Category Archives: creative spirit

My dream home

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Building a nest.

Building a nest.

It was a rainy, cold sunday afternoon, one of many in a rainy, cold summer. We would have loved to curl up with a book and a cup of coffee. Our children were running wild though, back and forth in the living room, having so much pent-up energy. We just looked at them and each other, and went for our rain gear. Come on, we are going for a walk, in the woods! They were jumping and running in front of us for a little while, then they stopped and walked very silently close to us. What’s the matter with you guys? You may jump and shout as much as you like here, why are you so timid? The youngest looked up at us, with eyes that said “you do not really understand much, do you?” then he explained it all to us. “You know, when I am at home the world is this big and I can run everywhere” he said and stretched his small arms in front of him. ” But when I am outside” he continued, and crossed his arms in front of him and made himself even smaller ” when I am outside the world stops just here”, he said and wiggled his little finger in the crook of his arms. His words ring in my heart whenever I get too ambitious in any homemaking projects. Building a dream home means nothing if it does not make its inhabitants able to call the world their home. Building my dream home is done by nourishing and supporting everything in myself, my husband, our children and our guests that make us feel happy, content, safe and also daring, confident and able to be at home wherever and with whoever.

I love flights of fancy, I do dream of beautiful homes and wonderful settings. I do spend lots of time making our houses lovely and welcoming. But most of all I dream of a world where all of us, no matter who we are or where we live, may safely and happily go out into the world, jump and shout for joy, and know, I am at home. I think I already won that lottery, I am building my dream home, every day.

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Messy neatpins

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Beautiful order

Beautiful order

We stayed with some friends this week. As they left early for work we made our own breakfast, and I was impressed by the total order of her kitchen. I had to comment on that later in the evening. Oh, she said, I just keep it that way, my grandmother organized it when we moved in. That was ten years ago.

Very well ordered, but for whom?

Very well ordered, but for whom?

As for me? I de-clutter and organize several times a year, but as soon a I start living in the neat, clean space, life takes over. I talked this over with another dear friend some days ago. Her home is as organized as mine, everything has its place, and most of the time that’s  where you’ll find it. To me order has it’s own beauty. So why do we strive to stay organized? Because the well-ordered universe is not our natural habitat.

well ordered, but not living

well ordered, but not living

And we both know that keeping organized is our survival tool to be able to do all the thing we want to do, or have to do. We both are impulsive, creative, active, imaginative…and at least for me, messy. Not when doing ordinary things like cooking or cleaning, but say gardening…..I’ll start in a corner. I find a plant that does not thrive, I find a new spot, I discover a rose that should have been cut back, I trim that rose and start the compost cutter, I spot some twigs that are too big and go to the landfill with those, or saw them into logs, then I see that the wood shed should have been cleared….

Where to start?

Where to start?

Hopefully I put the poor plant in the ground before I started on the roses, life is a messy business! Not to talk about painting, quilting or sewing. Pulling everything out, looking at the colours, feeling the material, gets me going, while nothing stops me as having to look for the handy tool or the scrap that would make this project perfect. Then again,  if I really am stuck, the best strategy is to clear up, sort out, to take stock. To me, that is true about everything, not only visible projects.

To untangle life enough to be aware of the single rose

To untangle life enough to be aware of the single rose

Actually, even more so if I do not know where to go next. I think life’s messes are like balls of wool, if they are entangled it makes things worse to pull at one thread even if it is the right one. Stop, think, tweak and pull softly, perhaps even cut a knot. And then I will be knitting again, until the next knot. At least I will know where my yarn is, and if need be where my scissors are, hopefully.

ABSee, a daily post weaving thoughts on seeing and being

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IMG_3407 dovre 3A. I sit on a bench, under the eucalyptus trees, looking out over the slough. Silently and majestically a great white egret takes flight and sails over the water. It’s reflection is perfectly mirrored in the silent water. It seems a sacrilege to reach for my camera, and I don’t. Anyway, no matter how I captured this moment I would not be able to convey the glory and the mystery of the moment. You had to be there, so go! Find a bench, a silent spot, and stay in what you see.

IMG_3332 VINGROMB. We are driving through the french countryside, approaching the swiss border, as the traffic comes to a sudden halt. Soon there are long lines, and we settle in for some waiting time. Hot and boring to everyone it seems. This is many years ago, I was fourteen, with my first camera and film and developing had to be taken from my pocket-money. Which means I was very careful about what I shot. I roll down the window and look around, curious as I am. Then, close by, I see an old tree, golden grasses at its foot, a tumble-down fence, and two brown horses, silently eating grass, not going anywhere, not caring about all the tourists who think their day is ruined. I take their picture, out of the window. It turned out just as peaceful as I remembered it. I still have it, it still reminds me to look for the silent spot in the middle of chaos.

