Blog Hop June 2014

Helloooooooo everyone, including bold souls from way back, bold souls (newer friends) and bold souls (visiting). Warm Greetings, one and all :)

I hope this finds you well nourished and happy. I’m just back from a walk with a friend, and she and the walk were like free range chicken soup for the soul :)

Blog Hop June 2014

This post is part of a Blog Hop – a virtual path to visit new bloggers. Fun! In this hop, we are all answering the same set of four questions. Here, I reply, and at the bottom I give you links to visit Melissa (who tagged me and answered the questions previously), Tammy and Dena (who will answer the questions next) each on on their own blogs.

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1 What am I working on/writing?

I’m finalising the last little sections of painting on an edition of 10 lino prints, Thank You Piggies, which I first introduced here. The initial design came when I got diagnosed with thyroid issues. I had no idea how to wrap my head around the diagnosis that each of my cells was having problems functioning! (No wonder I was SO TIRED). Thankfully I was able to process my feelings by making art. I’m only aware of that in retrospect! I don’t know how I would’ve done otherwise. :P

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2 How does my work/writing differ from others of its genre?

Writing is painting a picture with words, as my walking friend today wisely said. My writing and visual work differ as I differ. We are all related and connected and in so many ways similar: the need to eat, sleep, make friends, take care of our place. What makes me unique is my combination of obsessions (cats, colour, HitBall, rainbow tutus, cosmos flowers), skills (tutu wearing, lino printing, cooking low FODMAPs sugar-free food), feelings (love, happiness, sorrow, curiousity, free, nourished), beliefs (we can do it, people should be true to themselves), perspectives (living in Adelaide, having a cat and grown sons) and relationships (friends, family, wild nature, garden). My visual artwork is very very vibrant, and graphic. I’ve been told my writing is conversational –  a helpful compliment, as I hope to write so that if you met me, I would sound like the same person. In addition that, I am learning to trust my own voice and my own enoughness. More about that below.

3 Why do I write what I do?

My underlying reasons are the same for writing as they are for painting, drawing, printmaking, photography:

  1. To be a reminder, messages for future me.
  2. To get my songs out of my heart.
  3. To write (talk) around the things that inspire me to make art. To sort them out, untangle the threads. And see where they interweave.
  4. The visual and the written support each other. I’ve always been fond of putting words and pictures together.
  5. Like with the thyroid thing, I’m discovering art and writing are ways to deal with with life’s curve balls.
  6. Learning to feel that I am enough, and that it’s ok to let people see me. It’s scary most of the time! I think the word I’m looking for is vulnerable – it feels vulnerable to allow myself to be seen.
  7. Confidence building. After an initial reluctance to share of myself, I’m beginning to comprehend that my story is as worth telling as anybody’s. And I’m gradually understanding that Telling your Story is a whole different ball game to shoving your story down the throats of innocent bystanders!
  8. And to make friends with like-minded souls, of course!

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4 How does my working/writing process work?

To tell the truth, for me, it’s a struggle to write – and time consuming! I know I want to say something… so I type in something, anything. Waffle, go off track. Later come back and rearrange and edit the frack out of it! Remember the editing speech from Everybody Loves Raymond? Haha, the editing phase is where it gets put into order and cobbled together!

I am getting better at recognising the process, though, and going with the flow. I undertake writing projects in a series of short sessions! I remember one time (as it’s so rare) that a post that poured out of me – the Bike RIding post … it still needed editing! :P

Check for typos until the moon goes blue! Hit publish.

I’m still learning to share what I do, where I am, feelings, thoughts, processes and imperfections humanity – haha, so much content to draw from! It’s about vulnerability and connection, right? Coming out of my shell, as my own special (yet not) kind of freak snowflake freaky snowflake. Owning that. Learning that it’s about Telling Your Story. The right people will read it! Hello, right people! :)
Much love,
Meg x o

PS In the spirit of being frank about our failings humanness… within the time frame I was able to call on just 2 more writers (the instructions said 3 – oops!) to pass the baton to for the blog hop. Several invitees who would’ve been awesome couldn’t fit this into their lives at the moment. Not to worry, enjoyment is more important than exactness. Maybe I’ll see you in the comments section of their blogs. Would love to hear from you here, too. I’ll happily read your thoughts in the comments section below :) Have a brilliant day! M x o

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I encourage you to visit these wonderful, friendly bloggers, and to follow along for their post/s in the blog hop. Leave them a comment if you feel to! Melissa’s post is here, Dena and Tammy will post next weekend. Crikey, how awesome are they?

Melissa Dinwiddie

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Melissa Dinwiddie is an artist, writer, performer, inspirationalist and creativity instigator, on a mission to empower people to feed their creative hungers. She coaches and consults with individuals and groups, and leads creativity workshops and retreats in inspiring locations around the world as well as online. Melissa writes for The Huffington Post, Tiny Buddha, The Abundant Artist, and others, and shares the inside scoop on living a big, bold, creative life on her own blog, Living A Creative Life, where you can get a free mini-poster of her Keys to Creative Flow and her Imperfectionist Manifesto.

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Tammy Vitale

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Tammy Vitale, makes a safe place for women to claim their HELL YES!!! life. Using her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, her Master’s degree in Story, 10 years experience as a professional artist in a solopreneur business, 20 years’ experience working in communities identifying and training leaders and 20 years starting and running both small for-profit and non-profit organizations, she provides a safe creative space for women to gather in community, make conscious choices and move from mundane to magic. You can check out her workshops, classes and retreat at tammyvitale.com

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Dena McKitrick

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Dena McKitrick is an eclectic artist intent upon awakening creative expression as a spiritual quest. In touch with her Muses, Dena is a painter, sculptor, writer, poet, singer/songwriter, performer, stone reader, ceremonialist and teacher. She states that her life purpose is to act as a catalyst for change and growth. She says of her art, “Creative expression is not only what I do; it is who I am. It is the magic that binds my life together, and helps me to make sense of it all. It is a joyous, wonderful experience – a constantly expanding adventure that I feel compelled to include in my daily life. It is borne of my conscious connection to True Source. I am dedicated to being fully aware and engaged in all that I work on, in every moment of every day.”

Dena writes several blogs, the most consistent being an every-workday poetry site called TheDailyNapkin. Her current writing project is finishing the manual for Stones of Change which is a process for doing intuitive stone readings and fortune sculpting using a medicine wheel built of crystals and rocks.

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2 thoughts on “Blog Hop June 2014”

  1. I love how you wrote in your painting! I guess it all ties in for us, since I did pretty much the same thing. Am looking forward to publishing mine. Have greatly enjoyed yours and am looking forward to getting a print of your flying piggie here (I also have thyroid but I take the synthetic stuff since I’ve yet to find anyone who’ll work with anything else. How sad is that!). It’s a lovely picture and very meaningful and I’m so glad you created it! AND invited me along on this hop. xo

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