put a little love in your heart...

I used to think that i could love everyone

(just like jesus and mother teresa!)

and that everyone deserved to be loved.

(acrylic and colored pencils on paper)

I used to think this was my life purpose.

To love everyone in my path, no matter what.

A flower child.

Then life happened.

I read about the Holocaust.

I learned about slavery.

I saw the Killing Fields

and Mississippi Burning

and Mahatma Ghandi…

I heard about the Beslan school massacre in 2004

and couldn't believe what was happening...

Then there were other school shootings.

And rape victims in India.

And Apartheid in Africa.

And injustice in Tibet.

I worked in the prison system

and met men who killed children

just for fun.

And then i began to realize

that I would not be able to love everyone in my path,

and that was ok.

Some days, i would be lucky to get through the day

without punching someone in the face -

let alone "love them". ;-)

With each story i heard,

with each year that passed,

with each job i held,

my circle of "people to love" was reduced

from world

to country

to city

to family

and eventually - to me.

Which is where it should have started

in the first place

but you don't know this when you're 14. :-)

I eventually understood

that there was more to life than loving everyone.

I eventually understood

that some things - i would never understand. 

(pen and watercolor on paper)

I'm ok with this now -

that i am able to love some

and not others.

That in order for me to make the best of ME,

I need to surround myself with people

who inspire me and make me feel good,

and I need to keep my distance from others.

That with some people

my heart is open

and with others

it is guarded.

Some people are easy to love.

Others - not so much.

(me at 14)

Maybe eventually,

i'll work my way up to loving the whole world again. ;-)

Who knows.

I'm told miracles happen.

xox

sometimes, winter is good for the soul...

hi folks!

A few pics from my walk yesterday...

I live near the ocean
and when it freezes over during the winter months
we get to walk on the ice (and the ski-doo tracks!)
and get a whole new perspective.

I am not alone... ;-)

they rent out these little cottages in the summer months

more animal tracks...

sometimes I see a deer or a fox crossing to the other side.

see that tiny speck on the horizon, on the left hand side?

it's a little fishing hut. 

they start fishing as soon as the ice is thick enough

to hold a small shed. :-)

the fishing shed again...far away. :-)

on my way back home,
and to a good cup of coffee. 

self portrait.

with a big jacket.

and a hood.

and huge mittens,

under my armpits

while i take the photo. :-)

Tell me this doesn't beat facebook...

xox

i think it's time to go facebook free...

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar:

I love not man the less, but Nature more.

- George Gordon Byron

hello everyone...

This quote speaks to me these days.

I've been feeling the need to detach myself from
all of this social media stuff lately.

I had a wonderful conversation with a friend over the weekend
and i was reminded of how easy it is
to lose focus of what really matters.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
hashtag this and that...
these things so don't matter to me.

Some may feel more connected to the world
when they use social media - but i don't
so i'm bailing out completely for a while.

I will still be blogging though - just very little of anything else.

Life is calling me. :-)

Solitary walks in the woods matter to me.

A good coffee with a good book.

An hour of painting or writing.

Listening to music with my son.

Face to face conversation with a good friend,
like the one i had over the weekend...

(watercolour on a tag)

I think it's so easy to get caught up

in someone else's wave

and to begin comparing ourselves to others.

Amy Winehouse... gel pen on paper (in my journal)

Comparing ourselves to others is never good.

we all have our own way of being in the world...

Those of you who are not social media fanatics

are still worthy of being heard...

Your stories still matter.

And if you're not driving the best car

or wearing the best jeans

or connected to the right people

or carrying the best purse...

you are still ok

and part of the whole.

One life is worth as much as the other.

 (pen on paper)

This drawing was inspired by something i saw on-line

a few weeks ago, 

and i don't remember where i saw it or who the illustrator was...

drawings like these are so much fun to sketch...

I sent out these 2 prints this morning,

to a lovely soul who purchased them on Etsy.

Makes me happy to know my art

makes someone else happy. :-)

wishing you a day

filled with awesomeness.

xox

IF - wool

I'm squeezing this one in (!!) for Illustration Friday.

Word of the week: WOOL.

A digital illustration i did for a children's book about a sheep

who had different wool than the rest of the sheep

and he got himself a perm -

to make his wool more *poofy*.

Ended up being just a bit more *poofy* than expected.

:-)

How one book can change the world...

hello everyone.

This is Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

She's an american author who is most well known
for her book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin", 
a book about slavery and the desire for change.

A great book, although it was at times hard to read.
Too much suffering.

So many books to read...
so many things to learn.

I think women like this were so brave...

at a time where it was certainly uncool
to speak out against slavery (in the 1800's)
and where it was definitely uncool
to speak out at all, if you were a woman.

...and yet, she wrote.

It is said that when she met Abraham Lincoln,
he referred to her as
"the little woman who made this great war"
(the American civil war)

She may not be responsible for having started the war,
but one thing is certain:
she got people thinking
about why certain things were still accepted.

Why some things were still left unquestioned.

Thought is the seed that breeds action and change.

A quick tint in photoshop, and it feels more like the 1800's... :-)

And this was taken yesterday... 

today is a different picture. Another snow storm.

Another day of from school for the kids.

Another day inside for me,

drinking coffee and staying out of trouble. (giggle)

thank you all for your kind comments and emails

re: yesterday's post.

I knew most of you were kind souls

and truth seekers.

xox

if i hear about another pedophile priest, i'm gonna scream...

I may lose a few followers here with this post,

but it doesn't matter to me.

This needs to be shared.

I watched something last night

that had my blood boiling -

and my blood doesn’t boil very easily.

I watched a documentary called

Mea Maxima Culpa

(Silence in the house of God).

It is a must see after far too many silent years

about pedophiles in the priesthood

and the Vatican’s refusal

to protect the young victims.

I am outraged at the fact

that these young deaf boys tried to tell so many people

for so many years (including the police)

and they were ignored

because one just doesn't accuse a priest of such things.

The boys were left to fend for themselves,

many of these deaf children unable to communicate

with their own parents.

Most of the nuns who were meant to protect them

looked the other way.

Many of the priests accused of molestation

were transferred to a different parish,

sometimes to a different country.

I think we can all guess what happened there...

It pains and angers me to think of the suffering

of those poor little deaf boys

and how their lives

were forever changed

because of men (priests)

who abused their authority.

Many catholics won’t watch this film,

because they have been taught not to question,

and many who will watch

will do so in disbelief.

Silence and denial

are far easier to bear for many

than the truth.

Well folks – not for me.

I believe it’s time for change.

We are not doing the world any favors

by pretending these crimes didn’t happen

in the church

and aren’t still happening.

We do ourselves and our children a disservice

when we let these priests

off the hook.

Anyone else would be charged.

They are men, first and foremost

and the frock should serve as more

than protection from the law.

Saints and sinners.

Sinners and saints…

the line keeps getting a little muddier

it seems…

Here's the movie trailer: