The Chesterfield Ad

This Chesterfield advertisement has hung on the wall of every home I've lived in.  It's been woven into the fabric of my domestic life like a favorite cushion or set of dishes that's always been there. 

The poster is more than just a cool vintage collectible and has a unique significance for me.  The handsome model is my father.  This particular ad appeared on page 66 of Life Magazine on June 29, 1942 when he was just 25.  He posed for other Chesterfield ads that year which appeared in Popular Mechanics, Colliers and Good Housekeeping as well as billboards alongside the road.

Today is my father's birthday and he would have been 93.

Interviews by Julochka of Moments of Perfect Clarity

Julochka of the magnificent blog Moments of Perfect Clarity has been interviewing other bloggers -  specifically her readers - for the past month.   She sent her interviewees a list of questions then posted their responses on her blog.   Today's interview is with yours truly.

In looking over her collection of  interviews, I see a beautiful blogging patchwork, and I can't help but marvel how the blogosphere affords us the opportunity to know amazing and fascinating people that would otherwise be lost to us.  

What I found surprisingly (and utterly delightful) was the unexpected nature of her questions.  Instead of covering topics on my fragrant life, she asked things like "where do you go to unwind?" and "what do you miss about Italy?".

If you want to read more, go here.

Falling into Place

A deceivingly simple, yet profound message.  You'll want sound for this. 

What do I wish for my Creativity?

 

Today at Jamie Ridler Studios, the topic is creativity.

In the past year I've ruminated on the concept of essential oils being a catalyst for personal creativity.   That they support physical, emotional and mental health, is well-known and scientifically documented.  But what about supporting spiritual health?  Specifically,  personal creativity. 

Can essential oils be a catalyst for creative expression?  I say an emphatic YES! I firmly believe that essential oils can influence and support not only creativity, but also intuition, motivation and the occasional flashes of genius! 

In my own life, essential oils have inspired me to design healing blends, create an essential oil company and manifest educational programs on their unlimited uses.  Aromatics were the spark that ignited my Aromatic SoulCollage^® series and the same energetic force that that propelled me into the blogosphere, giving life to The Fragrant Muse.  

Bergamot Muse SoulCollage Card

To answer Jamie's question "what do you wish for your creativity"...

I wish to continue expanding this concept of aromatics bolstering the creative mind.   I have an idea for an educational program specifically on how to use essential oils to stimulate personal creativity.  And here we go again...my creative juices are flowing!

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.