EMERGE
  • Sign up!! Schedule
  • Red Thread Circles
  • Home
  • Private Parties
  • Past Workshops
  • Contact
  • About
  • Blog
  • Society6
  • Important Information
  • Sign up!! Schedule
  • Red Thread Circles
  • Home
  • Private Parties
  • Past Workshops
  • Contact
  • About
  • Blog
  • Society6
  • Important Information

Archives

August 2022
May 2022
August 2021
April 2021
March 2019
January 2019
November 2018
October 2018
July 2017
June 2017

Are you ****ing kidding me?! (day 22 blogging with Effy Wild)

4/22/2021

6 Comments

 
I'm trapped in reaction, yup! After just talking about how it's a good idea to pause, I'm rushing in.
After the issues yesterday trying to get the blog function to work on Weebly, I had more issues this morning. It will let me post or discard, but nothing was coming up for an entry. So I just hit post, let's see what happens.  It posted! Just a date. So trying to delete that off the page I ended up inadvertently deleting yesterday too! ARGGGhhhh.....
I'm sad. 
There is no going back, I tried.
I'm regretful that I didn't think about copying from the other page I had it open on still. But that is a hindsight thing.
not helpful thoughts
  • why can't things just go right
  • why can't Weebly just work!
  • why didn't you leave well enough alone and leave the one little blank post
  • why why why 
I wonder, is there a way to stop that all before it happens?  Not the problems, but the reactions.
Do I really have to go through it all every time? 
Yup!  And just like Kyle Cease loves to say, "And I love it."
WTF? Love stupid things happening and then reacting more stupidly? YUP!
Because it's there, it happened, why NOT love it? Fighting it is going to take SO much more energy.
It's allowing. It's space in the container.
and it takes practice. every damn day.
(Kyle Cease is a motivational/transformational speaker who developed the program "Evolving Out Loud")
Picture
6 Comments

Playing safe (day 20 blogging with Effy Wild)

4/20/2021

4 Comments

 
Picture
I wrote a completely different blog. I chickened out on posting it.
It was a rant about social media. I am going to save it for after the 30 days is finished. I just don't want to put something so volatile out there in this public of forum. (the group)
So picking a more safe topic, I've been thinking about developing a practice that I share with a membership on art journaling as a way of holding myself accountable. I realized years ago that art was healing for me. And I have a firm belief that creativity is the essence of the soul. Since then I've looked for a good way to share that with others. I've realized that for it to be truly beneficial it needs to be a practice, likely a daily one.
I'm not good about a daily practice. I do art often for sure. And I know a daily practice would benefit me in the mindfulness area.  But I am having a hard time making it a practice. EVEN though I KNOW it would be good for me.  AND I know it would be good for other people! And I know that if I have people depending on me, I'm more likely to do it.
BUT - that just further proves and abets the fact that I am better at taking care of other people than I am at taking care of myself.  I'll do it for someone else, but not for me. So if I put myself in the position of "having" to take care of my members, am I actually hamstringing myself? And not taking care of myself?
Or am I buying into psychobabble, and I would actually be in service to others, which is a legitimate calling....Does a calling have to have a clear and concise syllabus? Cuz mine doesn't! 
Interesting how I can flip flop on all this. Maybe it's just fear. Likely it's just fear.  Did I say I picked a safe topic? I meant for the reader in general, I'm never safe. Am I ever safe?  I feel safe doing art. Mostly.
Ok, I feel safe just being creative. With no end goal. And that's why all the above.
holding space for my ramblings....
​~deb


Picture
4 Comments

Rinse & Repeat (day 19 blogging with Effy Wild)

4/19/2021

2 Comments

 
(Really day 17 for me, but who's counting.  Wait.....IS someone counting? O_o)
Yes, my humor is an acquired taste, but I digress, again.  I did miss blogging over the weekend.  I was doing airbrush tattoo demonstrations on Saturday at my artist cooperative, and spending much needed time with my daughters that evening for my oldest daughter's birthday.  I'm not going to try to say I didn't have the time, but I didn't have the energy. And that's ok.
I was overwhelmingly grateful for all the responses to my last post on "Take a deep breath, and forgive yourself everything"!  It really resonated.
And most of us forget! We forget to offer ourselves that forgiveness on a regular basis.  We drop back into our old habits and before we know we are buried deep in that pile of yuck.  Hey, you can forgive yourself for that too.  
What I've discovered is that I have to take that breath and forgive myself many times a day.
We are such goal oriented, linear thinking creatures, that we think once we've learned something, we've reached our goal and that's it! We should be happy, at peace, whatever.  The truth is, life isn't really linear. It's a cycle.  Things are going to come back around and you are going to need to deal with them again and again and again.  It feels like that forgiveness didn't really work, because I keep ending up back here.  It did work. But you have to keep doing it. It has to become a habit and practiced every day.
I call that "Rinse & Repeat​".
I'm considering developing and offering that practice to a membership.  I find it helps to have support and for me, accountability. But that is another post.
.....with compassion
~deb♥
Picture
(above is from my first art showing almost 5 years ago)
2 Comments

