A Beautiful and Peaceful New Year

 

 As a family, we have been taking time off these last few weeks.  Time off from the electronic boxes that take away much of our valuable time…and assessing what we can do when we “are bored”.

You know the story.

So, we have played many board games, read books together and individually, worked on the zen/sand board, read Tarot cards, looked at the lights, walked the frozen beach, walked the dog, practiced songs, made up songs, jammed on keyboards and guitars, danced around to the music, watched each other, drew pictures, had staring contests, wrestled, argued, baked, cooked and created science experiments…whew!  It is amazing how long a day can be, even during the darkest days of the year!

What have you been doing with your precious time?

 

Week off from Blogging and Social Networking

I did this last year at the holidays and it gave me much peace.  I will not post in this blog for a week.  Neither will I go onto any social networking sites for the week.  I need to get back to the way life was before the computer.

Love it…but need and want a break to re-focus.

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

Gratitude this Solstice

Saying thank-you to some of the new friends who have touched my life this year….thinking of you on this, the longest night of the year. 

Happy Solstice!

Barb Pitcher and Amy Oak:
  http://www.commonunityinrhythm.com/joomla/

Graham Gudgin:
http://foucault.tarot.googlepages.com/

EsmaaSelf:
http://esmaa.wordpress.com/

Saul Kaplan:
http://www.businessinnovationfactory.com/

Molly Gordon:
http://www.shaboominc.com/blog/

Kristen Beireis
http://www.kristenbeireis.com/

Denise Hart
http://www.kristenbeireis.com/

Marlo Boux
http://www.cleangreenwinnipeg.com/

Venessa Shelton
http://www.vanessasdesk.com/

Allison Rockey
http://iallison.blogspot.com/

Kitty in the Snow

 click photo to enlarge

Lovely, regal kitty cat owning the snowy driveway…yep, his domain!

Creativity Coaching

Creativity Coaching

 

Are you looking to move your creative journey to the next level?  A creativity coach may be just the thing to support you through the blocks and get you motivated to get back on track with your goals and dreams.

What is a creativity coach?  Here is the best description I have seen to describe this unique coaching experience:

“By creativity coaching I mean the activity of one person helping another person with every aspect of that person’s creative life, including the psychological, emotional, existential, and practical problems that arise as a client tries to create.  Virtually nothing is out-of-bounds as a creativity coach endeavors to help his client write, paint, perform, invent, or compose, find and make meaning, maintain mental health, enjoy a measure of happiness, and lead a good life that centers around creating.”  -Eric Maisel

If this is what you have been searching for…contact me for an initial * free* creativity coaching session via email.  I would be honored to support you on the creative journey that is unique to you!

Contact me at organicsmi@yahoo.com and I will respond within the next 24 hours.

Fees:
Preferred method of contact is via email
$10.00 per individual email exchange
$45.00 for 5 email exchanges

Who am I?  Susan Loughrin, Arts Consultant/Creativity Coach

Here is a brief bio to give you some background on my expertise:

BS Western Michigan University, Music, Education, Arts Integration
MA Teachers College, Columbia University, Developmental Psychology

Educational Experience:
6 years in the private school system of New York City
8 years Michigan Public Schools

Current Position: 
Arts consultant at the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (7 years)
Designing and developing professional development opportunities in the areas of dance, theatre, music and visual arts education

Fox Tracks?

click to enlarge photo

Think these are fox tracks in our back woods…what do you think?

Good Dog or Bad Dog?

While I was out taking pictures in the wood, Hannah, our golden retriever, was out enjoying her daily walk.  Since I was occupied, she felt she had the run of the woods and went scrounging for dead things!  Yuck!

Well…she is a retriever after all.  So, good girl for holding her prize gently and gingerly, but the yucky smell!  She loved it and would not give it up.  I could not even tell what kind of animal it was…only that it had fur. 

Not sure how much of it she ate…but the vet keeps telling us to keep her away from eating maggoty, dead things.

What do you think?  Good dog or Bad dog???

Just Read Black and White by Dani Shapiro

  I just finished Dani Shapiro’s book, Black and White.

I enjoyed the story and getting into the psyche of each character.  But I was really struck by the subtle gems of artists glittering throughout the book.  Here are some of them that I have begun to explore:

 

 

Irving Penn

 

   George Nakashima

  Steichen galleries, MoMA

 Edward Weston

Fire and Ice

 click to enlarge

Loved seeing the sun through the icicles yesterday.  Glad I had the camera…

Sunrise

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I went out for a walk with the dog this AM.  The sun was finally visible!  I was able to capture it through the trees.  The image looks like a fire…blazing twigs…

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