Aura Photo (and the Zen of De-Junkifying One's Life)

 Reposting an archived post.... this one from 2008.

I have been spending quite a bit of time de-cluttering my living space in the hope that by having less stuff to distract me, I will be more likely to get way more important things done. It is a monumental task, and requires a lot of ''grinning and bearing it" as I throw away memorabilia from days gone by.
However, I refuse to part with a 30 year old high school photography class collage that has this image of me at its centre. I love the way the light and shadow play against each other.
These days many of us struggle with clutter. We who came of age in the 60s and 70s were raised on a diet of steady acquisition. More equals success!
It seems that the longer one lives in a particular home the worse it gets! Relocating forces you to get rid of stuff. I have lived in my home for over 22 years and in that time have acquired so many "treasures" that it has started to interfere with my daily life. I have bought vintage items with every intention of turning them into cool conversation pieces, only to find them shoved into some corner years later. My new mantra is " NO MORE STUFF!".
Now, you must excuse me as I toss out the baby teeth my dear old departed dad saved every time I lost a tooth. He had them all carefully labelled and stored in a little jar in his dresser.
Sigh... it's a good thing memories take up zero space.

Out of Chaos, a new Piece of Art Emerges.......

Decided to tackle my vast collection of scarves  last night.

Scarves.The middle aged woman's best friend. 

Started grouping  them  on three wall hooks according to colour families, earth tones, greens and blues, and reds and  oranges  and because I ran out of room, a  deep purple one got into the oranges.
It looked so luscious and juicy I had to take a photo.
I love  the way the colours flow  together.

Life  is full of  creative and  serendipitous moments like this.
 One only has to be open to recognizing when they're happening to you!
Enjoy today. And pay attention. You never know what will happen next.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps....

I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping... again.

There are so many everyday distractions that can take us away from pursuing our passion. But, if we are really determined to work at what we love, whether it's playing music, creating art or starting a home-based business, it's important to consciously make the time to do it. Slowly I am becoming more disciplined at this. I used to wait until I was
'in the mood' before I would head to my art supplies and start painting. I 'm no longer waiting for the spirit to move me before I start - I have found that inspiration often comes with something as seemingly mundane as opening up a fresh tube of paint. Don't worry, I won't become a workaholic- maybe just a workafrolic!

This is one of my favorite photos. It was taken in Russia over  100 years ago. My maternal grandmother is the woman with the guitar. She had a passion for music and literature. I remember as a small child, listening to her recite Russian poetry. I didn't understand a word, but it was truly beautiful .