"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." Anais Nin

sitting on the dock of the bay....watching the tide slip away...

resting, eating, painting, photographing the herons and lizards.....

losing track of time in Cedar key....

Posted by: brutallycurious at July 01, 2008 14:45 | link | comments (1)

Random Art

This is who I want to be when I grow up.

Moving Beyond the Kitchen

Posted by: brutallycurious at June 05, 2008 10:02 | link | comments

tuesday morning in atlanta: the roads are full, the sun rising and I find it difficult to reconnect with the busy-ness of the city.   I went to the mountains to do some spiritual work Friday and it seems i've been gone for months.

i walked a double spiral labyrinth barefoot in the cool forest dirt among the young trees, flowers and moss-covered boulders. i watched the ground in front of me as i considered a question, putting one foot in front of the other; thinking of nothing else but the slow movement of each foot. Inhale, ball, heel, exhale, ball, heel.
One cycle takes about an hour and a half. I don't know for sure....i had no watch and i didn't care. I did 3 cycles over the weekend.  I figure i spent about 6 hours in barefoot walking meditation this weekend.

It was amazingly powerful. Purposeful, conscious movement spiraling inward to the center of my being and then carrying insight out into the world.

The walking is deceptively simple. My thoughts would wander and I would bring my attention back to my walking, but other than just being with the question on the spiral in, and waiting for answers on the spiral out, i would have told you in the midst of it that nothing was happening. no fireworks, no revelations.

The payoff though is a deep spot in myself i have visited. I can return and find peace there.  It is quiet and full of wisdom and knowing. My "answer" eventually was that there were no answers this time. No to-do list from the Universe.  Just a reminder to take it one step at a time and trust myself. The well of my inner knowing now feels deeper and more reliable, and for that I am grateful.

Posted by: brutallycurious at May 27, 2008 08:09 | link | comments

note to self

jogged by the review of  The Sound and the Fury:
what if my writing were not chronological or linear? could i incorporate chronological journal entries without the rule of the passage of time?
what if perception were jumbled and not forced into a formula?
what is the magic formula for not adhering to chronology and yet not losing the thread in a story? creating strong threads that weave in and out together, regardless of the concept of past, present, future...

it's all happening right now anyway.....

Posted by: brutallycurious at May 01, 2008 16:42 | link | comments

the dogwoods are in bloom, the cars are coated with yellow dust, the azaleas are blooming....this is my favorite time of year. After having the flu last week, my  mood has improved dramatically with the warm weather. I am ready for spring!

Posted by: brutallycurious at April 03, 2008 20:03 | link | comments (2)