What does an Aries x5 do while waiting for the faces of previous in-progress paintings to come to me? Begin another! Here’s the under painting for the Watcher at the Window. I’m not sure what colors I’ll use yet but know I wanted these as a base.  I’ve Photoshopped in this pic the moon and a few stars to remind me where I want them to go. The window on the left was initially going to be a painting of Yogananda. We’ll see…  On the left is the picture I am painting from.  I liked the image of sitting alone, gazing out the window but wanted a more open and cozy feel to the scene.  I’ll add pillows and maybe a table with a cup of tea, maybe add a cat and hang a few windchimes.  The man likes the stark look of the source photo with the focus on one window.  So do I, but he and I have a different experience when we look at that image.  It reminds me of looking out my living room window on full moon night at a home I had in Murphy, NC. A chilly night, I had the heater on and set big pillows on the futon next to the big window. The room glowed from the moonlight shining in  I followed the moon across the sky on full moon nights, and watched as it illuminated the woods and mountains.  I had three level wooded acres, 2 acres up on a bluff and the home on an acre at the base. I loved watching the moon come over the treeline of the bluff.  I did some of my best thinking at that window.

A friend attracted an amount of money she’d been wanting for a new project.  She considered it a windfall and was excited beyond words she could now make her dream a reality.  She began making plans and went to sleep a happy camper. She called me the next day in a quandry.  As she was making a list of what to buy, she began to call the friends and family who’d supported her vision to tell them the good news.  During their conversations she was reminded that a friend paid her cell phone bill the past year, her mom let her live rent free and her dad loaned her his car. While no one was asking for her to pay them back, she began a tally in her head, deducting those amounts so she could surprise them by repayment.  By the time she added it up, she was left  a far cry from what she needed for her project.  Her question to me was, should she pay everyone back first or do her dream first?   Continue reading →

It’s been raining a few days.  It’s 3:00am and I’m sitting in the office with the windows open, listening to a gentle rain drip off the leaves outside.  It’s 71 degrees, the windows are open to the night air and I can smell the jasmine in the courtyard.  I love being awake in the middle of the night time when everyone around me is sound asleep.  It’s a time I sit and contemplate how good my life is.  It’s a time I bring to mind my friends, advertisers and clients as I pray for them as part of my spiritual practice –> here are my altar and healing bench techniques. It’s also a time I daydream about my partner while he sleeps soundly nearby. It’s one way I stay connected to him when we don’t spend waking time together.  Continue reading →

An excellent article here –> The Dance – The Sociopath and The Empath.  A turning point in our own evolution is when we choose to stop allowing them into our life. I’ve only had the honor of attracting one such troubled individual and gained much wisdom from it. The good news – when you’re being played, you learn the game. When they tell you right away you’re the soul mate they’ve always sought, it’s time to dash. Or at least to step back, reflect and learn the back story.  It may take years. That’s ok.  You’ve got all the time in the world, and not a moment to lose.

RELATED: How to spot a Sociopath
They didn’t know their partner had a secret life
How to spot a sociopath – 10 red flags
Psychopaths: 30 Red Flags
Beware the narcissistic sociopath disguised as your “Soul Mate”

Self publish? Get an agent? A friend has fallen for “an editor” offering to make her manuscript ready for publication. After a year, all she has is an outlay of dollars, an unfinished draft and the slow realization she didn’t win a contest at all, it was a marketing scheme to get her to pay for hours of “editing and consulting.” Please check everyone out. Not everyone is out to play off your narcissism and rip off your dreams.

General Guidelines & Tips on Avoiding Scams:  There are too many scams out there, so in addition to listing the ones we know about, here are some general guidelines and tips to keep in mind when searching for publishers, agents, artists, contests, editors, etc.:   Continue reading →

Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox

Shiva and his steed, Nandi the bull

Is that Paul Bunyan on my roof, pulling down entire trees that have begun growing up there?  No, it’s a mild mannered kirtan bass player in his alter ego role as Mr. Muscles (and he’s got ’em)!  He spent the morning pulling up the 6 foot tall Brazilian Pepper Tree and 4 foot tall Lantana bush that had begun growing atop the aluminum metal roof of the back porch.  The mats of roots and leaf mulch was so thick that I didn’t have to plant them.  They came down as if in thickly woven welcome mats. I dragged them to the newly bare spot that the tree cutters left open to the view of my neighbor’s home, so now we’re once again hidden 🙂  It’s not every pal who will climb up on the roof in the hot Florida sun and sweep away 4-5 years worth of jungle with a smile on his face and a chant on his lips.  Om Gam Ganapataye Namah.  Which brings me to: Did you ever notice that you never see Paul Bunyan and Babe at the same time you see Shiva and Nandi?  Thoughts that make you go hmmmm…

The spirit oak cut back

Here’s my giant spirit oak after the power company contractors cut it away from the power line — The Universe sends me tree cutters.  I’ve got a great open space now and sunshine for my turk’s cap and arbicola along the privacy fence beneath it to grow. It’s the only spot in the back of the property that has sunshine and it’s got lots now. There’s also a perfect cut branch for me to mount a platform for a tree house. It’ll look right down into the grouchy neighbor’s enclosed pool area and living room. Better than tv!   Continue reading →

The spirit oak cut back

Today Asplundh is cutting trees underneath the power lines for Florida Power and Light Co. My giant oak in the back hasn’t been cut for several years, so they need to bring in the machine to do it. My property is very overgrown and wooded but the property next to it has a clearing they can come in through.  My mulberry tree branches on the north side are all gone, as well as a few choice loquat branches from the largest tree out back. They actually made some good choices of where to make the cuts, and today is a good day for pruning according to the moon. They are now assessing the giant pines to the west. I asked if they managed to cut any of the smaller bamboo to the east, don’t put them in the chipper but leave for me to pick up so I can use them.  They left me a bunch!  I figured this was about a $400 job they saved me from.  Thank You Syncronicity of the Universe!  Bonus: I just noticed that the tree cutters left me a clear view of the north sky out the back sliders. It’s pretty cool being able to sit and see the sky from inside the house, I’ve never been able to do that before.

RELATED:  The universe gifts me with a brand new garden space I never had before!
The new garden area gets a blessing

We’re loving the cooler weather in Florida! 72 degree nights mean sitting out at the firepit and camping in my own woods.  I love having woods on three sides of me. I can feel completely isolated away from civilization yet the neighborhood is right on the other side of a few lots of oaks and pines. It becomes enchanted here at nightfall, so I enjoy the outdoors when the air turns cool.  I began cutting the trails through the woods last night and spent time watching the woodland creatures that I share the property with.  Their nightly parade up and down the trails is a never ending source of entertainment and contemplation.   Sometimes they get a whiff of the corn and potatoes roasting in the firepit and stop to see if they’ll get a handout.  I do not feed them, there are plenty of woods here for them to forage in and their fatness is evidence.  Continue reading →

It used to miff Sherrae when someone asked what her heritage was so they could figure out why she is the color she is and has the features she has. “We’re American” was never sufficient. Sometimes she’d say she was adopted and ask them to guess.  “Look at my eyes, ” she’d say, “and the shape of my nose, my cheekbones.  Look at my hair, my body.   What does the cover tell you about the book?”

My experience is that we’re all a mix.  I may not be able to tell by their features if a friend is Polynesian or Peruvian or African or English or Scottish.  I might guess if someone doesn’t “look like me” then perhaps they have a different cultural background and learning about different cultures is fascinating for me.  What they are really curious about is “why do you look so different than I do?”

What Happened When A Biracial Woman Was Photoshopped In 18 Different Countries