Shine On

Metallics in design have long been sought after for their versatility, elegance and glamour.  Need a little drama in a room?  A "shine" or "glow" could do just the trick.

Metallics by nature reflect light, so they look different from every angle... hence their mysterious beauty.  But to welcome this "phenomenon" you must be willing and open minded to experiment.

A stencilled accent wall, angle 1
(Wallovers "Decodence" rendered in copper & gold over olive green)

Same wall, angle 2
(Wallovers "Decodence" rendered in copper & gold over olive green)

I've always said, paint is a great metaphor for life.  What do you have in front of you that looks different from every angle?  I'll bet the true beauty shows best when it's the angle that reflects the most light...

xo,
AGP

Maybe, Baby

Maybe is a big word these days.
There is so much volatile energy on the Earth right now.
You feel it.  And you're pretty much flowing with it, or fighting it.  Or both.

Remember this: You are creating and being created in the same moment.
The universe is alive.
There are no absolutes.
You are living (active) your destiny (passive).
Positive and negative.
Yes, it is duplicitous.  Hence, your power.  And your powerlessness.

Life is long, the Earth is big.  So many choices, so many options.  Maybe I'll go here.  Maybe I'll do this.  Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe...

I'm an optimist so "maybe" to me is a sexy word.  Sizzling with potential.  Tell an artist "maybe" and it's a first class ticket to a dream.  Artists are natural creators.  Seamlessly, effortlessly, powerfully our brains click into gear and the engines start running.  Road maps are created, options explored, emotions gauged.  The imagination is sparked.

Think.  What do you have in front of you that is a big "maybe?"

Should we paint?
Maybe it's perfect just the way it is...

Maybe it has potential to be better than you ever imagined...
(Metallic & Antique Washes, private residence November 2010)

What is fueling you towards this "thing"?  What is blocking you from this pull?

A FEELING.

We are all magnets.  You feel the pull every day of your life.  That "pull" is in your soul.

What are you feeling when you think of the "maybe?"  Narrow it down to one word.

I promise you...
In fact, I am willing to bet my life on it...
That two words will come up over and over again.

LOVE
or
FEAR

Yes.  Those two words motivate every single individual, every single day.  In their own way.  Duplicitous.  Accurate.  Honest.  Every single thing you do is motivated by either LOVE or FEAR.

Ready?  Let's play.

What energies do you give in to?  LOOK AT YOUR LIFE.

Do you play it safe?  Do you stay small?  Do you go by the book?  Tradition at all costs?  Rules?  Are you constantly worried about what other people think?  Have you continuously let opportunities and chances pass you by?  Are you sad?  Depressed?  Do you abuse substances?  Do you wake up in the middle of night, unable to sleep?  Do you suffer from anxiety?  Regret?  Do you have continuous health issues?  Do you need multi-tasking, constant entertainment and distractions to function?  If you died tomorrow, is there anything you have left unsaid?  Undone?  Unfinished?  (Um, we could go on and on over here...  but I can't... because just thinking about it sucks the Life Force Energy out of me.)

On the flip side:

Are you happy?  Grounded?  Clear?  Do you feel like a part of something greater than yourself?  Do you like your life?  Do you feel blessed?  Do you have a purpose?  Do you regularly and quickly see the fruits of your labor?  Have you felt passion flow through your veins?  Do you set goals and achieve them?  Do you live in color?  Do you feel better in nature?  Do you keep your own counsel?  Do you sleep well?  Are you healthy?  Can you look others straight in the eye?  Can you live within your own silence?  Are you honest?  Authentic?  Are your relationships meaningful and real?  Do you feel a connection to spirit?

Need I say more?

Some things are sacred, but weathered.
Should they remain untouched?  Unchanged?
Maybe.

Maybe not.
Everything looks better after it's been loved.
(private residence, July 2009)

Maybe...

I was struggling with how to end this posting, since it occurred to me that sometimes there are equal amounts of both LOVE and FEAR when presented with a MAYBE.  Hmmmm....

It's rare, but possible, to be exactly at 50/50 most of the time.  How does one manage that?  Wait til one emotion wins out?  Act passively and let life make the decision for you?  Surrender your own power?  Yes, you could do that... if FEAR seems to be at 51%.  So, I turned off the computer and went to Yoga this morning.  Many answers come to me when I am in that space.

And like magic (or as they say, when the student is ready the teacher appears)... I heard my Yoga Teacher, Nancy, say in today's class: "All you need to do to is just push yourself to your personal edge every day.  Things are always changing, so just go to your edge.  Give it your all and then let go."

