Spinmuss peas

Mrs. Moffit sat on a toffit eating her baked spinmuss peas.

Her chicken sat beside her and ate cornchips, don’t deny her.

For dessert, they had baked kitchen sink sundaes.
(I really want to make a visual for this, but your imagination will do.)

Roses and thorns

Rose-Deposit-Photos

Talking to someone the other day, they said “You see roses. All you see is roses. This worlds needs more people like you. Those who see a lot of roses. Now, me, all I see is thorns. Thorns, thorns, thorns, everything and everyone is thorns.”

The world probably doesn’t need more people who see roses as much as it needs people who are simply okay with wherever they are at whether it is seeing all roses or all thorns.

The thornseers are just as important and necessary in this world as the rosegazers.

Yours truly is going to keep on seeing roses.
It is just not possible for me to do much other than that.

Sending you the gentle love of the rose today.

(Rose photo – Deposit Photos)

Pearl.

Precious-Pearls

May you feel like the precious pearl you are today.

Precious, strong, and gorgeous.

An artist can not fail – it is a success just to be one.

“An artist can not fail – it is a success just to be one.”

The words above were sent to me by Martin Stellar.
They inspired me to think and write.

We have all heard…
“We are only failing if we are not trying.”

The answer that comes to me with this is:
To simply be alive is to try.

If you look at it that way, then it is all living people who are always succeeding, and not just artists.

If that is not true, then what is failure?

Struggle of One white pawn and black chessmen with its full complement.

Lack of success.
Or
The omission of expected or required action.
The person playing the white pawn above has omitted required actions!

Thomas Edison and friends tried and failed to invent the light bulb many times.
Light-bulb
Over 1,000 perhaps.
He is a great example of someone who did not give up and changed the world with his invention.
Yay Persistence!
But.
What if he succeeded the fifth time and then went on to invent 100s of other even more amazing things with all the energy he had?

Or, how about that “failure is inevitable and good.”
You have to get good at it, get used to it, because it will always happen.”
Not be bothered by it.

Let’s add this too: “You must fail well.
This is so you don’t fail the same way twice.

Then there is the thought that believing that ‘failure is okay’ is actually bad.
Failure is not good and that you should always aim to succeed and to never fail.

Businesses fail, and people are weakened by those failures.

Many companies, organizations, and countries have failed in their practices of taking care of people, animals, and the environment.
Do you think that is a ‘good’ failure?

With that said, what is success?

Here are some things thought to equal success…

Winner-on-desk-Deposit-Photos

Love.
Money.
100_front
Fame.
Happiness.
Wealth.
Family.
Security.
Spiritual balance.
Connection.
Servants.
Winning.
Hot cars.
Mansions.
Power.
Yachts.
Having time.
Emotional balance.
Good health.
Travel.
Owning a castle.
Castle-Deposit-Photos

Do you want all of those things?
Equally?

Many people forget that this is a 100% personal question.

They let everyone and everything else define what success is, and then run around spewing all their energies in hopes of reaching this external definition of success.

Success-Dial-Deposit-Photos
One of the most ‘successful’ people I have ever known was a man who I met in the rainforest of Peru.
He was called Abuelo (Grandpa).
abuelo
He was in his upper seventies.
Worked hard all day.
Cut open fruit for me so I could sip the delicate fresh nectar.
Took me on long walks through the jungle.
All while I stumbled about and he had to wait for me to catch up.

He owned two shirts, a pair of pants, a cooking pot, and a machete.
That is it.

And he was HAPPY.

This is not about us needing to own nothing to be happy and ‘successful’.
But, what DO you have and how amazing is it?

Some of my success HAS involved me being an artist.

To be an artist is to know and see things in your own special way.

But what people often do not know is that we are all artists.
We can all do that.

We are all artists already.

  • The secretary paints organization with her voice and typing.

Secretary-Deposit-Photos

  • The counselor paints healing with his words and ears.
  • The masseuse sends newly painted, radiant bodies out into the world.
  • The business executive takes up his palette knife to build numbers, connections, and decisions.
  • The mother paints forests of new beginnings as she cares for herself and her family.
  • The landscaper expertly uses the most difficult of colors to paint with – green – to create rolling yards of beauty.

