...a explanation (sort of).

Wow, 2 months with nothing to say. I sit here now, looking a blank page, trying to find a photo appropriate for this post, and an explanation for being away so long. No excuses really...I guess I just didn't feel "it". What is "it" you ask? Oh, I guess you could say creative, or inspired, or moved. About anything really. I suppose some call it being in a funk. I told myself that no one will notice if I don't post for a day, or the week, or even the month. Sure, things happened that I could have written about. I was rear ended in a car accident, and am still recovering from whiplash (Oh how I hate the over used word that really doesn't do the experience justice). I turned 50. Spent the day in a limo headed for the wine country with great friends. Pretty big milestone...could have written about that. Celebrated a few milestone birthdays of those close to me...60,85,90! All with photos of the big events...could have written about that. But I just couldn't really get myself to sit down and share. All the while I would get e-mail updates showing how many visitors stopped by. Amazing! People were reading even though I wasn't writing. Well, thank you to all those who visited in my absence. And to those of you reading this...I'm back. New photos, new projects, and a renewed sense of creativity. So to get back to the photo...I'm poking my head back out into the blog world with a vengeance and flying out the door of my creative funk!

...a Sunday afternoon in "blogland".

Another rainy Sunday, and I woke up with absolutely no direction to the day. Didn't get out of my PJ's until around 1:00, and didn't even make my bed! I wouldn't have even left the house if my best friend hadn't called and coaxed me out for my favorite, Peppermint Mocha. There we sat for a few hours solving the worlds crisis, coming up with different ideas for businesses that would get us out of what we currently do, swapping recipes, vowing to get healthy, exercise more (OK actually start exercising) and exchanging heartwarming stories about our dogs. I, of course will be the next Martha Stewart, and she the female Dog Whisperer. We would ride out the recession/depression doing what we love; young at heart, thin, and with enough money in the bank to keep us shopping!
Absolutely motivated I went back home and got on the computer. But rather than start a project of my own, I found myself traveling through the world of "Blogland" as I like to call it. One site would lead me to another, and another, and than another. I found myself immersed in a community filled with inspiration and creativity. It truly is amazing the collective amount of talent that fills this world of ours. Woman who have children, jobs, pets, single, married, or beginning to start over. All of them finding a niche that is uniquely theirs. For some it's a livelihood and others a hobby, but all of them going at it with a unified creative passion. I have listed some of my favorites here on my blog.
One afternoon when you find yourself with some time, do yourself a favor and visit some of these amazing women.
I guarantee you will walk away richer than when you sat down.
Have a really great week!

...thoughts on creativity.

Sometimes being creative comes with very little effort, while at other times it means digging deep inside "that place" and coming up with nothing. Often times I feel that my creativity has to come out in the form of something new, something that no one has done before, a new pure idea that is born from "that place". Not true...being creative can also be an awareness of things that have come before, inspirations that spark a new interpretation, or sometimes, even in the form of imitation. I came across a great book filled with quotes from legendary women and this seemed to jump out at me when I needed it the most:

"You start by copying other people's paintings or music or whatever. You get all of those skills before you branch out. Really creative people have a fantastic ability to copy things and then combine them in new ways. And whether we're talking about genes or memes, recombination is the real heart of creativity."
-SUSAN BLACKMORE (1951-)
ENGLISH FREELANCE WRITER, LECTURER AND BROADCASTER

The photo above is from a mural painted as a ceiling trim in Nirvana Restaurant, San Miguel de Allende. I took this during appetizers at dinner with a friend. Always bring a camera, you never know what you'll find!