Momentum

Riding the waves of momentum.

Last night I saw the Junior Boys live. They are definitely one of my favorite bands and I had yet to see them perform live.. until last night.
They sounded crisp, clear, and beautiful. Just as I imagined they would.

I have felt this wave of perspective shift coming on me for the past few months. And now I believe that I am in it -- riding it like I am scared to do but know that I must.

Something is changing in me and my life. I have questioned myself, my being, my contribution, and my worth as I stood on the brink. And I have accepted that the only thing that I know for certain is that I do not have the answers.

I do not have it all figured out. I am far from knowing where I will go in life, how I will get there, or what it will be like when I am there -- That is the only certain thought that I have.

Strength

 
photo courtesy of Seane Corn Photobucket

As I have blogged about many times the past few years -- Yoga is an integral part of my life. It completes my day, balances me, and leads me towards my path in life.

I realized recently that my yoga practice has some what plateaued in that I have seen much progress in the past few years from having zero core strength to now balancing in headstand! -- however, the past few months have seen very little progression. I am not regressing -- thank goodness. But there are many poses that I would love to incorporate into my repertoire -- however, my body is simply unable. :(


So, I made the decision to begin Strength Training with a personal trainer.


For the sake of taking my yoga practice to the next level, I am all in. 100%.
My Strength Training began with an overall body assessment -- which was frightening and interesting all at the same time. My trainer determined that my diet was in tip-top shape however -- my work out habits were not. I, in fact, had plateaued my progress.

So, an hour after learning so much about the muscles of the body and how one does in fact build muscle strength -- I committed myself to 1 YEAR of Strength Training. 3 times a week. 45 minutes of either Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, or Legs + 30 minutes of cardio + 1-2 Yoga classes a week.
!!!


During my first work out, with my Trainer by my side, I felt the sudden impulse to spew. (sorry for the graphic content) ugh, yeah. I felt like throwing up. I held it all in and began to feel normal again a few hours afterward. The same impulse during work out #2. Ugh. However, we are on WEEK 3 and all is well. No more spew feeling. Just the feeling of accomplishment!
I am not going to say that I love going to the gym/working out almost every day of the week, and the thought of being dedicated to this schedule for the next year is almost too much to handle - however, it feels great to know that I have tackled this challenge and I am sticking with it. Progressing forward.

And, I am excited to see which yoga poses my strong future will afford me.
Hopefully:
Side Crow
Handstand
Forearm Balance

+ many many more :)

Namaste

Value

I haven't blogged in a few months -- simply because I have (again) been contemplating the value of my thoughts. With so many Twitter thoughts, Facebook thoughts, Blogs thougths, Articles, and "sharing" from around the world-- it's vast out there! --  it is easy to get lost.

Recently, I read an article (thank goodness for that online "sharing")
The Top 5 Regrets That People Have on Their Deathbeds
A bit of a morbid idea which translated into something quite beautiful.

#2. Regret:
I wish I didn’t work so hard. 

was the one that really hit home.

For at least the past few years I have been a serious workaholic. I let my work, stress me out, get me down, make me sick, consume my life, come between my family/friends and I, and I almost let it destroy my relationship. My life has been my work. And my work has been my life.

Upon closer examination of just how much my work means to me, I realized that my life and my happiness are worth so much more. I will never be the person who doesn't take pride in my work or simply doesn't work! -- but I realize that I have a life outside of work too.

With that idea burning a hole in my head, I decided to start limiting my "work hours" -- meaning: I realize that everyone (yes, even me) needs time off to stop, regroup, collect and breathe.

The first few nights of my new practice were hard. The thoughts of my To-Do list were looming in my head and I felt guilty for "wasting time". But the weekend rolled around and in between: yoga, running, swimming, cleaning, lunching with friends, hanging out with my family -- it seemed like nothing was missing but so much was gained.

And what is more, the past few weeks I start my week refreshed and ready to productively, efficiently and happily tackle my To-Do list with a clear head. The few hours + days off each week have really started to make me love my life more than ever before.

So, I look forward to my new and found again hobbies.
I remember a time when I was an artist..

