Artist by Nature, Books by Design

Rumi

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” – Rumi

By Rachel on April 19, 2017

You know when you have important, difficult, unavoidable tasks to do, suddenly doing the laundry feels urgent – inspiring even? Yeah. I’m quitting that habit. Big life time goal for 2017.

Instead, this week, when I had important, difficult, unavoidable tasks to do, I decided making notebooks was what was missing from my life. And what better reason than… uuuuu… oh! My second cousin’s 6th birthday!

To be fair to myself (another life goal, being fair to myself dammit) I wasn’t procrastinating so much as adding more to my agenda for the week. I did in fact get my important, very effing difficult, unavoidable work done and then felt giddy making this lil bookie poo while half watching a movie. It was blissful really.

I recently set an intention to give my hands more meaningful work to do. Not that food, driving, computer, laundry, cleaning, shopping, laundry, driving and personal hygiene aren’t meaningful work. Nothing is more meaningful than a good tooth brushing. But maybe more – fun work.

Part of what made this project fun is that I didn’t do all of it at the same time or at the last minute. I did it a little at a time over several days. I let myself enjoy the process of making decisions, considering size and shape options, digging for other fun bits, admiring it on my floor and allowing it to take shape.

Keeping my hands busy kept old mental habits at bay which was refreshing. Holding the resulting gift was gratifying. And, I finished it on time – mini goal accomplished! Little gust of wind in my sails!

Maybe I’ll make a couple more. No hurry though.

I bought this sweet stationary at my favorite (now defunct) whatsit store in New York, Pearl River. So many years of finding treasures there!

One side is printed with a partial floral design, the other side, the rest of the design. When you hold it to the light it makes a complete color image.

Oh the joy of half watching Harry Potter while you poke holes through dense, fiber matter and then stitch it together.

Super simple 3- hold stitch binding. The cover is a craft card stock of some sort from the depths of my supply closet. Cut 3 covers per one 8.5 x 11″ sheet.

Added a couple slices of sticker sheets from the scrap drawer and added my name on back. Book final size is about 3″x3″

Thanks Busy Hands! You’re awesome!

Rumi

Let the beauty we love be what we do. – Rumi

By Rachel on March 21, 2017

While sorting and sifting, tossing, tearing, and leveling the pile ever slowly, this little scrap caught my eye. It attached itself to my hand so I turned it over, reading and re-reading the poem I hand copied at least a decade ago.

The little scrap that made its way back into the sun.

Ah yes! Rumi! He has always resonated with me as a dancer. ‘Don’t sit still and read’ he urges. Wake up! Play music! Get your body moving!

Rumi tells me what so many are saying to my recent discovery. Don’t just wait for your mind to direct you – use your body to direct your mind.

I can’t imagine Rumi had so rigorous a regimen as Tony Robbins’ priming ritual, but I get the sense that the transformative power of commanding our physical selves in order to direct our intellectual and emotional selves is the same wether we plunge our bodies into freezing water or do a sun salutation. Or our 100s. Or some serious head banging. Whatever turns us on, just so long as we do it everyday, in the morning, before that feeling of emptiness leads us to meaningless screen time.

Walking my dogs into the woods, out through a grassy field, down to our little pond and up a dirt road has been my morning action lately. It gives me time to observe nature’s morning actions, mostly the Texas spring flower explosions happening right now, but I also listen to birds sing their first songs of the day while fresh air expands both my lungs and my mind’s capacity to receive.

And I say, don’t just do it once a day. Do it again and again. In the middle of the day, when it’s time to move from your chair/computer/book/machine, skip the screen and instead find something that lifts your spirit. A sprint up the stairs. I walk around the building. A 3 minute meditation outside with the sun on your face.

My go-to computer break is the few minutes it takes to dance to Earth, Wind, and Fire’s September or The Kungs This Girl – an equally motivating groove. My body moves without hesitation or instruction and my brain gets a jolt of dopamine.

As I begin this adventure into the wild world of making beauty in books – I will move and groove and kiss the ground with gratitude for my time on Earth.

How about you? Why are you still here? Go shake a tail feather!

Today, like every other day,
we wake up empty and frightened.

Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

~ Rumi

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