tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35671695514843957382024-03-19T15:17:27.711-07:00DREAMER'S MIRRORDREAMER'S MIRROR: MUSINGS ON SPIRITUALITY AND CREATIVITYkathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-15204680680912662192014-03-24T12:26:00.003-07:002014-03-24T12:28:10.344-07:00Art and Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My Artist E-Circle is reading Julia Cameron's WALKING IN THE WORLD this winter. My favorite quote so far is this one:<br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><em>“Our life is supposed to be our life and our art is supposed to be
something we do in it and with it. Our life must be larger than our art, it
must be the container that holds it….Rather than yearning to be full-time
artists, we might aspire to being full-time human beings…art is the overflow of
a heart filled with life.”</em></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="color: white; font-size: small;">Live, Love, Laugh and Write!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="color: white; font-size: small;">Kathy-Diane</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"></span></span><br />kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-84910751700461377212014-01-08T03:20:00.000-08:002014-01-08T03:20:46.714-08:00Heading into the Unknown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>I always equate writing a novel with feeling my way in a dark room. As 2014 begins, and it's time to get back to the novel in progress (which is about as appealing as crocheting earmuffs from dust balls), I love this thought:</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen. </strong></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>There will be something solid for us to stand on or WE WILL BE TAUGHT TO FLY.</strong></span></em><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>-Patrick Overton</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Off to face the dreaded blank page! </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Kathy-Diane</strong></span>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-17364171542064125212013-09-11T08:50:00.000-07:002013-09-11T08:50:14.832-07:00Failure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
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Opened my daily planner to find this quote:<br />
<br />
"Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -Samuel Beckett<br />
<br />
I've learned gut-wrenching lessons from every failure. <br />
<br />
Steve Jobs said: "Stay hungry, stay foolish."<br />
<br />
Better to be a happy failing fool than to have never had the courage to crack open the hollow shell of longing.<br />
<br />
Never stop. Seriously. Just do not let yourself. Dream. BIG.kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-18426369593889311092013-06-21T05:58:00.000-07:002013-06-21T06:01:25.659-07:00Why do we tell stories?<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span> </div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">We've had a week of sun and each morning when I'm finished work, I head out to the deck with a pot of Chiai tea and a copy of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Writing as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>a Sacred Path" by Jill Jepson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>While the sparrows eat the aphids on the golden hops vine and cardinals dart through the willows, I turn the pages and wonder over the gift of being able to tell stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I don't why I'm a writer, but I'm pretty sure the obsession to put words on the page was tattooed in my DNA from day one. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are a few abridged quotes:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtrohnxXMP1bcPeVO4RXPkhG1jgTtfkrEf8h7XT3ZMCCWJuTyBAHxv4LAAE2dtl2FA3RiEEKMKbEo4JYhwCKvXjaN5OB38tH-yski1s6tdkAKwimBvNsxhEnVZnPCSNrvr-G8lUbZlmgN/s1600/church1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtrohnxXMP1bcPeVO4RXPkhG1jgTtfkrEf8h7XT3ZMCCWJuTyBAHxv4LAAE2dtl2FA3RiEEKMKbEo4JYhwCKvXjaN5OB38tH-yski1s6tdkAKwimBvNsxhEnVZnPCSNrvr-G8lUbZlmgN/s1600/church1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<em><strong><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Calibri;">Storytelling may seem too commonplace--even trivial--to be the key to a writer's spiritual path. But this is because , like all seemingly simple work...we fail to see how remarkable it is. When you try to analyze the feat of telling a story, it becomes an act of immense complexity and depth.</span></strong></em><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em><strong><span style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you tell a story, you become what F. Scott Fitzgerald called, "part of the consciousness of our human race." Stories sculpt meaning; they shape how we think about the world; they provide framework for understanding our place in the Universe. Stories determine what we cherish, despise or ignore. