Reduce Clutter and Create Space in 2010!Plus, Best Photo's of 2009 From National Geographic

I'm so inspired today! Since posting yesterday about My Word of Intention for 2010, I discovered some wonderful things.

Ask and you shall receive ... I said I wanted to get rid of the clutter in my living room to create more space to make art everyday. Turns out, there's a blogger who wants the same thing and started a movement amongst other blogger's who want to, "Reduce Clutter and Create Space." Please click that link to learn more about it.

Blogger Shannon Kinney-Duh says, "Let's put ourselves first. Let's put our art first. Let's put our hidden, quiet, secret dreams first. Let's be bold. Let's live more fully. Let's be our true selves. Let's let go of MORE so that we can find that place, that s p a c e, where our hearts are open and free."

I don't know about you, but I want in right now! I can be accountable by sharing my experience with other artists who are in the same boat. I no longer have to judge myself. I no longer have to put off doing it. I can jump in NOW!

Barb, from The Craft Therapy blog, says we should ask ourselves, "Is this useful and will I use it? Does it bring me joy?" If the answer is no - then get rid of it. Give it away to someone on FreeCycle on yahoo.com, give it to Goodwill, Salvation Army, Am-Vets or throw it away. Sounds simple enough. This is the year of less is more for me! I will become an organized person.

I will make room for the things I want. I will be able to make art every day. Making art makes me happy. It makes me feel joy like I've never felt before. It allows me to express myself in ways I didn't know were possible.

I want to focus on what I want, not on what I don't want. I don't want clutter in my way. I want to paint and make cards and play in my art journals and I want to have fun doing it.

 

I found a fantastic quote today by Rumi, who said, "Seek joy first and all of the joy you could ever imagine, will come joyously and abundantly unto you." I want to manifest that!                 

               

   

What baby steps can I take to clear the way to make a better life for myself? It starts at home and it starts right now. Well, after I finish this post. I have a ton of recyclables to carry outside, so I'll begin there.

I want to be the butterfly, instead of a catepillar. That's how ugly it feels. I want to grow and bloom like a flower in the sun.

William Morris said,"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."  Words to live by in 2010.

My sister Melanee sent me a video on youtube today that made me say, "WOW" many times over. It fits the theme of rebirth, renewal and making the world a magnificent place to live. It's a sneak-preview of life's coming attractions for the "mighty" year of 2010, courtesy of our friends from the Unknown. All quotes are from the December 2009 edition of The Sedona Journal.

Click here to see Predictions for 2010 from the Great Beyond. 

That shows a world I'd like to live in and I want to focus on THAT rather than dwell on all the negative things in life! Don't get left behind! Your thoughts can change your life.

All photo's on this post were listed as the Best of 2009 by National Geographic and remain their property.

My Word of Intention for 2010 and New Cards I Made This Week

Lots of artists in Bloglandia select a "Word of Intention" at the beginning of every year. Merriam-Webster defines Intention as: "something that one hopes or intends to accomplish."

My word this year will be; NOW. Merriam-Webster defines now as: "at the present time or without delay." I want to live in the now, stay in the now, because now is all we have.  I want to stop procrastinating and do it now!

The pile of art supplies in my living room keeps me from creating art every day, so I'd like to clean that up and organize it into something workable. If I spend a period of time each day chipping away at that mess, eventually it will be neat and clean. I'll be able to find things and have plenty of room to make art.

I blogged recently about how much my life has changed since I've applied the principals of the book, "The Power of Now," to my life. I no longer focus on the past, nor do I project into the future. All I have control of is what I do, see and most importantly, what I think right now. During times when my thoughts dwell on the past or I worry about the future; I bring myself back to the present with other thoughts as fast as I can. It's very simple really, but it's not easy. It's taken me a lot of practice to be consistent. The results have been outstanding. I have learned to worry less, (negative energy) and keep as many positive thoughts as possible.

When I'm not feeling very good, I change my thoughts to more positive things and I start to feel better. It's worked so well, I'm off anti-depression medication for the first time in years. I am NOT recommending this for others, because it didn't happen right away, but I changed my story about how I want to feel. I want to feel good as much as possible, as often as possible. Changing the way I think makes that possible. In the world of therapy, it's called cognitive thinking. Change your thoughts and your actions will change. I always had that backwards. I thought I had to *do* something to change my feelings. I thought I had to wait for something to happen in order to feel happy. But that was not working for me. I found something that works and it's staying present and thinking positive thoughts.

One of my art groups on yahoo.com talked about their word of intention this week and came up with these so far: invite, heart, happiness, dance, believe, love, let go, breathe, hope and soar. All excellent words.

Christine Kane also talks about this idea on her blog. She says choosing a word sets the tone for the whole year. She features people on her blog who have chosen: celebrate, release, abundance and courage. More outstanding words. If you email Christine, she'll send you a free Word of Intention worksheet to help you figure out what word will work best for you. She says, "Intention can't not work."

This isn't like a New Year's resolution. It's a guideline for living your life in a better way, more positive way and I'm all about that. I've over simplified here and I suggest you read, "The Power of Now," or "The Law of Attraction," to discover the details of how this can change your life too.

