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

Fall/Autumn 2021

 Here it is again, Fall, or Autumn, which ever you prefer....it is my favourite time of year. The heat of summer is over and the crispy coolness of a new season is renewing for me. The smell of the fallen leaves piling up  is one of my favourite smells of all time. And the way the smell of those leaves wafts up when I walk through them is smile inducing...walking along, smiling ear to ear, seeing the leaves fly around my feet as I walk along....makes me feel much younger and lighter in spirit.

Fall

 "Life starts all over again

when it gets crisp in the fall."

F. Scott Fitzgerald

I was hurrying through my own soul.....Mary Oliver

MOCKINGBIRDS

by Mary Oliver


This morning
two mockingbirds
in the green field
were spinning and tossing

the white ribbons
of their songs
into the air.
I had nothing

better to do
than listen.
I mean this
seriously.

In Greece,
a long time ago,
an old couple
opened their door

to two strangers
who were,
it soon appeared,
not men at all,

but gods.
It is my favorite story--
how the old couple
had almost nothing to give

but their willingness
to be attentive--
but for this alone
the gods loved them

and blessed them--
when they rose
out of their mortal bodies,
like a million particles of water

from a fountain,
the light
swept into all the corners
of the cottage,

and the old couple,
shaken with understanding,
bowed down--
but still they asked for nothing

but the difficult life
which they had already.
And the gods smiled, as they vanished,
clapping their great wings.

Wherever it was
I was supposed to be
this morning--
whatever it was I said

I would be doing--
I was standing
at the edge of the field--
I was hurrying

through my own soul,
opening its dark doors--
I was leaning out;
I was listening.

Adding some green

  There is a comforting smell of cinnamon and baking coming from the oven. I have an abundance of carrots in my bin and this morning decided to use some up and make a carrot cake. I used a honey/brown sugar mix for my sweetness. I also had some raisins and cranberries so they went in as well.
    I look outside and snow is gently falling.  We so rarely see snow here on the island that it has me grinning ear to ear! I was outside at 9pm making a tiny snowman the first night. 

I've put the last touches on a couple of paintings. I am enjoying adding some
green to the somewhat limited palette of colours that I like to play with. I layered up the paint
using the envelopes from my mom's letters. (as mentioned in previous post). I really
enjoy adding a colour and then walking away, looking back at it and deciding what colour
to add next. The hardest part is deciding when to stop adding and just let it be.

Hugs til next time.
Suzanne