Autumn

Autumn. it is one of my favorite times of year. hence why I got married in Fall. I also had my son in the fall. Autumn is a strange beautiful part of the year. everything is dying. the leaves change colour and fall off the trees. the cooler temperatures mark the end of summer. we begin anticipating the long cold winter. it doesn't feel like time for celebrating.
  Yet there is a cool freshness to the air. there is no heaviness in the air. the sun seems strong yet not overpowering. the plants are dying yet there is a new beauty to them. with less outdoor activity there is more time to quilt. draw. socialize inside with friends.

   Autumn is about change. how many of us welcome change? Change is what inspires us. change challenges us. without change life would be the same. we would continue in the same way we have done in the past. we remain comfortable. life is easy. we assume what will happen next.
  We need change. change is stressful. but change is necessary for growth. with change we are forced to make new decisions, we step out of our comfortable areas. change enables us to respond in new ways. change makes us learn new aspects of ourselves. there have been many changes for me in the last year. I did not welcome them. my son has gone through many changes, because of mental health- and the family with him. Yet without this challenge, he would not have found more about who he wants to be - in life, with friends, as a career. He has learned to stand up for himself, and to recognize his own weaknesses and strengths. But so too the family - we have learned to listen more to each other, to recognize that talking and conversing and arguing is okay- letting it out is the more important role right now.
   I have begun to teach and share Zentangles. I have learned that I love sharing with others. I have acknowledged that art can be a powerful tool and healer. I have learned that I have a power that I did not know I had. And I must embrace it and not abuse it.
  Change will continue to happen. It is how we respond that makes a difference to us and those around us. How will you respond? in the meantime, zentangle a response!

Classes

Contact me to find the right class for you. I can also create a class to fit your needs.
deb@kopeschny.ca

Freedom

Freedom - what does that mean to you? As I was driving to work the other day - to my desk job, as they say, i was listening to one of my favorite singers; Janis Joplin (did you know she died at 27?). Her song "me and bobby mcgee" was on. The words resonated with me,

"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,

Nothing, that's all that Bobby left me, yeah,

But feeling good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues,

Hey, feeling good was good enough for me, hmm hmm,

Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee"

Freedom  - all attachments gone - just happiness. I think of jealousy, our feelings and beliefs of inadequacy, illness and pain, and realise that much of this is just ourselves wanting more, believing we need to have - in order to be happy. Jesus said to the rich young man, "after following the ten commandments, you must sell all your things and give them to the poor, and then you will have everlasting life".

Happiness and freedom is not necessarily the ability to do what we want, to have what we want, to make our own decisions - Freedom is the ability to say "I am complete with God, as I am now."

Zentangles are freedom too, while working within the process, you can create without any fear of rules. There are no expectations to the result - it is all good.

may you live in freedom, deb