 I suggest you come up with a word too and see if it helps you do more of what you really want to do. I'd love to know what your word is. Please email me or let me know in a comment below.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy deciding what word you want to pick for your Word of Intention to set the tone of 2010.

Since writing this post, I have found some other blogs that discuss this topic, including: Ali Edwards, where there are a ton of words by artists who have chosen a Word Of Intent. Kathryn Antyr, The Collage Diva , also blogs about affirmations and her words for 2010. She has the best links too! Lisa Swifka has a wonderful blog post as well. She's the one who started the wonderful, global blog event, One World One Heart. I'll be blogging about that very soon.

Happy New Year 2010!

What are my goals for 2010?  I have two categories.

                                      ART GOALS:

1) Learn to draw pretty girl faces with Suzi Blu! I'm enrolled in her online class. Click here to learn more about it. 

                   Mixed Media painting by Suzi Blu


2) Monthly art classes and workshops - here's what I'm planning so far for January 2010:

2a) Watermedia Painting - A Contemporary Approach With Helen Shafer Garcia at the Fallbrook School of the Arts.

water color by Helen Shafer Garcia

                  

2b) Workshops at The Escondido Arts Partnership Muni Gallery with Jane LaFazio and Claire-Lise Matthey Anderegg

 

                        by Claire-Lise Matthey Anderegg
 
 

                     all paintings by Jane Lafazio

2c) Attend the opening of a group show, featuring my friend Lisa Bebi on Jan. 19th at 5:45 pm. at Bard Hall in the Unitarian Church in Hillcrest.

   painting by Lisa Bebi

2d)  Taking an online class with Chris Cozen and Julie Prichard, although details aren't posted yet.

paintng I did in a class by Chris Cozen at Stamping Details

painting I did in online class by Julie Prichard

2e) Taking a few classes in Feb. with Chris Cozen at Stamping Details in Poway, although info isn't posted yet.

3)  Paint with watercolors and acrylics regularly
4)  Do lots of collages and collage paintings
5)  To learn to draw other things besides faces
6)  Learn calligraphy
7)  Work in my Art Journal more often
8)  Sell more paintings
9) Display my work in a gallery
10) Make and access monthly art goals
11) Blog as often as possible
12) To get my work published

Personal Goals:
1) Take better care of myself 
2) Stay in The Now
3) Read the whole Twilight series of books
4) Be more organized
5) Take risks by stepping out of my comfort zone
6) To be the best person I can possibly be!

                            Handmade card by me

All of that will definitely keep me busy! What are your goals for 2010? I'd love to hear about them in any comment you care to leave. Please click on the above links to see more work by the artists I've mentioned.  Have a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year in 2010! Thanks for stopping by.

If You Love This Genre, Don't Miss, "The Young Victoria."

This is, of course, the story of the real life Victoria, who becomes Queen of Great Britain at age 18 in 1837. It deals with some of the events before and after she becomes queen, but focusing on her early reign and romance with Prince Albert. Queen Victoria ruled until 1901, the longest of any ruler in British history.

I’m a big fan of this genre, so I loved it going into the theater. There’s so much eye candy in this film, which has glorious cinematography and the aesthetics are just gorgeous. Every frame is a work of art. The costumes are intricate and sumptuous and just what you hope to see in the best period pieces. The fashions were stunning throughout the movie. The lush gardens were heavenly.

Some of the buildings took my breath away, inside and out. Queen Victoria was the first royal to live in Buckingham Palace. When they showed Victoria entering it for the first time, the camera panned to the ceiling and it was quite impressive. Words like opulent, ostentatious, imposing and luxuriant came to mind throughout the film.

This one was produced by Martin Scorsese, along with Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York. Her daughter, Princess Beatrice, makes her movie debut as a lady in waiting. Queen Victoria is the real life great-great-great-great-grandmother to Bea. It’s a non-speaking role, but at least she got to have some fun playing dress-up.

Princess Beatrice

The all-star British cast was outstanding. The dazzling Emily Blunt played Victoria, while handsome Rupert Friend played the love of her life, Albert. From all the pictures I’ve seen of past royals, I have a feeling, neither were this good looking in real life. According to Wikipedia, there were some historical inaccuracies, but I won’t ruin the movie and tell you what they are. They were added as dramatic elements to move the plot forward.

Miranda Richardson as Victoria's Mum

Jim Broadbent as King William

Many people rallied to get close to Victoria with some major power plays, including her mother, played by the always excellent, Miranda Richardson. King William was played by Jim Broadbent and wanted his young friend Lord Melbourne, played by Paul Bettany, to marry Victoria. He was terribly charming, but Prince Albert won her hand. He died at the age of 42 after fathering nine children. Victoria wore black for the rest of her life until she died at age 81.

Rupert Friend as Prince Albert

Rupert Friend without his wigs.

Click here to see a trailer of the marriage proposal and another of the film. Skip the one with the actors being interviewed.

It’s a beautiful romance, a wonderful story, excellent acting, with plenty of glorious style. Fans of the genre will love it, but others should skip it. Girls, don’t drag your men to see this one, unless they’re fans too. Thanks for reading my review! NR xoxo