Create with Spirit

Love and/or Marriage

I am so happy to share this invitation to you all blog readers!

I am involved with a great project called the Cubby Missalette, and we are looking for submissions for our next issue. The theme is Love and/or Marriage. 

Here is the invitation. Please stretch your creative wings and submit!

Dearest Cubby Lovers,

We hope this finds you head over heels in somersaults of ecstasy at the beginning of this promising New Year. Love is in the air, and oh, what a breath of freshness it is! As Bill Fisher said recently, "The zeitgeist has never felt this good, ever."

For one thing, we can not help being madly in love with our new first couple, whose palpable love for one another is truly awww-inspiring to behold. Not only are Mr. and Mrs. Obama lovers in every sense of the word, but their partnership as they start this new journey of leadership has the potential to bring about a seismic ideological shift in America that could smash the past decade's paradigm of fear, hate and misunderstanding and bring in a new era of rationalism, empathy and love.

But as the loveliest rose comes equipped with sharp thorns that prick us, so do our love affairs sometimes wound us and make our hearts bleed. Our new leadership is a dream come true and yet, in our own beloved home state of California, the same democratic process has brought about a malicious ban on marriage between loving couples of the same gender.

Love and/or Marriage:
a Cubby Missalette

Neil Young said, "only love can  break your heart."
And The Beatles professed, "love is all you need,"

Love is a promise. We are drawn to it over and over again  - driven wild by its potential, satisfied by its fruition and disappointed by its frustrations.

We feel that now is the perfect time to explore the subject of love, as well as its companion, marriage, and to explore the myriad forces, both personal and political, that come to bear upon them.

We are pleased to announce our intention to publish a brand new Cubby Missalette, where we can explore the heart's greatest emotion and society's most hallowed institution, including all the exotic terrain in between.

SO WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We invite you to submit your lovingly wrought expressions on the subject of Love and/or Marriage.
This could be your thoughts, your feelings, your poetry, your prose, your drawings, your collages, your comics – anything that can fit into a 2-dimensional form!

And for those who are new to the Cubby, you can see past Missalette experiences here:http://cubby.net/missalette/index.html
Jol & Tristy are also overjoyed to answer any questions you may have or give further guidance in what we are looking for, for this exciting new issue!

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: FRIDAY, FEB. 20, 2009
(Honoring Cubby Saint Kurt Cobain's birthday!)

PUBLICATION DAY: FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2009
Please note this is a FAST turnaround – just three weeks to create and submit. But what better subject to rally around and create something new? What better time to birth a new vision into the world?

We so much hope you will join us on this latest endeavor! Please contact either Jol at endofreligion@gmail.com or Tristy at tristy20@gmail.com to let us know that you are on board this crazy love train!

In gratitude,
Your Missalette  co-editors for this issue,
Trismegista Taylor and Jo(e)l Perez

Dream Resolutions

Anne Hill of Blog o' Gnosis does this great thing every year, where she goes over the dreams she had over the past year and makes new resolutions for the new year.

Here is how Anne describes it:

Dream resolutions...have nothing to do with the calculus of daily life — they are solely concerned with having the best dreams possible. Anything you like that happened in a dream, make a resolution to do it again. Anything that didn’t turn out quite right, you can do differently next time.

I love this idea! You can read hers here.

So of course, I had to see what mine are!

1. Even when I dive into the water and forget to take a breath, I can breathe underwater and my wings will not get soggy.
   
2. The hooded teens throwing bowling balls at my head might have a gift for me.
   
3. Love is a verb. It is a doing word.
   
4. I am not responsible for healing the broken birds in the world, just healing my own brokenness.
   
5. Let the unknown take shape.
   
6. The true hunting is over - no herds to follow.
   
7. It is O.K. to sleep on the floating mattress in the swamp, as long as my husband is by my side.
   
8. Make love to the lion and set her free.
   
9. Let the magic women lay their hands on my face and open my soul.
   
10. Shine in 2009!

What are your dream resolutions this year?

Bearded Lady

Some of you know that I have a very deep love of beards and handle-bar moustaches. I also have a deep love of craft. The two have come together in the excellent removable beards made by the amazing Erin Dollar and you can buy them in her Etsy shop.

I am so grateful for people who make things like this in the world.

Hambox Advent!

I am very proud to say that I was invited to participate in the most fantastic Hambox Advent 2008! Every year Lady Hambox gives us 31 days of Holiday Inspiration. There truly is no way to describe it. You must see it for yourself.

Be sure to click on all the days (so far) and check back every day for a new treat. The day I contributed to is December 11th, by the way!

