Monthly Archives: January 2014

Relax, a favorite poem by Ellen Bass

January 28, 2014 – 4:46 pm

Magnolias outside my door, Berkeley, CA

Bad things are going to happen.
Your tomatoes will grow a fungus
and your cat will get run over.
Someone will leave the bag with the ice cream
melting in the car and throw
your blue cashmere sweater in the drier.

Your husband will sleep
with a girl your daughter’s age, her breasts spilling
out of her blouse. Or your wife
will remember she’s a lesbian
and leave you for the woman next door. The other cat–
the one you never really liked–will contract a disease
that requires you to pry open its feverish mouth
every four hours. Your parents will die.

No matter how many vitamins you take,
how much Pilates, you’ll lose your keys,
your hair and your memory. If your daughter
doesn’t plug her heart
into every live socket she passes,
you’ll come home to find your son has emptied
the refrigerator, dragged it to the curb,
and called the used appliance store for a pick up–drug money.

There’s a Buddhist story of a woman chased by a tiger.
When she comes to a cliff, she sees a sturdy vine
and climbs half way down. But there’s also a tiger below.
And two mice–one white, one black–scurry out
and begin to gnaw at the vine. At this point
she notices a wild strawberry growing from a crevice.
She looks up, down, at the mice.
Then she eats the strawberry.

So here’s the view, the breeze, the pulse
in your throat. Your wallet will be stolen, you’ll get fat,
slip on the bathroom tiles of a foreign hotel
and crack your hip. You’ll be lonely.
Oh taste how sweet and tart
the red juice is, how the tiny seeds
crunch between your teeth.

Relax, from Like a Beggar, by Ellen Bass

 

By Andrea Scher | Posted in Good things, Inspiration | Comments (30)

Artist dates + How to find the fairy doors in Golden Gate Park

January 25, 2014 – 3:15 am

Fairy door in Golden Gate Park, SF

This is a fairy door.

Left by magical fairies in Golden Gate park. Don’t you love it?

I had been searching for it for months (unsuccessfully) when a friend told me a hilarious story. “I was changing Owen’s diaper in a little woodsy area near the Japanese Tea garden. You know, for privacy, right? When suddenly I looked up and I was surrounded by a team of Segues. They were all looking for a fairy door precisely in the grove where I had stopped. It was disturbing and surreal.”

She gave me the best instructions she could, Along the side of the Japanese tea garden, there is a fence, a path, a log, etc… but I was still confused when I went searching again last week. I had an artist date with my friend Danny Gregory who flew out for the Hockney show. After marveling at the paintings for hours, I proposed we get some air and search for the mythic fairy door. (I have a history of taking Danny weird places. Last time he was in SF I took him to the Pyschic Eye for a chakra healing)

Inside were wishes and bells, rocks + shells, love notes + acorns. Fairy stuff. Next time I will bring my kids + some glitter.

If you’d like to find the fairy door, here are some simple instructions:

  • -Head to Golden Gate and try to park near the Arboretum or the Japanese Tea Garden

  • -There is a paved pathway that lies between Stowe Lake and the Tea Garden.

  • -Walk up the paved pathway for about 100 feet (Stowe Lake will be on your left) until you see a big eucalyptus log (approximately 18 feet long) that is broken in two. It will be on the left side of the path.

  • -At the end of this log is the fairy door!

Paved pathway between Japanese Tea Garden + Stowe Lake, Golden Gate Park, SF

The eucalyptus log with the fairy door, Golden Gate Park

 

 

 

By Andrea Scher | Posted in Adventures, Good things, Inspiration, Photography | Comments (10)

Super Sponsor Spotlight

January 11, 2014 – 3:00 am

Superhero Journal sponsors are, well, super! So let all of the awesomeness they are offering up help jump start your new year. If you’d like to see your e-Course, Etsy shop, blog or business on the sidebar or in an upcoming Super Sponsor Spotlight, we’d love to have you. Just send a quick email to Amber at: [email protected] to get all the details.

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Creating Your Handmade Life — Anna Hewitt

AnnaHewitt

When we make things by hand we gain new ways of seeing. We interact and connect with the world in a more meaningful and authentic way. Using your hands to create will enrich and empower your life.

Creating Your Handmade Life is a six week e-course for anyone who wants to engage in a regular handmade practice and explore the way making things reconnects us with our senses and the world around us. Whether you draw, paint, bake, write, knit, sew, take photographs, or believe you are not creative, I will lead you through ideas, assignments and inspiration that will make creating an important part of your every day.

This class is a chance to:

· Let go of your fears and stop worrying about perfection
· Explore your creative skills and desires
· Make time and space for your creative practice
· Awaken your senses and reconnect with yourself
· Slow down and use your hands

If you want to create more and use your hands every day, I hope you’ll join me. The next session starts Monday (January 13), and there is still space available. To sign up or get more information visit www.seedlingdesign.net/class.

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Creating Your Amazing Year — Leonie Dawson

LeonieDawson

The uber popular 2014 Create Your Amazing Year Workbook, Planner & Calendar is back for the fifth year, readily anticipated by the 26,000+ women who use it each year to create their own amazing lives and businesses with HUGE results.

When you stand at the end of 2014, how do you want to look back on the year that was? Was it a year when your dreams and goals came true? Or will it be a year that is the same as the rest?

The 2014 workbooks can help you make it a year that counts. One that’s happier, more prosperous, productive and joyful.

