Feelings.

[culturenlifestyle]

Embroidered Landscapes and Plants Overflow Through the Frames by Ana Teresa Barboza

Peruvian artist Ana Teresa Barboza has mastered the art of embroidery and crocheting through the meticulous manual work in the composition of unconventional representation of landscape sceneries.

Beautifully emulating the texture of nature, Barboza’s sculptures burst through the frame into abstract forms. What seems to begin as a conventional piece of embroidery art ends in an explosion of color, movement, and at times gravity-defying suspensions of messy threads.

Emotive and passionate, Baboza links the mechanics and psyche of the human body, particularly, of the fingertips and our need to be connected to nature.

She composes a wide range of landscapes, which depict the violent and unpredictable movement of the water, the uncontrollable growth of life seen in greenery, and the rocky terrain of the mountains. She seamlessly navigates through different color strands, while reconstructing the image of nature we have embedded into our mind. She demands us to view nature and its architecture from a different perspective. Baboza’s work blurs the line between contemporary sculpture and tapestry-making. 

[lizpelly]

Most of us are raised to believe we will either find love in our first family (our family of origin), or, if not there, in the second family we are expected to form through committed romantic couplings, particularly those that lead to marriage and/or lifetime bondings. Many of us learn as children that friendship should never be seen as just as important as family ties. However, friendship is the place in which a great majority of us have our first glimpse of redemptive love and caring community. Learning to love in friendships empowers us in ways that enable us to bring this love to other interactions with family or with romantic bonds.

bell hooks, all about love (via lizpelly)

[onceuponawin]

From Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey

“This ship isn’t a crew.  We don’t run it like a crew.  We run it like a family.”

“Right,” she said.  “And that’s a problem.”

They looked at each other across the room.  Jim’s jaw worked, objections and arguments getting stalled at his tongue.  He knew she was right, and he wanted her to be wrong.  She saw him realize there was no way out.

“Fine,” he said.  “When the others get back, let’s talk about doing some interviews.  Taking a couple people on for a mission or two.  If they shake down right, we can look at keeping them on permanently.”

“That sounds good,” Naomi said.

“Its going to change the balance on the ship,” Holden said.

“Everything changes,” she said, putting her arms around him.

[onceuponawin]

[onceuponawin]

NK Jemisin: the fantasy writer upending the 'racist and sexist status quo'

Jemisin’s celebrated fantasy novels are about multicultural, complex worlds that stand out in a field that has been traditionally dominated by white men

“As a black woman,” Jemisin tells me, “I have no particular interest in maintaining the status quo. Why would I? The status quo is harmful, the status quo is significantly racist and sexist and a whole bunch of other things that I think need to change. With epic fantasy there is a tendency for it to be quintessentially conservative, in that its job is to restore what is perceived to be out of whack.”

[onceuponawin]

Sometimes I wish I channeled this level of steely composure.

[onceuponawin]

Asking for help when you need it.

[onceuponawin]

Sometimes I get anxious and upset about my future.   I usually end up spiraling into hilariously catastrophic thoughts.  

And then I remind myself that I just assumed I would never live this long when I was growing up.  It makes sense that I might have a hard time being forward thinking.

Coming back to this narrative helps me be gentle when I’m feeling my harshest.

[savedbythe-bellhooks]

Source: Killing Rage: Ending Racism by bell hooks

[onceuponawin]

*hangs jacket on wall*

[onceuponawin]

9 Erotica Books That Should Be More Famous Than "Fifty Shades Of Grey"

Reading the above list reminded me of some of the wonderful/intense books out there:

The Story of O, old school BDSM with a complex publishing history.  Very intense. (Only read parts of it.  Some was too intense for me.)

Mr. Benson, super gay in all the right ways.

The Leather Daddy and The Femme, Carol Queen.  Enough said.

