Meet my Psychiatrist

Last week James, Bean and I escaped for a spontaneous camping trip.  Four days in the woods and I'm a new person.  Okay, not completely new but certainly refreshed.  It seems that surrounding oneself with trees and sleeping next to a burbling stream is good medicine for an overworked mind.   More to the point, the elixir was no electronics.   No WiFi.  No cell phone.  No TV.  No radio. 

For the first time in months, and I do mean months, I worked in my art journal.  I painted, wrote, mused and dreamed.   I read The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance and found myself enormously inspired, which led to more journaling, musing and dreaming. 

We watched in silent awe as a mother black bear with three cubs passed through our campsite at 5 a.m. one morning.  We adopted "Chuck" a precious little chipmunk who ate from James' hand.  We  swam in the chilly mountain lake, took long walks in the cool woods and talked about everything under the sun.

It was good.  Very good.

I foresee another therapy session before summer's end.

And Now for Something Completely Different

1961
Rosemary aged 15
Elizabeth aged 4
(I didn't become Liz until later)
Paul aged 12

This one, I let her win.

I spent several hours last night working on photographs of my oil bottles for the website.  I carried the bottles into the kitchen where the light was best, set them on a beige square tile, added a white background and snapped away.

For the rest of the night, Musie wouldn't leave me alone.  She kept poking me in the brain, insisting that the pictures weren't right - that they were flat, boring and, above all, they weren't me.

When I got up this morning, I rummaged around my dresser drawers and found an old cotton quilt with pretty appliqued flowers.  I set the quilt on a table in front of a bright window, smushed it around then rested the bottles on the soft fabric and took a picture.

Musie approved.

Leaping into Less

It's been ages since I've played at Jamie Ridler's studio, so I popped over this morning and her question What Leap Do you Wish to Take? gave me pause.

What LEAP do I wish to take?   Jamie, I'm already leaping tall buildings in a single bound and stopping the occasion speeding bullet in order to accomplish my goals.  In fact if I keep leaping at this pace, I'm likely to spring myself right into burnout.  I've done it before.

Leaping it kinda my thang. 

My Meltdown SoulCollage Card

The question begs to be asked:  What constitutes a "leap" anyway?  Isn't a leap an action performed without knowledge of the consequences?  An act of faith?   In that case, I'm not leaping at all because I know my hard work and actions will result in success.  The leap for me then is slowing down.   

Woah...my palms just got sweaty.  I must have hit a nerve.

So the leap I wish to take now is letting go, slowing down and doing less...while keeping the faith that it will all work out.

Now that's a leap worth taking.

"Mud" by The Bean

Nana and Pap like to take me for walks on Sunday afternoon. 
Nana thinks its funny when I'm on Pap's shoulders,
'cause it looks like I have a tail.

My Pap knows a lot about plants and teaches me 'bout ones I can eat
and ones I shouldn't touch.  
Here he's teachin' me 'bout pois'nivy.  "Leaves of three, let them be" he says.

We like to go down to the river and walk on this one tree that goes
waaaaay out over the water. It's a little scary but I like it.
Pap almost fell out of the tree once and Nana laughed real hard.

Sassy our Pug always comes with us on walks.

Nana says she's a "cream puff" but she's part of the family, too.
I never saw a dog climb a tree before.

Pap likes to hold me and talk about what we see like
clouds and water and birds and stuff.
Nana calls him "flosofer". 

I love my Pap.  Nana says he's "earfy" and "grounding".
  I don't know what that means but I feel safe when he holds me.

Nana wanted to get closer to the water for pitchers (she's always takin' pitchers!)
She took off her shoes and walked in the mud.

This made Pap and me laugh.

I wanted to get in the mud too.

And the water.

It feels funny when it squishes 'tween my toes.

Sassy went kinda nuts in the water and Nana kept calling her "mudball"

I fell down.  Then I fell down again.
Falling down was fun!  I was swimmin' in the river!

Nana told Pap "that's enough he'll get 'monia".
She made me get out of my wet clothes and told Pap to take off his shirt and wrap me up.
It was warm and smelled good, like Pap.

I like having adventures with Nana and Pap.
You never know what's gonna happen.

There's No Place Like Home

In January of this year I began what was initially an exciting three months of stimulating new experiences.  I signed up for a series of aromatherapy classes in new and distant cities.

This fresh slice of life thrilled me to bits because my adventures included everything I adore:  working with essential oils, meeting new people, flying and driving to unknown cities,  leasing cars with state-of-the-art gadgets, renting adorable cottages and - most importantly - flooding my thirsty brain with new knowledge.    At one point I added even more classes which meant increased travel, increased expenses and increased time away from home. 

