if: tribute

to abundance

the bowl was full
sugar skin popped
with her teeth

in the kitchen they were talking
the words got louder
and faster
like the cars in the morning

it's ok
she reached up to say
there's plenty



prompted with illustration friday

Sometimes you’ve got to just let go, and other things I’ve come to know.

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I always thought I was a good swimmer. Until my leg-rope broke, and the world turned upside down, and then flipped it round and round. Hair and sand and swimmers a knotted ball of twine, I barely gasped a gulp of air before the next wave came. Then another and relentlessly another, my chest got tight with panic and fright, animal instincts just screamed, reach for the light. The current dragged and more waves loomed there was nothing I could do. Spent, I gave up and then I just let go. Somewhere in that over and over I felt the rhythm of that rolling ragdoll dance and a crooked smile found itself stuck to the side of my face, plus the seaweed and red-faced gratitude as I washed up on the sand.

Here’s a list of other things I’ve come to know some of them with grace but most with a similar surrender and a certain length of time . . .

What I’ve come to know

From school I realised that your strengths can carry your weaknesses, until they grow

From painting and the whole creative process, I get every time - listen to the muse and keep going through the ‘arrgh this is horrendous!’ stage - it’s a part of the process.

From a BA in Visual Art, a piece of paper and a prize came when I did my thing and kept doing it.

From Pro Surfing I found if you immerse yourself, do something every day and hang around with people who are better than you, you’ll get good too.

From a Post Grad in Education minor Special Ed - everyone’s special.

From Twelve Step Programs I learned the grace of anonymity and the strength of principles.

From Facilitating Groups for families affected by addiction I found everyone plays a part in every story.

Through having a brother that’s ‘different’ – I know that ‘same’ is no one at all.

Through watching a sister go through drug addition, that miracles do happen and continue to.

Through watching a mother die, that hearts can break in many ways and healing can happen at any stage.

From travelling always - no matter where you go - you take yourself.

From years of esoteric study - patterns do play out and, everything can change.

From reading tarot - the truth is often not what people want

From many small business ventures it’s best to know what you want and what you are willing to do, really – then see if they match, and check the same with your partners.

From Teaching and helping others teach, watching people express from their essence shines inspiration to the world.

From Coaching & Mentoring - everyone has their answer we just need a loving space, the right question and the ability to acknowledge it.

From all the jobs for rent and food and (plane tickets round the world), there’s always so much more than you realise that you offer to the world – every day.

You are way more than your ID card tells you.

From all these years of life and learning . . . I know it’s all about love and joy and the courage to choose it - over and over.

What do you know now?

on dreaming . . . and doing

What if you could do anything you wanted? There was paint. You had a blank wall, a room, hey a whole house?

Wow. There I stood in that, a whole house! Just up the hill from mine, one due to be demolished and, thanks to it’s visionary young owner given over to the community – to play! We walked in, there were marks of freedom, what-the-hecks and what-ifs everywhere.

But where to start? What to do? My boy knew, he went straight to the spray cans and the guy with the big mask showing how it was done. There were amazing colours up the stairs. A whole family were at one wall, the children all fingers, painting. Katharina had made her dream of a whole room black and her art class kids had trailed luminous fluorescent beings to creep all over it. I stood there, we had an hour . . .

Then I remembered it, the dream I’d had that morning. It’s the middle of winter, someone standing there and the words had come to me ‘drop your mantel’ (I’m dreaming half German now ;) she drops her heavy coat and glorious starbursts of colour beam from inside.

And there was the wall and there was the paint . . .

To act on our dreams is to show our willingness to trust our intuition, to strengthen our relationship with our deep heart's truth.

Pose a question, send a prayer, state your desire before sleeping and listen for the answer as you wake in the morning. Then act on it. That day.

Guess I'd been asking for clarity, on what to do next.

I want to be led by my heart but like growing any relationship, if it’s not invited, not heard and responded to, knowing will cease to speak.

Let your heart know it’s been heard. Show it. Hey, throw it a mini art party, or a what-the-heck big one, or just pull out a pen and write what it said.

With love

Let's keep asking. 
I'll start.
Tonight I pray for helpful words to write.

What have you been asking for?

What have you been hearing?