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Stories express the inexpressible. </span></span></strong></em></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em><strong><span style="color: #f1c232;"></span></strong></em><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Calibri;"><em><strong>Stories remind us that we are not separate, isolated individuals afloat in the cosmos, but part of the universal stream of life. Stories are gifts. </strong></em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em><strong></strong></em><span style="color: #f1c232;">E. B. White: <em><strong>"As a writing man, or secretary, I have always felt charged with safekeeping of all unexpected items of worldly or unworldly enchantment, as though I might be personally held responsible if even a small one were to be lost."</strong></em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #f1c232;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Calibri;">Lofty thoughts, right? It's true that writing is excruciatingly hard work, exasperating, nerve wracking, ulcer producing and much much worse. But when the vision inside finally begins to come into focus on the page, the feeling of satisfaction warms to the core like a golden benediction and, like birthing a child, I instantly forget all that came before. I always go back for more. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Calibri;">May your pages be dusted with 'enchantment' today. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Calibri;">Happy Writing! Kathy-Diane</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-40706750196770170692013-05-25T04:56:00.000-07:002013-05-25T04:56:10.737-07:00Fling yourself!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
<dt><em>"If the artist does not fling himself, without reflecting, into his work, as
Curtis flung himself into the yawning gulf, as the soldier flings himself into
the enemy's trenches...</em>
<dt><em></em>
<dt><em>...and if, once in this crater, he does not work like a miner
on whom the walls of his gallery have fallen in; if he contemplates difficulties
instead of overcoming them one by one...he is simply looking on at the suicide
of his own talent."</em>
<dt>
<dd>- Honore de Balzac </dd></dt>
</dt>
</dt>
</dt>
kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-81429335203182705912013-02-15T11:22:00.004-08:002013-02-15T11:22:47.211-08:00Inspiration from RUMI<span style="font-size: large;">If your writing is calling you to a wounded place you don't have the courage to probe because it's too raw, honest and painful, contemplate these words from RUMI:</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>With this pain,</em></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>You are</em></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>digging a path</em></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>for yourself. </em></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></strong> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Trust the process. I find writing, like a GPS for the soul, often leads me to higher ground. Be brave!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Kathy-Diane</span></div>
kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-39224004088945278912012-09-18T11:56:00.000-07:002012-09-18T11:56:50.058-07:00No more excuses?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>As writers, we'll often find any old excuse to delay putting
pen to page. When you work at a desk job, one excuse that seems full proof is that
you just can't squeeze in the time. </strong></span><br />
<strong>
</strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Not so. In "The NightTime Novelist" Joseph Bates lists
authors who held day jobs and wrote at night: Franz Kafka worked at Workers
Accident Insurance in Prague...Stephen King taught high school English...John
Grisham worked as an attorney...William Faulkner did a stint as a
postmaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
<strong>
</strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>There's more: Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark
Twain, Charles Dickens, Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
<strong>
</strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>In fact, according to Bates, there are "only a handful
of writers working who make their living solely by their fiction."</strong></span></div>
<strong>
</strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Guess it's time to cross that excuse off the list. Take that
procrastination!</strong></span></div>
<strong>
</strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Happy writing! Kathy-Diane</strong></span></div>
<strong>
</strong>
<br />
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<strong>"Roads Unravelling
sends the reader off the beaten path and down an honest dirt-road trek...a great piece
of Canadian literature." -</strong><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lesley Choyce
author of Clear Cold Morning<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i></div>
kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-58881842033654337272012-08-14T02:56:00.000-07:002012-08-14T02:56:18.198-07:00For Writing and Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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From Sylvia Fraser's "The Green Labyrinth:<br />
