Uphill idealist

Breathe. Trust. Play. Rest. Create. Love. Be. These are the words that I need. These are the words that I will hold close. These are the words that are a prayer -  when I forget to breathe, when I don't remember to trust, when I need to play, when rest is far from me, when I don't feel like being creative, when love is what I long to feel and when "being" needs to be enough. Be. Love. Create. Rest. Play. Trust. Breathe. Thank you Jesus...  for these seven simple and profound words. No matter the order - these seven words bring light and life. Amen.

Today was full of familiar songs, joyful clowns (literally), parish fellowship and an afternoon of witnessing the hands-on caring of people at a funeral home visitation for a church family. It's hard on these kinds of days to be apart from loved ones. I see families assembled. I hear their stories and laughter. I feel the closeness of this space and long for my family, their stories and hearing their laughter. But just yesterday I heard their laughter in my ears. It was just a moment ago. Time in its wonder has a way of tucking pockets of love in tesseract folds. In a moment I'll unfold a moment and we'll all be together. In that moment I'll tuck away tears and hold fast to the music of the laughter that is ringing - in real time- in my happy ears.

When words don't cut it and emotions run deep. When life is shifting in all the places feet sweep. When hearts are full and beats loudly bleat. This is the place that verklempt and I meet. For family. For friends. For foes who once were friends and those no longer foe... when verklempt comes to visit - you pray for the shortest stay, this about verklempt... I know. T. Eastman

Bold, beautiful and busy can be a source of pride, but it can also be a sign of  impatience. Seeking the next best, or always hungry for the next flavor sometimes make savoring what's present a challenge. Taking time to sip water and soak up sun is something that a flower can teach. Impatiens grow easily in the right place. Good soil, moderate sun, moist soil, and regular watering are what they need. Perhaps the balance and moderation of the impatiens life are what makes their colors so bright. Home, light, water = life. I the impatient need to learn from the life lived by the Impatiens. Impatiens are not impatient but somehow... they are bold, beautiful, and proud. Photo and poem Copyright 2015 Tara L.Eastman

In the waiting there are tears and confusion, but there are compassionately held tissue boxes, hot cups of coffee and long embraces. In the waiting there is worry over the unknown but then there is space to consider what else might be possible. In the waiting there are long nights of talking through brambles and burdens, but there are dawns of hope that take us by surprise and show up at the door. In the waiting there is waiting, and waiting and waiting, but there are caring prayers, calls, texts, and conversations unnumbered that full the seconds, minutes and days. In the waiting are moments we never want to live. But once we live them, we learn who we really are. In the waiting we are not alone. In the waiting we are loved. In the waiting we are called to live. In the waiting we know whatever happens, it was worth the wait. Art "Hearing" and poem by T.L. Eastman  Copyright 2015 

Winding, wandering and waiting to be - to become what it is meant to be. Always reaching, stretching, and grasping for the next corner or turn. How lucky would this bamboo be  if it knew where it already was the luckiest of places. Rest. Be. Drink in the water and air of where you are,  for where you are always has it's own kind of luck and loveliness. You are already lucky, bamboo you. T.L. Eastman (Image and poem) copyright 2015

A woman's prerogative /mixed media by T.L. Eastman  For  Mel - Unexpected ties We try to walk the path alone. The ties that bind us don't always seem to be a blessing. These connections make us vulnerable to all kinds of impact. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in ties that we can't budge. But true ties that bind are not ones that make us captive, but hold us secure. True bonds give a space for new life to be the ground we walk upon. We should not walk the path alone . These ties are life lines - our rescue inhalers - and cool cups of water that make it possible to live. Life-giving ties support and release us to travel to the scary growing edges, and take us to the places we are not sure we can get to. We can’t walk the path alone. Our tapestry of ties is not tidy or exact. There are snags here and knots there. But this tapestry is a blanket that unexpectedly gives warmth to the chill of the autumn night, and just-right coolnes...

It's a work in progress, but I wanted to share a glimpse of what I've been working on for the last several months. The mural is located at First Lutheran Church in Jamestown NY and has been a community effort of the True Sisterhood Jamestown group . It is a rendition of the seasons of a year represented by a tree and landscape scene that changes within the piece.  It's to help depict the Sunday School theme of, "Growing and known in Christ.  Thank you for all your help team TS. We are 90% done! By Easter week this project will be complete! Stay tuned art friends...

A few months ago, I asked friends for pictures of hope for a mini "Ted" version talk on the importance of Art and Faith. Today I put together a few pieces to be submitted for Women Create's upcoming show for 2014. It is a juried show, so I have no guarantee that these pieces will be selected, however I'm happy to have the opportunity to show these pieces for consideration as well a hopeful that for someone they will shine some light, whimsy and joy into their day. Raven's Dawn A Woman's Vision Mother and Child