March on!

wow.
March is over? Really!

The other day, I mentioned to my Dad how time in my life seems to passing fast lately. He said "there is a reason it's called 'Over the Hill' after you hit 40. When you get to the top of the hill -- that is your life passing slowly. When you go over the hill that is when your life starts passing fast."
I can't image how I will feel in 9 years when I am "Over the Hill" and snowballing down! Whew ~ I also can't believe that I am only 9 years away from 40. Where has all of the time gone? :)

When we stop, take time and notice the passing of our lives it can be a good time to reflect on where we've been, what we've done, and importantly -- what we will do next.

In my blog post from last June,  I boasted of my beautiful DAM (Downtown Art Market) find:

The circle in the image above is the same succulent that looks like this today:

3 of the succulents from the original, including this one, had transplants into new pots. This one has roots!, a long stem, and now a baby!!
In a little under a year look at how much this guy has accomplished. And next? -- who knows.. I see more sprout ling babies and an even longer stem in the future.

Life is exciting as it happens -- if you take time to notice people, places and things around you growing just as fast as you are.

71

I lived in South Austin for many years. Each and every day I saw the human fixture on the corner of S.1st and Ben White (Hwy 71) which most people deemed simply as "Ben White". He "parked" his shopping carts full of treasures in the parking lot of the Chucky Cheese across the street. When he wasn't sleeping on the bus stop bench he was reading. Yes, reading.
People had all kinds of rumors about his story:
"He is a genius and chooses to be homeless",
"He is a crazy Veteran",
"He changes his location based on the Sun",
"He only eats Honeybuns from 7-Eleven".

Whatever his story was or might have been, he seemed to impact my life. It wasn't that he was "homeless" really but rather "houseless". He definitely had a home.

I snapped a few pictures of him (which I unfortunately lost with the loss of my old sketchbook) which I used as reference for sketches, a painting, and a few digital mixed media works.

 

2007, The Ghigh

Well, as the story goes...
He disappeared one day. (It was just after I too had disappeared from Austin.) Locals set up a memorial on "his" bus stop bench, brought flowers and candles, and mourned the passing of Mr. Ben White. Shortly after, a story surfaced that claimed Ben White was in fact still alive and he had been adopted by a family in Wimberly and was living on a beautiful ranch.

Image courtesy of the Statesman.com

I believe that the story of his moving to Wimberly is true. Just as I  believe that the books he read on the corner of 71 & S.1st were tales of Minimalist Happiness, Enlightenment, How to Survive without Consumerism, The Simple Life, or something along those topics...

For the love of.. Yoga

My last post really got me thinking about how much a part of my life yoga has become. I feel fortunate to have been introduced to the practice, 3 years ago this month :)
The more my practice develops, the more I learn about my mind, my body, my breath, my life.

In the beginning I went to class for entertainment, it was something to do. I had been a chronic sufferer of carpel and cubital tunnel for years. And within the first month of regularly attending yoga classes -- my symptoms disappeared. completely. relief. And I was hooked.
Last year, during a period when I was too stressed to care about anything, I completely neglected my yoga practice for about a month -- I noticed within the second week how my arm began to feel painfully "numb" again. My hand was tingly feeling and I knew what was going on. I embraced my practice once again and my carpal tunnel subsided.

During college and the first year afterward I experienced extreme amounts of anxiety in my everyday life. For some reason or another I often felt uneasy, fatigued and simply anxious about any and everything. The wind could blow a certain way and I felt "impending doom" (that's text book anxiety) rest upon me. After a series of actual panic "attacks" I sought some therapy and learned to journal -- which is a practice I regard even today.

My anxious feelings too have dissipated, just as my carpal tunnel has, through yoga.
I wonder what I would have/ could have been like at a younger age had known this kind of mental, physical and spiritual exercise existed.

And as if alleviating carpal tunnel and anxiety was not enough -- with my practice has come an sense of mental clarity. Not that I think I have everything figured out! at all. -- but much more like, All I know is that I know nothing.

