Karma & the Geography of Bliss

It's very interesting sometimes the way in which the Universe wishes to speak to us. And sometimes it is perplexing in what it is trying to have us understand. Such is the case of this week's trip back from caring for the "kinderlings".

For the past 3 or 4 years I've been listening to books on CD as I make the 2 hour trek down to the kids and again home from there. We're lucky that we've been able to get downloadable books through a state library system. (It makes my trip oh so much more bearable, sometimes even pleasant.) The one I've begun to listen to this week is Eric Weiner's, The Geography of Bliss. A self-proclaimed "grump" , he travelled the world to find the happiest places, and then ,wrote the book. And so I found myself travelling home from my 2 days with the kids listening to his tale of researching happiness in Bhutan, a country whose leader is invested in his country's Gross National Happiness. He interviews a man, one sought out by many for his ability to heal ills not otherwise healed, whose name is ( and forgive the spelling---I'm listening to , not reading, the story) Karma Aura. I almost laughed aloud to myself in the car as I was hurtling northward. The name seemed so blatantly fictional that it struck me funny, but also believable because of its blatancy.

As I was pondering the humor of this I took notice of a car that passed me. The license plate that pulled up, and almost paused right there in my line of sight , as if hovering there to be sure that I saw it, read ..........are you ready for this?........ GDKRMA.........."good karma". It felt like a bop in the head, as if some supreme being were trying to make sure that I was paying attention. Okay. Okay. I'm paying attention . But I sure would like a hint as to what I'm suppose to be doing with this information. Is my karma in some kind of jeopardy? Am I on the right road ?( figuratively speaking--- I WAS on the right road home). I'll ask one tiny favor.....please fill in the blanks.

I guess that I would consider this a synchronicity. If you've read my earlier blogs , you will note that I've had similar experiences . And as before, it seems so coincidental that there has to be meaning to it. ( I know , not everyone will accept that , but I do . ) I just can't, however,fathom what it means . Perhaps in time , it will become apparent. In the meantime, I'll mind my P's & Q's so as to not to mess up my karma.


Namaste.

Cyth

Shop's Closed, The Work Begins Anew

Well the shop has been closed and buttoned up for about a month now. Resigned as I was that the "season" is short , much like our growing season , I'm feeling a kind of ease that I did not feel May- Oct ( the months that the shop was open). Oh , don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the summer selling season. But it was more "structured" than I've been used to since retirement. And I really wasn't able to do the kind of painting that I love.

Typically I like to spend time with a piece of furniture, get a feel for what it needs and what kind of a reborn life it would like to take on. Crazy sounding? Perhaps. But it is the way I like to work------if I may be so bold as to compare myself with Michelangelo who was inspired to sculpt by how the marble spoke to him. ----Once I got working in the shop there wasn't enough time to spend in thinking too much about each piece. Pretty much, I had to get it painted to get it into the shop to fill the void made by the last sale; and do it quickly. Not that I'm complaining about that. Oh , surely not. But it did develop a mindset that left little room for contemplation. Now that I haven't those constraints upon me, it's taking me a little time to reset the approach. But I'm getting there and happily so.

This is my just-finished piece. Simple , but I think , oh so elegant. I wish that the camera could have caught the color better than it has. It's a dreamy purply-gray that is so soothing and still intriguing as it is neither this color nor that color. It is sublimely caught between the two. The piece was meant to be a bit different. But as soon as I was half done with it , I knew that the pendants on the underside needed to be silver. Then , of course , I needed to add a wee bit more silver , so I chose the turnings midway on the legs and crossbar.

Once that was complete, I thought ,"maybe a bit more silver". So I sampled a bit on the beveled edge of the foot. Immediately I could see that that was wrong, wrong. It meant , of course repainting that surface , but since there wasn't but a slice of it , that was quickly remedied. The Mister was called in for an opinion ( Oh I do feel sorry for him sometimes. I request his opinion , but if he gives me the wrong answer, it is quickly discounted. Fortunately he knows me well enough , and loves me well enough , not to take this to heart. ) He agreed. It was done. Now on to companion pieces........what fun.

This little candlelabra was found in a delicious state of rust. But I needed it for mood in a room in the shop last summer and so was painted black with a purple top coat. All I needed today was to add a spritz of silver over the previous paint so that some deep purple and a wee bit of black speckles through the silver. I now have plans for some of those chandelier crystal drops that I was given. But that will be for viewing later on.

Can't wait to see the whole vignette, but wait I must , for the other piece(s) have not been even decided upon. I.......think I have a ........chair ( a sweet little thing ) but that's all I'm telling right now. I will post again when it's all pulled together.

All for tonight. Sweet dreams, Cyth