Search Results for: show your soul posters

Your gifts from the ever changing RISSE Amazon Wish List are going to furnish and open a library and music room, at the RISSE after school program in Albany, N.Y., for the nearly 200 refugee and immigrant students who go to school there, cramped into an upper floor of a Methodist Church with nothing on the walls or floor, and no place in the music room or new library to sit.

Until the Army Of Good, there are three new bean bag chairs there and one more than I bought today, along with some towel paper. They do, in fact, need everything. I planned to go to Albany Tuesday to take some photos of the new rooms, which also have some light now, thanks to the lamps  you purchased for them.

I am mildly addicted to this as a morning ritual.

There’s a good size snow storm headed here tomorrow, and I might not get there until Thursday, but I will get there to take some photos and show you what you have done. The teachers are stunned and grateful. They are wonderfully dedicated people, and they needed some reinforcements.

The list has some good stuff on it, electric pencil sharpeners, braided carpets for the bare floors ($39.00), some markers and crayons for $9, some washable magic markers for $15.00, and one of the oldest items on the list, the $500 outdoor trash can. I told RISSE I suspect that will be there for awhile unless some wealthy soul steps in.

But you never know.

There are plenty of inexpensive  things to buy, and the staff at RISSE has done a wonderful job of putting out a list of urgent needs that change and evolve. I love watching the items disappear. They got the 20 Oxford Picture Dictionaries they needed, and all five of the bean bag chairs they wanted.

I think my next purchase, when I can, will be a braided rug. Those hard wooden floors make a lot of noise and are a big grim. The list also lists some world wall maps for $13.90.

I am eager to get there to see the changes, I am told we are transforming the place. Some people bought the Lion posters, others bought different posters and sent them to RISSE, they will bright up the barren walls.

Thanks to the Army Of Good for doing this,  you have brought hope and love to a place that really needs a lot of both. I keep telling the kids that we are a generous and welcoming people. They are beginning to see the truth of it.

Maria has stepped out of her artistic safety zone – her blog – a bit and opened up a  Full Moon Fiber Art shop on Etsy, the world’s most popular artist sales site.

She isn’t changing her blog or backing away from it, the idea was to give people who like her art a chance to buy it simply and quickly and 24/7. She is using it to sell potholders, wool and some smaller hanging pieces, sketches and posters (like “Show  Your Soul.”

She will continue to sell her quilts and hanging pieces from her blog, which she loves dearly and writes and shares her art on daily.

Etsy calls itself the new global marketplace for creativity, and i think that is a fair an accurate statement. It’s become a Godsend for many talented artists who have no way to display their work, and successful artists drawn to the large audience there. Maria was wise to create and maintain her very successful and popular blog.

But creativity also requires change, I think, and she is putting her toe in a big ocean.

I admit I’ve been nudging her towards Etsy for some time, but you do not get to tell Maria what to do with her art. She’ll do it when she’s ready, and if she’s ready. At heart, she’s a snoot, and a cautious one.
It only took her about 10 years.

She’s selling a lot of things on Etsy already, nearly 20 potholders and a lot of wool in less than a week.

That’s just the start, I think. There are millions of people shopping for art on Etsy, I think her potholders and wool (and perhaps some smaller fiber pieces) have found a happy home. I’m a fan of Etsy’s, I buy all of my presents for Maria and others there, it is an efficient, friendly and simple-to-navigate site.

Maria loves it already, and will be updating it regularly. As of now, she is nearly sold out. There are three potholders left (including the one above), some “Show Your Soul” presents a timely gift these days and 17 skeins of Bedlam Farm wool, all that remain from our sheep shearing last Fall.

Etsy seems to like her work.

I think this is a big step forward for Maria, nothing will change about her blog, but it will make it easier for people to buy her stuff whenever they want, and expose her remarkable potholders – which she has turned into an art form – to more people.

Same with the wool the other eclectic things she will put up there.

Knowing her, I suspect it will also inspire some new ideas. It already has. Get ready for snails in one form or another.

Her blog will remain the same, she will never back away from it. It is home base for her life and writing and art and videos and photography. But she will also have a new home on Etsy,

Watching Maria grow as an artist and a thoughtful marketer of her own work has been one of the joys of my life. With Maria, I always get the feeling she is just getting started.  She loves to make art, and she loves to sell it too.

And a happy one, looks like. Congratulations to a gifted artist with heart and good luck. You can check it out here.

The other day, I wrote about Christie and our dialogue with one another, and she told me it was time to stop hiding, and I wanted to talk to her about that, if she wished to talk to me, and understand what she meant. She said she did want to talk to me. She looked gravely ill to me the other day, and I wondered if she would be able to return to the Mansion, which she very much wishes to do.

She described the Mansion as a very special place where everyone cared for each other and watched out for each other. She intends to return, if her medical condition permits. She is having trouble walking, she has dealt with cancer and a number of strokes and now has had a bout with pneumonia and fluid in her legs and body, caused by various medications.

Today, Red and I went to see  her again in the hospital and I was happy to see she looked so much better, she said she felt much better. Her nurse said the doctors were pleased.

On Wednesday, she expects to move to a rehabilitation center in Glens Falls, N.Y. It is called the Pines and she will try to learn to walk more than a few feet. She would be happy to receive letters there, she expects to be there for two weeks or more. She has to learn to be mobile and walk more easily, or she can’t return to the Mansion.

