Category: Life

Art, Dreams, Life

Why Wait Until January 1 to Make Your Course Correction? article by Lesley Riley (with permission)

Guila Greer

Three Quick Questions

Lesley Riley writes about Artist Success (and I think her thoughts here can apply to all of us) and presents her thoughts on the time honored ritual of New Year’s Resolutions. More about Lesley (one of my heroes) at the end of the article.

Life is one long continuum. We need markers in order to assess our progress. January 1st is one of those markers. I’m somewhat of a rebel. I don’t like to do what everyone else is doing. That means I don’t want to talk about new year’s resolutions, setting goals for 2012 or how to make this your best year yet. I have already received way too many emails along those lines. How about you? It did get me to wondering though, why there is so much focus on new starts and fresh beginnings at the beginning of a new year? January 1st is the universally agreed upon time, a convenient reminder for us to pause and assess. Rather than focus on new beginnings (which, let’s face it, are very hard and doomed to failure), let’s consider this a time for course correction. The first question you should be asking yourself right now is, “Am I headed in the right direction?” Whether you admit it or not, there is something you want to be doing with your life that you are not doing…yet. The dream may be so far off or seem so out of reach that you’ve been going about it in a roundabout way, if at all. Or, if you are at all like me, you have more than enough ideas to last 10 lifetimes and you just can’t figure out which one to take action on. You are creating a tight zigzag stitch of your life, back and forth, side to side, with very little forward movement.

The second question you need to ask is, “Which ideas, which dreams, hold the most meaning for me?” Pick three. And make one of them a stretch, something you consider to be out of reach. Be sure that the ones you choose make your heart go pitty-pat, either from excitement and desire or fear. Fear is a good thing. It’s a sign that you want something that scares you. If you are not thinking outside of your comfort zone, you are not living up to your potential.

Question #3 is, “Did I act on those dreams?” Did you take actions that would move you forward and closer to the realization of your ideas and dreams or did you zigzag through the year and divide your time among too many things? Chances are you did both. It’s exactly the steady course most of us take through life. And it’s exactly the reason why so many of us die with our dreams still inside.

To paraphrase Wayne Dyer:

…Don’t die with your music still inside you. Listen to your intuitive inner voice and find what passion stirs your soul. ..

It’s time for a course correction. January 1st is a few days away. You still have time to make a course correction in 2011. Rather than wait until that official, agreed upon day, do it now. Waiting like everyone else for January 1st is just another excuse. It’s procrastination. It’s telling yourself that a date is more important than your dream. Find out where and how have you veered off following your intuition, your passion – and decide what you can do right now, TODAY, to get back on track.

The hidden bonus is that you don’t start the new year off commiserating over all of the things that you want to change or start or commit to. You won’t focus on what’s missing in your life because you have already done something about it. You have a head start on everyone else! I know you will feel really good on January 1st because you took positive action now. Promise me you will continue to take action and make the necessary course corrections for the next 365 days.

Do that and I guarantee that 2012 will be your best year yet!

Happy New Year!

Lesley Riley, The Artist Success Expert, is the creative founder of Artist Success, Solutions for the Struggling Artist. To receive her bi-weekly articles on creating your own success as an artist, visit ; http://www.ArtistSuccess.com.

Flying, Haiku, Photography, Poetry

Blogging From 30,000 Feet

Guila Greer

…So I’m sitting here in my window seat writing, staring at some particularly fluffy clouds only partially obscuring my vision of the land beneath.  Some of the cloud peaks are magnificent reminding me of  mountain peaks;  others of peaks  of whipped cream.  Still others  are spread out and breaking up like ice floes on a tranquil sea of sky blue.

I’m all  ear budded up with my iPod, listening to Pretty Hate Machine. I’ve settled into that unique cocoon that you can get into at 30,000 feet – where you can consider your world, your life with a decidedly dispassionate view – like you’re somehow apart from it all.

I was thinking about sketching some of those clouds but I’ve changed my mind. My muse is telling me to record what I’m seeing in words instead.

Sandy earth below

Streaky sun through the window

Climbing higher now

Velocity up

Acute anticipation

Tomorrow’s mys’try

Mountain peaks or clouds

Clear vision or optic trick

Beauty is constant

Ear buds snuggled in

Music easing heart and soul

Turbulence warning

Grandchildren, Humor, Life

My 10 Year Old Granddaughter Gets Her First Email Account

Guila Greer
My 10 year old granddaughter Abby has been wanting her own email account for ages (big sis has one)  and yesterday her parents allowed her to go ahead and set one up.  Like most grandmas do, I think everything they do is hugely cute and clever (in this case it is, LOL)  and really need to share the back and forth conversation we had.  Just to link this to quilting 🙂 both girls have been the recipients of quilts that I have made over the past several years and are ongoing inspirations!

from Abby to me:  Saturday morning early 9/24

im so happy that i have a gmail account now, its

abby on her account! can you belive it?

anyways i was wondering,, could you mabey give me some emailing tips?thanks grandma honey!

