This year's lessons

                                This year has just been full of new lessons for me, I feel like I've gone back to college, but am actually paying attention this time. It's been like a really easy AP course on life, what an adventure. I wanted to share a few of the ideas I am playing with at the moment.

                                 First, there is this idea of spreading your energy. I got this idea from the great book, Notes From the Universe. The book talks about how your thoughts and actions affect every single being on this planet. Mind you, this phenomenon apparently happens even when you are not even attempting to consciously affect others. Imagine then what would happen if we actually consciously generated every thought, every action, every feeling with this idea that it's energy is going to be spread and expanded to the whole earth, heck, the whole universe. Oh yes, the book also urges you to not try to be logical about it. I too was trying to think in logical terms and about the impossibility of such a theory. But just Friday, I was invited to a 4th grade class party and the first mom I introduced myself to told me right off she could not eat the muffins at the party for she was juicing!!! Of all the parents there, me, the juicer ends up talking to another juicer, thoughts do materialize. Absolutely, our thoughts drive our world, every single solid 'thing' we see or experience or touch very much started as a formless thought in someone's head. So now, every time I have a wonderful, loving feeling or thought I imagine it as pure energy and visualize it growing and spreading out to there as a gift to whomever, whatever.... whether anyone knows it or not.

                                   Second, I am feeling beyond blessed this season. I made the most difficult choice in years of changing my job situation this past spring and after spending all summer agonizing, crying, staying up all night internally debating if I had, in fact, made a good decision, I look back now and think, 'how could I have even debated!!?' I could not have possibly asked for a better job situation; it's truly a gift from the Universe. In addition, I am also feeling blessed for all my past struggles, for my misfortunes, for the tears, the pain, the tragedies. I have various friends who are right now going through struggles and hope my words will bring some comfort. In my life, every single struggle has later revealed itself to be a wonderful, shining new beginning. You have no idea how amazing this will turn out girlfriend, and all you have to do is be yourself in the most honest, genuine way you could muster.

                                   The awesome power of inspiration as a driver of life is the next big idea I'm toying with. As an art teacher I always teach my little artists that inspiration can come from everywhere, and anywhere....that all artists, even use each others work and ides as inspiration to push forth their own work. What I always forget to mention, in addition to this, is that in regular LIFE people inspire each other all the time as well. Every single change I have ever made in my life has begun from a tiny seed planted via thought and spurred on by personal inspiration. My blind belief in the sheer power of inspiration is so strong that I also feel that negative inspiration, as positive, can be easily spread through this method just as easily. The ideas and thoughts we put in our minds turn to reality soon after, so choose carefully.


                                   So those are just a few things brewing in my world right now as the Holiday approaches. There are a few others I will post later, but this is all I can write in one sitting. This time of year I am busy generating ideas and lists for my New Years resolutions, which I take very seriously every year. Resolutions are great vehicles for setting new habits in motion in our lives and in order to be successful at my goals I need to choose them carefully.  In the meantime, wishing you all some wonderful, loving thoughts.

Nature as inspiration for some future work

While visiting my hubby's family in Pennsylvania I walked around their neighborhood and took pictures of plants up close. I am interested in exploring various types of lines, patterns and shapes found in nature and using them in making abstract work. Here are some of those photos. Will share my work as I get started in the next few days.

New Digital Collage!!

You can purchase this print (full resolution) and without the watermark for $15 on my etsy site. 

40% Michael's Coupon

I am obsessed about my 40% Michael's Coupon. Since you can only do it once a day for one item, I will often drive there at least once daily to get gifts for people or for supplies. Sometimes if I am in a rush for a few gifts I will visit 2 Michael's in my area. Click here to get the latest printout of the coupon. 

Forgiveness.....

This paitning is for sale at my old etsy store.

I am all the things I feared I'd become..... yet I am okay. 

When I was a teen all the way up to my 20s,  I feared gaining weight, I feared not being liked,  I feared being alone. My stress over these things torqued me tight and did not allow me to act normal. I tried tirelessly, yet uselessly to control all aspects of my life to avoid even a tinge of suffering. 

Yet, like a finally-aware child getting his vaccines at age 4 and gladly realizing that all that accumulated fear of needles had been unfounded.....that ultimately it was juts a pinch!!! ...I too noticed, these fears were just a pinch.....

At 35 I have been to the other side of these fears and see that they are not to be feared at all. I have perfect vision, strong legs, healthy hair.  I am a fiercely loving and  thoughtful mom and a faithful and caring wife.  I have amazing friends that love me and my mind sits peaceful even while the world around me runs around frantically. 

Wow, what an amazing blessing clarity is once you have it. 

The best thing about clarity and peace within is the gift you give those around you. Once a person feels they are not being judged or scrutinized mentally they ease into your space. It happens in that hidden wordless communication level, but it is as real as any form of communication. 

