“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”

― Roald Dahl

2022 has become 2023

In the blink of an eye another year has gone by....or so it seems....

A couple of weeks ago I turned 57....Normally age doesn't bother me at all but for some reason it is making me stop and think about what I should be doing for the next 10 years. Last year I became aware that I don't want to be old and retired in Victoria. My little corner of the city is green and pretty but just going a block towards the main town it turns into concrete jungle yuckiness. I definitely don't want to be retired next to that.

Well I'm kind of old so where to next?  August 2022 I started looking into other places in Canada I thought I might want to move to and explore and live for a few years before I retire or where I would retire....big surprise but all of Canada has become so expensive to rent apartments! Its crazy the jump in the last 3-4 years...that search has put a damper on the exciting adventure I imagined having in the golden years of my life....

I'm still searching...I would love to end up somewhere in the maritimes, but we'll see....going to have to sit down with a coffee and tart and replan.....

If anyone has any ideas for me I'd love you to share with me.

Other than that, I don't have any other plans or goals....just going with the flow where ever that takes me.

Happy 2023 everyone...hope you are getting by, enjoying life and having adventures whether big or small ones. 

Suzanne

hmmmmm

 I was outside in the fresh air enjoying a wander around a newish route for me and was getting close to home and a thought suddenly popped into my head....it interested me and unsettled me at the same time.

...this planet, our world  just keeps on going...it doesn't really stop and take a break from life....it just keeps going....

so, no matter what I'm going through....if I'm happy, or sad, or going through my days in a survival fog, just one foot in front of the other.... the world goes on with or without me....

what does that mean? or does it mean anything? how much thought should I put into this? 

one wild life

 Tell me,

What is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver

the light

waiting for the light of morning

to show itself

I will be distracted by something else

and suddenly it will be there

and I'll smile

and open my blinds

to let it in

original thought by Suzanne McCann

Curiousity

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Walt Disney

2021 moves on to 2022

 WOW...seeing the year 2022.... I feel like I'm in one of those movies about the future I watched as a kid...the only thing is that although I am in the future, its not the future with the hover cars, the jet back- packs or ray guns, or the instant food that you ask for from the machine in the wall...its the world in the middle of a pandemic with a virus that is going to be with us or a long time...but then again, this is definitely one version of the future that science fiction movies have given us.

  what to say now for my kick out the old and embrace the new post 

 In some ways 2021 was better than 2020.  I found a new practitioner who has been helping with my neck issues. I had a visit with family members from afar which was lovely. 

 I'm not going to lie, the end of 2021 kind of kicked me in the gut, leading to the start of what is supposed to be a new year, but is just more of the end of 2021. We had a week and a half off of work which was lovely and quiet for the first week, but than my body showed its signs of stress  about going back to work amidst this damn virus.  Just when I think I have got to a level of  surviving with this new way of life, something happens that flares up the stress.  I know we are all going through versions of this and I just want to let you know I am sending you virtual hugs.

  what I want to do in 2022

 more art - I definitely want to take more time to paint and sketch....I just turned 56 so I am  doing 56 days of creativity...with no pressure, just for fun...

 website - play around and get my website to where and what I want it to be. I'd love any suggestions you might have about what you want to see

 explore - I am kind of bored with my neighbourhood, but I do see interesting things pretty much every time I'm out exploring...perhaps I'll have to expand my walks to new neighbourhoods....hmmmmmm, something to think about

 relax - I really need to work on my being able to just settle and relax...I've always been a bit of a tightly wound person, always moving around...and even when I do sit down I'm not fully relaxed...will try and find a meditation practice that suits me....

 There are a ton of things I'd like to do this year, but I will take it day by day, week by week, and see how it goes....

 My hope for all of you this year is to have peace, love, hope and to be kind! 

  Hugs, Suzanne

 check out my instagram for weekly updates on my 56 days of creativity

 

She is beautiful

 

55

 55....I turned 55 in January 2021....I decided that I needed to do something different..I decided I wanted to do 55 days of creativity....I had pinned up a sheet of newsprint to my wall and wrote happy birthday on it for my actual birthday day. Being in the midst of the pandemic, I celebrated alone in my house but on the phone/internet with family.  The next day I drew on some tulips, and then painted them....this lead to the idea for the painting/collage you see above. A story of sorts of a girl/woman sitting under a tree on a hill lost in the adventures of the book she is reading. 

I didn't start with the idea of adding collage to this story, but I was unhappy with the painted sky. I cut it out and put up another sheet of newsprint. With me and the tree and the tulips taped on the wall to the side, I thought and tested ideas for the sky...then I looked around and realized I had collected a few magazines and started looking through them. I excitedly started ripping out pages that might work for the sky and once I had collected a bunch, I started glueing... 

Once the sky was done I glued me, the tree and tulips on and then just added a few more small details and it was done!! My 55 day project which in reality took 85 days, turned out better than I even imagined.

This project was a lot of fun. 

What will I decide to do for my 56th birthday that is happening in a week?? I do have one idea, but it hasn't arrived yet so we'll have to see what else I can get up to..

Hugs, Suzanne

Random seasonal thought bubble

Excerpt from Suzanne's Brain

Twas the night before Christmas

and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
not even a mouse
.......
Something was stirring though, shuffling?
Not sure what it could be
I've checked every corner
looked under every piece of furniture
Nope
can't see anything, still hear it though

....
hmmmmm
Maybe a house hippo?
You have to believe to see? or see to believe?
I do believe in house hippos, I do, I do!
.......
Nope, still nothing. And now the shuffling noise is gone.
......
Oh! There's a gift under my tree!
It must have been Santa! Santa Claus was here!
I must have been a good human this year.
.....
I guess they didn't hear about that incident with the Easter Bunny.
....
Well anyways, Yay, a gift!
Oh.... maybe its coal......;p

Original thought by Suzanne McCann