Saturday, January 26, 2008

Love Notes & Guerilla Art

I've been bloghopping this evening and found a scattering of lovely posts about sending Love Notes out into one's city...

It started with Jen Lemen, one of my favorite creativity and kindness bloggers. These are her Love Notes.

She reminded me of Keri Smith and I can't believe I've never linked to her How to be a Guerilla Artist manifesto.

Jen was inspired by her friend Krystyn, who spread some love around New York in response to watching the circus that responded to Heath Ledger's death outside her office building.

From her comments I found the Acts of Kindness blog. Yay, another sister in kindness!

I also found Titration's Guerilla Art Adventure.

Honestly, I haven't been so successful with my intentions towards daily kindness. I think I'll be doing my own version of love notes in the next few days. I was going to say "to make up for it" at the end of that sentence. But I need to be kind to myself and recognize that I tend to do things in bursts anyway...lots of activity and then big rests in between. And it's ok.

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Seeds of Compassion



I just learned about Seeds of Compassion from one of my favorite bloggers.
"Seeds of Compassion is an initiative to nurture kindness and compassion in the world starting with children and all those who touch their lives. By connecting parents, educators, and caregivers, Seeds of Compassion will inspire and empower adults and youth in the development of kinder and more compassionate local and global communities."

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One World, One Heart


Check out this creative-blogosphere-give-away happening right now. I'm hoping to participate, but don't want to commit till I have something ready. At this point I'm just sharing it with all of you.

The Gift Keeps on Giving


The LA Times just released an interview with the author of The Gift, Lewis Hyde.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Power of Blessing

"We bless the life around us far more than we realize. Many simple, ordinary things that we do can affect those around us in profound ways: the unexpected phone call, the brief touch, the willingness to listen generously, the warm smile or wink of recognition. We can even bless total strangers and be blessed by them. Big messages come in small packages. All it may take to restore someone's trust in life may be returning a lost earring or a dropped glove.

A woman once told me that she did not feel the need to reach out to those around her because she prayed every day. Surely, this was enough. But a prayer is about our relationship to God; a blessing is about our relationship to the spark of God in one another. God may not need our attention as badly as the person next to us on the bus or behind us on line in the supermarket. Everyone in the world matters, and so do their blessings. When we bless others, we offer them refuge from an indifferent world.

The capacity to bless life is in everybody. The power of our blessing is not diminished by illness or age. On the contrary, our blessings become even more powerful as we grow older. They have survived the buffeting of our experience. We may have traveled a long, hard road to the place where we can remember once again who we are. That we have traveled and remembered gives hope to those we bless. Perhaps in time they too can remember this place beyond competition and struggle, this place where we belong to one another... I first learned to do this from people who were dying, people who had moved into a more authentic relationship with those around them because only that which is genuine still had meaning for them. These people had let go of the ways in which they had changed themselves to win approval, and so they made it safe for others to remove their masks as well."

--Rachel Naomi Remen

Sunday, January 20, 2008

A Kindness Resolution

I haven't received any requests for over a month now, so I've participated in a few swaps instead. I also gave a spontaneous blessing package with a Transformation Doll to one of my fellow Board members because she just initiated a divorce. Amazingly, I only had one doll and it was purple. It turns out she has a very strong connection to purple. It trips me out how that happens, as if I made the doll for her intuitively before knowing it was hers.

I've also begun gestating a new creative project, which is demanding a lot of emotional energy and time for research. So I haven't been pursuing more exposure for The Conspiracy to generate requests (although I guess participating in the Every Day Kindness and Creativity campaigns may generate some participation). I'll gladly fill any requests that come in. But I'm trusting the flow of the Universe so that all of my actions remain authentic, instead of being driven by a sense of obligation. I don't want to get in over my head and lose my integrity (a kindness to myself and others!).

So I've decided to expand this blog a little into my personal life by connecting it with the Every Day Kindness project (I've added the blog roll to my sidebar), as well as sharing more of my own journey towards kindness. 2008 is my Year of Kindness.

A post from my other blog:

I just started reading Christine Kane's blog and love her advice to overthrow the whole resolution idea and instead choose a word to "be" for a year. Resolutions are all about doing, usually one specific thing, and we usually fail. Resolutions are not holistic. But choosing a word, or quality, to be for the year, to focus our conscious energy on, would be extremely difficult to fail at (we succeed even if we live it one moment) and could potentially have an effect on every aspect of our lives.

The serendipitous thing about this is that I started seeing my years as words two years ago when 2006 became the year of forgiveness. I was given the opportunity to forgive the all the biggest of of my old wounds. I was challenged to grow out of the survivor mentality, to see that I was more than what I had overcome, and I am no longer succeeding in-spite-of. I was challenged to forgive in the moment, continuing to serve others as my best self while they failed me and the community. I was inspired to forgive myself and learned how important self forgiveness is, especially as a mother.