Ahhh... yes, that makes perfect sense to me.  If LOVE is at 51% bring your energy to your edge.  And then let go... The flow will do the rest.

xo,
AGP

Everyday Magic

Cold Spring Harbor, July 2008

I do believe in an everyday sort of magic... the inexplicable connectedness we sometimes experience with places, people, works of art and the like; the eerie appropriateness of moments of synchronicity; the whispered voice, the hidden presence when we think we are alone. 
-- Charles de Lint

"I often have extraordinary experiences wherein I sense that something important or meaningful is happening.  The more I do whatever I feel called to do in the moment, the more this sort of thing tends to happen.  This is how the universe aligns us with the information, connections and experiences we most need; it nudges us to get up and go somewhere, to open up to a stranger, to suddenly reach out.  The more we listen to these nudges, the more amazing synchronicities bless us with an extraordinary, mystical sort of journey." -- Julia Melges-Brenner, editor of Kajama.

Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life. -- Paul Coelho

"When people first attempt to develop their psychic abilities, they are often tripped up by a tendency to try to think their way to answers instead of vibrationally aligning with guidance and allowing it to flow in.  When we are stuck in logic, our own thoughts are so incessant that they prevent us from hearing the voice of spirit; when we relax and open our whole being to guidance, insights naturally begin to bubble up from within." -- Julia Melges- Brenner, editor of Kajama

Relax.  This is a test.  This is only a test.
Had this been a real life you would have been given instructions and told what to do.
Hmmmm...........

A card that was taped to my door.  It suddenly won't stay in place.
It just keeps falling on the floor.
OK, OK... I get it.  I hear you!
Image created by Anahata Katkin

As a true artist, I am a person committed to living the essence of a creative life.  Simply put, I must always stay in the Flow.  The flow of Life Force Energy.  It means surrendering. It means believing that everything is both "destined" and "in genesis" at every moment.  It means trusting in the unseen.  It means living in a state of grace.  It means always moving forward.  It means allowing things to unfold.

This commitment is the greatest commitment any human being could ever make.  It is a commitment to Life.  It is the greatest leap of faith, the greatest show of trust and the most powerful, intoxicating ride you could ever experience.

It's not always easy.  And it is not an event or a one-time choice.  By nature of it's meaning, It's a LIFE-style.

What sustains me?  Every day magic.  Ordinary miracles.  Clarity.  Synchronicity.  Signs.  Second chances.  Major shifts.  Vibrational alignments.  Sudden endings.  New beginnings.  Insight.  Intuition.  Knowing.

Buckle up, baby.  It's all happening.

xo,
AGP

PS... congratulations to my dear Protege'.  It came to be!  Witnessing your journey tested me to live my faith in action.  I am so proud of you.  Bliss! 

Work-In-Progress

Me and my boy: both of us a work-in-progress.

Dear Mom,

Without you I am an empty tissue box.

With you, I am a strong tree.

Without you, I am a TV with no sound.

With you, I am safe.

My life is full of joy with you at my side.

Sincerely,

Andrea Perrone Jr.

My mother's day poem.
I especially treasure the eraser marks and misspellings.
And I adore that he used his full name.
*sigh*
Only a mother could understand that!

TRUE STORY:

Me: Oh, Peanut!  What a beautiful, touching poem!  Thank you!  From the bottom of my heart, thank you.  You are so talented, and so expressive! (wiping away a tear)

Him: I wrote it for you.

Me: Yes, I see that.  It's signed "Sincerely, Andrea Perrone Jr." (and I begin to chuckle)

Him: Do you like it?

Me: Yes!  I love it!

Him: Then why are you laughing?

Me: Um, well, honey... it is a beautiful and touching gift from your heart, and I will treasure it forever.  I just think it's kinda funny that you used the word: Sincerely. 

Him: But why?  Is that wrong?

Me: No, it's just that "sincerely" is usually only used in business correspondence.  Not heart-felt notes or letters.  I'm laughing because it's precious!

Him:  Yeah.  And I'm laughing now because you don't realize that being my mother is your job!!!

Ha!  I love this kid with all my heart!

On a more meaningful note, if I were to write back, my poem might look something like this:

Dear Peanut,

I am a better mother to you 

for remembering this one small truth 

every single day of your life: 

God is just loaning you to me.

Love always,

Mommy

Happy Mother's Day to all of the women being celebrated for the greatest and hardest job in the world!  Sincerely!

xo,

AGP

Lost & Found

iphone 4 + AGP = ?

It's been a rough week.

