Tuesday, March 10, 2009

My new website is up, almost...


News! I have a newly designed website at my old address, http://wandacollinsjohnson.com/ It is almost finished! Soon, I will have a blog function on my home page and so I will be blogging there, about once a week. Topics will include my thoughts and experiences with art, writing, and yoga. I will continue to post more personal photos here on this blog. Please check out my website for the vastly expanded art portfolio. I hope you will become a regular visitor. Thanks!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

November news




Happy thanksgiving to all! And I am thankful for so many things, among which is publication of my haiku poem on Things Japanese in Tennessee, an online educational course commissioned by the Japan-America Society of Tennessee. It can be viewed at http://www.jastn.com/things
You'll have to click around a bit to find my haiku sequence but you'll learn lots of cool stuff about things Japanese in Tennessee along the way.

Also, I am about to become a reviewer for newly published picture books and Young Adult novels at the fabulous online resource, Young Adult Books Central. The link for the YABC Site: http://www.yabookscentral.com/ Kimberly Pauley, the YA book goddess, put up my bio and photo on her website even before she shipped my first shipment of books to review. There is also a blog, and I plan to link the YABC blog to this blog soon, once I actually get started with doing reviews.

In other news, in case you wonder what I've been doing other than painting, I am working on a new and improved website. It will have the same name, www.wandacollinsjohnson.com. I will let you know when it's up and ready.

Drive (or fly) safely this weekend and enjoy your turkey or tofurkey!

Peace and happiness,
Wanda

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

becoming nonverbal again (in case you wonder what i'm up to)

It is strange how words can get switched off and thoughts can become purely visual, but that's why I love to paint. Hours go by like minutes. It makes me wonder why I even try to write, or talk to anyone, or email, or post blogs... putting thoughts into words is cumbersome in comparison to painting. Tis a mystery, to be sure, or else I (we) must have an extraordinary need to be understood. The desire for connection. Human beings are wonderful creatures. Words are amazing. But I doubt that they're the first (or best?) way to communicate with one another. Okay, back to painting now. Enough words for today.

Friday, October 10, 2008

All You Need is Love































All you need is love. Five words that say so much. My Friday Five list this week is all photos, all about love and a beautiful young couple and a wedding and a birthday party, and picturing just a few of the shiny happy people in my life who make me glad, glad, glad. It was a great couple of weeks! We all had a blast. And now it is time for me to get back to my writing, painting, and my yoga practice. I have a whole lot of wedding cake and birthday cake to work off!









Friday, September 26, 2008

What we need is at hand


As I write, well drillers are drilling a new well for our home. (See photo--sorry, but an apple tree blocks the view of the drilling rig). For the second summer in a row, our water supply has dwindled to the point where we have to maintain extreme vigilance. For example, to take a shower, it's five seconds of getting wet, turn off the water as you soap up, and then use about a minute's worth of water to get all the soap off. Even then, there is total anxiety during the shower time because you never know if the water will suddenly cut off and leave you covered in shampoo.
We are not alone in our difficulty. All of our neighbors are having the same problem. And I recall last summer, when the entire city of Atlanta came dangerously close to running out of water. Water is truly a precious resource. When your well is running dry, you can't help but notice the effects. The same is true if your spiritual well is running dry. You notice.
I just had a lovely moment that helped replenish my spirit. The well driller guy, Randy, just rang my doorbell and asked to use the phone. Then we chatted for a moment about the old dogs lounging on the back porch. He was quite taken with Dakota, who is about 95 pounds of elderly and arthritic dog. He'd noticed her hip problem and was being very kind to her. In return, she actually stopped barking at him (very rare for her! She's one helluva watchdog!). And then he told me the sweetest story. He said that his little daughter asked him, "Daddy, can we get us a dog?" And he told her to wait a little bit and one would come to them. "And sure enough, about two weeks later, one got dropped on our road--a beagle. She named her 'Roxie' and that's the sweetest little dog."
I believe in abundance. I believe in things coming to you, as needed, just like that beagle came to the well driller's home. And I am keeping my fingers crossed now, as they continue to drill for water!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Friday Five (miscellaneous stuff I've finally learned)





