French Heart: Win 'The Gospel According to Chanel'~

French Heart: Win 'The Gospel According to Chanel'~: Karen Karbo's chic little goldmine provides twelve essential nuggets of wisdom for the modern gal. Gleaned from the common sense that rocke...

Weathered Resilience

Muscles relaxed in the warm sun and on the sand
Eyes transfixed on the hues; varying shades of blues
Gulls flying over crying out their delights and peace ensues
after meeting waves of the ocean's power
pulling tangibly and resisting undercurrent
and residual strength renews now.
Dealing with the intangible elements
Past tense ,present tense these moments
periods of intensity and  resistance
Like finding the oyster's shell for instance
mirrored in the sheen resultant pearl
 a treasure cultured by wear
and pure
fresh water pearl
the oyster's gift
in a living organism
to safeguard against the foreign substance,
                      
Life and happenstance
arms en-wrapped  folded against the elements
then spontaneously flung high overhead
Hands reaching toward the sky
 in joyful  expressive resilience
grasping the exuberance
exultation in the moment in this instant 

in a cry of a sea bird, in the finding of a pearl,
in the manifestation of a myriad of senses,
each in their place and substance
holding them to heart qualities formed by resilience
a gift of time and environment
this
gradation and molding of substance
seemingly indifferent wonderment
wonderment at time's  crucial gifts
 and this substance -- the integrity of resilience!
--Cheryl Greenfield April 18, 2011 Revision of material, August 29, 2011.

--Cheryl Greenfield, April 18,2011   @ copyright material.All rights reserved.

E. E. Cummings : The Poetry Foundation

E. E. Cummings : The Poetry Foundation

New Posts and...

Realize I haven't been posting due to many factors, however, I fully intend to be doing a whole blog make-over this week and make it fresh daily! It is not easy for any of us to deal with ongoing continuing unrelenting stress; moreover, it often can just simply make us stop in our tracks and force us to balance, prioritize and revitalize... that, in effect, is what has been going on with me.

Well, will begin this renewal here within the next few hours and days. This spot served it's initial purpose, but there is more I wish to accomplish in this spot as there are so many things to see in beauty and in perspective... and my perspective is progressive. Hope you will continue to follow as this unfolds. I look forward to sharing with you!

It’s Only Sunny Side Up for Sunnye

                        Sunnye Gail Bates

By Cheryl Greenfield, Photographer: Nv Photo

  “Sometimes I even admire myself for getting in the face of diversity and screaming "get out of my way...I have work to do"— Sunnye Gail Bates

   The word resilience is a definition for the ability to process adversity and rise above it or to rebound, essentially. Very few of us are dealt the hand Sunnye Gail Bates was given in extreme life threatening  health situations in youth; moreover, it is true very few of us could have handled it the way Sunnye has in all her reactions and continues to do  still maintaining creative energy and achieving success as an entrepreneur. In her own words she describes her feelings about her launch of her business after a severe health event and a recent auto accident:

I am a self-taught graphic designer.  I design and solder all of the jewelry in my store.  I also design and print t-shirts.  I screen print and digitally print the shirts depending on the customers need and design.  I started digitally printing shirts in September 2010 and by April 2011 I had enough business coming in that I had to purchase another digital printer!  My creative mind then led me to pillows, hats, tote bags, dish towels and much more! Even with a broken back and wrist and a left foot in a walking boot for 5 months, I've never given up.  I've continued to work, to design, and to be thankful for the creativity that I've been blessed with.  My mother has always told me, "believe and succeed" and without that upbringing I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago.

   Another important thing about her situation in life is that it is always progressive. This factor is evident in her products for her business; furthermore, it also points to her determination for the future projection for her store for she is always looking at trends and using her own ‘style’ as she went on to  sa“Love incorporating vintage int

o my products!”

Then, when asked about her inspiration and creative influences this is what she maintained had really helped her. "It is my family who is the greatest inspiration."

      What particularly inspires one about Sunnye is this fervent drive for her loved ones, her passion for her work and her love for life! Furthermore, it is very evident in all that is reflected in her approach to adversity;moreover, it shows in all her beautiful unique creations.

   

 Frankly, it is an attitude all of us can be inspired to cultivate! The fact that she is has survived breast cancer twice at such a young age is truly remarkable. In addition, right in the midst of her last illness she became engaged to her best friend and love, Randall Bates, whom she married recently in November in Montana. Her approach to love and to life is evident in her wedding photo as it 
simply radiates sheer joy.