[onceuponawin]

I take refuge in the mystery that is my healing process. I enjoy not knowing how this will all unfold. I am tickled by my desires to all of a sudden tackle issues that usually scare me silly. Like my fear of being supported by others. Like my fear of being dependent on others. Like my fears of merging my assets with another. Like my fear of being indebted to another. I counter these fears by allowing myself the pleasure of receiving the help that is being offered. I counter these fears by remembering that I can’t do this alone so it’s silly if I try. I counter these fears by letting myself be taken care of. It takes chutzpah to find the fortitude necessary to heal these old wounds. Sometimes it takes a little bravado before I can find my way to brave. Sometimes it takes cultivating the trust of a toddler to counter the cynicism of the more mature citizen. Sometimes my inner bold, brilliant, beautiful, beloved brat deserves a little (a lot of) admiration. It’s good to remember how I have survived so many storms, weathered so many wounds and that I have, in fact, made it this far. My best thinking got me here. My best thinking got me here and here is the place where I continue to heal my mind. It’s the battlefield of many a war lost. I hereby make the commitment to be happy and in so doing I divorce myself from the need to be right and to do it all alone.

http://www.chaninicholas.com/category/horoscopes/

[onceuponawin]

[onceuponawin]

This is what thin privilege looks like. It looks like one person forcing an argument from an objective distance about a moral issue and another person arguing while embedded within a present-tense moment of abuse about their very right to exist in their own body. You can’t tie someone to a chair and hold a knife to their chest and then expect them to form a reasonable argument about why you shouldn’t plunge it in.

http://www.xojane.com/issues/fat-shaming-train-bully

[onceuponawin]

Mary Lambert - Secrets

I recently started this fairly intense personal work around a long-standing problem in my life. Yes, I’m being vague because…well, I’m just not ready to write it down….hence “intense personal work”. I watched this video several times a day for about a week at the beginning of this work. And felt many different feelings.

This also repeats my usual approach to music which, quite frankly, often means not really caring about music but occasionally finding something I like and playing it to death.

Fortunately, I’m still in love with this song.

[onceuponawin]

Mentor of Feathers

My friend is housesitting for his uncle.  His uncle lives with two cats in a one-bedroom house with a in-house recording studio.  I don't know enough to tell if this uncle's set up is legit or not.  But I do see egg crates.

Three of us are hanging out in the back room, taking turns pulling tarot cards from The Collective Tarot.  I've read the descriptions of my friend's cards and its now my turn.  I pull the Mentor of Feather and realize that I've never pulled this card before.  One of my friends offers to read the card since I've been reading theirs.  I decline since (for reasons that are currently under scrutiny) I struggle to remember things that are read to me.  

I'm going to copy the description of the card from the booklet that comes with the deck.  Because reading this card brought me to tears.  It was a little overwhelming.  And surprising.  I found myself weeping in front of two of my dearest friends.  I wept in connection with the truth this card speaks.  I cried feeling relief and celebration for the difficult passages of my life.  Sharing my intense reaction with my friends meant that I felt comfortable not apologizing.  I didn't have to explain myself.  They sat with me and just shared in the moment.  They took time later to (after asking) give me a strong hug.  And they supported me when I doubted my own reaction.

---

From The Collective Tarot:

The Mentor of Feathers tells a story at a campfire.  Her friends listen closely, the dice game temporarily adjourned, sipping whiskey and rolling cigarettes. 

The Mentor of Feathers is the part of us that teaches others by frankly sharing our experiences.  She is not too proud to tell of her shortcomings.  In fact, she understands that there is just as much for others to learn from her many blunders than from her triumphs, and for the greater good she sucks it up and tells the unglorified truth of her exploits.  A story for the sake of a story is not beyond her.  What a magical conversion, the process by which we transform horrible misfortune or horrifying trauma into an allegory or humorous story.  The ironic distances we achieve over time, or just by settling into our own power, helps us heal from the rough parts and learn new tools to carry to our future endeavors.  This card is about owning your knowledge, taking authorship, and being the wise bird you are.

[onceuponawin]

As a child, I had a really difficult time with board games. I wasn’t super great at them, my brothers were, and…I was an awful loser. Flip-over game level dramatics.

I’ve worked hard to relax and enjoy games more but I have friends who’ve seen something eerily similar to this.

I can keep it together but it isn’t always very graceful.