The past few weeks I have felt all over the place, stretched here and there and drifting.  Attempting to lay down an anchor but just a little off.  Nothing in particular that I could pin my hat on.  Just a general malaise kind of off-ness.  Very specific I know, but I have felt kind of as vague!  :)

Earlier in the year I signed up to a WILD creative woman workshop.  And I have completed a couple of the workshops, but I had a few half started (my standard MO for classes at the moment it seems!), and a few I hadn’t even looked at.  They were on my to-do list, especially with a deadline approaching.  :)

Yesterday I was reading this post by Lisa Wilson and I decided to do Hali‘s workshop which was on waking up your senses and arousing creative awareness.  I had started it, but hadn’t gone anywhere near it since.  When I got it out and taped the paper to the painting board I decided to just start again.  Painting over what I had done last time.  Clearly I was meant to wait and redo it because I really love how this came out.

Getting in touch with each sense and then painting was a vacation day for my sanity.  In between Victoria and I made cookies (though the laundry I intended to do as well is still undone!) and I just had a really blissful day.  I remembered how much I loved painting.  Victoria had a meltdown as well that included some screeching and kicking and generally losing the plot, and we navigated with some ease those stormy waters.

And the result…I look at it and it is just breathtaking.  Some of that may be that looking at different sections, I remember what was going on at the time. Because of the process I was not sure how it was going to end up and I wanted to stop a couple of times because I didn’t want to ruin it, but I am really happy with the finished piece.  I just need to investigate framing now because I want to frame it and hang it.

After I had finished I was in such a place of aliveness.  I can’t even explain how inspired and energised I felt.  I was almost zinging.  Just really alive and mindful, which I think may be a result of the focused mindfulness during the day.  I want to try the process again and see how the results vary.

And then last night after that shaking up of my muse we had a very LONG actual earthquake which apparently measured a 7.  I was surprised because it didn’t feel that big, though it was centered 200kms down.  It was the longest one I can ever remember feeling and I grew up with them.  After 30 seconds I got out of bed, unsure whether it was going to be the big one we are apparently due for, and if it was I wanted to be in with the children so I could access them quickly.  I will never forget hearing mums talking in regards to the Christchurch earthquake that the shaking was so hard they couldn’t get to their children.

I was commenting on Gina‘s blog at the time, I am blaming her ravishing man for making the earth move down here!!  :)