<br />
"Perform in humility, just as birds accept that air is their vehicle."<br />
<br />
Reading this quote from an Amazonian shaman, got me pondering: As a writer, what is my vehicle?<br />
<br />
There is a mystery, something larger, more expansive and powerful than myself that sustains my imagination, sparks my creativity, transforms words into wonder when they bloom on the page...<br />
<br />
I don't need to dissect this unknown, quantify it or squash it into a neatly labelled box. <br />
<br />
I only need to put my pen to the page.....marvel with rising joy and rumbling fear...and be always, bone-deep, astonished and grateful. kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-37264023352091051462012-04-13T04:10:00.000-07:002012-04-13T04:10:10.663-07:00The TaoOn of my favorite verses from Wayne Dyer's "Living the Wisdom of the Tao:"<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">6th Verse<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">The spirit that never dies<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">is called the mysterious feminine.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Although she becomes the whole universe,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">her immaculate purity is never lost.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Although she assumes countless forms,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">her true identity remains intact.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">The gateway to the mysterious female<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">is called the root of creation.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Listen to her voice,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">hear it echo through creation.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Without fail, she reveals her presence.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Without fail, she brings us to our own perfection.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Although it is invisible, it endures;<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">it will never end.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bradley Hand ITC"; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: DFKai-SB;">"I pay attention to my inner callings and apply my uniqueness to everything I undertake."<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-18758512974242349592011-12-01T11:06:00.000-08:002011-12-01T11:08:50.812-08:00Writers who CARE: the 50/50 Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAjVN7wJNqa2tnli2PHl5rl0c5MiRQ7At1exkN5d0-MFlQK4YYU6QnkqBn8NiiU0EF3WWUWl7yzD5ycjGh1YnWyJ48-oWNQjIu8qNxjAuP7urI9UarMgohdiblR_TgVYqrKxxBzOUKeCM/s1600/write8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAjVN7wJNqa2tnli2PHl5rl0c5MiRQ7At1exkN5d0-MFlQK4YYU6QnkqBn8NiiU0EF3WWUWl7yzD5ycjGh1YnWyJ48-oWNQjIu8qNxjAuP7urI9UarMgohdiblR_TgVYqrKxxBzOUKeCM/s1600/write8.jpg" /></a></div>I was so pleased to get the opportunity to talk about <a href="http://writerswhocare.blogspot.com/">Writers who CARE: the 50/50 Project</a> on CBC Radio's "Close to Home" show. Host, Carmen Klassen, called from Halifax wanting to know more about how the project works. The money we are raising is going to the Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in the world. Thanks to all the talented writers who have volunteered their time and talent to do critiques. If you'd like to hear more about this project with CARE International to raise money for the crisis in the Horn of Africa, listen to our chat at <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/closetohome/">CLOSE to HOME</a>.kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-13303787876698469792011-11-24T07:37:00.000-08:002011-11-24T07:47:04.196-08:00Feeding the Lake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZX4b8R4Ax0asdzmuU00hq9wsxBKvJveobrrcIuWMCGw2xDJgV1qHjouLmrIseQYPygI2BJQf61lZ9-IS14qlHpxCu-dUi-a0r9IRk2cKofJfq2c0hXfMkxw99d3zsOMhdtnQzIJLOvJ9/s1600/water1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZX4b8R4Ax0asdzmuU00hq9wsxBKvJveobrrcIuWMCGw2xDJgV1qHjouLmrIseQYPygI2BJQf61lZ9-IS14qlHpxCu-dUi-a0r9IRk2cKofJfq2c0hXfMkxw99d3zsOMhdtnQzIJLOvJ9/s1600/water1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZX4b8R4Ax0asdzmuU00hq9wsxBKvJveobrrcIuWMCGw2xDJgV1qHjouLmrIseQYPygI2BJQf61lZ9-IS14qlHpxCu-dUi-a0r9IRk2cKofJfq2c0hXfMkxw99d3zsOMhdtnQzIJLOvJ9/s1600/water1.jpg" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZX4b8R4Ax0asdzmuU00hq9wsxBKvJveobrrcIuWMCGw2xDJgV1qHjouLmrIseQYPygI2BJQf61lZ9-IS14qlHpxCu-dUi-a0r9IRk2cKofJfq2c0hXfMkxw99d3zsOMhdtnQzIJLOvJ9/s1600/water1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZX4b8R4Ax0asdzmuU00hq9wsxBKvJveobrrcIuWMCGw2xDJgV1qHjouLmrIseQYPygI2BJQf61lZ9-IS14qlHpxCu-dUi-a0r9IRk2cKofJfq2c0hXfMkxw99d3zsOMhdtnQzIJLOvJ9/s1600/water1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><div style="text-align: left;" unselectable="on"></div></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here's an excerpt I shared at the last Answering the Call writing retreat from Madeleine L'Engle's "Walking on Water:"<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If the work comes to the Artist and says, "Here I am, serve me," then the job of the Artist, great or small, is to serve. The amount of the artist's talent is not what it is about. Jean Rhys said to an interviewer in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paris Review</i>, "Listen to me. All of writing is a huge lake. There are great rivers that feed the lake, like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. And there are mere trickles, like Jean Rhys. All that matters is feeding the lake."