On:
In: Life Reflections

What do you do when you’ve discovered that your relationship with your partner is deteriorating because you spend too much time online or watching television? My husband and I have developed some bad habits regarding spending quality time together. He sits in his favorite chair watching Youtube videos, and I spend a lot of time watching television series in the other room that’s about 4 feet away. We are technically in the same vicinity, but we are immersed in different screens. We decided this habit of sharing space but not sharing time together has to stop. We have some good friends that eat together everyRead More →

On:
In: Creative and Studio Life

There was a time when anxiety felt like hell on earth. My mind spun stories so fast I could barely breathe and my body reacted to my imaginings. The only thing that quieted the noise in my head was using my hands by shaping metal, stringing beads, and making something real. Even if it was a horrible design or ugly, it was beautiful to me because I wasn’t in a fear state for a blessed amount of time. The result of my action was tangible and allowed me to see my progress in staying present. Slowly, the fear loosened its grip and curiosity slipped inRead More →

On:
In: Creative and Studio Life, Jewelry & Metalsmi...

As a jewelry designer, I guess it’s time to start blogging a little about my work. I made these circle posts before I left on my trip to add to my collection at Black Dog Salvage in Roanoke, VA. I’ve taken the last three weeks off of work to travel, and reflect upon my life. As much as I want some things to stay the same forever, time keeps on marching on, doesn’t it? That was evident on my trip to Colorado. I made these earrings before I left for my trip. They are rough little circle posts with a lot of texture. They lookRead More →

On:
In: Personal Growth and Sp...

I almost broke my streak of writing daily today, but I have an hour left before the bell tolls. I had a rough 24 hours getting back home to Virginia. Planes were delayed, and I got back home early this morning, and had to hit the ground running as soon as I got some sleep. But now, things are calmer and I’m sufficiently rested to reflect on what I want to express. The last day or so has really brought home the realization that we are mere passengers in life, and not in the driver’s seat as much as we think we are. This realizationRead More →

On:
In: Life Reflections

Writing daily allows me a framework to categorize what is the most meaningful moment I’ve experienced in the last 24 hours. Some days, I have to dig deep to find the moment, or series of moments. Because of that, I am finding that I’m making different decisions daily than I used to so that I have an opportunity to find more meaning in my life. For me, writing daily and clicking Publish gives me a routine to be accountable to myself to notice my life, share what I learn and hopefully after a year, I’ll have enough daily material to creatively find a way toRead More →

On:
In: Life Reflections

It’s funny how the things we have a lifelong aversion to, return to us as our teacher. This morning, I set out for my 2 mile walk along an Arkansas county highway that is near my late mother’s and stepfather’s home. As I was mid-way into my walk, the early morning humid air carried the scent of ripening muscadines. A muscadine is a wild grape that grows around here, and as a child, I was repulsed by the smell. My mother used to make muscadine jelly, and my job was to go out and pick them before the snakes and birds got them. The smellRead More →

On:
In: Life Reflections

Yesterday, we stopped by the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Reserve on our way to Amarillo, Texas on the first leg of our trip back home. The dunes are massive. They are a living geometry of wind, gravity and time. I felt like I was standing in a sine wave, watching the slowed down effects of how we experience our lives in a purely physical way. With any sine wave, you have peaks and valleys, and the experiences we have in our lives if you were to look at it like a sine wave mirror what I saw out there in the desert. TheRead More →