Sticking to the Point

While I was away

While I was away, we had dinner parties and sleep-overs, Frosty Fun camp for A, gifting us time each afternoon, to decompress at home.

We've reorganized and we've also done a lot of purging, with more to come in the immediate future. It feels good to rid ourselves of clutter.

While I was away, I knit a scarf for miss A, the same yarn as a recently knit scarf for myself. She insisted on wearing it today (it's bitter cold here), even though it's a little scratchy.

While I was away, I had an artist date. My favorite part of working through the Artist's Way, are the artist dates. I love to plan what each week will bring. Looking through vintage black and white photos and finding a few for future collages. A trip to the bookstore. A walking tour. It's a treat to myself for the hard work that comes with working through the book.

Last Friday, I had plans to meet Susanna in the city for an afternoon of photo-taking and walking our favorite neighborhoods. I arrived in the city earlier than our meet-up with the intention of having my artist date. (That's the thing about these dates, they are meant to be spent alone.)

Arriving at Penn Station, I quickly headed east to avoid the massive crowds in Herald Square and to venture into a part of mid-town I rarely visit: the Indian shops along Lexington Avenue. Roaming in and out of the little shops, I loved looking at the colorful spices in bins and sweet treats behind glass counter tops. Small clusters of men standing outside speaking in lilting voices, there's a community feeling to the neighborhood, often lost in the sprawling metropolis. I wasn't in a buying mood, rather I chose to look around, keeping my camera tucked away for later.

I wandered downtown to Union Square, our meeting place. On Friday's, there's a weekly farmers market. I plant myself next to a sign, incognito behind my sunglasses and a hot cup of tea, observing the stream of people passing by. It was exhilerating really, to just stop and watch, a lovely way to drink my tea, instead of sitting inside an over-crowded cafe.

Susanna and I had a plan to roam the East Village and Soho before heading uptown to 5th Avenue and the holiday window displays. We visited Susanna's favorite store, John Derian, where I boldly snuck photos of the magic inside.

We ended up in Soho, visiting this store, again sneaking photos, I especially like the second one.

Little Italy,

the New Museum,

and wonderful street art, my heart singing with each found image.

 

Sabbatical

In chapter four of the Artist's Way, I had to read the heading, Reading Deprivation, twice to comprehend that it actually said no reading. Seriously? Cameron writes that during Artist's Way workshops, there's a lot of emotion that erupts from this: denial, anxiety, anger, fear. Especially fear. I quickly shut the book, having snuck a peek for the coming week, I didn't want to admit that I was being asked to not read. I've felt all of these emotions. I haven't actually read chapter four yet, knowing that I wasn't sure how I could possibly commit to not reading.

Emailing with Deezee ( my co-journey woman afar), about this week's chapter, she said she won't be reading. I so wasn't going to commit. I had my good excuses, I was convinced. As I responded, I realized that not blogging for the week, not reading and not writing would be cathartic for me. Especially the way I've been feeling about the whole bloggy thing. My daily journal entries will have a focus this week; I can write about this experience and see what transpires.

How timely that this comes at the end of 2007. A subtle gift, a gentle reminder to myself,  to step back and re-focus. To discover a balance and connection that brings me back to me.

Happy New Year friends. Peace and love.