And it's taken its toll on my well-being.

Somewhere in the thrill of new experience and seeking higher knowledge, I began to lose myself and my balance.   I have a lot of increased wisdom to be sure, but the most valuable lesson has been that it's possible to have too much of a good thing.

I've been away one week every month since January.  For some that might not seem like much, but for me that's a lot of time away.   This has translated into less focus on my loved ones, overloading my massage schedule when I am home and packing more into each hour of each day.  Worse, my creative soul-nourishing activities have been neglected:  writing, blogging (only 40 posts since January!), Fragrant Fridays, art journaling, soulcollage and time spent just dreaming.  Never underestimate the value of "goofing off" "puttering" and "doing nothing in particular".

Yep.  When staying in a gorgeous lake cottage like this isn't nearly as interesting as

moments like this,

then it's time to be home.

So today, I'm putting an end to busy.  I've invited my inner child for a visit and we're doing nothing in particular.  At home. 

Where, it turns out, we like it best.

Road Trip Anyone?

If you're a Lavender Lover or just want something fun to add to your list of things to do this summer, I suggest you check out these festivals:

Prairie Lavender Farm
LAVENDER FESTIVAL
Bennington, Kansas
June 19, 2010

Hosted by Mike Neustrom, owner of Prairie Lavender Farm, this looks like one fun festival!  You can pick your own fresh lavender, take a tour of their farming/processing operation, learn to make lavender gifts, listen to live music and shop in their brand new store.

Questions?   Check out their website Prairie Lavender Farm or email Mike, he's one great guy! mike@prairielavenderfarm.com.

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 If you live in the Pacific Northwest or have a bunch of frequent flyer miles to use, you'll want to attend the 14th Annual Lavender Festival in Sequim, Washington.  Sequim calls itself "The Lavender Capital of North America".

Sequim Lavender Festival

July 16, 17, 18, 2010

They'll have farm tours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily plus a street fair with more than 150 crafts and lavender booths.  There will be food, music, and more in downtown Sequim. 

For more pictures you can go to the Sequim Lavender Festival blog here or check out the website which is chock full of information and photos. 

And if you're going and need some company, write to me...you never know, I just might be up for it!

Art Journaling: A Day of Color and Mirth

Working in an art journal really brings out the inner child as I saw on April 17th.  Seven powerful, wonderful women turned into creative "little girls" as they played with paint and stamps, tore up magazines for collaging, wore animal hats, ate chocolate and made beautiful art in their journals.

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Below are pictures of our day of creative play.
Click on the photo if you'd like to enlarge it.

Have I forgotten to pack anything?   The kitchen sink maybe?

Linda and Jennifer hard at play.

Even in an Art Journaling workshop I include aromatics.

  Here's Dee adding peppermint essential oil to her paint bottle.

Recommended Reading

Sassy was there, too!
  It was her ninth birthday and this is how she celebrated.
  In fact, this is how she celebrates everything.

Linda drying her page with a hairdryer.

Pat brought this beautiful Goddess stamp from home.
I am SO ordering one!

Pat and Jennifer

Lots of goodies to play with!

Bobbie, deep in thought.

 I love the freedom this process encourages!

I gave them animal hats and asked that them to write
in their journals how they were like their animal.

.

 Cathy created a pretty border around her two-page spread.

Hey, Joleen is a southpaw.

It was truly a relaxing, fun and creative day.  When can we do it again?

Certified Aromatherapy Instructor...WooHoo!

After an intensive five days together, seven students successfully graduated from Andrea Butje's ACP Teacher Training at the Aromahead Institute! 

In this program we learned how to instruct an exceptional 235-hour Aromatherapy Certification Program that meets (and exceeds) the guidelines set by NAHA's Level 1 and 2 Educational Standards. 

Thank you Andrea for a wonderful class and congratulations to my aromatic sisters (aka the top notes)!

(couch L to R) Chris Carrothers, Terry Miller, Pam Dore, moi

(floor L to R) Amy Vona , Patti Celini and Chrissy Polnyj

Memorizing Molecules

I recently bought a super-cool set of coasters from this artist.

The weird markings are actually chemical structures of aromatic molecules with punctilious names like d-limonene, linalyl acetate, geraniol and a-bisabolol.  These little guys are so delightful to me that I've displayed a few around my massage room.

 

Sometimes during a massage, I'll catch myself glancing at a molecule and trying to name it.  So if you're a massage client and hear me mutter  "Linalol C₁₀H₁₈O" or catch me whispering "Linalyl acetate C₁₂H_2oO₂" you'll know why.

I'm officially an aroma nerd.