Guila Greer to Abby
     Sep 24 (2 days ago)

Abby I am so excited that you have your OWN account – this is SOOOOOOO  great.
I’m going to be picked up by friends to go to a quilt show in a few minutes so I can’t give you the tips right now or the news but I’ll be back later!!!!!

love love love
Grandma Honey

Abby Greer to me
show details Sep 24 (1 day ago)

When you get home and check your email account I want you to now i love you,  hugs and kisses (or xoxoxo).

A little later in the afternoon

Abby Greer to me
Sep 24 (1 day ago)

hey are you back yet grandma honey?

Guila Greer to Abby
                Sep 24 (1 day ago)

Hi Abby, I just got back!!!

Abby Greer to me
                    Sep 24 (1 day ago)

YAY!!!!!

Guila Greer to Abby
                        Sep 24 (1 day ago)

OK, so ya want some email tips.  OK here we go.

The thing you need to be most concerned about is a VIRUS.  These most often come in the form of an attachment.  This might even be disguised as coming from someone you know.

So, don’t open an attachment that you are not expecting without checking with a grownup.

Something else you don’t want is a lot of SPAM.  So if you get a spam email ask someone to show you how to BLOCK that spam so next time it will go right to your spam folder.

Never give private information in an email from someone who isn’t a good friend or family member. (Or even from them if it looks “funny”.)   It could be someone doing what is called “PHISHING” for private info for Identity Theft.
Again -if in doubt, ask a grownup.

Make sure you re-read what you send before you hit the send button: once it’s gone, it’s gone!

Sometimes if you’re not sure what you want to say (let’s say you’re angry with a friend and you want to tell them to jump in the lake).  It’s good to write a “draft”  (click on Save Draft) – then go back to it and review before you decide if you really want to send it.  You may have changed your mind.

What questions do you have for me?

I’m going to take a 20 minute power nap.  then I’ll check in again.

love, love, love you!!!!!  🙂       ❤ ❤ ❤

Honey

thanks i’ll keep those things in mind. hugs kisses and food.

Guila Greer to Abby
2:14 PM (7 hours ago)

You’re welcome Abby!!
So, are you enjoying being able to email people?  I’m sure you must be.  If you want to email Poppy his email address is:  johnxxxxxxxxxx.com

We just finished having a yard sale – wasn’t too bad, made a few buckaroos, haha.

hugs, kisses and food to you too 🙂
love you lots!!
Honey

Abby Greer to me
show details 2:35 PM (7 hours ago)

Thanks i’ll keep that in mind, too.you rock grandma honey! weell, i’ll see you later, i guess.
Life

A Very Special Shopping Trip

Guila Greer
I got to do something last night that was pretty ordinary for most but deliciously special for me.  My oldest granddaughter (14) was complaining that she had no one around to help her with cosmetics – choosing makeup and the like.  The immediate issue was that today is picture taking day at her school (entering high school) and she had a big ole blemish developing on the side of her nose.  She complained that her mom had no knowledge and no interest in makeup (true – my DIL has rarely used any).   I haven’t been using much either for the last few years but there was a time that I was and like riding a bicycle you don’t forget how to apply eyeliner.
Of course, at 14 she doesn’t need any makeup but she’s so keen on it and such a girly girl.
So I took her shopping and we bought everything from Clearasil to liquid eyeliner.  And did a lot of talking.  I shared little bits of grandmotherly wisdom and we had some laughs too.
Today I will take her to her new school and we will go on the tour.  When it’s her turn for the picture taking she will be confident and ready.
You can’t create special times like this – they just happen when they happen.
Accessories and Ornaments, Life

What’s Been Keeping Me Busy

Guila Greer

Happy Holidays everybody!  I hope you all are having a good relaxing day – We’ve been on the go most of the month and it’s great to be able to kick back today.
We spent some time visiting our son and his family in Minneapolis.  As usual it was wonderful – especially getting to spend some time with our granddaughters.  We even had a couple of bonus days because of the BIG SNOW!  It was such a heavy snow that they even closed the Mall of America – on a Saturday afternoon 2 weeks before Christmas!  And they closed the Minneapolis public schools for a couple of days – unheard of!

