{"id":2002,"date":"2016-01-14T20:37:46","date_gmt":"2016-01-14T20:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/?p=2002"},"modified":"2016-01-14T20:37:46","modified_gmt":"2016-01-14T20:37:46","slug":"stand-clear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/stand-clear\/","title":{"rendered":"Stand Clear…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our third week on the January art\/life trail ride.<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"horseback_clearing\"<\/a><\/p>\n

January\u2019s keyword: \u2018Clearing\u2019 \u2026 relates to creating space.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Creating space seems like a topic that doesn\u2019t need much additional investigation\u2026and yet as we all know sometimes there is soooo much<\/span> and tooooo much<\/span> and we don\u2019t know where to start…some of us suffer from \u00a0what has been termed “hurry sickness”. <\/span><\/h3>\n

We “work too much, eat too quickly, socialize too little, drive and sit in traffic for too many hours, don’t get enough sleep, and feel harried too much of the time.”<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0Juliet Schor\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

While we\u2019re in the quieting time here in\u00a0The Mystery<\/strong><\/em> quadrant (winter solstice to spring equinox) what could be better than to get down to\u00a0the roots of things with the express aim of\u00a0clearing space…helping the\u00a0mind slow down and calm\u00a0down. Here on the trail ride we use the image of, dismounting for a time and taking the stone steps down in where we visit the inner cave, the Underworld. We rest for a time and recreate the\u00a0vision that we dream of for the coming Natural Year.<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Earthdance\"<\/a><\/p>\n

‘Earth Dance’, Drozda, mixed media, 16 x 20″, private collection\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

The 8 weeks ahead give us ample time for digging around in cave of\u00a0The Mystery<\/strong><\/em>…learning what we can of this topic takes us deeper into the Orenda, the inner creative well, or you may imagine a wilderness shrine<\/a><\/span>… from this inner realm\u00a0discoveries unfold often with a synchronicity that feels akin to magic…yes, The Mystery<\/strong><\/em>…<\/span><\/h4>\n

All of us can decide (and the phrase is a potent one) to take our time. But to do so, we have to set aside our busy competence and practicality, at least for a while, and adopt a gentler and more expansive way of being.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Christian McEwen<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If a cave image is difficult for you… get creative and allow yourself to stand in a protected yet open clearing… a space that allows you\u00a0to feel both safely enclosed\u00a0and still able to move about freely, a space that let’s you lean in and sense the\u00a0rich, full and fertile possibility of a ‘room without a roof’.<\/span><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"2015cabinfield\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A field outside my retreat studio on the Virginia Piedmont, Drozda, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

I instinctively found a way to have each of these, cave and clearing,\u00a0when I was a kid. After school I\u2019d dash home, clip the leash onto my pup, then off we’d go into the woods. All along the edges of the\u00a0creek\u00a0there were dense shrubs. I had my favorite places where Tippy and I would scoot under thick stems, crunching leaves, pushing ourselves into the center of the copse\u2026then settle in as a pair of Silent Observers. We\u00a0watched long and long the comings and goings of birds and small animals. Being p<\/span>erfectly quiet,\u00a0gazing up at the sky, cloud watching freed me…I didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Back at home\u00a0I also created my\u00a0quiet\/cave\/clearing. My bedroom was in the attic and\u00a0the angle of the roof made the space high and open in the center of the room while\u00a0the walls were so low that I couldn’t sit up in bed without touching the sloping ceiling. My closet fit into the small space beneath the eaves\u00a0and in the back of the space I made\u00a0my indoor hideaway.\u00a0<\/span>Whenever I wanted to be in my own world I would slide back behind my hanging\u00a0clothes into that snug and inviting \u2018clearing\u2019. A soft glow from the small lamp on a wooden crate illuminated my cave. It was my refuge in the chaos with\u00a0six\u00a0other people moving in different directions on the floors beneath me.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Throughout January\u00a0spend time in the clearing where you meet\u00a0The Mystery. <\/strong><\/em>N<\/strong>otice where you can go to \u2018get away\u2019 from the outside\/Topside world. What you\u00a0allow into your awareness in January doesn\u2019t disappear in February\u2026indeed… what you\u00a0forge as your Clearing\/womb cave\/deepest sanctuary now will be a place of refuge for as long as you desire.<\/span><\/h4>\n

She was someone who could not be rushed. That seems like a small thing. But it is actually a very amazing quality, a very ancient one…She went about her business as if she could live forever, and forever was very very long.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

Alice Walker<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your focus this week\u00a0is to take the action to discover the quiet place that fits your natural art\/life<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Here\u2019s a story from Wise Woman, Cheusa Wend, our companion this week on the art\/life trail ride:<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"Che<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0 Meditation Room, Che’usa Wend<\/span><\/p>\n

My photographer friend Felice<\/a><\/span><\/strong> sent me a wonderful photo print titled ‘Nirvana’ she took while visiting Burma (I think in 2007).<\/em><\/span>
\nI hung the print last night. It came with a white mat so I found a piece of copper colour mat and used that inside a frame I painted copper colour a number of years ago<\/em>.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Last week I also hung my ‘Dreaming the Dance’ watercolor that I did in 2005. I have missed having her near me and have been taking time in bed at night and morning just looking at her.<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

