Appreciate Yourself

I have just been sorting through all my types of projects and materials and the resources which support them.

I love everything on all those shelves.

It makes me so happy to be around what I love to do.

It is all fitting into a nice busy flow, which feels completely comforting to me.

The early childhood music resources compliment the music teaching doll I am sewing.

My favorite knitting magazines can now join the yarn stash.

The weaving threads and rug yarns are behind the looms.

The washed fleeces and batts are behind the spinning wheel.

The art materials and drawing books are in several project bags.

All my joy in doing these fun things is organizing itself into gentle production.

I can add on to my short-term and long-term habits of drawing, sewing, quilting, weaving, spinning, writing.

It is simply easier to find everything now that I don’t have to hide behind them as distractions.

They are my work.

All my experiences have led up to this Studio as celebration.

© 2016 Kathryn Hardage

www.yourdiamondmind.blogspot.com

Inspired Practices - FB

What are my Original Thoughts?

How important are your original thoughts?

Well, they are evidence of your individuality.

In a culture where we are bombarded with so many mass media messages, your original thoughts are very important.

They are vital to your life.

They are what can direct you and bring you a uniquely enjoyable and and satisfying and successful life.

They can connect you to your soul-mate.

They can invent a truly terrific and fulfilling occupation.

They can create a home where you feel very loved and expressive.

It is important to get to know yourself from within.

That is where your original thoughts are.

You can access them by simply listening.

Slowing down and sitting quietly and becoming calm.

You will feel their presence.

It is a gentle sense of being who you really are.

Even though you may be good at what you do, and you chose your life’s direction for really good reasons, it is a different experience to feel your wholly original thoughts.

It is a wholly different experience to feel your life directed by them.

© 2016 Kathryn Hardage

www.YourDiamondMind.blogspot.com 

The Multi-Family Solution

I look at the frantic pace of today’s Western culture and observe the cost on families.

At the time that I was involved in it, my husband and I were raising five of the seven children as a combined family due to divorce and remarriage.

I also had a daytime teaching job and an after school music program which I taught from my home Studio.

Around those heavy demands, I planned menus, went grocery shopping, prepared meals, kept the house in order, ran kids to various activities and lessons.

It was nuts!

In between chanting prayers to combat exhaustion, I would listen for and observe any possible solutions.

I implemented mass cooking and freezing of meals on the weekends.

I arranged for transportation to activities and lessons for my children.

I got help for the yard.

I got help for the house.

And then, all the children grew up and graduated and got jobs and went to college.

And I could breathe.

Now, I am watching the same thing happen to the next generation.

I am looking at each individual family trying to do all those things for themselves.

And I am hearing about co-housing and communities and cooperatives.

And those people actually sound sane.

So, I find myself creating the same multi-family model over and over again.

It goes like this:

A minimum of four families can share whatever work, income, services which are required.

More families can be added up to a comfortable number for community.

So, who do share values with?

Who do you trust to share with in a balanced and comfortable way?

Work out the details of housing, services and income producers in small cooperative agreement steps.

See what works and keep expanding on it.

© 2016 Kathryn Hardage

Inspired Practices - FB

Awareness and Pacing

This morning, I woke up in the country, watched the sun gradually appear from behind the ridge, flow over the meadow as it got higher, and release the scents along with the increasing heat.

As we drove to the studio/shop, I mused on the fact that because of all the “conveniences” at the studio, it is easy, very easy, to over schedule myself and feel tense and lacking because I can’t do it all.

So, I am considering how to take the best of what I am observing between the country and the city.

My studio is set up so I can move from one space to another easily, with all my materials at hand.

I can simply do one thing at a time, without pressuring myself.

I can continue to read and study about the next things I want to accomplish, and then, at a time which is provided according to the new rhythm of the Universe which I am embracing, the first steps can be taken on those other projects.

Just because I can read about it, doesn’t mean I have to do it right away.

In rereading, I can absorb more of the details, get ready to learn the new skills I will need, and be aware of the materials I need to locate.

I can start long-term projects on a smaller scale than I originally envisioned, and learn on a small scale instead of making the inevitable mistakes in any new enterprise on the larger scale.

I can compare what is working in the city location to the different conditions I encounter in the country location.

It is all about awareness and pacing.

Oh, so I can relax after all, and still get plenty done and enjoy myself along the way.

© 2016 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com and FB

Drawing

I found a pencil drawing of a rose I did a while back, (because it was in a box I just unpacked from the warehouse), and I was glad to see it.

I started drawing in 2010 while making very simple sketches during Nature walks for Master Naturalist Certification.  (This means I now know the kinds of questions to ask about things in the natural world.)

I continued drawing from those first field notes, i.e. how many leaves, smooth or jagged edges, etc.

Gradually I have gained confidence.

One of my daily meditation practices involved choosing a word and then drawing basic shapes and lines around it, kind of “zentangle” style.  I use a several different sizes of micron pens for that.

It all contributes to controlling a line.

I realized, on seeing my rose sketch, that I am becoming more confident.

I am really glad, because I like the quiet and contemplative atmosphere of drawing (especially after performing and teaching music for so long!).

Since I started drawing for fun, it has remained in that category for me.

I am really grateful to have given that opportunity to myself.

© 2016 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Moving Into My Domain

It is an amazing pleasure to discover my heart’s own direction.

I am having a marvelous time setting up my new studio with all my supplies easily at hand.

They are overflowing.

Each step that makes it more convenient to work is greatly appreciated.

I am able to spontaneously step into my area and gather materials and make wonderful things.

Long-term projects which I have collected are now accessible and can be completed.

This is a completely different feeling from “blooming where I was planted”.

I have found richer soil in which to grow.

My work is being seen and appreciated.

I no longer have to divide my time and justify what I am doing while my heart waits to be heard.

If I knew how to do this earlier, I would have certainly done it.

Discovering the way has taken longer, but I am here now and I am so very grateful.

It is an amazing feeling to have a perfect fit.

It is possible.

It can be done.

I love who I am.

I love what I do.

I love being in alignment with myself.

© 2016 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Your Mind and Your Soul

Listen to what your mind knows when it is attached to your soul.

What does it know?

Can you even feel your soul?

It is there.

It is telling you some amazing and wonderful things about yourself.

They just feel so natural and so good when they surface in your mind.

You have to listen.

You have to be very quiet and listen consistently.

That message is not going to appear unless you really devote yourself to it.

This is who you are.

This is your most fulfilling role.

This is your immense true worth.

Don’t listen to all the noise.

Get quiet.

Get private.

Go listen until you hear it.

It is the most satisfying feeling in your mind.

© 2016 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com