Landscape-Deposit-Photos

  • The scientist swirls murals of analysis.
  • The customer service representative paints watercolor pathways to guide people where they want to go.

In conclusion, yes, it is true.
“An artist can not fail – it is a success just to be one.”
Since we are all alive and all artists, we are all successes.
Ah, and now for us all to get on with REMEMBERING that fact.

My idea of success is always going to be different than every other person in the world.
So is yours.
What is your definition of success?

(Images – Deposit Photos and me)

La Puna Blanca

This is a tree I visited in the Amazon rainforest.

It is 5,000 years old.
That is not a typo.

The name of this tree is La Puna Blanca.

This tree has to have some special power to be able to live that long.

5000-year-old-tree

La Puna Blanca – other views.

5000-year-old-tree-2

5000-year-old-tree-6

This root looks like a creature.

5000-year-old-tree-4

5000-year-old-tree-5

Here I am with La Puna Blanca.
It was a challenging trek through the jungle to reach this tree.
It was just about to rain which spiked the humidity.
During times like this, the mosquitoes are magnificently hungry and took about a liter of my blood to make new babies.
Having the opportunity to be with this tree was worth every last blood donation.

Christine-and-La-puna-blanca

sap

There are some people who do not respect the jungle and cut down trees and put cow pastures in their place.

The people I work with there actually restore the cow pastures back to jungle.
A task some had previously said was impossible.

The considerate people use only parts of plants and have ways of caring for them and keeping them alive and well.
Everything is always utilized efficiently.
It is a symbiotic relationship.
Above is a small part of a root of La Puna Blanca that has been cut for the sap to use as medicine.

 

Happy New Year!

Love,
Christine

Double Drawing

double-drawing-by-christine-marsh

Christine, HOW are you so creative???

Here. I present a piece to introduce you to a drawing game that is fun, will challenge your imagination, and spark your creativity.

Recommended for everyone.

One person draws a line or shape or multiple lines and shapes with one color of
pencil or paint. and the second person draws a picture using those shapes and lines, with another color or colors of pencil or paints.

You can turn the paper in any direction you want before you start.

This piece was created from the lines you see below.

What would YOU have made out of these lines?

Double-Drawing-Lines-by-Christine-Marsh
You can be any age and NOT an artist to play this game.

You can do it with any number of people.
Have fun!
Send them to me!

To Do List Tweak

How do I accomplish all the things I do?

Studying and practicing effective productivity strategies.

This To Do list tweak is for times when you have five or ten minutes of down time throughout the day.
It eliminates time wasted trying to figure out your ‘to do’ list shorthand.

Proactive-Action-List-by-Christine-Marsh-01-01

Choose which productivity method/app you love.

Todoist is amazing.

Note to self…

…In future, always use cutting blades with care while alert and aware.

It is especially challenging when an artist has a finger temporarily out of commission.

 

Note-to-self

 

Make Your Bed

Make the bed.

If you do nothing else in the morning, one helpful thing to do every day when you first wake up is to make your bed.
Even if you only get to this ONE thing.
It could be that you have a crazy day, but, you will feel a sense of control because you made the bed first thing.
It really works.
Make-your-bed
(That is one of my paintings above the bed.)

Misty Magic

Kind of a classic and romantic shot that could be in a magazine or a web site. Hey wait a minute, it’s on mine! 😀 This dog remains a daily sentry at this house.

 

Dog-Lights-Christine-Marsh

As I began to walk, the mist tickled my skin.
It was a dark yet vibrant day.
Everything is very green for winter.

Tiny nublets of water rest at the end of these frilly fronds.

mist-droplets-Christine-Marsh

Green evidence of a warm December.

Water-berries-Christine-Marsh

What was your favorite thing that happened to you today?

What have you done today to make someone’s life better?

What have you done today to make someone’s life better?

Random-Act

There have been times where people did the smallest of things and it made what was a very difficult day so much better.

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Everyone is carrying around some kind of pain.

Bird-feeder

May it at least be soothed.

There.

Is your life better?

Love, Christine