bends her schedule and plans to fit those of others.

I see someone who gives generously.

I see someone who is able to respond with wisdom

It’s because I’ve ignored the pull of what others think or say….I no longer perform for anyone’s benefit, I don’t worry too much if I’m ‘getting it’; or if it fits someone else’s vision of ‘what I should be’.

I’m me.

I think I’m finally seeing that a strong will is not the blessing that an “A-type” is often labelled with. 

A strong will is what keeps us from receiving.  A strong will keeps us from hearing.  A strong will keeps us from experiencing grace.  A strong will is a mountain-high fence erected to keep us safe from the unknown….and yet guess what?  The unknown is a much safer place than we give it credit for….

*

I just am.

Come what may.

I am loved; supplied for; cared about; special; part of a plan; never forgotten; broken; fixed; forgiven; hugged.

*

If Money were no Object…..

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what would you do???….just another way of asking “What’s your dream?”

What would you do if money were no object and you didn’t have to ‘work a day job’ to pay the bills?

I’m writing mine up and will be sharing it in the next little while…in the meantime….put your dream into a couple of short sentences and leave it in the comments.

Wisdom’s Packaging

 

Sure…I wonder some times how much to ‘put out there’ on my blog….I mean you never really know who’s reading, and even if you do know who’s reading, how much is tooo much, y’know?

But I think this little tidbit might be meant as encouragement for someone else out there, so I’m laying it on the line and sharing it, right from the heart!

Last week, I was having one of those particularly BAD days….ok, maybe like BAD hour, but whatever.  Hubby and I were just not seeing eye to eye on ANYTHING, and it didn’t matter what we said to each other, it just came out plain wrong, or was taken plain wrong, or in other cases, was MEANT to come out wrong.  It was just plain yukkiness.

So off I went to my studio, knowing that if I didn’t get my heart straight, this wasn’t going to change…..sometimes just getting out and removing myself from the situation at hand is just enough to go connect with My Source again.

After a few tears and some heartfelt prayers, I opened up a french dictionary that I picked up ( intending to cut it up and use for some assemblage pieces…) and this amazing sort of thing happened….God started talking to me right out of the pages of that dictionary.

ok, ok, before you get all wierded out, you need to know that God and I talk. 

 Alot. 

I tend to think I ‘know’ what He sounds like, but I am always open to hearing him in new ways too.

Page after page that I opened, had something to say to me.  The way these appear is exactly as I opened them….tore them out and framed them one by one….

To Hear; To Open

and then….

To Believe, To Grow;

and then…

To Know, To Be Worth, To See;

and finally…

To Rise; To Follow;

All put together:

This may mean EXACTLY nothing to you…..but my heart needed to hear some words that day.  God was not restricted by space, by language, or by having the ‘right’ tool at his disposal….He met me, in that space, exactly then.

The catalyst is simply in the posture of our hearts.  When we open up our hearts, believing that He holds our answers, He will find a way to break through….not always visually, but we will know He’s been there.

Psalm 46:10

Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God.

I challenge you to find a new way to allow Him in…..you may not be used to praying, or even approaching The Creator in this way….so just start with something small….a simple “are you there?”, “can you help me with this?”, is often all we need to let the answers start coming in…..answers that bring contentment, peace, knowledge and wisdom. 

I’m so glad that He’s in the driver’s seat, not me!

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Memory Quilt…..

Let me just say right up front, I am not a quilter…never done it, never thought I would explore it….but….last week while at the thrift store, some donations came in from someone’s mother who had recently passed.  I know the daughter as an aquaintance and I was overcome with a thought as I saw all those clothes.

It just seemed like there was SOMETHING that could be done to ease her grieving, at least just a little….so I rummaged through, and pulled out some items and got busy that evening.

Once I had started, I realized that there was still a very strong lingering of her mother’s perfume on these items, and so I told myself I needed to work really fast so that I could present it, with the scent of her mother still ‘alive’ on it.  So…I was up until midnight…cutting, pressing, sewing….and I came up with just a small little lap quilt, or, as I’ve shown here, a neat little roll pillow….

It was just one small thing, that I could do…..

 

What can we learn from watching the tragedy of Michael Jackson’s life?

*****

Judge not, lest you be judged.

Fight the battle that can’t be seen.

Fight with weapons that cannot be felt.  Believe that no weapon formed will prosper against those that seek and find.  Believe it for those who can’t believe it for themselves.

Stand for those who can’t stand.

Stand for those who don’t see the battle raging.

Stand for those who are too weak, too tired, too hurt to see it for themselves.

From our pain comes our confusion.

From our confusion comes poor decisions.

From our poor decisions comes a disability to see the Truth.

 Stand for Truth.  Above All.

 Truth can undo poor decisions.

Truth can undo confusion.

Truth can reign.

 Don’t react from the hatred that comes from holding up the mirror.

Don’t believe your own life, temptations or transgressions

to be on any higher or lower plane. 

Each one is the same, none worse than the other.

Don’t think that you’ve got it all together.

Don’t think that you can do this on your own.

 Hate the Tempter, not the tempted, nor the one who gives in.

 Look into the soul. 

The soul that was created with the same potential to love and be loved as your own. 

The soul that cries out for unity, for justice, for mercy, for one-ness.

 For from which we were all created, is ONE.

Is unity.
Is light.

Is hope.

Is peace.

Is redemption.

Is in us all, though us all, and can result in us all

Being ONE.

Be one at the crossroads, where life beckons.

Be one at the crossroads, where the battle rages.

Be one at the crossroads, where Truth reigns.

Be one at the cross.

Together.

Moving Forward.

Loving.

Bringing peace.

Bringing Light to dark places, joy where there is sadness, love where there is none, mercy where there is judgement, understanding where there is confusion, bringing hope where there is nothing.

Together, as ONE, through ONE.