Sunday Swoon

Greetings and salutations from Arizona, USA,

Unfortunately, there was an unexpected death in my family that has prohibited me from doing any drawing, writing, or painting in the last 2 weeks.

The problem was - How do I create during a time when I have very little extra time and when I am feeling very sad? The outcome I was looking for were outlets at my fingertips for which I could use sporadic spurts of creativity at will.

I discovered a Smartphone App that made me SWOON during this time. I have a plethora of saved photos of my artwork and miscellaneous other photos on my iPhone and I heard about the Blender photo app. It was $1.99. I downloaded it and it took about 3 minutes to figure out how to use it. It really made me SWOON and it allowed me to use spurts of creative energy during a very tough family time.

The second strategy I used to get through the sorrowful time was to look at my vintage art book collection. I viewed a lot of paintings by Monet because the colors he used make me happy. I cannot resist the endorphin it generates in me. Pretty much, without fail, perusing my art books makes me SWOON.

The final strategy I used to utilize my creative writing juices was to make a daily list of things for which I was grateful. I picked one of the items on the list and wrote a paragraph about the item and how it made me feel. Then whenever I was feeling blue, I went back and re-read them. It proved quite useful as a coping mechanism. Being grateful leads to overall happiness, which is the ultimate SWOON.

Here are 3 favorite results of my 2-week experiment with the Blender Photo app.

Go forth and create. 

Peace!

Shake Your Tu-Tu Tail

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone.
It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright sunshiny day."

Picture a Rastafarian mermaid, about 10 years old, with dreadlocks and a heart-shaped mouth. She wants to be a ballerina and cook cupcakes for her friends. She has problems though - She can't cook underwater and she cannot put ballet slippers on because of her tail.

We've all been there.

We know what it feels like.

So, what does she do?

She covers her tail with a pink tutu and shakes her tail. She sneaks away and buys cupcakes for her friends. They make do with what they have and they find joy anyway.

Shake your Tu-Tu tail.

By Susan English 9/9/13

Good and Evil

By Susan English January 2012 - Original Mixed Media Art

"RUGER" THE LITTLE DOG

What do I remember most about 2011?

How “Ruger” came to be a member of our family.

My spouse was taking a walk around the neighborhood when he heard what he thought was a child crying. He followed the menacing sound to where he found a little dog short-tied to a bush. He could not move at all and lay there crying.

Mike brought him home and the little dog quickly bit him in the hand. I thought to myself that if there was any chance of my keeping this little dog, it had swiftly passed. We tried to find the owner, to no avail, and then took him to the dog pound. When Mike got to the pound, he couldn’t turn the little dog over.

It is amazing how much a pet can improve one’s life!

Today, when I look back on it, it is as if he saved us; We didn’t save him.

I have enjoyed every minute with him.

When you think about 2011, what do you remember most?

Namaste

Piece 'o cake

It's past noon on Saturday and I am still wearing my PJ’s, drinking diet soda, and shivering in my hoodie and fluffy slippers. I am, however, doing school work...sort of.

Yes, my graduate program is on line and it was just what my doctor ordered. OK, so my doctor ordered me to take Prozac for depression, but if the doctor could tell me whether or not to roll my ass out of bed every Saturday to get to school by 8:00 a.m., or take classes on line, she definitely would have chosen the latter option. Because half the time I am attending class on line or doing homework, I have another tab opened where I am blogging, listening to tunes, and watching YouTube videos. And when I finish each class and turn in my receipt and grade slip, I get a lovely tuition reimbursement check to compensate me for my professional development and for being so unbelievably lazy in doing so.

And the countdown continues: Four classes down, eleven more to go, and then I can say “bye-bye” job with the mini-cubicle, no pay raises, no promotions, and ill-mannered co-workers where they pay me a very small salary to tell people they owe mega-money to Uncle Sam.

Cuz I'm The Tax Man

My friend Shay of the Word Garden blog made this LOLcat just for me! Thanks Shay!
(I get by with a little help from my friends.)

Dear Life

This poem was written by Erin of the In Through the Back Door blog

what it is about

it is to stop
and recognize
what is passing
that is what writing is about

i could live a thousand years
but to live them
and have them pass
as highway beneath my ass
without ever looking
that would mean nothing

or i could live one day
on a hill
and touch the grass
and watch the sky
and look upon the birds
and feel the breeze
and touch my breast
and then to write of that
-that one day-
that would amount to more
than the thousand years

yes?

Brilliant!