2007 is the year of opening. I opened to my queer nature and returned home to the queer community. I opened to accepting the mantle of leadership...finally. I opened to new friendships. I opened to finding a diagnosis for my health issues after 10 years and understanding how much they have impacted my emotional life in that time. I opened myself to healing. I opened myself more to creative generosity. I opened myself to new forms of art making. I opened myself to the future, to the possible manifestations of my bliss, to the reality that I have choices and can pursue the life of my dreams (as opposed to feeling choiceless and tied down). Even this week, as 2007 ends, I opened to the idea of moving -- leaving this house I am so unhappy with (cheap landlords+old house=lots of problems) and moving away from feeling responsible for my ex. In 2007 I have released the boundaries and limitations I had artificially placed on myself and opened myself to the life of my dreams.

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet, friend or foe, loved one or stranger, as if they were going to be dead at midnight (including yourself). Extend to each person, no matter how trivial the contact, all the care and kindness and understanding and love that you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again." -Og Mandino

2008 will be the year of kindness. I have been focused on creative generosity, which allows me to keep a distance from the lives I am touching. I make it about the art and the giving, not about how I relate to each individual. I feel the urge to grow by responding to life, myself and others with kindness. Kindness is active and requires interaction of some sort. Kindness can replace my anxious social thoughts and allow me to be fully present to others. Kindness can open me to more connection. Kindness can inspire me to love myself enough to pursue good health. Kindness can carry me through each interaction with my ex until the day we no longer live together. Kindness can give me the space to accept all of myself and all of everyone else. Kindness can make me a better leader.

"Everyone is living with a pain body." Eckhart Tolle

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." Philo of Alexandria

I have been carrying these two quotes in the journal in my purse for a long time. But I have not been living them and I want to.

PS Part of my inspiration for choosing kindness in 2008 is my new blog friend, Kindness Girl.

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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Kind and Creative Every Day


I recently joined two different blog community commitments for 2008 - Creative Every Day and Everyday Kindness. I find the camaraderie and support in the creative blogosphere to be uplifting and inspiring. I haven't been as intentional about these as I'd like, but I'm finding that my every day life already contains a lot of creativity and kindness. Although I've been participating in my own quiet ways, I haven't been blogging about it, so I thought I'd share what I can remember since the beginning of the year. I think it's pretty cool that I can find something creative and kind nearly every day.

1-discovering a healthier way of dealing with a long-term, in-home conflict
2-heartsharing blog post about my kids
3-
4-
5-important heartsharing blog post about the phase of creative evolution I'm experiencing
6-decoupaging the late holiday gifts for family
7-designing a digital newsletter for the non-profit I volunteer for
8-blessing package for a fellow Pride Board member who is in the beginning stages of divorce
9-divinatory reading for myself
10-researching/brainstorming for new art idea
11- researching/brainstorming for new art idea
12- (read a novel all day: is it creative to experience another life and world for a little while?)
13-important heartsharing blog post on the new art project I'm envisioning
14- researching/brainstorming for new art idea
15- finished art doll for a mail art swap
16- created envelope for goodies going out in mail art swap

As I reflect on the last 16 days and consider what I have done that is kind, I realize that although I have not been as intentionally kind to others as I hope to become, I am being kind to myself nearly every day. I think this is valuable because I fell prey to the typical modern woman conundrum that is career + family + community = little care for myself over the last 7 years. Being kind to my self is a significant aspect of my personal evolution right now, especially regarding my health. Every day that I choose health through my eating and activity choices is a day of great kindness to myself. Every day that I willingly sit with the discomfort that arises from not engaging in my eating addiction is a day of great kindness to myself; especially days that include small steps towards integrating my shadow. Although my inner critic tells me it's totally self-centered (in a bad way) to count up kindnesses to myself, I'm going to be open to it.

1-discovering a healthier way of dealing with a long-term, in-home conflict
2-is it a kindness to write a blog post that is on my heart? I know it is kind to myself to take the time to journal and be open to the insights that come through writing. Is it a kindness to share my story with others? If so, is it always or only when someone gains something from it (i.e. posts that are commented on by others, indicating their appreciation of a gift in the writing)?
3-
4-
5-giving myself two used Isabel Allende novels
6-making the heart space to give to someone who isn't easy to give to
7-tolerating my daughter's overwhelmingness without getting grumpy
8-giving a blessing package for new friend in the beginning stages of divorce
9-
10-giving an elderly stranger my full presence to listen to his difficult circumstances even though there was nothing I could do for him
11-
12-giving my son my full presence to listen as he processes intense experiences without bombarding him with my attempts at guidance
13-
14-bought myself a book that could be vital to the art project emerging within; passionate prayer for a friend going through a difficult situation
15-compassion, patience and speaking the truth kindly with someone difficult to love
16-holding myself back from expressing my frustration with my work situation in order to see the gift in the struggle and take a mindful, compassionate approach to solving the issue