It uses simple yet powerful techniques to help you not only dream your biggest dream and set your goals, but to actually MAKE THEM HAPPEN too.

SO many miracles have been made from using this workbook. Make sure you check out www.amazingworkbook.com and read the words of women who’ve been using it every single year + swear by it for making their year their very best ever in life or biz (or both!).

Click here to get your own spare-change priced workbook!

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Dreamscaping — Lisa + Dorrie

Are you ready to live your life by design?

Become a Dreamscape Architect and get the tools to access your creative genius.

Dreamscaping is a 6 week e-course about developing ideas + creative courage.

This course is designed for:

· People in need of an injection of innovation, imagination and dynamic energy.
· People at a crossroads- on the verge of taking a creative leap of faith.
· People who want to live each moment with an open heart and an awareness of the beauty of life’s ordinarily sacred details.
· People who want to gather together to brainstorm, to share ideas – to be seen, heard and applauded!

In Dreamscaping you will:

· Reconnect with your innate creative genius.
· Learn techniques to access the full potential of your imagination.
· Understand the power of embracing possibility.
· Explore strategies for establishing or strengthening your creative practice.
· Create a Dreamscape: a blueprint that will help you conceptualize, flesh out, plan and unfold an idea or dream.

And best of all, you’ll have the experience of using your imagination to reframe your life in a wildly playful and creative way.

Get ready to spread your creative wings and fly. Dreamscaping begins March 3, 2014. Register now!

For information about other courses visit: dreamstersunion.com

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Creative Courageous Year — Stephanie Levy

Would you like to experience more beauty + creativity in 2014?

Imagine a year of your life spent making art, exploring nature, preparing delicious fresh foods, reading inspiring books, creating mixed media seasonal journals, connecting with international friends, and feeling more motivated and creative than ever before. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

My new Creative Courageous Year e-course will give you the inspiration + energy + connections you need to create all year long.

Starting next week, we’ll celebrate our creativity throughout 2014 in 5 Seasonal Sessions: Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Holiday.

In each of our 5 Seasonal Sessions, you’ll create mixed media art projects, experiment with seasonal, healthy recipes, enjoy nature walks, map your creative path through visual journaling, get inspired by weekly guest interviews, discover new favorite books in our virtual book club, and connect with new friends from around the world.

Join us for Creative Courageous Year to make your 2014 a beautiful + delicious + epic adventure.

We’ll begin very soon, and I’d love to meet you in class! Reserve your space today! 

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Hello Soul, Hello Mixed Media Mantras — Kelly Rae Roberts

Hello Soul, Hello Mantra – The Trailer! from kelly rae roberts on Vimeo.

Even wonder:

: How to create gorgeously layered and textured backgrounds?
: How to silence the noise, and come up with your own soul-specific mantra?
: How to bring it all together to create paintings that nurture, honor, and celebrate your journey?

With Hello Soul, Hello Mixed Media Mantras, I share everything I know about creating soulful mantra paintings that reflect the call of your heart. The course is inspiring, and fully loaded with exquisitely-produced lessons + videos that mirror the feel of a face-to-face workshop .

There’s no prior experience required. Whether you’re new to the world of mixed-media painting or have been at it for years, this e-course will inspire you to create meaningful, richly layered paintings that speak directly to your heart.

I will walk you through every step, side by side.

Come join the adventure here!

By Andrea Scher | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

It’s time to own it.

January 5, 2014 – 6:07 pm

Painting in progress

When I was in my early twenties (and just starting to paint and sell my work) I lived in Santa Barbara with my dear friend Chris. I was in a fearful place around money, my talents and my ability to make a go at a creative life. My inner critics were having a field day. I’ll never forget when Chris stopped me, looked in my eyes and said (more frustrated than I had ever heard him), “When are you going to take for granted that you’re an artist? And start creating from there? Stop trying to prove it!”

He said this in a moment of utter exasperation – probably tired of hearing my fears and self-diminishing chatter.

If he was Madonna, he probably would have said, “Darling, just fucking own it.”

And all these years later I can see it. Of course I’m an artist. Why all the drama? Why did I waste so much time trying to prove it? It’s all I’ve been doing since I was a little girl – drawing, painting, making jewelry, choreographing dance routines. How could I ever have questioned it?

And yet. We do this.

Even now, I can see that I’ve owned being an artist, but as a writer? I still need to own it.

How about you? Where in your life would owning it shift things in a profound way?

Is it your beauty?
Your talents?
Your ability to write?
Your voice?
Your ability to be a leader?
Your joy?

Take a moment and consider where in your life you need to own it.
Where have you been trying to prove your worthiness?

What if you took __________________________ for granted and started to create from there?

(Fill in the blank in the comments)

 

By Andrea Scher | Posted in Courage, Good things, Inspiration | Comments (27)

2014 Special: Bring a friend for free!

January 2, 2014 – 7:03 pm

The more the merrier!

BRING A FRIEND FOR FREE to any Superhero Life or Mondo Beyondo course!
(as long as that friend has never taken a course with me)

Mondo Beyondo begins Monday, January 6th, 2014

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Superhero Photo begins Monday, January 13th, 2014

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P.S. Just let me know your friend’s email address in the notes section of Paypal.

NOTE: If you have already registered for a 2014 course, just email me with your friend’s address and we’ll add them to the list. ([email protected])

 

 

By Andrea Scher | Posted in Courses, Good things | Comments (3)