I truly feel that yoga saved me. And made me the person I have grown to be and will continue to become, for that I am eternally grateful.

Namaste

Turn that frown upside down

 

Mastering my headstand has been the highlight of my year.

It has been a very challenging yoga post for me and I am sure it has very thing to do with the amount of surrender it really takes to achieve. The headstand turns perspective upside-down. Which, really makes everything literally turn upside-down. Mental clarity and an open mind are the rewards.

I attempted, got scared and fell many times before I was finally comfortable enough actually benefit from the pose. And now, headstand feels very natural for me, my body craves it. And I love it.

It is an amazing ability to turn perspective upside down, to think about the your world (the world) from a different angle. Amazing.

Branding

Recently, my dad left his company and made the lofty decision to start his own construction company. He had unanimous support coming from my direction and I realized that the idea of supporting your own parent's dreams comes rarely in our lifetimes. I love the idea, of course. He knows so much about the business of building beautiful structures and has been changing the landscape of the environment for over 35 years!

Once his decision was made... the next natural step was to CREATE A LOGO. Fantastic! Here is where I am allowed to help out. My Dad really was a difficult client that pushed me to my boundaries and then forced me to expand beyond them to complete the task. Which, is basically what parents do.

The company is called Double Eagle.
A double eagle is a score of 3-under par on any individual golf hole. To make a double eagle, the golfer must:

• Score a 1 (hole in one) on a par-4 hole
• Score a 2 on a par-5 hole

Or score on a 3 on a par-6 hole, but par-6s are rare. Double eagles on par-3 holes are not possible. Double eagles are extremely rare, more rare, in fact, than aces.

Fitting.

We went through 3 rounds of complete revisions and then Dad led me to the exact direction he was envisioning. Amazing.

This is where we landed. I love the logo (and so does my client). Hooray for Double Eagle! Good luck out there!

Passage of Time

I can't believe that is has been almost 3 months since my last entry. The entries were much more frequent and came much easier in the past. However, the last few months I have really been questioning the value of my thoughts. Is anyone actually paying attention when there are so many other things go on in the world?
And I got my answer, my small validation, last week while visiting my home away from home -- Austin, Texas.
Randomly, I was able to attend a tacky Christmas Party hosted by the Beauty Bar where many of my past co-workers -- from my days (well, 4 years to be exact) as a Whisky Bar bartender -- work now. I knew many more people in that bar that night that I ever do when going out in the town I currently live in! I was a nice feeling. It felt like seeing old family again. And one friend hugged me, we briefly chatted -- as he was also mixing vinyl records in between -- and as we wrapped up our conversation he said "Oh, nice blog by the way." :) (Thanks Lee!)

So my validation made me pick up the pen.. ahem, login -- and blog.

During my Whisky Bar days I designed a lot of posters for events we hosted in the bar. Some good. Some bad. (the posters, not the events. the events were all good.) But the experience lead me to be the designer I am today.
And yesterday I was given the fast deadline unfriendly task of designing a poster for a friend's show here at a bar in Lubbock. It has been years since I have designed such a thing. I gladly accepted and am very pleased with the artwork which ensued.

Throughout the process of designing the "Holiday GIT Right" poster my mind fondly remembered the Whisky Bar poster designing days. So, I pulled up an old one! From 2006!
Ha!

And it has been insightful for me to see how far I have come. Literally. I am thankful for the events in my life that shaped my future and have made me the person I am today. <3

Dream a Little Dream

Last Winter, I read Christian Siriano's Fierce Style cover to cover.
I love Project Runway and totally adored Christian's style and attitude that went along with it. He was 22 years old and the youngest person to ever win Project Runway.

I remember reading a chapter in his book: "Finding Your Own Inspiration". He describes the scary and anxious feeling of having your dreams come true.

"When you're just reaching for something you want, the possibilities seem endless. But when you've got it, that's where the stress comes in."
"It can be scary when your dreams come true, because then there's a danger of it ending."

He goes on to write that "there are no guarantees in life, but I'm living my dream now, and dreaming up new ones while I am at it."


Apparently, "Living The Dream" is hard. For everyone.