   However, after this joy she came home only to be involved in the auto accident three weeks later that caused the injuries mentioned for which she has had extensive surgery. Still, while in recovery mode, she is rebounding even in the agony of pain from those injuries! More importantly she is presently expanding her business and finding joy in this creative process. Her business is being launched to hit boutiques across the country along with her new website.

   Her remarkable resilience and rebounding quality are seen in these words of where she is at in this present moment in time:

I have now hired a sales representative that is launching a nationwide campaign to market my products.  We have named the line "An Altered Ego".
    

When asked again about her key inspiration and why she feels she is able to be so resilient she answered with these inspirational thoughts:
 

My dad always taught me that nothing is worth having if you haven't worked for it...and I don't think you'll find too many people that will say that I haven't lived my life by those words.  I love my job and the work that I do.  I look forward to the growth that we are about to encounter...it's truly a dream come true!

  
   Certainly, Sunnye’s dreams continue to come true in every respect in truly exciting and creative ways as she truly looks at life as only sunny side up!

 The new website is:

http://www.analteredego.com

 

Poem: Inbetween

That place in between dreams
lightening storm and wind thrashing trees
glimmering of light
sound crashing mesmerizing activity of power
between wakefulness and stirring
...awe inspiring activity
wherein my mind encompasses breadth and heighth
width and extremity
heart, mind, self inward soul stirring
awareness, here
Glint of power and might
self acknowledgement of fragility
woven in threads of strength a fabric worn
by sheer tenacity
throwing heart and soul (self) to the leap of faith
a single glance, a single tear, a perfect place
between this and that place
balancing act of priorities and immensities
mitigated by knowledge intrinsically
awakening to replenishing rain
and stream of tear sliding down in humility
joy of resilience
earth embracing, prayerful intensity specific,
Always!

-- Cheryl Greenfield May 9, 2011

Photo credit google images

~Gifts

How I have always loved Victoria
   and today in the mail, received three older issues from 1996 from my Aunt Dorothy. From the first issue in in the 80s I was entranced and captivated. The then editor in chief, Nancy Lindemeyer, brought such a sense of taste and beauty. The opening 'Dear Friends' section always featured the lovely water colors of an artist in France, Aude Kamlet, and there was the outstanding photography of Toshi Otsuki... which just sent me to another place in perception from his flawless eye through the lens.  Thus, this gift was so eagerly opened as she mentioned she had some older editions she was sending. Who knew she loved this magazine as I did? When things were difficult and challenging as a single parent of four sons on a tight budget, this magazine was like a dear friend whom I enjoyed a cup of hot tea with : moreover, I  felt like I was having scintillating conversation even though this was reading lines on pages and absorbing beautiful, gorgeous photos and substantially written articles. In fact, I used many images in my design notebook for Art Education. Dr. Moody gave me high marks for my over-all design, but admittedly the ideas rolled and images within my mind and remembered exactly from several stacks of saved magazines I had from the first images. Unfortunately, I loaned them out to someone and they were never returned...so, to get this special gift was so heart warming and who would guess the issue with the little girl pictured on the front cover in the plaid dress was one of my all time favorite images-- and that was the first one that appeared to me on opening the large envelope! How precious to me, this gift! 
             
How important it is to establish connections with our relatives who are older and in other places...they lend us something from ourselves. After all usually we share the same DNA. In this respect, I hope so as my aunt is 81 and has longish flipped golden bob, golden tan, wears a white pair of  capris , white sweater, and white style maker sandals with beautiful pedicured nails! One would never guess her much older than fifty. Something to look forward to, that!  At any rate, it is a way to touch someone. Imagine my surprise to find out she has saved drawings of home designs since I was thirteen years old... that she was ...she said 'astounded' by in that to her knowledge I had not been in homes like that. Well, of course, I had in mental travels at my maternal grandmother's house with all her pristine collections of magazines: Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Town and Country, and  , lastly, issue upon issue of National Geographic.

So, the beauty savored today from these issues still in mint condition and a gift from the heart from an aunt who stays in tune with dress, style, and race car drivers. *smiles* 

                     The best sort of gift is personal and related to something you like or enjoy.
                                      ~Thank you, Aunt Dorothy, for this gift and, also, the
                                                          personal card and note within...
                                                                a gift in itself to be cherished!

                                                                     ~Aunt Dorothy~                   

Writers and how they grab creative writing time

http://www.mastersdegree.net/blog/2011/20-acclaimed-authors-and-their-unique-writing-rituals/