Road Trip!

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I've talked about it briefly, but in this post, I wanted to share my upcoming trip with you. On April 16th, I am driving from New Jersey to California, where I will land around May 2 to teach at Artistic Affaire in Manhattan Beach. For the last 15 years, I have been a caregiver for my son, Tucker. Although, we do what we have to out of love, there is no doubt that our lives (my husband and I) have left us with many worries and very little freedom. I'm taking advantage of this opportunity to teach in my home state and turning it into an adventure for myself. It is a chance to rediscover myself and be on my own. I am a very independent person and crave solitude.This is the perfect solution to fulfill this in a creative endeavor. It will be interesting to see just how fast I start to miss "home"!

Along the way, I am staying with art friends. I'm giving myself 2 weeks to dilly dally, drive leisurely and have a flexible schedule to do whatever comes up that I deem "fun and exciting". This is something I am always wanted to do and I am excited to make my way back to my home state.

After I am done teaching, I will then continue my trip by visiting with family (my mom, sister, niece, dad, etc.) and other friends. I have various places in California that I will be hitting (my favorite places such as Monterey,Pacific Grove, San Simeon). I'm looking forward to photographing the otters and elephant seals. I'm just excited to see my home state and I want to hit as many places as possible that I can before heading back home. I'll also deviate over to Nevada to visit my father in Fallon and teach 2 classes in Reno. It's been about 3 years since I have seen either of my parents, so visits are overdue.

I made some jewelry pieces that I am going to be selling online (here) to help raise a little road money (gas and hotels). So I guess you could consider this a little fundraiser. I've always have been very supportive of everyone and I figured, why not try and earn a few dollars to begin my adventure. I will be most grateful for your support and encouragement as I leave on this adventure.

To me, this journey is all about love. And by definition, I am defining "love" very openly. It is love for my children, for my family. It is love for a few special friends that are battling serious illnesses. It is love for my my art friends who constantly show me support and encouragement and teach me to really remember what is important. It is even love for strangers; other women who need my support; even if that support comes in the form of a simple smile.

When talking of this trip to many friends, I've been hearing the same thing over and over. "you are so lucky that you get to do this" or "i too have always wanted to make such a trip". It made me think of something that has always been important to me and that is to realize that even though we are all our own person, we are all the same as well. You = Me. My good friend, Jane, painted a picture of a woman with brown hair and wings tonight and I said, "if you make her hair longer, She is Me". and that brings me to my point. Although we are different people, essentially, we are all the same. we think similarly, we feel similarly, we like the same art, the same books, the same stuff from the flea market, and on and on. it can't be coincidence, that all of us have so much in common. But I also think about other women as well. Women that I don't know. I saw a woman crying at the store recently and I remembered the time, when Tucker's illness was very new and raw and I was shopping for things he needed. I was in a store and I was crying because the pain was unbearable. No one noticed, or no one said anything. But since then I've seen women crying and I've acknowledged them. Because, you see, that stranger crying for whatever reason is no different from me. "She is Me".

It helps me empathize with others to identify my pain with hers. None of us are very different in that fact. We all have pain and we all have our story. It's just a matter of remembering that.

I've created 3 different pieces - all of the hearts to go with the theme of love. There are soldered hearts that are $30. resin hearts that are $30 and my voodoo love hearts that are $40 (limited amount of these). All pendants, handmade by me, come on a ball chain. Please know that I put a lot of LOVE into these. Prices include shipping. This will be first come, first serve. But even if your favorite word might not be available, I'm sure you can find another piece that will suffice just as well :)
keep in mind that you don't have to wear them as pendants. you can hang them in your car, put on key chain or even drape around your studio.

If you see something you like, please email me (keeshagirl4@aol.com) with a description of the piece, "resin heart, "sing", for example, and if it is still available, I will send you a paypal invoice (and please make sure i have your correct paypal address to invoice).

update: if you see a line through a word, then it is sold already.
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Voodoo love hearts $40. choose from the following words:
love, kiss, cherish, amore, hug, xoxo, trust and j'taime.

