This morning I am a cafe gypsy writing at Fremont coffee tweaking tomorrow’s class for persisting soul. The day is in happy equilibrium, a half eaten chocolate croissant preens in front of me along with a deep cup of chai espresso, Ben Harper singing in the background with that smooth, unforgettable voice of his.
I love the solitude of this spiritual writing space even whilst I collect people and vibes as they chatter away in the background.
Blushing leaves flirt outside my perfect little window which looks out onto the saturday happiness abounding.
~ a man rakes leaves and then carries them (almost tenderly) in huge armfuls to a growing, fluttering pile teased by a roguish wind
~ another man cycles past on a green bicycle with a purple scarf and a cello on on his back
~on the wooden bench in front of the coffee shop a young woman wearing flip flops and a green kerchief wrapped around her blond tresses writes in her journal with a ‘little mermaid’ pencil ~ she doesn’t seem to mind the raindrops which linger from a night’s dalliance on the bench and the odd falling leaf that tumbles onto her page
This day has dazzle.
Come visit me if you are in the area! You can have the rest of my chocolate croissant.
~cycling along the Canal with Wynia and Ben heading out for the very best veggie burgers at the counter, picking up wine at Trader Joe’s and then skimming along home (it’s amazing I didn’t crash making this little film!)
a huge shout out of thanks to my friend Breckenridge for lending me his bike!
xoxo
I was actually dusting today! So I thought I would share with you a detail of windowsill in my kitchen. I am very fond of collecting flotsam and jetsam off the beach and needless to say I am overly fond of feathers.
Sunday was so completely wonderful and since it is by far my favorite day of the week this was particularly pleasing. My daughter Tess and I drove to Granville Island to the market ~ it was positively energetic with the Christmas spirit and we wandered past turkish figs and pineapple pistachio pastries, singing carolers and lemon gnnochi…only to stop for a perfectly delicious donut at Lee’s donuts (the best donuts in Vancouver there is no doubt.)
I couldn’t resist wandering over to the floating homes on False Creek. Some are so very modern and others are like darling little cabins with decks strung happily with twinkle lights ~ most of them have rooftop gardens filled with pots and wonderful ladders you climb to get to the top. I have to say I find these homes on the water so alluring and magical ~ if you take the water ferries at night they glide right past this row of colorful floating homes and you can stare right into their windows and I promise you it is beyond enchanting. They are directly behind Emily Carr and just past the market and I like to imagine I live there and am walking home with paper bags filled with fresh vegetables and fruit, cheese and wine and if the basement were perchance to flood I would simply go for a swim.
This week I have been wearing flannel shirts and scuffed boots quite a bit for some reason ~ I took a roadtrip to the Island to visit my Mom and sang all the way along to Nina Simone in the car with a rainbow for company. I always take the scenic route when I drive with a toss of my hand to the extra time it takes to get to my destination. I prefer the lure of the landscape, the pull of the ocean’s sway, the diners and old coffee stops along the way… the curvy expanse of road and the song in my heart. I love to linger and am reminded of something Johnny Depp said in an interview…‘time is so precious…and completely worthless.’
I also shot my film for ‘reel time’ with Darlene on the Island ~ on a little curve of beach in Qualicum where my father and I used to sit and drink coffee together. You can see the last little smude of rainbow in the film if you peer ever so closely at the horizon. A little bit of magic. My collaboration with Darlene this week is so breathtaking in our serendipitous offerings ~ reminds me of a St. Exupery book somehow. I hope you canpop by and see for yourself and play our films at the same time for an extra dose of beguiling beauty.
my wirebrush christmas tree collection ~ each year I found a new and most lovely vintage darling to add to my growing tree family ~(polaroid spectra, softone film)
Every day has it’s beauty and I can’t help but marvel at the extraordinary winsomeness of this Sunday. This morning I made a thermos of coffee and sat down on a bench by the beach to watch the sun come up ~ I took this polaroid and the cool damp air coaxed lovely purplish tones out of the developing photograph.
I wrote a tiny poem in my sketchbook …
clouds of Peru, red roses, (pero espérame)
It’s a sultry, soft, earthy morning and the scent of conifers wax poetic in the air which makes me glad, coaxing an immortal longing out from deep in my soul. I harbor an old soul deep within, this I have always fathomed. There is a ‘knowing’ within an old soul that perhaps only nature can decipher…rapt and at the same time melancholy…most vividly alive in a strange alchemic mix of past present and future. I liken this old soul of mine to the magic and mystery of cenotes for some reason I can’t quite explain.
