Sorry I've been MIA. It takes every ounce of energy and time to clean the old house out and make ready for the sale. I knew it would be work. After Saturday I was afraid that I would not be ready for the sale which starts this Friday. By end of day Sunday I was feeling a lot better about it all. It doesn't hurt that I also call it the new strength training/weight loss regimen. I feel so buff after a day's workout.
The preperations have brought out the inner shopkeeper in me. I'm taking the time to make vingnettes, group like items together, bag the itty-bitty things and basically create areas of fun and interest for the shoppers. I'm making the store I'd like to shop in. I have always told my friends that I wish there was going to be one hell of an estate sale when I die. Well I'm not dead yet, but the sale is NOW. There's even a room dedicated to my rubber stamps. Of course I call that The Rubber Room. I know "regular" people coming to the sale won't get it, but we do. I sure hope you're close enough to make it this weekend. PLEASE introduce yourself.
One of the things I found (and there are many long missing items I have uncovered) is a poem Sas Colby wrote in 1980. That would make me 28 when I received it (in the mail, a freebie she advertised in Fiberarts magazine back when it was a newspaper-type rag.) After you read it, you'll understand why I kept it, why I longed to grow older and become wise. I always looked forward to becoming 40 and I was right, I loved my 40s. Half way through them, another friend said "Wait until you're 50." and she was right too. The 50s are even better. Any thoughts out there on the 60s? I'm guessing it just keeps getting better…
ART & LIFE IN BOOKS
First
I am selling all my books
about art
and art theories,
aware that I don't want to be so strongly influenced
by what others say,
wanting
my art to come from an
authentic place
within me,
getting ride of external trappings
so that I can be closer to myself
and what I know from
inside.
Second
I am selling all of my books about how to
live life
feeling
that at age 40
an open heart and
a third eye will guide me.
Does it sound as if I think I know it all?
Here's something I never told anyone before:
I do know it all!
So do you.
I just found this out.
The secret of life is to
breathe
deeply.
Every single time I let go of something I remember this poem. Sas, a fiber artist in 1980, has been my hero since. I was fortunate enough to take a class with her years ago and wrote a beautiful recounting of it for my website back in 2000 or thereabouts. The image above is the book I created in class.
The thing is, it's all the art books and "how-to-live-life" books along with a lot of living and following my heart that got me to this wonderful place – both mentally & physically – I am now. For every book I pass on, there are 1 or 2 I keep. Words and image never cease to inspire. I looked at my husband yesterday, a woven leather basket I use to store books in hand, and said, "I'm just not ready to give this up yet." He understood. I know you do too.
well, this is sort of like the conversation we had this morning – where i said i wouldn’t go back. the present is where i am, and the future is where i’m going. sounds simple and even trite, when put in those terms, but i know you know.
keep up the good work – xxxxx
Oh, how I wish I lived closer (a rubber room, eh?) How fun to go through all your things and then know that you’ll be giving them all good homes. I hope you’ll take some pics of the festivities and share them with us–have fun! cindy
Oh, I loved that poem so much. Thanks for sharing. I will be 70, soon, and I have been thinking a lot about how I never expected my life to be so full of joy and creativity and new things to learn. It does get better in part because I have learned to breathe and because I have much less angst about things.
Good luck with your sale.