IMG_3378 Dovre 1See. We are driving through the norwegian mountains, we parents become aware of our youngest daughter who is looking intently ahead of her. “What is the matter?” We ask. “Don’t disturb me,” she says,” I am making C memories”. “What? What are A and B memories if this is C? “We ask. “Silly you,” she responds.” I said See, not C. I want to take what I see with me, And then I have to look real hard to make see memories.” She still does, and we are still reminded to do it, stay silent, and be in the moment, and see.

The wall as a mirror

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We have pictures the kids painted years ago

We have pictures the kids painted years ago

Our kids used to call us the Mac Museum family, as galleries and museums always was on our program when we were travelling. They still are of course. I have often wondered at the fashions of art, how people are willing to pay and display the weirdest things to show wealth, power and connections. I used to think it would be better to choose the pictures that really meant something to the owner and expressed some of her (well mostly his) values and feelings. Then again isn’t that just what it does?

We have newly painted pictures

We have newly painted pictures

If I choose something because everybody else likes it, that too says something about my eagerness to be accepted, that again is rooted in something else than mere art. On the other hand it could be just as conceited to try to be different from every body else. A person not owing up to the feelings and sentiments we all share as human beings  might be just as insecure and attention seeking as the conformist. Today I think it all boils down to this, our walls tell about longings, hopes and achievement, both those we want to share and those we in fact are part of.

The arctic bird playing with be tropical ones

The arctic bird playing with be tropical ones

We have lived in a lot of houses belonging to someone else. Just now we are happy to rent a house furnished almost in our own taste, we just had to make a collage of the kids, us and our dog on the wall to make it ours.
Last time we lived in a home where I prefered bare walls to the paintings the owners had found it fit to have. Another time we thought the pictures were OK, while our visitors kept commenting why do you keep that up? Of course your walls also says something of which culture you belong to or want to belong to. Our landlords have been Dutch, Moroccan, Chinese and American.

My values quilt

My values quilt

As I am in our own home in Norway this week, this daily prompt got me thinking, what is it really that hangs on our walls? I went for a photo safari at home. There is art made by the children, now or when they were kids. There are enlargements of my own photos, there are inherited plates, there are the antique tiles we brought from Holland, there are plates decorated by my brother, there are quilts made by me, embroidery by my mother. At my office wall there’s the embroidered wallhanging that my grandparents had in their hallway: “Yesterday is gone, you have not seen tomorrow, but today the Lord will help you”.
Then there are lots of pictures of us a family and the kids as babies, at school, at their confirmation. All this tells of a love of beauty, of the blessings we are grateful for, everything is hung with purpose.

My memo board

My memo board

Nothing surprised me, until I came to my sewing room. I have not realized before that a whole wall is filled of what I hope to be true, what I strive for and the palette of future artwork, all found in two objects. As I work with values and strategies I have verbalized the values of my home making, and made them into two quilts. Now the summer one is displayed, have nothing in your home, but love, truth and beauty ( a slight nod to William Morris).
On the other part of the wall is my memo board, with cards, bits of lace, the music score of the aria my brother-in-law performed at my 50ieth birthday, lace, snippets, buttons, cards, a calligraphic Bible verse from a dear friend.

The house is a fantasy version of my grandparent's home

The house is a fantasy version of my grandparent’s home

Totally without plan, but a mirror straight into my heart. I have always had those boards and find it a wonderful way to stay with my dreams and true longings, to show myself who I am, to get me back on track. You see the most important thing on this board is the card my family gave me for my birthday ( it is up in the corner) a mosaic made of hundreds of my pictures, making a picture of me. It tells me of the beauty of being human, we all have so many facets to our personality, so many colors in our character, so many possibilities to choose from.

To be the one we are meant to be we need wisdom to  know what to keep, what to strengthen and what to weed. We live in a fragmented world, we need to stay where we are made whole. If my walls would tell that tale, I would be happy.

Up! Weekly photo challenge

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IMG_0038 staying upTo me the best films made for children are those that are not childish but are able to be simple and profound at the same time. The best of those in my mind is the Pixar film Up! by Pete Docter. Funny, action, great animation while all the way showing a way to deal with grief, sorrow, loneliness and rejection. How do you get up and going when your wife dies? When your father does not show up? When your home will be demolished? When your goals are much bigger than your abilities?

IMG_0866 long wayI know from counseling, from a lot of persons I have met, that the films solutions will work.  To be able to let go, you have to get hold on what you are leaving. To be able to go on, you have to face anger, bereavement, bewilderment and weakness as part of your grief. To be able to live a true life you must stand up for your truths. To find true friends you should open your mind and heart, as they are not always given where you are looking for them. Some goals are meant to be shared and achieved with others.

IMG_2939 long and winding roadI had the film and these words in my mind when I went looking for UP pictures this weekend. Perhaps you can see that, perhaps you see something else! Even without going to South America with your house tied UP with balloons….

IMG_2936 to be up

Why do the birds sing? Or a postaday answer to Why do you blog?