I have been reading ‘wind, sand, and stars’ again which I love so dearly, if only perhaps because I am quite convinced if I crashed my plane in the Sahara desert I could also happily live off orange, grapes and red wine. (and maybe a lovely hunk of cheese and a rustic loaf of bread:)
Today ….I am thinking I would love a new dress the color of claret wine….a vintage telescope and yellow jazz shoes. I have my fathers tap shoes and the other morning I put them on and tapped around the kitchen to the Buena Vista Social club while I tidied up. My son’s rabbit Pancakes also loves this band come to think about it.
On Tuesday I sent along this song in my ‘daily’ mail for my ‘art of living cheerfully’ course and I though you might like to enjoy it on this perfect Sunday. One of the artists in my course wrote to me and called my course ‘the happiness course’ which just filled my heart up with joy and gratitude.
Seriously made my day:)
Oh! and the ‘reel time’ collaboration with Darlene Kreutzer is UP! Go see! Go see!
Wishing you a soft and cozy Sunday with dancing snowflakes on your tongue,
I will not harbor questions and mere theorems
(a fleet of noisy clacking colors)
Jump the quick wall
perhaps the world is thundering,
pollenizing orchidaceous flowers
brazen painted poems and God~reaching kneesocks
looking up between the legs
of light casting revelations
Migrate with hail cracking faith
curl into the reminding moment
plumbing our sacred bed (fingering rain)
a fledgling ellipse of wind
all the way to
……………….. watersmooth
Dear diary
We are on the road once again ~ a golden pulse of moon skimming through midnight blue skies, holy quietude and small noises in the trees, things of dreams and even the forest floor (freshly fallen leaves). Hearts wide open uttering night cool whispers as we pluck the stars from the celestial skies under the influence of God explaining her mysteries in a sacred yellowing aria, while our shoulders touch together just so.
This polaroid speaks so surely me with those slender slivered curves of tree (delicate filterings of light) ~ a metaphor for the past few weeks in so many ways. I don’t quite know why my compass migrates so surely towards the company of mother nature. All those times I have felt lost and weary, needing to fill myself up and free things so deep inside me, mostly small things really that grow monstrous without a little space and room to breathe.
There is something wild in me, this I do know, and the unimaginable wonder of nature welcomes me as one of her own (a strange thing) with quick softness, speaking waterfalls, and I am found lovingly clasped in her teasing moorlands.
I am not sure why I know things deep inside but I do and the past few weeks all I have experienced with my ‘boozing’ heart have followed a ‘knowing’ I have had for so so long. I no longer feel expelled from certainty but profoundly sure and humbled in the grinning face of my mystic intuition. Doors have swung open and I have quickened my pace stepping across thresholds, wanting, expanding with far reaching surrender.
(excerpt from my sketchbook journal entry ~ October 7, 2010)
Oh! Guess what!!! Vivienne and I took the train to Lizzie’s town heading down to teach at the retreat. Vivienne (don’t you just love her name?!) took this photo of us hanging out on the platform at the station in Seattle doing what we do best. (Making films, taking pictures wearing lively shoes and boots.)
Oh, and here is the small film I took whilst clamoring along the tracks on the train ~ I quite like it especially the ‘swaying’ part…
Teaching at the retreat was…well, magical, not to overuse that word or anything but it really is THE word. I was deeply touched by the class of artists that showed up for this retreat ~ deeply intuitive and awakened women with such vast sharing hearts and ‘off the charts’ fabulous inner joy. It’s quite incredulous to me how the universe brings together people that seemed so destined to meet and our unique and vital bonding was so quick and beautiful. I took some lovely pictures and one portrait in particular which I can’t wait to share with you but you will have to wait as I am saving it for ‘words to shoot by’ on Sunday.
Oh hello! Whilst at the retreat I had the sheer delight to join in on the poetry classes taught by new kindred friend Susan ~ and ended up writing lots of poetry ~ it felt so glorious, sort of like running to the door to greet an old friend. (writing poetry and meeting Susan just in case you are confused) I wrote the poem you see above beneath the photo of the trees and this one too…
I feel like swaying hips
bursting with petunias
on whiskey drunk orange
or even one tiny piece of the Taj Mahal
…happiness is train hopping
carmine peppered volkwagon vans
migrating in astonishing canyons
my hands say,’surrender brimful’
So I do.
