Body Politics, taken from 5/16 at ArtoMatic 2008

This week definitely took on a life of its own.  Some really great things like my first order from WholesaleCrafts.com (whee!!! – filling that order required making new work, which requires making a lot of new work so I have a kiln full and can be energy efficient) and a very nice order from a reader of this blog (double whee!!!!! – I always like talking to folks who buy my work) who did her holiday shopping with me. 

But then I had to cancel playing with beads yesterday (and cut short a regular coffee meeting with a friend) to deal with my other pug, Sueno, who has been itchy and finally itched through behind her ear to a very nasty patch  (boooo).  I tried a t-shirt sleeve and then a bandana over it (along with Vitamin E) but pugs have no necks to speak of and she scratched them off.  So I called the vet yesterday morning and recalled in the afternoon and got some cream and a cone, which of course she hates so I had to pamper her all afternoon until she got used to it.  Maybe "used to it" is a stretch but at least she's now tolerating it and already the spot looks not so raw this morning. She also has to have an operation next week for a bump on her chest that has been determined to have a few cancerous cells (we had her at the vets early this week for that). 

Then I gallery sat at Heron's Way one day and have been working on jewelry for longest friend, Linda (now almost 2 years into recovery from ovarian cancer – triple wheee!), who also did her holiday shopping with me when she and hubby came through last week.  Today I'm visiting with a friend who had surgery (cancer) and needs someone with her during the day while her daughter works. 

Next week looks better (except for dog surgery and after care).   This all happened after I determined that I would not plan for what's next (given the landscape right now, with all the swirls and eddy's out in the political arena affecting things over which I have no control…for instance, the economy and how much folks have to spend on art) but merely accept what comes and do what I could in the moment.  And of course we just had the equinox which tends to shift moods and energy around too.  At any rate, I just got up and after typing this I think I need a nap!

thought for the day:  In analyzing a given desire, it's important to do two things:  don't judge and be honest about what the desire is really about.  To look clearly at a desire, judgment has to go, for it's the labeling of a desire as bad that sends it to the basement of repression.  Desires arise.  Someone cuts you off on the highway – for a moment the desire is to have a side-mounted laser cannon and blow him off the road.  If you feel horrible and ashamed, there's a very good chance that the cause of that anger will never be discovered. 

As for what the desire is really about, take an example:  someone running for a public office.  They desire power.  But often people feel guilty (judgmental) about so boldly stating their true desire that they go into a song and dance about helping the citizens, whereas they really want to experience the feeling of power.  And who's to say that for them that's not the next step up their ladder of evolution?  Or maybe they say they want power to cover up a deep feeling of insecurity and worthlessness.  In which case getting the power won't really do them any good.  Arntz, Chasse, Vicente, What the Bleep Do We Know!?