"no matter...

...what it is there's something to learn...
that feeling that there's always something under it...
there's always something meaningful laying underneath..."

Clay from Zane Clampett on Vimeo.

this

all of this.


Alan Watts & David Lindberg - Why Your Life Is Not A Journey from David Lindberg on Vimeo.

just a boy

& his friend...

love!

please read & share her article if you love it...i think it's pretty fantastic 

http://www.glassheel.com/single-post/2016/08/31/Buried-Treasure---The-Admiration-Of-Inspiration

I met Janna working as a summer intern...to me then, at 16ish years old, she was this fantastic, creative, professional, caring, giving lady who I thought man, if I could be like her, maybe even have a gig like hers, and get some of those sweet colored markers she has up in her office,
I think life might be pretty good.  she laughed a lot, mentored me in the sweetest way, and now she's off doing something new and amazing :)





<3

i will only sing

oxygen in cups

For the most part, being generous with my time and being kind-hearted towards my challenges comes naturally (thank goodness).  But occasionally, I find myself struggling to be generous and my first reaction is often frustration.  Why can't I just be loving?  Why can't I just feel good about giving my time / attention / money / etc. to this?  Why does it feel like a struggle here?

If we are being honest with ourselves, we admit that we cannot give that which we do not have.  If our own cup isn't full, we can't pour into everyone around us.  If our own needs are not being met, we are not going to feel very good spending our time and attention and funds meeting someone else's needs.  The whole "put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others" on a plane scenario (I know, I hate hearing that one, too).  But it's true.  

What I'm getting to here is that you are allowed to fill your own cup.  We are obligated to find our own oxygen before we can help anyone else find theirs.  We need to take a step back and assess our own needs before we can meet everyone else's.  And let me be the first to say, this is really hard.  I know everyone depends on you.  I know your to-do list is a mile and a half long.  I know you don't feel like you have time for this stuff.  I know, because I'm right here with you and I feel the same way. 

Please, take half an hour today and do the things that fill your cup.  If not for your own wellness then do it for the wellness of all those hearts who depend on you.  Whatever brings you joy, do more of that.  And know that we are right here with you, and we're learning right here with you, to put on our own oxygen masks before we assist everyone else.  

Our goal is to always have our cups so full that they consistently spill out into your life when you're here in the studio.  We really do find joy in helping you create, in helping you feel warm and fuzzy and loved and wonderful.  Stop by and create with us and you'll see what I mean.  We just stinkin' love what we do, and we want to share it with you.  And we strive to be a place that brings you joy, that helps you relax and reset and fill your own cup.  So you can keep on being awesome and pouring into your kids, your family, your coworkers, your community.

Happy Sunday, y'all.

"listen,

you must never express your anger or frustration using your body,
and you must never allow your emotions to keep you from remaining in control of your body.
it is not ok to hit anyone or anything in this studio,
it is never ok to hit anyone at all regardless of where you are.

it is unacceptable to hurt anyone else because of your own emotions.
you must apologize, now."

#shittheartteachersaid
#truth
#kids
we're all still learnin' things, y'all.

i am free now

life sounds like!

my head is an animal

diving deep

by Kara Kelley Hallmark, who has been freed to dive deep again.

I long for the waters of my life to be calm.  To have a smooth surface, to be deep and comforting and glistening in the sunshine.  But lately, for the past few months, the people I love most in this world have been splashing around.  Not for fun or of their own fault, but they've really been splashing.  The kind of splashing that not only causes ripples but causes little pulses of disturbance into my life pool.  An uneven surface that isn't at all waves and isn't unsafe, 

but it is frustrating because I have this unanswerable and deep desire for calm.  A deep desire that I'm pretty sure can not be met by any actions I take.  Nothing I do, no matter how hard I try and work and kick and tread water, nothing will bring about the calm that my heart desires.  I am both frustrated and humbled that nothing I do will bring about the calm that I desire.  

bringing in the strings, we're all in the same body of water.  Never will the waters of my life be the kind of still I desire because every human on this earth is in a body of water with me, and never will earthly life be still.  there will always be struggle, there will always be splashing, and even if it is from the furthest body of water, and even if it causes a ripple so small that it could only be detected by machines, it disrupts the still I desire. I am humbled because I get to be part of a life force that connects the whole world, I am humbled because I was gifted with eyes and a heart that can detect tiny ripples.  as much as those ripples disrupt me, I have hope that one day the waters of my life will be so big, so vast, so deep that the splashing of another human can be softened when it reaches my little section of water.  maybe my sea will be big enough to absorb some of the splash, maybe it will be calm enough to calm someone else into splashing less.  

and if nothing else, i remember that the waters we all share were provided and are overseen by someone bigger.  someone so still, so vast, so deep, so calm.  unchanging.  unending.  the one who never tires, who is never disrupted by the biggest splashes we make in his sea.  the one who not only can bring the calm and the still, but promises to.  that is the safe haven i cling to.

recidivism

recidivism: the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior.  It is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense.

language

John Baldessari
"I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art" (1971)
Lithograph, Edition of 50