(with violets)
(I love this one, I cannot lie:)
I have Susan’s book ‘poemcrazy’ and let me tell you it is pretty darn brilliant and inspiring.
It’s a lovely Friday and I made such a great smoothie (spinach, blueberries, banana, soy milk and yoghurt)
~ I am thinking of all of you and wishing you something wild and hailcracking for the weekend.
There is such an exquisite and ravenous vitality to autumn that makes me feel extraordinarily radiant. In a way it’s quite heartbreaking as I would love to go on a hat buying expedition, or immerse myself in some Kazuo Ishiguro, spend hours on the beach in reverent daydreamings scribbling in my journal, navigating the deeper thrummings of my heart (turning over thoughts carefully, with a sense of wonder like a newly found piece of seaglass) …or even take trapeze lessons. Why not? Wander around in this fecund energy following my inner north wearing striped sweaters and vibrant hued stockings. Well, I am wearing turquoise stockings today but I must surrender to the fact that I have much work to do. No lollygagging today alas.
There have been many beach meanders this week, however, with real joyousness ~ such as the autumnal equinox drumming you see in this infinitely beautiful little video. The sun was setting (real, subtle, private) and I was incredibly moved with the cathartic depth charge of the drumming, the sound of the train, the spiritual and sensual onrush of tidal rhythms ‘neath a cosmic moon’ that made me want to fall on my knees entranced for the sheer mystery and blessing of it all.
(‘me and my feather‘ by d. pohl)
I feel most like myself by the shore, the spray of salt on my lips, the everundulating poetry of the sea ~ symphonic notes of this glorious indian summer swingingly arrived. Oh!, and we have been cooking celebrating autumn as well ~ roasted beets and feta, kamut pasta with grilled peppers, bean salads and spinach omelets with basil (hummus toast alongside) not to mention the requisite maple pumpkin pie. (worth baking just for the warm spiced aroma it infuses in the home alone)
Today I am creating some lovely segments for my art of living cheerfully online course which begins on Sunday ~ this course feels so beautiful and wholesome to me ~ I am putting my heart and soul into it’s deliverance, creating with a sense of abandon and cherishing the process. I can’t wait to send it off into the world ~ a tide turning sailboat on sunny waters into the receiving hearts of the artists who signed up for the course. It feels so good to share murmurs of myself in my work whether it is through my photo’s, small films or courses.
I think I need a fresh new journal ~ well, actually, I know I do and that’s the honest truth. My head is spilling over with ideas that are downright racing to be birthed but my head is like a sieve and they keep slipping out into the ether ~ a new ‘ideas’ journal is just the answer.
It’s Thursday! How nice! My lovely dog is napping beside me on the couch as I write, a soft rain falling outside the garden windows and perhaps it is the perfect time to brew a pot of tea with a spoonful of manuka honey.
Wishing you a spray of moon on your lashes and a warm fresh platter of pumpkin spice cookies straight out of the oven.
xoxo
maddie
p.s.
I’m feeling a bit apologetic about the title of this post ~ i stole a lovely line from an ee cummings poem (i am going to utter a tree, nobody shall stop me) and sort of made it my own.
Such a beautiful weekend! Suddenly my little beach town has burst into summery buzzing activity ~ the rooftop terraces are filled with happy ocean peering couples sipping sangria, children are designing elaborate sandcastles, there are bare shoulders, white jasmine sparkling iced tea and roses blossoming on the wild side of things in my verdant garden.
My head hurts with ideas tumbling and jumbling and knocking amongst one another demanding to be realized and this weekend I made several little films ~ the one you see above inspired by my passion for Glen Gould (oh my gosh he had the most effervescent and hypnotic hands), a very windy little film for ‘the four’ collaboration and even a sweet little moment shared with my dog playing in a parade of waves.
It may sound quite fabulous to have a jumbling, tumbling, clamoring noise of creative ideas jitterbugging in my head but sometimes this can be a bit exhaustive (you see because then they all get quite knockneed and I can’t sort out anything properly) Which calls for a cure. And my cure is to pack up the car with my dog and music and books, a basket of cherries and chocolate and head out for a little mini solo road trip. So next weekend I am heading down to Portland and Canon beach to allow my wild spirit freedom to bask in the slow medicine of a loooooooooong drive. (so much scope for imagination!) Oh welcome Summer!