Earth Day Resolutions

I have just finished watching Oprah and her Earth Day special and am deciding on the following manageable changes in my life:

* No more plastic bags while shopping.....

* Never buy bottled water.....EVER, EVER

* Get a water filter and a water bottle

* "Shop the periphery at the supermarket and stay out of the middle" (the stuff that does not rot). Food should be alive and eventually die. This tip if from Michael Pollan author of Omnivore's Dilemma. 

* NO fast food. 

* Donate all stuff I do not need to Lupus Foundation. (They come once a month to pick up stuff). 

* Sell/Donate kids' old toys. 

* Grow beans

* Make my lunch a waste-free lunch (use reusable bags, tupperware, etc) 

* Walk with strollers to do errands if 1 mile or less

* Do more recycled magazine art.  See my work at MiriamsArt.Etsy.com

Soup Diet....AN UPDATE

Okay, so it's been a week since I started my conviction to make and have 3 servings of soup a day.  I've had a hard time trying to make each recipe very different than the last so as to not get boring. But I have a few very positive changes I've noticed. 

1. I have so much energy. I am naturally very energetic, but man am I flying lately.

2. I am not needing coffee. I usually go through a caffeine "need" at around 2pm every day.  I have not even thought about it. 

3. When sleeping, my arm had been falling asleep for over a year, even during times when I would not be laying on it. I have not had that happen AT ALL this whole week. I have slept like a baby all week. It could be that because the soups are so filling that it allowed me to cut down or stop eating bloating foods such as pasta and bread. 

4. My face looks less bloated. You would not notice...but I can tell. 

5. I am less hungry for sweets or other bad foods. I just feel a normal sense of satisfaction....

so, where from here....?

I will continue to make my soups daily, freeze them for later and think about how we are what we eat....I do not want to be junk.....I deserve better. 

Today I made a soup with split peas, potatoes, yam and cauliflower and then blended the whole thing. It was absolutely delicious.....I froze 1-person servings and drank one serving for lunch. Now what can I do next?  Any ideas?

Dear President Obama..I cast my vote for UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE, Single Payer and Not For Profit

Image found at  www.cartoonstock.com 

Dear President Obama, 

     I am one of the 46 million uninsured Americans in this country. I am a school art teacher, an artist and a mother of two toddlers who simply cannot afford the exorbitant monthly health insurance rates. Please have the courage to consider a true a long look at a single player, not for profit Universal Health Care.I strongly feel that doctors, nurses, and medical professionals must run our health care system -- not "for-profit" insurance companies, who make money and get rich by denying us all health care. What do they know about health anyway?  Health care is a right all Americans deserve.  

If we ever wish to restore our super power status we cannot be the only modern country to allows 18,000 of its citizens to die each year simply due to lack of insurance. That is an unforgivable loss for a leading nation. 

I look forward to supporting your efforts and wish you and your wonderful family the best 8 years. 

   Miriam Cutelis

 ************

I urge you to send President Obama your ideas as well. be counted! 

Go to 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

It's That Easy!

Source information below taken from http://www2.kucinich.us/issues/universalhealth.php

The following Universal Health Plan was submitted by Kucinich in 2006.  

Michael Moore who made the movie Sicko, supported HR 676 (the plan)  

The plan covers all health care needs, including dental care, mental health care, vision care, prescription drugs, and long-term care - at NO extra cost!

Kucinich's plan, HR 676, is supported by 78 Members of Congress , more than 260 Union Locals , and 14,000 physicians and is endorsed by the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

Nearly 46 million Americans have no health care and over 40 million more have only minimal coverage. In 2005 some 41% of moderate and middle income Americans went without health care for part of the year. Even more shocking is that 53% of those earning less than $20,000 went without insurance for all of 2005. In fact, the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 Americans die each year because they have no health insurance.

The American health system is quite sick. Pulitzer Prize journalists Donald Barlett and James Steele, in their stunning analysis of the health care industry, Critical Condition (2006 Broadway Books), insist that "... U.S. health care is second-rate at the start of the twenty-first century and destined to get a lot worse and much more expensive." Consider the following facts from Tom Daschle's article for the Center for American Progress: "Paying More but Getting Less: Myths and the Global Case for U.S. Health Reform":

Fact of Fiction?

Americans are The Healthiest People in the World.
FACT: Citizens of 34 nations live longer than Americans.

The U.S. is the Best Place to Get Sick.
FACT: The World Health Organization ranked the U.S. 37th in the world for health system performance. Countries like Australia and the United Kingdom rank above the U.S. Americans have lower odds of surviving colorectal cancer and childhood leukemia than Canadians who do have national health care. Americans also experience greater problems in coordination of care than the previously mentioned countries and New Zealand.