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Resin hearts $30: choose from the following words:
cherish, love , sugar, kiss, bliss, sing, heart and xoxo

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Soldered hearts $30. Choose from the following words:
brave, laugh, hope, sing, kiss, cherish, smile, joy, fly, and heart

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So as I begin my journey, I will document it for you to enjoy. To participate virtually, because I know, as women, we long to find ourselves again. I am you and you are me. come along for the ride; I know we will have a grand time.

holding my breath

I've been silently holding my breath over the last few days waiting for the tests results to come in for my friend. (suspected Lymphoma). She called me tonight and the results are not good. "Malignant Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma ".

Scary words. That was the hardest phone call I ever sat through. What do you say? I'm very aware in these situations that she has all her own feelings to deal with, let alone everyone else's. I told her, I wanted her to know that she could always count on me to be real. she could crumble in front of me, not have to put on a brave face for me and that i would sit by her and hold her hand. I guess I've been down that road of pain, so I am a very good driver.

Please pray for my sweet friend. Tucker's one good friend; out of the few he'll ever have.

little box of love

i received terrible news today that a friend is suspected of having lymphoma. she undergoes a biopsy next week, so we will know more next week. needless to say i am heartsick over this. she loves my art, so i made this little box of love for her to hang in her car (or wherever.....)

refections from the pool of pain - a note to a friend

today i was blog reading and was reading a blog post of a friend who is a 6 year cancer survivor. she shared many things with us, but most importantly, she shared what she has learned through the process. I am not a cancer survivor, but a survivor of what i like to refer to as "a life altering experience", so i could relate.

I wanted to leave her a little comment on her blog in response and before you know it, i had written a little essay. I have to say, it was so heartfully written (is that a real word?) that i decided to share what i wrote with you. for all of you that has had to overcome pain and obstacles, this is for you as well.

There are some of us that cross the road during times of devastation. We looked both ways and we walked across. We have to handle a lot, maintain a sense of self, be brave, handle fear and more. Where is that road crossing? it crossed over into a different realm of this life, where we now view the world from a survivor's perspective. We shrug off trivialities (in the form of drama, gossip, meanness, etc). We know to appreciate the little things. We are observant to others pain and quick to observe who needs a little encouragement. Very importantly, we are too aware of the fragility of our existence. We've made a conscience decision to surrender any sort of control over this random blur of time, we call life. When we make it to the other side of the road, we have gained much wisdom. It's like passing a test - there are only a few who have achieved such a high grade. A+ to you my friend,

cheers,
kecia

Relay for life

last weekend, Dillon and some of his friends, took part in a fundraiser for cancer research called, "Relay for life". Dillon was the team captain (one of many!) and they organize a group of people, came up with a team name and then set out to get sponsors. someone from their team had to be walking on the track at all times. i went down to take pictures and what a site! lots of campsites with grills, tents, balloons, decorations and more. there were activities at certain times (for example at 1:00 in the morning there was to be a hip hop dance lesson). it really looked like a fun time. and the students ended up raising about $110,000.00, which is so amazing!

another artist is suffering

from my friend Lesley's blog:

Good Morning Everyone,

Tina Wright, a friend, fellow artist and one of the creators of Paper Cowgirl in Waxachie, Texas, recently found out she has advanced stage colon cancer.

Tina has such a beautiful spirit and her determination and bravery in fighting this disease truly inspired me to want to reach out to this blogging and online community to ask for your help. The costs of the tests, treatments and surgeries are just another stressor for family already having to deal with a diagnosis such as this so I have set up a Chip In for those that feel compelled to help.

I know that we have all been in those positions where someone has reached out and helped us and perhaps this will be seen as a time to pay that forward to Tina. Every dollar helps so please give as you are able to.

I would also like to ask that if you blog or have a website that you place the Chip In Widget there as well so that we can get the word out to as many people as possible. If you cannot get the widget on yoru blog please send your bloggers to mine so that they might also have the opportunity to help Tina.

Here is the link to Tina's Chip In Page: http://flatwoodsfolkart.chipin.com/mypages/view/id/1428447d1b777db4

You can grab the html code for the widget on that page as well.

Please go here for Tina's Blog: http://tina-wright.blogspot.com/

Go Here for Paper Cowgirl: http://papercowgirl.blogspot.com/

Remember...every prayer, every bit of positive energy, every positive thought and every cent counts.

Blessings to you all,

Lesley