Yoga has been such gladness for me lately ~ think about this for a moment ~ every single breath we breathe is magnificently different and unique ~so timeless and potent and seeded. This week my teacher Dylan said to me in class ~ ‘do it! do the headstand freeform now! the class is waiting!’ which totally freaked me out in the FIRST breath because i felt put on the spot and wasn’t ready (I had only done the headstand up against the wall) but thennnn I took a long quiet present breath and thought ~ ‘then I must do it’ and …i DID. It felt wonderful ~ it felt like jumping into a moondance lit lake at twilight all fresh and new and igniting. And the impulse and belief came from my breath. (and Dylan’s nudge too) Which made me think ~ what else can I do that I didn’t believe possible? Yoda was so right ~ impossible is nothing.
I am in such a heady mood lately too ~ really loving this book…and this film made about the same subject ~ the universe really is such a beautiful and elegant creation.
and Oh! words to shoot by is overflowing with summery goodness this week ~ pop on by and soak it up.
Today I am making a blueberry ~ cherry crisp and homemade lavender lemonade ~ to celebrate summer in delicious style ~ have a happy Monday!
Every second week I participate in two collaborations I feel so incredibly delighted to share in ~ the ‘four’ and also ‘words to shoot by.’ This week I was particularly inspired with the ‘prompts’ presented and threw myself into the challenges. In the ‘four’, I worked on a little film that may look as if it was rather random but I put a lot of thought into it to ‘encourage’ the chimes to react a certain way in the wind ~ of course there was also a strange serendipity due to that mysterious wind which worked magic in my favor much to my overall sense of happiness. I gently tied up some of the chimes to allow the relationship between the other chimes to ‘dance.’ The strange this, it is as if the universe knew what I was trying to express from the deepest part of my soul and helped me along with the resulting yin yang dance ~ I truly love this little film.
In ‘words to shoot by,’ the prompt was ‘body’ and lately I have been thoughtful of how fleeting childhood ultimately is (specifically from the point of view of innocence ) so I worked that into the narrative a bit as well using my son Noah as the subject.
Have a peek at all the wonderful work by various artists in ‘the four’ hereand ‘words to shoot by’ here. The ‘four’ also celebrates a brand new look this week designed by Darlene which I am smitten by, as it allows me to delve into my love for small films.
Summer is perched on my doorstep sipping a rootbeer float and I am thinking of making a few mix cd’s today after yoga, jotting down a list of summer reading and looking around for some pretty oilcloth on etsy for my garden table. I am thinking i would love to find a c h e a p Volkswagon Van for roadtrippin’ this summer as well so if you know of a cute one for sale please contact me! I am also looking forward to a friend visiting Vancouver this week who has been here many times but I love that I get to show my city around from a “Maddie” point of view.
Which reminds me (I am not sure how I made this leap however) that wisteria is growing IN through my bathroom window (from the vines outside) and making itself quite at home ~ I will take pictures when it blooms to share with you.
oh! and i was playing around in photobooth yesterday ~ stretches of time will pass by where I completely forget my computer has this fun feature ~ but yesterday I remembered and enjoyed my silly self for a few mintutes:)
Well it’s Monday and I must say I am quite fond of them ~ so full of promise with a shiny brand new week:)
When Darlene and Duke were visiting me in Crescent beach last week, we quickly came to cherish our evening strolls through the softly lit lanes ambling along to the beach with my dog Roxy. One night it was pouring rain and quite naturally in the most surprisingly magical way. Well, we meandered along and Darlene would chatter away brainstorming creative ideas to embark upon and it was incredibly lovely and the togetherness was warmhearted and amiable in the best way possible. What is it about a simple evening walk that is so uplifting? It gives such a vast scope for space to think, for the body to move freely, for the soul to wander undistracted in the gentle peace of the wild open air.
Anyway…on this particular evening Darlene directed such an enchanting little film (if I do say so myself) of me skipping along Adam’s lane with Roxy and singing (which luckily you can’t really hear:) I truly love it. What you can hear if you listen so closely is Darlene’s happy voice and Duke’s murmur in the background which, awww! makes me miss them so.
speaking of moving pictures…i will be taking the train (sooo yay!) to seattle for a few days and can’t wait to share some of that fun in images with you
