Daily Courage

There is a saying that “Cancer Sucks.”  It does. With the advancements in treating the disease, it seems I know more people who have prevailed and after treatment and have been able to resume their lives. But, lately that isn’t true. I have attended the funeral of two friends under the age of 50 in the past several months. Both women died of breast cancer. Both of them left daughters the same age as my own daughter, Sarah. 

    My mother died of ovarian cancer in 1996. She looked into the mirror of mortality everyday for seven years. I learned a great deal in those years. I saw how much it meant to her when others would visit, call, write or send a thoughtful gift. Rather than holding back from fear of what to say, it was the people who reached out that made a difference. It’s not easy to know what to do. What matters is that you do something.

   Some people turn to the kitchen and cook to show they care.  I tend to avert the kitchen and head to my craft studio.

  My cousin was recently diagnosed with melanoma. I’ve been struggling with a way to reach out and show support. Yesterday, I pulled out the things that give me comfort: vintage trims and embellishments, handmade papers, button, paper dyes, and a book of favorite quotes that I keep in my office. Not quite sure where I was going to end up, I started on a minibook filled with quotes I thought would be of comfort during his treatment. Aromas flowed from the kitchen where my daughter was baking for friends who had been in a terrible car accident. Once the cupcakes were in the oven, she came to find me. “See Mom, this is what we do. You craft and I bake. It makes us feel better, and like we are doing something and to show we care.” She’s right, it does. 

What do you do to show you care? We could all use some good ideas…

Many of the creative souls I know are great fans of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and so am I. One of the suggestions the author makes is that in order to inspire ourselves we need to make a regular Artist’s Date. She tells us it doesn’t matter where we go, we need to take the time to do something curious and give ourselves little creative breaks. Susan Rios is one of the creative faithful. You know Susan from her beautiful paintings of wonderfully romantic places and children, and from her many books with Harvest House. By the way, that is her work on the banner of the Crlog. Remember, this is a CReativebLOG (Crlog)

Partners in Play by Susan Rios

Harbour Roses by Susan Rios

We have talked for two years about going on an Artist Date together. Yesterday was the day! I drove from the OC to her home and off we went to the Getty Museum. Perfect place for an Artist Date, don’t you think? We had lunch in the wonderful restaurant, and splurged by having a Blood Orange Margarita. It was as good as it looks! And, it almost made it worth the 4 1/2 hour drive home. I hit the SigAlert jackpot coming home on the 405 freeway. Cheers!!

After lunch we wandered into a fabulous exhibit of Illuminated Manuscripts. These works were done from the 1100’s to the late 1500’s. Unbelievable. If you are even the tiniest bit of a paperholic, you will love seeing the wonderful manuscripts. Here is a peek:

We marveled at how the scribes and artists could have done such intricate gold leaf. There is no doubt it is the real deal because it is still shining after all these years. Knowing Susan, she’ll have it figured out. She did some very unique and wonderful things with texture and dimension in her book Designer Scrapbooks with Susan Rios.

An all around wonderful day!! None of us think we have the time. Maybe we don’t have the time NOT to take a little break to be inspired.

Toodles!