What did you do?

 Tell me, tell me, tell me do!

xxx 

February, or, when all your New Year’s resolutions are answered!

You know when you’ve walked up all the stairs grumbling to your parents probably you’ve done your homework but there’s no TV, then all those tooth brushing things are finished and you pull back your pink chenille bottom bunk bed cover and then suddenly your head is attached to the top bunk and your hair is held by the springs because out from the pink fringing a black ankle stalking hunter has launched a needle clawed, full tooth attack? Well that happened for me many nights as a kid.

Arrg! Ok you’d think I’d learn but who is always present? Every time I could get so mad and kick and tear my hair (really), hanks hanging from the wire or I would laugh, detach myself strand by strand and join in for the game.

It gets like that now too. Do you get that? Like that car cutting me off in traffic, or the kids asking ‘why-is-the-sky-blue?’ questions when it’s time to tie shoes, or that perfect solution coming to me, an hour too late.

Any time I can lose it, or keep it together or, better yet I can rise to an all-new place of wonder and thanks. What if? Like my old aunt used to say “oh, these things are sent to try me”. What if they are? What if they were all sent for you to try out a new you.

I made my new year’s resolutions, didn’t you? I sent them out the winds, to god, to the universe and then? Well, I think this is them coming back.

What if this year you asked for more patience, more kindness, more joy, more boldness? (ok that’s mine). So then you step back and watch and all the situations set up just for you, to try them out. Make your choices. All your buttons are checked and notably poked to see what you do. Hey and if you don’t get it the first time – there’s plenty more coming to practice on.

I don’t know what I was asking for as a kid but I know the Universe wants to give me every chance to be my brightest and best me. I might have messed up on some of those chances (ok lots) but now I really know and I’m repeating to myself - The Universe sends me only Angels! And I’m up for welcoming them in.

Sometimes it feels like Clouseau calling on Cato, to keep me on my toes, but mostly it feels like a breath of fresh air when I can turn about, grateful, play along and choose something new.

Hint. Any dose of giggles helps!

Good luck :)

What angel's knocking on your door??

Ok - I'll go first . . .
Like the big angel of my kids homework procrastination just turns a big mirror on my own. I can see all those projects marching up and tapping me on the shoulder . . . ok ok, stop trying to fix him - open my own front door :)

What's yours?

a toast to YOU!

What a wonderful year! 

Ha you say not all roses - yes, me too, and yet . . .
My favourite words from this year are 'god sends me only angels!'
yep, even the cruddy stuff - every time, underneath was gold.
I had to allow myself to get close enough to it to see though.
And in the end the best place to be was exactly where I was and
bold enough to be all of me.

Here's to you being all of you - wonder full!

Uploaded with love!

This year.
Put some art in your life :) More fun pics to enjoy or gift in my shop

Want to send to a friend or yourself a Big Kids Colouring-e Book 
rolled up with juicy prompts to remembering your mojo? 
I call it  "Colour Your World"
and when you do, you help Colour the World of some way less fortunate than you!
check it out here!

If you're putting yourself on the list too for deep love and attention this year
 book yourself a  Soul Drawing
intuitive reading, deep listening and magnetic art
 all my best bits wrapped into one present.

Here's to your wonderful year

Big Love

Kaye  xxx

zoom in - illustration friday

Stop

Pause

Look about 

I wonder where you're at?

Drawing Soul

illustration friday - shy

Where have you been hiding?

I’d hide for hours under the stairs in the corner, way before there was a Harry.  It was my invisible test to see how long before anyone noticed. I’d hear them passing by and up and down on their way to rooms or cups of tea.  Eventually I’d start to hear “where’s Kaye?” What a funny satisfaction in that simple question mark.

Where is your hiding place? 
Have you been waiting for someone else to see you 
and tell you it’s ok to come out to shine?

And when they did notice and say ‘hey, wonderful, that’s great’ 
did you pass it off and say ‘oh no’, ‘not that’, ‘not me’?

It took a lot of years to realise it wasn’t up to them to find me, 
that I wasn’t a product of another’s reflection, 
I had my own shine – inside.

hello

Come out

Let's shine 

together!

Where's your hiding place?
And what are you waiting for?