Take a Breath (day 16 blogging with Effy Wild)

4/16/2021

22 Comments

 
For a long time now, my mantra has been: 
​Take a deep breath, and forgive yourself everything.
I'm not even sure where I found the image, but it still really resonates with me.
Now this doesn't mean forgiveness for some big mistake in your past (although that needs to be included).  To me, it means forgive yourself for all the things you think you are falling short in, or even for the thought thinking that you ARE falling short.  Forgive yourself for all those things you beat yourself up about all day long.  Because guess what?  Beating yourself up doesn't help.  All it does is keep you stuck.  Stuck in feeling like someone who deserves to be beaten up.  Would you do that to your friend!  Never! But you are your BEST friend and you treat you like SHIT!
Just like forgiveness for someone who wronged you is about freeing yourself, so is this.  You are doing it for you, so you can let go and move forward.  
So take a deep breath in.........
breathe in forgiveness.....
and blow out all the shit.  Let it all go.
ALL of it! You don't have to hold onto one single thing.  All you have to do is just be.
That's it. Be.
Picture
22 Comments

April Showers day 15 blogging with Effy Wild

4/15/2021

6 Comments

 
I sit here listening to the tires on wet pavement swishing by.  We have rain that will likely turn to snow later as it cools down and will continue in to Friday.  We always get snowstorms late in the spring, hopefully this is the last one. Chilly rain makes me want to snuggle up with a good book and a fluffy blanket.  It also makes me feel slower, more calm and a bit introspective.  I do love the sound of rain on the roof and the fresh scent after.  Of course this may be of the more frozen sort. Can you smell frozen?
I don't have much to say today. I had a fabulous post on Facebook saved to use as a prompt, only to find it "unavailable" any longer for reasons only known to the universe. 
  • I'm grateful the the moisture and knowing this will pass soon.
  • I'm grateful to be able to celebrate my oldest daughter's 33 birthday with her and her sister this weekend!
  • I'm beyond grateful to have found a compassionate creative community online
  • I'm grateful and continually amazed at the synchronicity between what my soul needed and what I created in paintings.
  • I'm grateful to realize I am a healer even if I don't know what that looks like yet.
  • I'm grateful for your eyes reading my words
holding compassionate space
​~deb♥ 
Picture
6 Comments

I'm sorry, but it had to be pun (day 14 blogging with Effy Wild and probably my last ;)

4/14/2021

8 Comments

 
I actually really love a bad Dad joke, but I love a bad pun even badder.
I don't purport to be any good at making one, but I can spot one a smile away.
Here are a few I found:
Sorry to start where it hurts, but this one really made me laugh:
  • What jokes are allowed during quarantine?    INSIDE jokes
  • Poop jokes aren't my favorite, but they are a solid number two!
A build up:
  • Honeydew you know how happy you make me?
  • I'm bananas for you, let's never split.
  • Ladies, if he can’t appreciate your fruit jokes, you need to let that mango.

  • Geology rocks but Geography is where it’s at!
  • Need an ark to save two of every animal? I noah guy.
  • I don’t trust stairs because they’re always up to something.
  • Why did the student get upset when the teacher called her average? It was a 'mean' thing to say.
  • Have you heard the one about the statistician? Probably.
  • Math jokes are a sine of a big problem.
  • I made a pun about the wind but it blows.

Picture
I have no excuse, Wacky Wednesday?

​~deb♥
8 Comments

Trying something new (day 13 blogging with Effy Wild)