<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have never served a work as it ought to be served; my little trickle adds hardly a drop of water to the lake, and yet it doesn't matter; there is no trickle too small. Over the years, I have come to recognize that the work often knows more than I do. The great artists, the rivers and tributaries, collaborate with the work...Shakespeare knew how to listen to his work, and so he often wrote better than he could write; Bach composed more deeply, more truly, than he knew; Rembrandt's brush put more of the human spirit on canvas than Rembrandt could comprehend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the work takes over, then the artist is enabled to get out of the way, not to interfere. When the work takes over, the Artist listens.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">BUT we MUST work every day, whether we feel like it or not; otherwise when it comes time to get out of the way and listen to the work, we will not heed it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-4851658869601034732011-10-03T15:22:00.000-07:002011-10-03T15:22:39.837-07:00Writers who CARE: the 50/50 Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-1jEUE_N8qSW8dP8s0eKOaG-MPXOXxnbIpvVKmQV1nP1Zrw2t1yNXVhxJRKDcoT9CJh0awKKq9GZ4Kd5mafx5PMoTsxdrMTkFmDMqiKqQ_5D78d0aOLg3KsfZXv7INgVS1bycWJiICcS/s1600/write3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-1jEUE_N8qSW8dP8s0eKOaG-MPXOXxnbIpvVKmQV1nP1Zrw2t1yNXVhxJRKDcoT9CJh0awKKq9GZ4Kd5mafx5PMoTsxdrMTkFmDMqiKqQ_5D78d0aOLg3KsfZXv7INgVS1bycWJiICcS/s1600/write3.jpg" /></a></div><strong>Have you always dreamed of becoming a published author? Do you have a half-finished manuscript hidden under the bed? <a data-mce-href="http://writerswhocare.blogspot.com" href="http://writerswhocare.blogspot.com/">Writers who CARE</a> are a group of published authors working to raise money for Somalian refugees through CARE International. If you donate $50 to <a data-mce-href="http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1235931&langPref=en-CA" href="http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1235931&langPref=en-CA">The 50/50 Project,</a> a published author will critique 50 pages of your work-in-progress. This is a steal folks! </strong><br />
<br />
<strong><em>East Africa is facing its worst drought in more than 60 years, creating the most severe food crisis in the world today.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em>CARE has launched an emergency appeal for $48 million to provide food, water, and emergency relief. They hope to reach almost 2 million people affected by the emergency. </em></strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Check out <a data-mce-href="http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1235931&langPref=en-CA" href="http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1235931&langPref=en-CA">Writers who CARE: the 50/50 Project</a> today and see how you can help. Thank you for your support!</strong>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-43851701613599100782011-09-29T06:38:00.000-07:002011-09-29T06:41:04.568-07:00ANSWERING THE CALL: Writers' Retreat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfrbuIgvoXpQtzVwDNQ4QOSCEEpBoGeYJEAzJCrP1RDOqxcEC-IX-gsuUoQq120_Gm7uSNroVjJrUWatDgPb5nNabsCIpgI7-5Ph30HtDI_g9s8Lkuw3LVGJBIx_ttkIsG-9YLtcHheHz/s1600/write12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfrbuIgvoXpQtzVwDNQ4QOSCEEpBoGeYJEAzJCrP1RDOqxcEC-IX-gsuUoQq120_Gm7uSNroVjJrUWatDgPb5nNabsCIpgI7-5Ph30HtDI_g9s8Lkuw3LVGJBIx_ttkIsG-9YLtcHheHz/s1600/write12.jpg" /></a></div><b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Lucida Handwriting"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Answering the Call VIII: Releasing the Writer Within</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> <br />
A WORKING WRITERS’ RETREAT<br />
<br />
WHERE: The Villa Madonna in Renforth, New Brunswick (just outside of Saint John)<br />
WHEN: October 14, 15 and 16, 2011<br />
<br />
FORMAT:<br />
October 14, 2011:<br />
5 p.m. Registration in foyer.<br />
</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6 p.m. Opening Address: Answering the Call by Kathy-Diane Leveille<br />
6 to 9 p.m. Meet and Greet Social<br />
<br />
October 15, 2011: Full writing day.<br />
7 to 9 p.m. Optional critique group<br />
<br />
October 16, 2011:<br />
11:00 a.m. Closing and wrap up.<br />
1:00 p.m. Heading home after lunch and out by mid-afternoon.<br />
<br />
