The Joy Diet - Menu Item One

The Joy Diet
Martha Beck

Do NOTHING for 15 minutes a day...

I have always had trouble doing nothing. One of my Mother’s mantras was idle hands… idle minds. I also have so many interests that I like trying to do everything. I have to thank Cancer for teaching/forcing me to do nothing. Believe me I was forced to do nothing for a lot longer than 15 minutes. There were days that I was so tired that I could not do anything. I have to say my mind was probably the quietest during that time also (except at night). Chemo has a way of sapping everything out of you and you need every ounce of energy to get better.
I truly try to remember my lessons learned from the time I was ill… but I have to be honest it is easy to get caught up in the doing again. Part of it is that I feel well and I want to fit in as much as I can because I am healthy. But then I have to remember how important rest is… for both your body and your mind.

I did try and do nothing consistently this week… A few years ago I started saying a daily rosary… for me this is a good way to stop everything. I do find my mind wandering sometimes but I just go with it and try to focus on the prayers.

I also sat outside and just gazed into my backyard view…



But then the birds would tease me or the lizards… so I got up and got my camera and watched these guys do nothing for a bit…

Sometimes it is really hard to do NOTHING for 15 minutes a day...
So here is my vision/reminder card for this week:

It is not my favorite, I felt rushed, but I did lose about 1 1/2 hours this week doing nothing!!!

Life is Like a Box of....

Fortune Cookies…

This was my entry for the 2010 Cloth, Paper, Scissors Calendar… I have always loved eating fortune cookies and reading and saving the fortunes that I thought pertained to me… or the ones I hoped would pertain to me! I have on occasion played the lucky numbers in the lottery, but never won!

I was thrilled to be one of the 13 winners for the first annual calendar. I was as giddy as a school girl when my copies arrived. I have finally figured out how to put a buy now button on my blog… so if you are in need of a calendar for the soon approaching new year just click on the button to the left…

If the button is not working or if you have questions please feel free to email me at mb@drawntocolor.com

another mother with cancer...

I posted this at motherswithcancer on Saturday... I decided to repost it here today.

Cancer makes me sad...

I found the blog world through an artist that I read about in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine in September of 2007… kellyraeroberts. Once introduced to this new world I began stumbling on many few and interesting people. Many artists but also through those artists doing “good will work” like Jen Lemen I was introduced to The Comfy Place, Toddler Planet and eventually all of us on Mothers with Cancer.

I have my list of favorite blogs that I check regularly and one of those is the editor of the Stampington Company magazines, Jenny Doh. Being in the art publishing business Jenny knows so many interesting people from all over the world. I was first “e”introduced to one amazing local artist through Jenny’s blog, her name is Janice Lowry. She has journalled for over 30 years and her journals have been inducted into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Archives of America in Washington, DC.… so cool, click here to watch a video of her work.

The reason for this entire back story is this… unfortunately both worlds have collided again. While checking Jenny’s blog I read another post about Janice but she has now been diagnosed with Liver cancer and has entered Hospice. She is also a mother with cancer, she has 3 grown sons. Please take a minute and visit her blog and her website… and send some thoughts her way.

*** I just visited Janice’s blog and she passed away Sunday… the 20th. Her husband wrote a very nice post and there is a part of it that I found very moving…

“It seems that the brightest stars can’t burn with such intensity for overly long periods of time and we have to enjoy and savor each moment with them as they pass through our orbits.”

The Next Chapter... The Joy Diet

The Joy Diet
Martha Beck

I have participated in the Next Chapter Series with Jamie Ridler Studios since January. The first series was 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women and over the summer was Wreck this Journal. When this third series was announced,The Joy Diet, we had plenty of time to acquire the book. I figured that I had plenty of time to get the book after school started. I had it written on my to do list. I even went into Barnes and Noble, but they did not have it in stock. So I had it on my list to order it instead. Well low and behold today came and I do not have my copy yet!

I watched Jamie’s welcome video and since this is the intro week (thankfully – I think she is getting to know some of us and our habits) we are just supposed to introduce ourselves and think about 2 things. Her first suggestion was to notice joy in our lives. The second was to create vision cards, Jamie likes to make little vision cards and suggested we make cards for ourselves each week. One of my goals today was to paint so I thought “well no time like the present to incorporate everything!”

I do not know much about the book that we will be reading and I guess therefore do not have any expectations. I do try to notice Joy everyday and I can thank cancer for that one.

So here is my vision card for the first week of this series:

Love IKEA

Now that school is back in session I have started to really use my studio for more than paying bills and blogging. I started painting and solidifying my ideas for the studio. When I paint I like to have all of my acrylics organized by color. Now that I have more than a 48” desk space in the living room and plenty of wall space I decided I wanted a shelf to hold all of my paints. This week I laid them all out and realized I needed more space than I thought. I wanted a shelf... or two that was just wide enough to hold the paint tubes. I was going to have a contractor build some for me and then I decided to take a stroll through IKEA.

Bingo… just what I needed, exactly the right length to go over the IKEA piece I am using now… but also the exact dimensions I will need when I put my vertical and plan files on that wall. (I found the perfect plan files on Craig’s list for $250.00 but they were sold by the time I called).

The shelves are called Ribba… they come in 3 lengths and both black or white. “L” hung them for me today.


I organized my paints. The top shelf is for my work in progress.



I am toying with the idea of another shelf... but for now

I LOVE IT…

The First Day of School...

Last night, I was getting D's new backpack and lunchbox labeled and setting his new supplies and everything else on the counter so we did not forget anything in the morning rush. I remembered to put my camera on the counter also ...to take my traditional first day of school photo. Suddenly a wave of guilt passed over me. N started a new school this year... they combine high school and college classes so she started August 12th. I forgot to take her first day of school photo.

She graciously put up with her Mother asking her to take her first day (and almost one month) photo.

So here is a little visual recap...

N's first day of Kindergarten... September 8, 1998 in Williamsville, NY

N's first "after" school day... she fell asleep before dinner and during dinner....

D's first day of Kindergarten... September 5, 2005 in California

Showing off the Spiderman backpack...

First day for both in 2005...

Today... 4th grade...

11th Grade...

Time flies...