Not sure I can put this into words.<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

This morning upon awakening and not ready to begin the day yet, I turned on my little mp3 player to a folder that had 8 tracks in it, but I wasn’t sure which CD it came off of…kind of soft Koto style,<\/span> Japanesey music.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

As I lay there and looked where the 2 pictures hang, I was focused on the boy and the light of the candles and then saw the painted lips and eyes on the Buddha in front of him (I think in some kind of cave) . . .<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

\"Monk<\/a><\/h4>\n

‘Nirvana’,\u00a0Felice Willat<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

and then the lips and eyes of my ‘Dreaming the Dance’ Lady.<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

(I turned Her photo sideways here just to see what they looked like both laying down!)<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Wow!<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

\"Dreaming<\/a><\/h4>\n

\u00a0‘Dreaming the Dance’, Che’usa Wend, watercolor<\/span><\/h4>\n

2005 ‘backstory<\/em><\/strong>‘: Since I don’t draw, I have always just ‘moved colour with water’ to see what comes out.
\nMy friend Susan had a wonderful charcoal drawing of a Madonna and I was taken by how the eyebrows curved down to make the nose. So I borrowed it from her for a few days and thought I would try it out. <\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

The Dreamer is what appeared!<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

As I looked at both of them this morning,\u00a0 I began musing about the young boy, so reverent (not sure THAT is the word), focused, holding the candle, honouring the other lights burning there before the Buddha and honouring the Buddha.<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

All of a sudden it dawned on me that what he was doing was beyond words. It is acknowledging his light with the Greater Light.<\/span><\/em>
\n And then it occurred to me that all this ‘protection’ people talk about needing is fear rearing its head.<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

This little one shows that no protection is needed . . . just an honouring, almost an ‘awe-ness’, but not worshipping as we have\u00a0<\/span><\/em>been taught to do. (Those words don’t really express what I felt this morning unfortunately)<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

In the ‘World of’ or perhaps the ‘Dimension of Nirvana’, there IS ONLY LIGHT and that sense\/feeling\/knowing IS Oneness that people\u00a0<\/span><\/em>have longed for\/searched for\/spoken of for eons.<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

I could actually FEEL from that little one’s honouring, the Oneness in all life.<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Thank you for your share\u00a0Bricolage<\/a><\/span><\/em> Artist, Che\u2019usa Wend<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span> and photographer\u00a0Felice Willat<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>we all become more trail ready by coming together in the cave and in the clearing.<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

To recap:<\/span><\/h4>\n

Between now and March 21 continue\u00a0to be\u00a0investing in your quiet space…remember 15 minutes a day is sufficient. This may be a ‘clearing in the woods’ of your mind, this may be the cave deep in the Underworld where you recreate your connection to your compelling vision for the year ahead. Wherever your place is be aware of its portability…you can carry this clear space with you everywhere you go. <\/span><\/h4>\n

This is also the place where you can return at any time and come back to The Mystery<\/strong><\/em>…we need these twelve weeks from winter solstice to spring equinox to replenish, regenerate and re-create the dream…connecting to the synchronicity and magical realm deep in the roots.<\/span><\/h4>\n

See you next week on the art\/life trail ride…<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"trailride2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

I invite you to experience the uplift of Luna See newsletter<\/a><\/span> and Lifecycle<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0These, just like the art\/life trail ride, are natural time management tools. It’s a wonderful experience to be aligning with the creative rhythms of your best Art\/Life. Travel with me into a realm of calm and\u00a0renewed\u00a0focus.<\/span><\/h4>\n

TIME MASTERY IS SELF MASTERY<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

With Luna See and Lifecycle your ability to experience, express, create and contribute your deepest, wisest, most authentic gifts to this beautiful world will naturally expand.<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"bodhisattva_balance\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

As a working\u00a0Heartist\u00a0<\/em>with more than four decades of practice I focus upon our mutual support as we encourage one another to live the creative best within the art\/life.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

On we go.<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

Join the art\/life trail ride. Invite your trail buddies\u00a0to\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0(see let’s stay connected in the right sidebar)<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0let joy BE your vocation<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"me_pups_2015\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

\u00a0Donna Iona Drozda, All rights reserved. \u00a9 2016<\/span><\/h4>\n

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<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our third week on the January art\/life trail ride. January\u2019s keyword: \u2018Clearing\u2019 \u2026 relates to creating space. Creating space seems like a topic that doesn\u2019t need much additional investigation\u2026and yet as we all know sometimes there is soooo much and tooooo much and we don\u2019t know where to start…some of us suffer from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36,79,99,2,3,32],"tags":[123,22,124,43,49,10,38,58,16,30,55],"class_list":["post-2002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artlife","category-buddhism","category-donna-iona-drozda","category-natural-time-management","category-slow-time","category-starting-over","tag-cheusa-wend","tag-donna-iona-drozda","tag-felice-willat","tag-lunar-phases","tag-masculinefeminine-time","tag-natural-time","tag-natural-time-management","tag-nature-art","tag-slow-time","tag-starting-over","tag-tools-for-change"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6htPT-wi","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2002"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2024,"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions\/2024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donnaionadrozda.com\/lifecycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}