FEE: $168.00 which includes single room and board.<br />
<br />
All writers dream of getting a block of time for themselves to write. The Villa provides the perfect opportunity. Over the years, we've created touchstones within the weekend's framework that provide <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">optional</i> opportunities to connect with other writers to share work-in-progress and experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rooms are single and private, so there is not excuse not to write.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 6pt 12pt 13.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">E-mail </span></b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">shadowsfall@kathy-dianeleveille.com</span></span></u><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> for more information.</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 6pt 12pt 13.5pt;"><em><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">"All of us can see ourselves in Leveille's characters. These are stories that speak to the complicated bonds we have with siblings and parents, who they were and who they are now and how we learn the truth of what we took for granted before." -</b>The Daily Gleaner<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></em></div><em><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> </span></em>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-25179368127063823202011-08-08T11:24:00.000-07:002011-08-08T11:24:50.930-07:00Thoreau<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Thoreau writes eloquently of the deceptive appearance of TIME. It is quantifiable and measurable; however, beneath our need to contain it, TIME possesses an eternal, elusive quality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this is also true of the well of CREATIVITY that exists within and without us. We barely dip beneath its surface,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but on occasion some of have been lucky enough, through pure clumsy accident, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to drink deep.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">"TIME is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink, I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is the pebbly stars."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Henry David Thoreau</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Walden</span></i></div>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-30817630644021909162011-06-10T06:46:00.000-07:002011-06-10T06:46:45.031-07:00Where Creativity Meets Spirituality for you?<strong><span style="background-color: black;">Where does creativity meet spirituality for you? I'll be posing that provocative question to various artists/writers/creatives I've met over the years. This week I sent it to Annie Harding, who I met this winter in an on-line group that touched base weekly to discuss Julia's Cameron's book FINDING WATER.</span></strong><br />
<br />
<div><div style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Annie: About me, I am a minor published poet with work in four internationally published anthologies.I am working on a collection of poems bout Nova Scotia.I also write Haiku,Sijo, Tanka and Hagia- a combination of photography and Haiku. Originally from Boston I have lived here for the last nine years on a small farm called foggytop. we raise sheep,goats and poultry. We are trying to make the farm self surviving-easier said then done. I was trained as an artist but I spent thirty plus years in corporate America. I design rare gemstone jewellery and work as a fibre artist and photographer. </strong></span></div></div><div><div style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: x-small;"><strong> </strong></span></div></div><div><div style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="font: 10pt tahoma;"><div><span style="background-color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><em><strong>Where does creativity meet spirituality for you?</strong></em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><strong><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="background-color: black;">I always been on a spiritual quest, creative energy must originate from the creator, I am sojourner of sorts finding many religions offer aspects of joy and awareness that brings me peace. The Dali Llama- to take what we need and leave the rest. At the base of all religions I find a oneness-that connects us all.