I recently lost the second Great Love of my life.  Or was it the third?  Fourth?  Hmmm... Can it be that I'm losing count of my losses?  Or am I losing count of my Great Loves?

My iphone and I had a whirlwind courtship.  After years of admiring this sleek little technical toy from afar and dreaming of one day calling it my own, the day finally arrived when Sprint pissed me off enough to divorce them after 12 years.  Verizon, my desired carrier was now offering service for this phone, I had a little spare change left over from a recent job... things just connected. BAM.  Within a few hours of pulling the trigger, I carried home this long desired, prized possession.  It was finally mine.

For 16 days I had the priviledge of marveling over this brilliant gadget.  I truly was enamored with the power and precision of this ultimate utility.  Having grown up in the 70s and 80s, and still recalling the rotary phones of days gone by... with their ultra long, tangled cords and having to step into the kitchen pantry to get any sort of youthful privacy as I chatted with my friends over nonsense... simply having a hand-held mobile phone was a brilliant miracle and it profoundly changed my life.  But this... oh this.  An iphone. There is quite simply nothing to compare it to.

Within a few days, that iphone became my everything.  It was there greeting me with a wake-up call in the morning, came with me everywhere on my adventures throughout the day, kept me in constant contact with friends, family and clients... held my photos, music and calendar... not to mention the hours of meaningless pleasure simply spent gazing upon it.  I admit, was hooked and touched it almost compulsively.  Suffice to say, it was too hot to last.  Some things are just not meant to be.

Lost... stolen... dropped... swiped... misplaced... accidentally thrown away?  I don't know.  I just don't know.  But when I realized it was over, gone, vanished, my loss was profound.

Anger.  Shock.  Denial.  Bargaining.  Hope.  Despair.  Elizabeth Kubler Ross and her seven stages of grief were coming in quite handy here.

I won't bore you with the details of what transpired, but I will quickly share what I learned.  And I promise you... it won't be a waste of time.  Please read this with an open mind.  Remember, I said, it's been a week of great loss and gain... and near misses.

Thank you, Great Spirit, for allowing me to hold onto my greatest
gift.  Thank you to the driver who stopped on time.  Thank you for
the mother who cried out and stopped the car.  Thank you to all
of the angels who were there in my absence.  And thank you, dear
Andrea, for staying for another day and letting me be your mother.

1.) Technology is a gift.  It is a privilege, not a right.  It won't always be there, so never, ever take it for granted.  And if you have to live without it for awhile, so what.  SO WHAT?!  The world will not end. You will not die.  Nothing will happen that can't be fixed or solved with minimal effort on your part.  People matter.  The people you love matter the most.

2.) Breathe.

3.) Always have a back up plan.  Always.  In my case, an old phone (battery charged full and removed to insure it didn't corrode, along with a charger) stored in a ziploc bag in my desk drawer enabled me to rescue 3/4 of my contacts.  I also have a land-line which enabled me to make and receive calls.  A back up plan in life allows you to remain grounded while experiencing change.  Change that is planned or unplanned.

4.) Notify your nearest and dearest, and let the rest go.  Enjoy the silence.  Think.  Be bored.  It's OK to sit and a red light in your car and just... stare at the red light.  Relax.  You are not missing anything important.  You are not that important?  The world will still continue if you miss that text.  Be unavailable... and take the extra time to focus on your life and what is meaningful in it.

5.) If something is meant to be, it will happen with or without your approval.  God is never going to send you a memo, you won't be invited to the board meeting, your vote will not count and there is a chance you will not have very much say in it at all.  Does it matter?  Yes.  Nothing is ever truly within your control.  The minute you know that and accept that, is the minute it all comes together.  Live in the flow.  It's all there is.

6.) You are all you have.  You are not your job.  You are not your address.  You are not that image in the mirror.  You are a spiritual being having a human experience.  You have a profound responsibility to surround yourself with like-minded beings if you wish to enhance this experience... and if you falter, you risk lowering your experience.  See who and what you are.  Own it.  Attitude really is everything.  It's OK to compromise.  But never settle.  Ultimately... you deserve what you get.

7.) When faced with loss... know that something better is coming.  The universe cleans house before it sends a gift.

Closure... that is a haunting word.

Guess what?  There is no closure.

When you experience a state of "non-closure" it means you are ALIVE.  Always remember that.  And that... with it's duplicitous blessing... can one day maybe "be" your "closure."

Loss, like many other things in life, deserves a cocktail and a toast: "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."  (George Santanyana).

Stay awake.

xo,
AGP