4/13/2021

9 Comments

 
Tuesday Bluesday, anyone else have more issues with Tuesday than they do with Mondays?
I don't know why, but Tuesday is the day I want to crawl in a hole and stay there.
Maybe Monday traumatized me.
  • Trying to focus on my business marketing. After the success of last weeks workshop, I'm trying to prepare myself for the let down this week is looking like it will be. Did I manifest that?
(Looking back at history, there's no rhyme or reason why some classes go and others fizzle. Indeed, there have been some I didn't really want to teach that were crazy popular, so I don't feel like alignment is at issue, unless it is the universe aligning in laughter at my expense....)
  • Wow, I'm just realizing how scattered I am feeling. (I mean in general, the Tuesday thing is just a given)
  • Another realization this week is that I am much better at doing for others than I am at doing for me.
  • I got a wild hair earlier in the year and bought an airbrush system planning on doing airbrush tattoos at festivals.  I was reminded early in my experiments why I didn't pursue airbrushing years ago.  1-I am not a patient person when there is a real learning curve to something and 2-even water based paints are PAIN in the ass to clean up in the airbrushes.  I have concerns
  • Anyone else feel like updating their website just sucks the life out of you?
  • I bought some spring bulbs that were already growing on Saturday.  Seriously, they were just little green sprigs.  Yesterday 2 of Irises had bloomed and the other Muscari (known as grape hyacinth) has grown 4 inches! I am humbled by natures possibilities!  We had sssoooo many irises around my house growing up and I really wanted that from my childhood. I did, however, find out that there are dwarf iris bulbs that differ from my experience and that is what I had purchased.
Picture
Picture
  • today's overused word is "that"
  • I managed to recover 4 of the chairs from my art cooperative I am a member of, and they don't look terrible. Bonus, what I figured would cover 4.5 chairs will cover 5.25 (lol)
  • now I need to go do some HEAVY marketing and even HEAVIER hoping on my new painting challenge I am trying out (remember that title? no, me either, that was a long time ago, but yeah, this is the new thing I am trying out).  See what the crazy lady is talking about here: Emerge April Painting Challenge

  • have a fantastic day!
    ~deb
April painting challenge by Deb Montgomery
9 Comments

A project (day 12 blogging with Effy Wild)

4/12/2021

8 Comments

 
I'm stoked to be in a group of such creative people!
So I thought I would share a project I have tried to roll out as a painting workshop to less enthusiasm in my community.
I found some 3D barn quilt wood cutouts that just really sparked something in me.
I love the possibilities! 
​3D refers to the fact that there are 12 of the diamond shapes that can be added to the flat base, that already has the pattern laser etched into it.
So the grey one I actually painted, and used tissue paper for the patterned pieces.
The others I have designed digitally. I am in love the with idea I came up with on the sunflower quilt:
I filled the whole background with the image, then added the colored shapes on top.
Oh man! This is such a super fun idea! I so wish I had some interest from people!
I might end up just painting them all myself and trying to sell them as finished pieces.


A barn quilt, what the heck?
From what I can find on it: 20 years ago, Donna Sue Mills, of Ohio, decided to honor her mother by painting a quilt on her barn.
Neighbors loved the idea and it spread in rural communities to become a popular sight along "barn trails". Some are in honor of loved ones, others for decoration and community interest in adding to the barn trail.  If you ever visit Northeast Colorado, you will find some along US Highway 6!



8 Comments

She rebuilds herself (day 11 blogging with Effy Wild)

4/11/2021

4 Comments

 
Picture
4 Comments

Sneaky sneak sneakerson (day 10 blogging with Effy Wild, but really day 11)

4/11/2021

8 Comments

 

Well, I start ALOT of texts, messages and sentences with that word.  I'm trying to break myself of the habit. Although, if I am honestly putting my thoughts down, yeah, that's how many start.  After a crazy rampage of OTHER thoughts...I can settle and start at well.
Betcha didn't need to know all that did ya? 
Oh! And there would be many more curse words.
MANY more.
so many more.
Which I guess brings me to todays subject.  Er, yesterdays topic, since I am a day behind as I was getting ready to state earlier, starting with "well".... Well, about 11:00 last night I realized I forgot to blog, and I was going to do it right then.  Snacking happened, then sleep happened. 
Fast forward to today.  We will call this day 11, part one, since I intend to get actual day 11 in later.
Where were we?  Oh yeah, my topic! That showed up amidst my ramblings.  
How much do we edit? Speaking for myself, I know I have at least 10 other thoughts related to the one sentence I actually get out.  And those are the coherent ones. Throw in the feelings and I am almost at overload.  Is that an introvert thing?
We edit cursing (to some extent), we edit harmful words (to some extent),
we edit shadow thoughts, we edit and edit and edit until one has to wonder.....does anyone ever really see our true selves?  Hell, do WE even see it?
How much harm does editing actually do?  What if we are robbing others by doing so? Robbing them of their full experience? And shorting ourselves.
Then I start thinking, what would that look like? Everyone just saying whatever.
My mind reacts in a kind of horror at the thought.  Imagine the battles what would ensue.  And why, over some words?  Do my words always reflect my intentions, my feelings? Not at all. I filter. I edit. And it gets further filtered when it comes to actions.
Sometimes I think it a lack in our language.  But in reflecting on it, I think it more likely that in our development we are taught language, we are taught action and reaction.  What I feel like we aren't taught, or what is taught right out of us, is compassion.
Through a filter of compassion, either upon leaving the brain or being received, I believe our communications would actually be more effective.  At present it doesn't allow for.........more. The true expansiveness that is the self.  
 

Picture
8 Comments
<<Previous
Forward>>

    Author

    Let's being a journey together.  I'll share my experiences and hopefully you'll join in.  A journey in art!

    Archives

    August 2022
    May 2022
    August 2021
    April 2021
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.