DETOX . balance . life

So, as some of you may have noticed I have been m.i.a. for a while... Things can get hectic sometimes and it seems like the past two months of my life in relation to my blog and 41park has been hanging on by a tiny thread. The intention of this blog is to tag along the life of "me", and 41park, and the life of a stay at home mother of two tiny ones. All it takes is one sick child or one overworking husband and suddenly the hour a day I had to dedicate to my creative pursuits vanishes.

Poof. And I find myself here, in a constant state (at varying degrees) of exhausted over stressed hyper speed as I try to get everything taken care of every day. I know there has to be a better way to do this whole 'life' thing, and find my happy place;) My kids will thank me, and my husband will too.

I invite you to follow along with me while I do a 7 day detox program. I intend to kick start what I hope to be a series of subtle changes which are intended to bring my mind and body into a better state of balance. Nothing fancy, nothing too extreme (I say this now before I am struggling not to eat everything in site). The program is from Gwyneth Paltrow's blog GOOP, the detox program is using theory from her detox specialist, Dr. Alejandro Junger.

Day 1
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Blueberry and Almond Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water*
1:30pm (lunch): Salad with Carrot and Ginger Dressing
4pm (snack): A handful of mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds
6pm (dinner): Broccoli and Arugula Soup


This is the plan, lets hope I can stick to it. -liza

::Tuesday's water cooler . gratitude::

At the office, there is a water cooler. At the water cooler people get a chance to unwind for a minute to laugh, share, complain etc... I intend for this thread be an opportunity for us to do that. Otherwise, this is just a message from myself to all of you;)

Gratitude, ugh! You know, I have two kids under the age of four so uninterrupted time does not happen, 5 minutes is a lucky stretch and when it happens I savor it like nothing else. I stay at home with them full time and try to fit time in for my shop. Recently I have found myself increasingly frustrated as my interest in my shop grows, and my interest in feeding changing toddler serving diminishes. Scratch*&^*

Just kidding (am I?) But really, noticing this misplaced priority (obviously I love my children and enjoy what I do) brings me to an important point and gives me an opportunity to remember to stop, slow down, be present in my life right NOW and fill my heart with ~gratitude~ for all of the elements of life and the moment and the day as it is right NOW.

Doing this quickly brings some focus purpose and peace, and redirects my energies to where they need to be. Here, now, full of gratitude for it all. Forget the frustration, the should, the what if, if only's, and the chip that seems to fall from the sky and land on your shoulder.... sorry, my shoulder!

What do you have to say today at the water cooler? 

Beginning

As with anything, there is a beginning middle and an end. I find myself continuously at the beginning of everything at this point in my life, even though I am technically probably entering the middle.

I like to try things, start things, explore things. When it comes to art, that translates into the exploration of technique and materials. I have spent hours and hours with pencils, charcoal, still life, live model, glass, clay, paint, camera, mind, spirit, energy, exploration. Always searching for a medium to grab my attention long enough for me to take it further and further.

This search brought me to silver and natural gemstones and copper and wire, and it feels like a culmination of all the process I have played with along the way. Creating jewelry has become an outlet and a platform for me to express myself and I am so excited about it. Once again, I find myself at the 'beginning' of something.

So, here's to this beginning moving to a middle and someday hopefully far away... to an end.

Thanks for reading, Liza