Covering All Americans Will Lead to Rationing.
FACT: Same-day access to primary-care physicians in the U.S. (33%) is far less available than in the United Kingdom (41%), Australia (54%) and New Zealand (60%). Per capita spending for health care averaged $2,696 in countries without waiting lists and $5,267 in the U.S.
Global Competitiveness is Hampered in Comprehensive System.
FACT: "Health care costs are not just a burden and barrier to care for individuals; they are taking a heavy toll on American businesses." The strain on employers in 2005 was staggering. "The average total premiums for an employer-based family plan was $9,979 in 2005 ..." Most of our competitors in the world markets finance their systems outside corporate taxes and employer mandates. Without Medicare for Everyone, the U.S. will continue to hemorrhage jobs.

We Cannot Afford to Cover All Americans.
FACT: We already spend enough to have universal health care. "The truth is, we cannot afford to not reform the health system." We spend about 50% more than the next most expensive nation and nearly twice per person what the Canadians do. On May 1, 2006 Paul Krugman explained in Death by Insurance how incredibly wasteful the current system is. The doctor he referenced has two full-time staff members for billing, and two secretaries spend half their time collecting insurance information on the 301 different private plans they deal with. This type of waste is easily 20%. Also consider that 98% of Medicare funds are spent on medical care.

*****

IMPORTANT: The hackneyed -- and inaccurate -- mantra of Republicans when universal health care is introduced is to blame trial lawyers and malpractice cases for our lack of national health care. In fact, 0.46% of our total health spending is spent on awards, legal costs, and underwriting costs -- about the same as Canada and the United Kingdom and about the same amount we spend on dog and cat food each year. While "defensive medicine" may drive up the price, it hardly accounts for our stunning health care costs. The belief that citizens should give up their right to fair legal redress for legally proven medical mistakes in exchange for lower health care costs rings as true as the promise that if we must give up our civil rights to be safe from terrorists.

Even those with coverage too often pay exorbitant rates. The current profit-driven system, dominated by private insurance firms and their bureaucracies, has failed.

We must establish streamlined national health insurance, "Enhanced Medicare for Everyone." It would be publicly financed health care, privately delivered, and will put patients and doctors back in control of the system. Coverage will be more complete than private insurance plans; encourage prevention; and include prescription drugs, dental care, mental health care, and alternative and complementary medicine.

"Mainstream" writers like Ph. D. economist and columnist for the New York Times Paul Krugman now agree with those doctors and Dennis that "covering everyone under Medicare would actually be significantly cheaper than our current system." They all recognize that we already spend enough to provide national health care to all but lack the political courage to make the tough decision that doctors, nurses, and medical professionals must run our health care system -- not "for-profit" insurance companies, who make money by denying health care.

 Health care is a right that all Americans deserve.

Is a Religion Ever Right To Outlaw Love?

Anyone who knows me personally or through this blog knows I am an avid supported of the Palestinian cause. I try to read other blogs and independent news reels about this issue because I so very much feel they've have had to endure so much suffering and continue to do so today. In my readings I ran across a blog called Diary of a Muslim Girl and in her most recent post she mentioned how there is a gay rights group in her university with one Muslim member. She ends with sharing that for "a Muslim to actually go and join the group and promote homosexuality while doing so is something that seems a bit iffy" for "homosexuality is condemned in Islam." 

While I greatly appreciate her candor and openness for discussion, I was appalled to read the comments that followed which went along the lines of didn't he know it's not okay or some comment on how watered down the religion has become. The author herself further clarified by saying, "I am completely against homosexuality as well and I am disgusted by it." 

Let's look at this a bit clearer. I always find it interesting that the people that have the most intensely negative feelings about gays (or any group for that matter) have never even associated with anyone from that group personally. I say this because to come out and say, "disgusted" is a bit strong. If I were to say, " I am disgusted at ________ (fill in your group here) " that would seem strange too. Wouldn't it?

I can only shed light on my personal views on the purpose of religion and/or spirituality in my life. But I strongly believe that if it's outcome is hatred, separation and a general "warrior" approach to the true nature of humanity...Then I'd dare say it's being used to separate, and therefore not served right. I understand that in the great spectrum of all the wonderful religions of the world there are some that may be more prescriptive in nature than others....do this, not this, no to that, boys here, girls here...etc. But no matter how prescriptive our religion may be, shouldn't our instinctual ideas and inner voices of what is truly important, right and solid also play even a small role in determining right from wrong? or are we to just be on automatic for the rest of our lives. If so, then why give us free will, why give us reasoning?  

In my heart,  love can never be bad; no matter what color, or gender, size....love is love is love is love. 