Well I got SOME of my special projects finished in time for the holidays-

A while back I may have mentioned that I was knitting fingerless gloves for my daughter-in-law.  Well, I’ve been knitting for many years and have done some complicated patterns but have never done gloves before .  All those fingers!   She wanted them to come up to her elbows – (remember – they live in Minnesota)

Well, they’re not works of art but they’re snugly and they’re DONE!

Life

Busy Week –

Guila Greer

I didn’t make much progress with my Art Quilting projects this week but nevertheless it was a good week.

  • I did make progress on a quilt that I’m making for my youngest granddaughter. Kind of a cute story – we were talking on the phone a few weeks ago and I was trying to explain the project that I was working on for a class.  It is a seascape and has all kinds of embellishments including cellophane. (It was an online class with Linda Schmidt – “creating the elements”. Great class!)  Granddaughter first asked me who the quilt is for – then commented that it wouldn’t be a very “softy” quilt. She proceeded to give me a detailed explanation as to how I could get all the special ocean effects that I wanted just by using fabric and thread. Thus ending up with a quilt that would still be “softy.”  So I’m making her a special “softy sea” quilt as a special surprise.
  • My “day job” is real estate and it’s getting more important than ever to get a special designation to list and sell so-called “distressed” properties – such as foreclosures and short sales.  So I’ve been busy taking a class that will culminate with the CDPE designation: Certified Distressed Property Expert. It’s actually quite interesting and I will be finishing up this weekend.
  • I am participating in an online group that was formed to bring Haiku and Fiber Art together.  The group was established this past week by A. Carole Grant, a Canadian Mixed Media/Fiber Artist that I “met” on the Quilt Art list.  I am very excited to be a part of this and am looking forward to some “stretching” and growth as an artist.
  • We had our Book Club meeting this week and a good discussion on “The House at Riverton”.  This was a very good read!  Kind of Upstairs Downstairs meets The Thirteenth Tale – with a little Remains of the Day thrown in for good measure!

It’s supposed to rain here all day tomorrow and I plan to sew, sew, sew!!!

Family, Life

Good Intentions

Guila Greer

My good intentions (last post in April 2009) went awry last year as life (and death) intervened. Upon reflection I realize that it wasn’t just the time spent travelling – it was more the accompanying state of mind that dampened any energy or enthusiasm I had to create art or talk about it here.
Not that things have returned to “normal” – or appear to any time soon. but I’m not waiting for that to happen. Too many ideas and too much to do! Fun stuff.

At the moment I’m in Minnesota helping out while my daughter in law recovers from knee surgery. When I was packing I wanted to make sure that I packed some work to do in my down time. And, as you all know, you feel like doing different kinds of quilting, art or needlework according to the mood you’re in.
Here’s what I packed (for a 2 wks plus 1 day stay)
knitting – a scarf in progress (easy for the plane)
fingerless gloves (in progress on the needles)
yarn to start a sweater for my oldest granddaughter
assorted fabric to cut out for a lap quilt
an art quilt in progress and needing the hand embroidery to be done
a little kit containing beading tools and beads (to make earrings for youngest granddaughter who just got her ears pierced)

My husband just shook his head when he saw it all go into the suitcase but I know you all understand. Today I actually cut out the fabric for the lap quilt. The scarf grew a little while flying out here; granddaughter’s sweater is on the needles; younger granddaughter has 2 new pairs of earrings. The art quilt has a little of the stitching done – the fingerless gloves haven’t budged.

Well, it’s almost time to take my granddaughter to circus school. The knitting goes with me.

Thanks for letting me ramble on here. Next post will include pics of some new work.

Life

Help – what to do first?????

Guila Greer

So here I am sitting with my laptop instead of with my knitting or at my sewing machine. There is so much to be done over the next month. Maybe if I make a list it will somehow make it more manageable. Or, heaven forbid, it might be too scary.
Let’s see: sewing projects: 4 way placemats for DS and his family and for DM; doll dresses (already cut out); finish wall hanging for DDIL; make tote bag for DMIL’s caregiver.
Knitting: hoodie for DGD1; sweater for DGD2; doll dress; cute toddler hat for DGNiece.

But what I REALLY want to work on is my journal quilt for this month’s demo class. It needs to be completed by a week from Saturday. This month we’re incorporating foiling into our journal quilt. Last month it was Shiva paintstiks. I can’t wait to see what she’ll demo next time.

And I want to finish my wall quilt – a hollow cube arrangement in batiks.
And to get a couple of pair of socks knit up.

Well, time to do some knitting.