Stop Shopping

Oh my Lordy, it's Holiday Time again. I am here to remind you that in this particularly difficult economic time, it is not only O.K. but joyfully wonderful to make your own gifts this year. In fact, why not start a new trend of making gifts for all the future holidays that will come upon us?

To inspire you, watch the latest video from Rev. Billy & The Stop Shopping Gospel Choir. They have some wonderful ideas, including some gifts that the "non-creative" can give (although I believe everyone can make something!).

And remember, now is the time to start those projects, so they are ready for the holidays!

Smallest Knitter in the World

In February 2009, the first hand-made, stop-motion, 3D film will hit our movie theaters. It is Coraline, based on Neil Gaiman's novella of the same name. None other than the amazing Tim Burton is making it, so you know it will be creepy and beautiful.

I read the novella Coraline and it actually creeped me out and made me really angry at the same time. Those black, button eyes...ugh. But regardless of how I felt about the story, I am most definitely going to see this amazing movie.

I want to direct you to the site to watch an incredible little clip showcasing some of the world's tiniest knitting (that's what I'm claiming in my complete ignorance, anyway). Some of her needles are as small as a strand of human hair!!! Can you imagine?

Of course the styling and advertising for this film is super crafty and mysterious so you have to do something special in order to see the clip. Never fear my dear readers, for I am in the know (thanks Drawn!) and I can tell you what to do:

Go here.

Click your cursor into the first box and type in the word "sweaterxxs".

Enjoy the tiniest and craftiest knitting you have ever seen.

Then, if you want to see more, here are some other "magic" words:

buttoneyes
stopmotion
moustachio
puppetlove
armpithair

Thank God for the crafty geniuses of the world. They keep me alive, I swear!

Curmudgeon: An Unlikely Army Chaplain

I just read a wonderful blog by an "unlikely Army Chaplain." He is a Jesuit Priest and has a great style of writing. He's got a great sense of humor and speaks with a great honesty and humility. Three things I think are essential to posses when working as a spiritual companion! He's currently writing about his two favorite prayers, "Help Me," and "Thank You." Check it out.

Reading this blog helps me feel a little bit better about the soldiers who are still stuck in this war. I hope there are other chaplains like this man, serving and companioning over there.

More Obama Art

I have just discovered that there is a whole blog dedicated to all the Obama art being created out there!

Check out the Obama Art Report!

Good Things are Happening in the World!

I am very lucky to work for the incredible Arts & Healing Network. Twice a week I get to immerse myself in all the amazing healing art projects that are happening around the globe. I always joke with my fantastic co-worker Danny, about how great it would be if every corporate news program had to start and end with a news story about something positive and healing happening in the world. They are happening all around us! We just don't hear about them!

So, along those lines, behold The Federation of Students and Nominally or Unemployed Artists:

Instant Grant Program from Steve Lambert on Vimeo.

I can tell you that by far, the most e-mails I get at the Arts & Healing Network are requests for money or how to fund healing art projects. Our country does not value art the way many others do, and artists here are continually struggling to create and share their work. What's the first thing to get cut in any public institution (be it a school or the federal government?) - ART. When really, art is one of the most important parts of creating a healthy and sustainable culture of imagination and peace.

I love these folks because they did something so simple. 10 artists got together and raised $100 each. Then they gave it away to people who needed the money to finish a project. Genius - simple - beautiful. And they helped over 40 artists.

In all the fear and darkness we are experiencing right now, with the economy and the upcoming election, PLEASE remember that incredible, wonderful things are also happening in the world.

And I'm going to take that statement one step further and ask what simple, powerful acts you can do this month? Every action you take, no matter how small, is valuable and we have no idea the ripple effects they can have in the greater world.

Who Does She Think She Is?

Just heard about a new film called Who Does She Think She Is? Created by Pamela Tanner Boll, the film tells the story of five artists who are also women and mothers, and how they try to honor their creative process as much as taking care of their families. All artist mothers are up against enormous pressure in our culture and society. There is a paradigm in our society that if you are making art and taking time to honor your own creativity, then someone else is losing something. Women are trained to give of themselves first, and then think of their own needs when everyone else is taken care of.

I haven't seen the film yet, but I have read reviews of it and watched the extra-long trailer and it has already brought tears to my eyes.

Here is the shorter trailer (a longer one can be seen on the site):

I'm especially struck by the quote: "I feel like I'm lost in the woods and I'm all alone, with no companions, and I hear wolves." That is often how I feel as an artist, and I'm not even a mother! I am in AWE of women who manage to take care of their families and get into the studio. It's really incredible. I rarely allow myself the time to create as it is - how will I do it as a mother?

I think this movie is a must-see for all creative people, female and male alike!