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Blogging is reflection

Blogging is reflection

Carl Barks has this legendary story about why birds sing. His character Gyro Gearloose starts an experiment with a bird and three theories:

May be it is sad, maybe it is happy, maybe it just sings?

IMG_1120 sandpiper

What would the sandpiper tell us?

After having trapped the bird, in the ordinary way ( you did know how to do that did you not? By sprinkling salt on its tail of course!) he questions it by wiring it’s head. The answer is : May be I am sad, may be I am happy, may be I just sing.

Perhaps I am sad

Perhaps I am sad

Just like with blogging. The thing is the communication, to share into the world regardless of who is listening. Which to me is what being a human being is all about, to communicate, to share and to learn from another. Whether I am sad, whether I am happy, whether I just want to sing.

Perhaps I am happy

Perhaps I am happy

The beauty of it, both in talking and writing, is that by arranging my words and sorting through my mind, I get closer to understand  why I am singing just now. The best part of it is to grow wiser both by knowing myself and by listening to the thoughts of others. Blogging is like a big campfire, where there always is a new story to listen to, new wisdom to take part in and a new song to join.

IMG_0352 sharing joy

And then again, sometimes I just want to sing.

Press it! Sharing blogs that make a difference

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Other people may show me when I am too narrow-minded

Other people may show me when I am too narrow-minded

Prompted by the postaday prompt to share and recommend three blogs that I loved, I am happy to recommend these three persons who all makes a difference in the world through what they do and what they blog.

Some years ago I asked my brother, who knows this kind of things, is it possible to earn money on my pictures? I was aching for some new gear, a photo safari in Lofoten….you name it, I needed cash! But most of all I ached for a job closer to my heart.  He gave me a book by David du Chemin, Visionmongers. It was not so much about photography as it was about finding, sharing and living by one’s true calling and abilities, the vision and passion. David writes so well, is an astonishing photographer and comes through as a genuine caring person. That book meant a lot to me, and of course I was happy to discover his blog. One of the guiding stars in my life is “give, and it shall be given unto you” . This is the spirit of David’s work too. He writes so poignantly about that today. “Let them steal”,he says, talking about how the fear of being the victim of theft kills the creative energy we could have used for creating. Have a look at his work and words your self!

David du Chemin-world and Humanitarian Photographer

Other people may show me new steps to take

Other people may show me new steps to take

Then there is an norwegian blog I’d love to share, the MD Maria Gjerpe, writes so well, combining medical knowledge with her own experience about chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).  I do not have that illness myself, but have family members who suffer. Maria’s first hand , balanced and sound advice is just what I need. Just now she has started a project to  crowd fund research on CFS. If you do understand norwegian, have a look!

Maria Gjerpe

Listening to others may even give me a new perspective

Listening to others may even give me a new perspective

Last night I got a like on my own blog from someone I had not seen before. I checked out her blog and followed immediately. Pat is a Dominican Sister of San Rafael. She shares so many of my hobbies, hiking, walking and photography. Then again she has chosen a different way of living her belief than I have done, which makes it a gift to me to be able to listen in on her perspective. Her poems and pictures are like a spring of fresh water on a walking trip. You might like it too.

Her post today is about optimism, go visit OPreach!

Weekly photo challenge – color

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In some minutes sunset will start, everything is here, except the light

In some minutes sunset will start, everything is here, except the light

Norway was the last country in Europe to introduce color TV, not until 1972. Actually they removed the colors from bought productions for several years, while the politicians discussed the dangers of color. Finally we were ready for it, and my father had ordered a set. He told of us of the wonder of colors, how everything like Flipper and Skippy now would be in colors. My younger brother looked at him with a surprised look, are they not already?

Then suddenly, where did the color come from?

Then suddenly, where did the color come from?

Somebody then told him that only the most creative people dreamt in color. He looked at us as if we were truly strange creatures, “curiouser and curiouser” as Alice would have said. Don’t everybody do that? Well, we found the fact a bit weird too, as we all were dreaming in colors, and never actually had missed them from our series either. Neither did I miss them when I started using the dark room, there just was so much more to a picture than the colors! I still think that, even if I love colors, even when I crave colors, even as I fill my house with colors.

colors in the water

colors in the water

Then  again, as photography means drawing with light, an essential part is to understand light. As color can not exist without light, or rather that the light decides the character of the color ,the balance keeps challenging me.

Colors in the sky

Colors in the sky

To illustrate this I made a series of pictures taken during an hour, the same afternoon and the same angle. Before sunset, just as the sunset colors were emerging, and then some exaggerated details to show how different the same light is reflected differently from different surfaces. And then we are back to the beginning. We do see colors differently, that too is like reflections, it all depends on where we are standing.

And then...its gone

And then…its gone

By the way, my brother is an artist now, so perhaps he really saw something the rest of us did not?  You may decide for yourself :  http://www.trygveskogrand.com