Now if you want to fight evil and stand for some good, there are some truly dark evils out there for you to tackle...and gays are not one of them at all. For example, I saw this show on Oprah months ago about child molesters who rape children as young as 3-years old and write manuals for other molesters to do the same and publish them online. Every time I think back to what I saw and heard on that show I tremble in my deepest core to think people like that exist. I also saw a show called I Survived where a woman lived to tell of her repeated savage stabbing and beating by three teenagers. People filled with hate and rage are out there and should our focus not be on them? or on how to not raise sociopaths such as these in our society? These are the true haters, for lack of another better word.  On a more powerful yet subtle level, poverty too is an evil.  When people are desperate and without the bare basics, a lot of suffering can come out of it. 

 My question is......in religion/spirituality, can our own interpretation or deeply instinctual ideas come to play?  I think spirituality should ultimately serves my own inner personal  search for god. I also think this argument may go any direction for it all depends on whether you feel the sacred is out there to attain or already within us. I feel it's within us......god is in me and everyone, and as long as love is there to shine the light, it can't be bad. 

MY list of Healthy Weight Loss Habits..

As an attempt to get my eating in order I used some online sources to make my own list of some weight loss habits I will try to follow for at least a week. Would love to know about any weight loss tips you find helpful.1. Cleaning up your home in order to increase your physical activity level. 

2. Use the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. 

3. If you are going to school (I'm a teacher),  go for a walk in between classes. Try to walk for at least 10-15 minutes. Taking these short walks on a daily basis adds up.
4. Park your car farther away from your destination. 
5. Workout for 30 Minutes Twice a Week

6. Do workout DVD with Nora (she loves yoga-ish poses)

7. Walk my dog more often. 

8. Do pushups during commercials

9. Listen to my favorite music. Adjusting your eating habits is important for losing weight. Let’s face it, all those extra pounds are the result of foods that were consumed at one point or another. Starving yourself certainly doesn’t work and isn’t practical, instead here are some tips to help you eat smart and lose weight.
10. Read the Nutrition Facts food labels. Eat within the serving given. 
11. Eat 5-6 smaller meals per day instead of the traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner.  12. Decrease your consumptions of bread, rice, fried foods with breading, cereal and pasta.  
13. Drink lots of water. 

14. ELIMINATE fast food restaurant visits. 

15.  Track your weight loss progress daily. 

16. Take Before Photos.  

17. Take a nap or a shower when feeling strong cravings. 

18. Book your next beach vacation. 

Jogging Again!

I am very excited to announce that I have started jogging again. I have always loved exercise and the way it made me feel afterwards. When I was younger I would run 6 miles almost every day. In college I also jogged, although not as obsessively as in my teens. Yet, come motherhood and after two c-sections something changed in the way I saw myself. The reasons behind such changes are too tangled and deeply rooted in my subconscious to bother going into in great detail, yet I generally felt a disconnect with my body, particularly my lower stomach muscles where the cuts were made and no matter what I felt weak.  Feeling strong and able is one of those feelings you naturally get when you exercise regularly, and I did not feel that anymore. It's not a feeling you can just turn on or off apparently. I just could not think of myself as strong. I felt fundamentally weaker to the core.

Interestingly, these days I feel the beter living in my body than I ever had than I did in high school where I weighed 120 lbs. (which would be a dream come true now). In high school, I felt just  miserable about my weight. I went to a high school in NYC where fashion and super-skinny was the fad. If I could only go back and actually enjoy my body then I would do it just to see what it would feel like to be there and feel fine. As a 35 year-old I do not intend on feeling bad about my body now no matter what I weigh. The me inside will shine through regardless. 

I am reminded of a woman who once posed nude for a drawing class I took in college. She disrobed and revealed a beautiful overweight figure and did it with pride. This blew me away. I then knew instantly that what one felt about themselves had nothing to do with weight....but what was going on between your ears; your thoughts. Since then whenever I revert to my self-deprecating thoughts,  I'd invoke her image and imagined myself as her, proud and just loving my curves!

Having a daughter I will make sure she knows she is whole and perfect in her body. I will also work on my personal body issues so that she does not ever have to grow thinking she's lacking anything as I did in my body. 

Gotta go jogging.....

At a Printmaking Workshop ALL DAY

           For work I have to attend these wonderful professional development trainings.  I went to one today about printmaking. Very fun! 

           This is scratfoam (you all might know it as that meat tray material or styrofoam).  you scratch on it with pen or pencil to make marks and drawings, then you roll ink on it with a breyer and print the image onto paper.  See results below!

I learned to make thin and thick lines to show texture on my print. 

This is a tattoo idea I am working on for the middle of my back.  

        

Pictures of Circles from my new GIANT FISKARS CIRCLE SQUEEZE PUNCH

When working with these circles there is a huge element of chance at work. You might just find one that looks just so beautiful.  Like finding a visual gem. 
In a stack they feel like playing cards. In this pile are minute little samples of our civilization. 

I will make hundreds of these before I start.  I have a 4 feetx3 feet canvas I would love to start on very soon.