Interview with Henry Reed introducing his work with dreams

Elizabeth LaPrelle: Carrying On The Appalachian Tradition : NPR

Elizabeth LaPrelle: Carrying On The Appalachian Tradition : NPR

Butterfly

Visions

Dragonfly

Dreams

~ATB~

ScienceCasts: Where Will Curiosity Go First?

Kindle your heart with 'Illuminara' art

 By Susan G Parcheta

April 27, 2012 at TheLivingstonPost

 

A far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” Carl Jung

 Visual artist Elaine Clayton kindles our hearts, as she engages our imagination, sparks our intuition and illumines our dreams in her book Illuminara Intuitive Journal with Cards.

“Imagination is the playscape of our intuitive self,” says  Clayton; it’s through our imagination that we find meaning in our experiences, as well as creative solutions to life’s problems.

Illuminara features a journaling section and a set of 40 cards of her art pieces – paintings and sketches that work in tandem.  The art serves as a tool to bring forth the heart of our intuition and dreams via this visual medium.  It’s an interactive technique, as we can then journal our experience with the cards, jogging our personal memories – the insights from which assist us in discovering answers to life’s situations and challenges.

“The idea is to pick one,” Clayton explains, “and allow the flow to wash through you and write down all the feelings and memories that float to you from inside. Then when you pick a card like ‘lemons’–you know what you felt and what your associations are.”

While I’ve enjoyed the book and cards since its publication last year, I decided to draw a card specifically for writing this reflection.  In interacting with the Cloud Card, I realized that the image brought up a number of things — both about me, and about Clayton’s work.

All Things Beautiful: The Daily Mandala: December 26, 2004

  Blue skies, blue waters,
 blue me, true me.
 I see the design...
 the beauty...when I free
 the artist within me. 
  ~ ATB ~

All Things Beautiful: The Daily Mandala: December 26, 2004

ZuZu & me: Celebrating an epiphany, angels & acorns

Added by Susan Parcheta on January 13, 2012.
Saved under Editor Picks, Susan G. Parcheta, Top Feature

She scampered jauntily into my life one beautiful, warm day in September.

I couldn’t know at that moment, but I was headed for one wild roller coaster ride. An adventure of the heart that I’d be looking back on nearly four months later, as one of those life-transforming,  “what happened to me?” experiences.

I’m writing this on Jan. 6, the day of the Feast of Epiphany. It’s the day my dad was buried – the 12th day of Christmas. The day I contemplate the cycle of life…birth, death, beginnings and endings. And I try to understand where I fit in it all.

Especially this past autumn, when my heart got run over by a little yellow fur ball. She spotted me from across the road, as I walked to my mailbox.  I heard the definite meow of a kitten. Uh, oh, I thought, “We don’t need another cat.”  I figured it must belong to someone, but when she saw me, I could tell that she was on a mission.

The feeling was that I was the subject of this mission; and she was determined to be here.  Something  like Clarence, the angel in the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” – on a mission to help George Bailey.  I named her ZuZu after George Bailey’s little girl.