{things I've discovered since turning forty}

I really, really like Hip Hop

It makes me feel young and groovy

BigCat on the other hand does not

Some issues resurface time and time again

No matter how old you get

Or how far past them you think you are

Sometimes I feel like a snake
Shedding my skin every few years
I wonder if it's a good or bad thing, or just is

Time does not heal all wounds

But you get better at living with them

They become a part of your story

It doesn't take a lot for me to lose my way

It takes a lot more effort to find it again

But I always do

Life is tough

But it's also beautiful

The trick is to take the beautiful moments and weave them together

Into a extraordinary life

{the resting place}

So quiet and peaceful

I could sit here all day

Enjoying the sunlight

Watching the cats explore

Thinking

Dreaming

Letting go

Finding my way

{truth}

work in progress

"It's strange that it comes so easily.  

If I don't overthink it it's quite simple and yet beautiful.  

If I don't overthink it.  

There's a deep truth nestled in that thought."

                                            {from my journal this morning}

{what's on top, or perhaps truly, what's underneath}

• A conversation with someone today who mentioned the idea of a season of darkness before transformation can begin.  Yes, I thought, that's exactly what's going on/been going on.
• Things that are no longer serving me and what I'm going to do about them.
• Radical self care. What does it look like for me? What it would take to put it in place?
• Painting.  Always.
• Illness. 
• Unplugging.  What from?  When?  For how long?
• Growth.  The pain of it.  Emotional and physical.
• Writing.  My best writing is done during the late afternoon.  It's when I like to blog.
• Work.  What it takes to be truly committed.  The opportunity that is there for me, if I choose to take it.
• Crossroads.

{cake on a stick, and other good things}

Cake Pops by Melbourne Epicure 

I was speaking to one of my colleagues towards the end of the night and he said "nothing at all wrong with cake on a stick" and boy is he right.  They were the culinary highlight of the evening.  Thanks Cathie.

Wearing Betty Jo and Kearnsey

Cam bought me the Kearnsey last year.  I thought it was perfect for opening night.

Me dressed in Finki.  Living a dream.

It was a completely fabulous night.  It had all the ingredients of a very successful opening ~ lots of people {family, friends, arty & crafty peeps, work peeps}, really good food, excellent red wine {kindly donated by my brother-in-law}, plenty of bubbly to go round, some extra interest with pop-up craft stalls from CurlyPops and Betty Jo and of course the art. Oh, and quite a few red dots {almost half the show is sold now, which is very, very exciting}.

I couldn't really tell you much at all about the evening as a whole.  There were so many people there and I felt like I spent the whole evening having half conversations with lots of them.  I managed to enjoy a few glasses of bubbly, nibbled on some finger food and definitely enjoyed one of the divine cake pops.  

I went home elated and exhausted and have been pretty much wiped out ever since.  

Now it's time to rest.

I'll see you soonish.

{how dreams come true}

I've had some wonderful reminders recently of how dreaming big can pay off, and how sometimes we don't have to do a single thing to make it happen.

I'd been thinking a little while back that I'd really like to have some photos of myself taken professionally.  As my 40th came closer I was thinking that I'd really like to do that for my 40th.  Then with everything else happening around my birthday I completely put it out of my mind.  A week before my birthday I was invited by work to be photographed for the annual report this year, and to participate in a professional photo shoot to capture the images.  The day after my birthday the photo above was taken!

One of the big dreams on the Mondo Beyondo list I wrote a couple of years ago was to have designers want me to wear their clothes.  Last week, completely out of the blue, Finki asked me if she could sponsor my outfit for opening night of my exhibition.  I found it so hard to say yes to this amazing act of kindness, to let myself receive this gift.  If it hadn't been so perfectly aligned with one of my secret dreams I probably wouldn't have accepted it.  But I couldn't deny the synchronicity of it, particularly after the photo thing happened the way it did.

Then, just yesterday I was approached with a tentative offer {very tentative at this stage} of having the rights to some of my work purchased. This was on the list of dreams for this year, and again was something that I just haven't had the time to follow up or think about.

It's really got me thinking in the best possible kind of way.  You know how sometimes you think that in order to make dreams come true, first you have to be willing to dream big, and then you have to work your butt off to find ways to make it happen?  Maybe that's not how you roll, but I've certainly been raised in the school of dream within your limits and work damn hard to make those small dreams real.

These experiences were so completely different to that.  There was no planning, no lists, no consciousness whatsoever.  They were simply dreams put out there into to the world, that manifested of their own accord.  It has been such a strong reminder about letting go, and trusting, and all those things that I so passionately believe in.  And about being really open and able to see when magic is happening.

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Gosh, I feel so rusty in this space at the moment.  I'm missing my blog terribly and hoping that things will settle down now, and that I'll be able to be truly present in this space again.  Be present is a big thing for me.  I don't like to do things by halves.

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Speaking of being present, this evening I will be very much present at the opening night of Acts of Love.  I am so excited.  Everything is prepared and now it's time to crack open the bottles of bubbly and enjoy the achievement of my second solo exhibition.  Hopefully I'll see you there.  If not, hopefully I'll see you back here soon.

Acts of Love 

Paintings by Cath Kirwan

Opening Night

Thursday June 16th 2011

7pm

Chair 14

167 Darebin Rd, Thornbury

ALL WELCOME

{daily routines - part deux}

Continue drinking my coffee

savouring every drop

Hang out in my studio

Write in my journal

Stare out the window

Talk to BigCat

Enjoy the moment

Watch the comings and goings in the street

Think to myself how incredibly lucky we are 

to have been gifted with this beautiful new home

 Thanks Universe

{daily routines}

Turn alarm off and lie in bed waking up

Hop out of bed

Let cats out of the laundry

Put the coffee machine on

Feed the cats

Make coffee

Stand in the back yard with my coffee 

and stare up through this amazing tree

Think to myself how incredibly lucky we are 

to have been gifted with this beautiful new home

 Thanks Universe

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2 weeks till the opening of my new exhibition

Acts of Love 

Paintings by Cath Kirwan

Opening Night

Thursday June 16th 2011

7pm

Chair 14

167 Darebin Rd, Thornbury

ALL WELCOME