Time Capsule

Kickin' it Old Skool Day Two, and I am having a lot of fun with this. Today's prompt has us capture  this moment in time.

What are you reading?
I haven't figured out a way for me to carve out time to read on a regular basis. Long commutes are great for reading, but my city life right now doesn't include that. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss long rides on crowded subways but I do miss having an excuse to read. My bad habit: I have trouble finishing books. Last week I had a longish trip and not having to drive gave me a chance to dig into Vocal River, the Skill and Spirit of Improvisation (by Rhiannon). I have followed Rhiannon for years, and she is such a completely satisfying and magical artist, weaving together impromptu music and words. She is also a master teacher, and I've had the opportunity to be in several workshops over the years. I grabbed this book as soon as I could, knowing that her life's work and wisdom would be here. It has moved me to tears several times already, something I didn't expect. I'm halfway through this book, and I do intend to finish it.

What are you watching?
I've been catching up on Disney animations I missed as a child. I recently watched The AristoCats and Cinderella, and Snow White is on her way. My television guilty pleasures are Dancing With The Stars and Long Island Medium. I love seeing the stars' growth and learning, cheering them on from my couch as they create and express more and more fully each week. I've been watching Long Island Medium thanks to Netflix instant play, and she and her family make me laugh (I was born and raised on the island) and I also get the welcome reminder that there's more to this life than what we can see.

What are you listening to?
As we are a two-musician household there's always a large variety of music on the stereo: jazz, contemporary classical, tango, singer songwriter, classic R&B, classical, folk, world, and just weird music that defies genre labels. At this moment, however, I'm listening to my guy work out some more creative arrangements of Christmas tunes he'll be playing at a gig tonight.

What are you loving?
I'm loving the spaciousness of my life this week. I just came off a month and a half of solid creative work and practicing music, and I'm enjoying a little break and some time to tune into what it is that I want to create next. Plus my brother and family are in town and I'm happy to spend time with them and my little toddler niece.

What are you wearing?
Today is a dress down day, jeans and a tee-shirt with a monkey on it. I do love getting dressed up too, for tango or for dinner.

What are you creating?
I'm in the middle of knitting a sweater for myself, based on a Craftsy class: The Perfect Fit Seamless Crazy Lace Cardigan. In the past couple of years I've become a knitting addict, and I'm not happy if there isn't a project on the needles. But I've also slowed down, and it seems like this sweater is taking forever. I'm looking forward to having a sweater I'll wear a lot, in a very practical everyday color. Gray. Ha!

What are you looking forward to?
I'm looking forward to getting more deeply into creating music for solo violin and electronics, but also to whatever new collaborations and inspirations may pop up. Also, I'm hoping that this holiday season is more relaxed and spacious, giving me a chance to savor and enjoy more, and also dream about what I want to create next year.

And now for the teensy bit of writing:

Parfait

Long and tall,
you sit on the formica counter
countering all hipness.
Our hips balanced on round vinyl buttons
held high on twisty chrome stands.
My short legs dangle from the red stool,
thighs sticking to unbreathing faux hide,
shorts too short to stop sweat from merging with seat.
The tug of gravity pinches sticky skin.
The pull of your high, cool pile,
sweet colors and textures
stacked in fluted, gleaming glass.

Old Skool in December and writing every day this month

Jamie and Shannon are hosting a fun blog-a-thon this month, which I'm jumping right into. I had thought about doing a teensy bit of writing each day in December, and this helped kick me over the edge. The first prompt today at the Kickin’ It Old Skool Blog-a-Thon is to post a selfie. So here I am today, photo self-portrait taken with laptop camera placed on the floor. I'm still in my pajamas, because it's a lazy Sunday. My "violin hickey" is in the picture, a sign of my life as a musician.

 

And here is my first bit of writing for December:

She came upon the magical book under the great tree. As she cracked opened its mossy cover, wet earth smells wafted toward her open, curious face. Immediately an immense burst of light shot from the pages of the book, enveloping her tiny frame and shining also upon the trees in the forest and creatures great and small.

I have no idea where this came from. I am just letting my imagination guide me for a tiny bit of writing each day. It might be a poem, it might be a couple of sentences, it might be a reminder to myself. I'll just let this process gently unfold as it wants to, and keep watch to see what it might reveal later.

Dreamboard for the Full Corn Moon

It has been quite a while since I've posted a dreamboard, and I've even missed making them for quite a few full moons. Often I want to create a new board but feel  the moon's cycle has gone too far beyond full to ride that lunar wave. This time, with a huge pile of magazines threatening to take over my home, it was necessary to make that time for myself and for the feng shui of the apartment.

I love my new board, and the first thing I notice is how much red is in it. To me red is a color of vitality and excitement. I know that this autumn is going to be quite intense in terms of creative projects, and this board shows me something of that. Creative output (the pen and scribbled score in progress), beauty (flowers and adornments), a hut to introspect within and also the need to "take the mic," and some key words to guide me: Harmony, Experience, Hope, Capitalism, Never Hide. I think my board is calling me to be confident in where I am: that I have experience behind me, hope within me, and harmony pulling me forward. It's also calling me to deal with that word that gives me the squirms. It's time for me to look capitalism in the face, and find out how I can succeed financially without giving up what I hold dear. After all, the statement in question is: "Capitalism works for me!" True or false? How can I make it feel it works for me rather than bullies me?