Christie is working hard at that, I thought the improvement in her was distinct, at least to the layperson’s eye. She gave me permission to give out the address of the Pines, it is Christie L., 170 Warren Street, Glens Falls, N.Y., 12801.  One caution: these movements are unpredictable and subject to change. If her move is delayed or she goes to another place for some reason, her mail will be forwarded.

The Pines is just four blocks from where her 86-year-old mother lives, the two are close and her mother is in good health. She refused a chance to go to a rehab center in the Adirondacks, where a bed has opened up. She wants to stay close to her family.

I am not qualified to judge the odds of her returning to the Mansion, she seems determined to get back there and I have the feeling if she wants to, she will. But that is just a guess, I’m not a doctor or diagnostician. I can tell from Red that her spirit and energy are high, he reacts to both and was making strong and close contact with Christie, as he does with Connie and a number of Mansion residents. His tail was wagging and wagging.

Red was a big hit in the hospital, he was, as usual, surrounded by doting nurses. He loves nurses.

Christie and I had a long and open talk, she walked me through her life, she was a nurse for many years, an RN in the very hospital where she was staying. I asked her what she meant about coming out of hiding and facing the truth, and it was a sad and hard story. She asked me not to repeat it, she wishes to not upset her daughters, and I agreed, of course.

“I’ve hidden long enough,” she said, “I’m not going to live like that any longer.”

Maria sent along one of her “Show Your Soul” posters as a gift, and Christie said she would treasure it. Her nurse wanted one. If anyone is showing her soul right now, it is Christie.

Christie has been through a lot, and there the feeling of coming out in her life now, she said she was afraid to face people and talk about some of the issues in her life. That is changing, she said, and she thinks this is very much tied to her health. It is clear that she has some real physical challenges ahead of her, she seems strong emotionally and clear about what she wants. She does not seek or want additional help. If she needs it, she will ask for it.

She said the Manson is her true home now, she did not wish to burden her children any longer, she wants them to be free to live their own lives. It is a story I often hear from Mansion residents who suddenly found they need more care than their families could easily provide.

Christie told me she had a baby doll collection – she liked dolls of babies – but her father destroyed her collection.

The conversation was very real, and it was easy and comfortable for me, and I hope, for her.  It was important, she needed to say it out loud, something many women understand. Having Red around opens a lot of doors, and a lot of souls. I am rooting for Christie, and am reminded once again that we cannot solve all of the problems of the world and change reality and the nature of life.

I – we-  can’t save Christie, only she can do that, and she is off to a strong start. I admire her generous spirit and strong will. I often see that the people who suffer the most complain the least. She does not speak poorly of her life. She has been through enough to sink lesser people.

But I have to know what I can do and what I can’t do. Christie herself is very bounded. She wants nothing from me but my attention, she asks for nothing.

Sometimes you have to step back and let life take its own course, there is always the danger of getting over-involved and playing God. It is important to be self-aware. At one point in my hospice work, I was seeing five patients and when they all died within days of one another, I was sent to see a social worker and learned a valuable lesson. Do what you can when you can. And then stop. The danger is burnout, the boundaries are fluid, but also critical.

I think my dialogue with Christie is extraordinary, for her perhaps, for me for sure.

Christie knows there are people rooting for her, and I think she would appreciate messages and letters of encouragement (Christie L. 170 Warren Street, Glens Falls, N.Y., 12801). I have a feeling encouragement gives her strength.  I am not a praying man, but I will light a candle for her, perhaps light it every day. And she and I will stay in touch, we are friends now.

It is really up to Christie now and the Gods, I see that her spirit is strong and she seemed quite vital and determined to me. Unless she asks me, I think I’ll keep away from the Pines and let Christie handle this next phase of her life. We will continue our conversation online.

I hope the next photo I take of her is at the Mansion.

Winter storms are not big news up here, but I think we will all remember this one for a good long while. For a few  hours this afternoon, I though Mother Earth may have finally gotten fed up with us and decided to blow some of us away. She is relenting now, but it is still blowing and snowing.

I began the day by writing that I was grateful Maria was her to share this storm with me. Two people shoveling is a lot better than one, especially when the one is getting on and has sore knees and some heart issues. Still, I shoveled long and hard and hauled water and hay and had no trouble with it.

We visited the animals several times and felt badly for them. The Pole Barn protected them from the wind but not from the sound of the howling winds, which frightens them. We have enormous snow drifts around the farmhouse, our cars are buried. Millions of people had it worse than we did, we are grateful.

The truth is we had a nice day. We like working together, strategizing, fussing over the animals. We went outside, froze until we couldn’t bear it, came in and  had some tea, meditated. Maria is selling a ton of her new posters: “Show Your Soul,” and I actually worked all afternoon on my book, when I wasn’t running out and feeding animals, shoveling snow, brushing off cars or taking photos. The blog has a job to do, it does not rest.

This photo was taken with my new Petzval 58 lens, I chose to blur the background around Maria, she was good enough to decide to wear purple, my lens was grateful. She looks like she is walking out of the storm.

I made a simple dinner: we had hamburgers, salad, blue potatoes. We will read and nod off shortly, we both are wrecks. I think the worst of the storm is over, Spring really is just over the hill.