Ta-dah! Here are pictures of Nolan and his two-year-old buddy enjoying a favorite toddler game. And, ta-dah for me also, here I am back again after nearly a month off. (Once I finished the latest revision of my work-in-progress, it was hard to plant my rear end in front of my computer). In the spirit of Friday Five bloggers everywhere, today I am listing 5 things I am finally catching on to.


1. I only got beyond dial-up Internet a year ago, and so perhaps you can excuse me for being so slow to know such things, but I have discovered that you can see our house (in disturbingly fine detail) on the Internet. Yikes. And so now, when I am sitting out on the front deck at night watching the satellites fly over our house, I wave howdy to the little critters. One day, I fully expect to see a space photo of me waving at the sky.

2. While I'm on the google topic, did you know that you can do Google alerts? I now keep up with people, book titles, and random items and have the links sent to my email. And if a friend's name pops up on the web, I instantly know about it!

3. It is possible to stay at home and not leave the property, not talk to anyone, not email anyone, and not miss it one bit. I have reached a new level in my Hermit phase this month. It feels like an achievement, actually. When I was 18, I went to the woods with the idea of discovering how it felt to be a hermit... but, unfortunately, my loneliness was pretty intense. Now, do I have a new level of inner peace? Am I finally becoming the eccentric weirdo that I always hoped to be? Or is this only a passing phase? We will see.

4. For years, I have been fascinated by archetypes, Caroline Myss's ideas in her book called Sacred Contracts, and Carl Jung's writings, but lately, I've discovered an interest in Tarot (which teaches you all about archetypes!). I am open-minded but certain "woo woo" esoterica seemed to be irrelevant to my real life. Wrong. Tarot cards are a way to access your own powers of intuition. Besides, it's fun to do it. I also like the I Ching but that tool is much harder for me to comprehend. I like the characters in my Tarot deck much better.

5. My favorite recently discovered quote is from Carl Jung: "Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."

And, as Poe said, "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream..." This is my wish for you and for myself also, always--may you look into your heart of hearts and awaken, my friend.

Namaste.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Friday Five



all about feet...

1. When you do yoga, you quickly learn that your feet are your foundation for any standing pose. You should separate your toes to achieve the most balanced and actively engaged foundation possible. That’s why I like these Chaco sandals. They help me to train my big toes not lean towards the other toes. The sales guy said that he’d hiked the Appalachian Trail in his…I don’t think I’ll be doing that…but they sure are good for my daily walks!

2. And that brings us to the next picture—my funny tan—which I achieved from wearing the Chaco sandals on the daily walks.

3. More foot info for ya—NPR’s Morning Edition did a great feature recently (June 19) about heel pain, plantar fasciitis, a common problem faced by many of us. I read the article AND watched the accompanying online video and am happy to report that my own heel pain is pretty much cured. Here is the link, just in case you ever feel a twinge in your heel. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91661083 (The twinge will be most noticeable when you place your bare feet on the floor upon awakening). Basically, you have to stretch the Achilles tendon and your calf muscles before you get out of bed in the morning. Continue your stretches several times throughout the day, and your feet will thank you.

4. Shoes or no shoes? Which is best for you? There are many conflicting reports about this, just as there are many ideas about the proper heel height. I have always stayed away from high heels. Pretty, yes, but ouch!

5. This is for your babies and little kids. You’re probably familiar with it. Starting with the big toe, grip it gently and say: “This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy ate roast beef, this little piggy had none, and THIS little piggy went wee-wee-wee all the way home!” Giggles are guaranteed.

Make sure that you send loving energy to your feet, every day. May you bless each hard-working little piggy, pinkie, and tootsie on your sweet feet.

Namaste.