</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="background-color: black;">Thomas Merton has a prayer where he confesses his uncertainty and in his uncertainty he concludes that by merely trying to please God, we do in fact please him. In this mindset I wrote the following</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></strong></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>knowing</strong></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>that I know nothing</strong></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>I surrender</strong></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>my mind centers and my breathing slows</strong></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>it is in this silence</strong></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>I at last find</strong></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>you</strong></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>waiting for me</strong></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>on the other side of each breath</strong></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"></span><strong><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="background-color: black;">The 12 week journey we just completed FINDING WATER, THE ARTISTS WAY gave us many beneficial tools to help harness the Creator and our “believing mirrors” to build us up when we can not go on. So I thank Lungta the wind horse blow blessing across the universe and leas us al to a new creative level - </span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="background-color: black;">Namaste Annie </span></strong></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><strong><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></strong></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><strong><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></strong></div></div></div>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-31758592817777808602011-05-11T09:02:00.000-07:002011-05-11T09:03:45.240-07:00Hafiz poetry<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>There was a lovely poem in my mailbox from my friend, poet and photographer, Sarah:</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>WE HAVE NOT COME TO TAKE PRISONERS</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>We have not come here to take prisoners,<br />
But to surrender ever more deeply<br />
To freedom and joy.</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>We have not come into this exquisite world<br />
To hold ourselves hostage from love.</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>Run my dear,<br />
From anything<br />
That may not strengthen<br />
Your precious budding wings.</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>Run like hell my dear,<br />
From anyone likely <br />
To put a sharp knife<br />
Into the sacred, tender vision<br />
Of your beautiful heart.</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>We have a duty to befriend<br />
Those aspects of obedience<br />
That stand outside of our house<br />
And shout to our reason<br />
"O please, O please,<br />
Come out and play."</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>For we have not come here to take prisoners<br />
Or to confine our wondrous spirits,</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>But to experience ever and ever more deeply<br />
Our divine courage, freedom and <br />
Light!</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>~ Hafiz ~</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: background1;"><strong>(<i>The Gift</i> ~ versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-61697323766182619652011-05-06T06:29:00.000-07:002011-05-06T06:38:30.487-07:00Desmond Tutu<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">My e-mail artist circle wrapped up the last chapter of Julia Cameron's "Finding Water" last week. We shared a number of inspirational poems and thoughts with one another. This was one of my favorites:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f1c232; color: white;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>"You are a child of my own heart</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Seek out your deepest joy and you fill find me there.</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Find that which makes you most perfectly yourself and know that I am at the heart of it.</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Do what delights you</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>And you will be working with me,</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Finding your life,</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Hidden in me."</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Desmund Tutu from "Made for Goodness"</strong></span></span></div>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3567169551484395738.post-77298907172776235932011-04-25T06:09:00.000-07:002011-04-25T06:09:48.286-07:00Finding Water: Julia CameronThis week wraps up my e-mail Artist Circle's exploration of Julia Cameron's book "Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance." I've enjoyed a variety of things about this book. This excerpt is only one of many that moved me:<br />
<br />
<em><strong>Working at art is really an act of communion. When I write, I am praying. When I miss a day's writing, I, in effect, miss a day's prayer--and I feel it. I believe there are higher forces that we connect with when we work...I have written for 20 years. That has given me a spiritual life. I believe that I am intended to write, that when I write, I open myself to Spirit.</strong></em>kathy-diane leveillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01574813816525664938noreply@blogger.com2