Just finished several pieces in my new line of jewelry called “The Ceremony of Tea.” Completed just in time for the journey to Arrowmont School in Gatlinburg, TN, to fabricate a teapot from metal in a workshop titled “Delightful, Diminutive Teapots.”
Handmade Sterling and Moonstone Tea Ceremony Necklace by Nancy LeeHandmade Sterling and Moonstone Tea Ceremony Necklace, alt view, by Nancy LeeSterling Silver Tea Leaves Earrings, handmade by Nancy Lee
The whole teapot fabrication thing has been on my mind for weeks! Driven to distraction while preparing for the trip, I decided to create this line as a way to commemorate the impending journey. The instructor is John Cogswell, a fabulous teacher from whom I have received instruction twice before, as a student. This time around, I am happy to be participating as Instructor’s Assistant – and also a little nervous. Will I have time to actually fabricate the teapot I am envisioning? Or will all of my time be spent looking for scribes and hammers and sandpaper? Or maybe I’ll have plenty of bench time, yet my pokey, meandering ways will allow the sands of time to drain from my Cinderella hourglass, and and I’ll go home with a spoutless teapot belly with no soul.
All will be revealed to me in due time. Departing tomorrow morning for Arrowmont, as the next adventure in my story unfolds.
In the meantime, enjoy these photos of my newest work! These can also be found in my online shop – click HERE for more info.
A few days ago, a highly productive friend made a post on Facebook that went something like this: “I’ve only made 20 pieces of jewelry today, done three loads of laundry, written a newsletter and a blog post. I’m feeling low energy. PLEASE someone kick me in the butt and help motivate me!†Perhaps I exaggerate. At any rate, this woman is a successful and accomplished artist asking for punishment. She received many helpful “kicksâ€. But my response to her was to do nothing for twenty minutes, a.k.a. meditation. Ooh, that felt so good and helpful! Sooo helpful!
Meditation Practice – Good Times
Fast-forward through a few days of self-congratulating while at the same time skipping my own twenty-minute practice, until yesterday. Monday. Time to get back into the meditation mode and start the week right! Fresh from my practice, wrapped in a calm bubble of bliss, the world is pregnant with possibility. My immediate choice is to keep a grasp on the wisp of wonderment, and just write about it. Then my “real world†day could begin.
So write I did. Came up with a great blog post about only bliss. About to hit “publish†when my dear sweetheart, Wug, came up the stairs. He forgot about an appointment. We had to go NOW. Blog post ditched, “publish†button not pushed. And it never would be.
The errand running was jump-started with an unhelpful trip to my bank. Then quickly back home again to retrieve forgotten phone. A few harsh words later, that bliss bubble was broken. I was in a real-world Monday and not dealing. Not dealing at all. Let’s just say that, in moments of couple-dom, the following 60 or so of them would best be writ out of the record altogether.
Don’t Let this Be You
Google provides 16,700,000 answers when asked for the definition of meditation. The goal of most of these is to slowly empty the mind, bringing forth peace, and go within – getting to the core of you. It can be a challenge as jittery thoughts fill one’s mind. It can be a challenge afterwards, when real life takes over. But truly, it is worth it. And the more regular the practice, the better. Even then, I’m still human, and my fire-breathing Gemini side still shows up on a perfectly irregular and ill-timed basis. Imagine the comfort I took in the following:
We meditate for various reasons. Peace of mind we all badly need. Therefore, when we meditate, either consciously or unconsciously we aim at peace of mind. Meditation give us peace of mind without a tranquilliser. And unlike a tranquilliser, the peace of mind that we get from meditation does not fade away. It lasts for good in some corner of the inmost recesses of our aspiring heart – Sri Chinmoy
Somewhere in the corner of my heart, I knew my storm would pass. So did Wug. I believe one of the most important things we can do for ourselves is to just be who we are for a few minutes. Just be you. Find beauty in that. Within you is all you need, even if its is taking cover in a remote place. It’s there, and it’s worth looking for.
What do you do to un-do and just be? I’m eager to know.