Dreamboard for the Full Wolf Moon

I hadn't had a chance to make a dreamboard around the holidays and new year, so I felt a strong need to make one for this full moon. I like that there are images that reach upward and also downward, the pull toward heaven and dreams and at the same time grounded and deep watery imagery. Also the comforts of warm wool, earthy and orangey tones, and wood.

Dreamboard for the Full Frost Moon

 

Things have been a bit hectic, but I did want to make sure I did a new dreamboard during this powerful full moon eclipse. With not much time to write about it, I think I'll just let it be for now in my heart and mind, more than in the words on my blog. For sure, I think the board is asking me to go to the next level in the path of my dreams: rock the boat, real world lessons, raise your standards. Well, hello, to the wild animals on my board and a whole plethora of masks. Hm, I wonder what those mean. There are as usual some elements of music, journeying and traveling, some sparkly bits. This time there's also a glamorous moment in front of the camera. Earlier this month I had some photos done in the studio by a talented photographer friend, but I wonder what's coming.

Dreamboard for the Full Harvest Moon

I feel like there is something different about my board this month but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Is it less orderly? More mysterious? There seem to be elements in my dreamboard that seem more chaotic, but perhaps also they can be seen as very energetic. The table full of dice seem to say there is an aspect of the unknown, of chance. The café chairs and tables create so many sticks, angles and shadows, like the arrows around the Trojan horse, the pigeons on the street, the caribou running as a herd. With so many scribbly lines, and the muchness of jumbled intersections there is a certain electric vibe to this dreamboard.

Music is often an element on my board, and this one is no exception. “Illuminate your year with great music” are the only words on my board this time. There is the violin and the maestro, to symbolize my instrument and powerful, spirited music making. Dance is also a frequent presence on my board, and this moon includes both pause for a kiss and a fiercely kinetic conflict. This is balanced just below by the image of a chair and a giant lotus, almost as if these two pairs are meant to be together: the beautifully intense and the beautifully contemplative.

Usually there are images in my dreamboard that bring to mind flight, and on this moon I have the birds, the shadows of flying nuns, and the outstretched arms of the swan-dancer.

There are reminders of spirit here, in the cross and the bells and the nuns. I am invited to sit in contemplation, and be in nature. The glass jars of veggies may symbolize a way of thanking the universe for its colorful bounty and appreciating what I have gathered, giving me a way to prolong the enjoyment and extend gratitude.

The other images capture my imagination but again, I want to spend more time with my board to tease out the meanings – of the bubblegum flower girl, the fan dancer, the metallic beads and nails, the horse head sculpture on the garden bench. I look forward to spending this month with my board, to find out what else it has to say to me.

Check out Jamie Ridler's Full Moon Dreamboards Online to learn more about it. Also, you can see what others are dreaming for themselves for this full moon here.

Dreamboard for the Full Corn Moon

Creating this board took more time than I had planned, but this was completely okay  as I needed to slow down anyway. As usual I had cut out too many images so there are many that didn’t make the board. In the end, I really enjoy letting my eyes fall on this board. I’m not too sure what much of it means right now, but it feels so juicy and oozes with sweet possibility.

I find this board really beautiful, and also magical and mysterious. The first things I notice about my board are the gorgeous reds on the board and the blue expanse of water. As to the empty costumes on the left and right of the board, I can’t tell whether it is before of after their wearer. Are the clothes waiting, or are they reminders of something past? Both natural and man-made beauty are here, but it feels like always the inspiration is in nature. I might need to put on the red hood and venture out into the woods, perhaps even encounter the wolf. Red is the color of energy and passion, and I feel a renewed pull toward one of my favorite colors of the past.

I think this board is asking me to consider and use gorgeous gifts from the universe, to honor them by celebrating their beauty and noticing – tuning into the wisdom of spirit, at one with the messages of water, earth, sky and fire. I think my board is telling me: Notice and celebrate. Dance and be free.

• My dreamboard is expressing my yearning for the open road, nature and adventure
• I need to notice beauty, and take in the gorgeousness of this world
• I want to find the inner truth of my life and turn it into my life's work
• I think my guide on this board might be the mother earth dancer on the island. She is a giant who works with the power of the earth and water and sky to create beauty.
• But also, I think the elephant is a strong guide as well. Today I was delighted to notice a subway poetry poster with two swimming elephants on it. I wonder what all these elephants are trying to tell me.

I've been making dreamboards pretty regularly since mid-2009, when I discovered Jamie Ridler's blog and became interested in creating a dreamboard for myself. Check out Jamie Ridler's Full Moon Dreamboards Online to learn more about it. Also, you can see what others are dreaming for themselves for this full moon here.