Karen Westwood

Karen Westwood

  • Menu
  • Account
  • about karen
  • blog
  • Contact
Contact Us
  • karen@karenwestwood.ca
  • Member Login

0

  • My Account
  • Login / Register

Monthly Archives: May 2016

  • Home
  • 2016
  • May

We are a creative studio focused on web design. Inspiration is the one
word we love and we put it into our work everyday.

We found 87 post(s) available for you

#families #inspiration#healing#inspiration#joy#joy #inspiration#lifestyle#parenting#travel#wellnesscommunityfamiliesgratitudememoirsmusingspeacespiritualityUncategorized
  • July 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • March 2018
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • May 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • November 2012
let's all be curious….
#inspiration, #parenting, #wellness, community, families, gratitude, memoirs, musings, peace, spirituality, Uncategorized
217 Views

May 7, 2016

#Big Magic, #creativitity, #curiosity, #Elizabeth Gilbert, #origami, #parenting, #peace at home project, #play, #Rubic's Cube, #sloths, #Spring

In our house we like to make things.
It can be a bit frustrating, because scattered all about are bits of paper, pens, half-finished projects, supplies for half-finished projects, balls of yarn and knitting needles, books about making things, little models, lego guys and pieces, more scraps of paper, pieces of paper folded up into accordions (that would be Dan, and these are everywhere), journals, more and more books, and……did I say pens.
It is a love-hate relationship I have with all of this stuff that I shove behind closed doors when people come over,
because on one hand I adore that we can all become lost in our own worlds of what to create and do next, but on the other hand I crave order and I yearn to  pair down and simplify.
However.
 
In the end, I know that  ‘making stuff’ wins because it brings us joy and feeds our souls.
And getting lost in a idea or  project can often feel invigorating and peaceful all at once.
 
For many years now, there has been quite a lot of talk about ‘passion’ and finding yours. There is some truth to this pursuit, of course, because who doesn’t want to find, explore and live out their passion for the rest of their days.
But for some, that idea might feel a little unreachable, vague, and confusing.
 
In her new book, ‘Big Magic’, Elizabeth Gilbert talks about this, and I love what she says,
Curiosity is the truth and the way of creative living. Curiosity is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. Furthermore curiosity is accessible to everyone. Passion can seem intimidatingly out of reach at times – a distant tower of flame, accessible only to geniuses and to those who are specially touched by God. But curiosity is a milder, quieter, more welcoming, and more democratic entity. The stakes of curiosity are also far lower than the stakes of passion.

So… may lego guys, multitudes of colored pens and bits of yarn and paper be welcomed in this house.
 
 
A month or two ago, George and I were walking home from school and he said to me,
‘Mom,  I was kind of tired and cranky this morning and didn’t feel like going to school but I’m really glad I went. Had I not gone today, I would not have discovered my passion for sloths. I am even going to work at a sloth sanctuary when I grow up.’
He then proceeded to spend the entire rest of the afternoon and evening researching and sharing with us facts about sloths,
as well as intricately and repeatedly folding, until he had created an origami sloth.
IMG_5759
Now, to be honest, the whole sloth obsession seemed to run its course fairly quickly. George hasn’t mentioned this sloth sanctuary  dream job since that day, and so I feel fairly confident in my statement that I doubt his life will take him in this particular direction of sloth-saving.
 
But. What a perfectly beautiful dream to have for a day. A dream that completely seized him and carried him away into gentle imaginings of future days spent in peaceful and lush green sanctuaries,
                                                                                          then gently dissipated.
 
The very dreaming of it, though,
expanded his reality and sense of possibility.
 
This same kid recently recovered from a two and a half week rather stressful-for-all-of-us bout of painful cornea issues, due to some particularly severe allergies that just exploded due to an early and particularly robust spring. His eyes were unimaginably irritated and sore, and it actually reached the point where I needed to keep him home to stop him from rubbing his eyes to prevent further damage,  and administer eye drops every hour.
 
He missed a lot of school but during  his time at home he
taught himself how to make stop motion videos and launched his own you-tube channel,
built a homemade loom to increase the efficiency of his latest knitting project,
and memorized how to solve the rubic’s cube as well as a 5 by 5 cube.
 
I watched all of this with awe, all the time thinking that it was just beautiful,
all of this creativity that was drawn out by these big stretches of time alone.
From one thing on to the next, without feeling any regret at moving on or having done enough,
just gently following a pull in a new direction.
 
This is pure play and  joyful curiosity.
 

FullSizeRender[13]

oh, those lilacs….

Feasting on one’s own life.
 
just because.
 
I wrote this post before the tragic events this week up north. Sending big love and strength to all those affected and facing such tremendous loss and adversity. Events such as this truly require us all to come together as one.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Read more

Blogs by Year

  • 2019 (3)
  • 2018 (8)
  • 2017 (5)
  • 2016 (15)
  • 2015 (18)
  • 2014 (32)
  • 2012 (6)

Popular Tags

#acceptance (3) #anxiety (5) #autumn (3) #birthdays (5) #celebrations (4) #Christmas (5) #community (4) #dyslexia (4) #fall (9) #families (14) #family (7) #friendship (6) #gratitude (10) #grief (16) #Halloween (3) #heart condition (5) #intentions (3) #joy (6) #kidart (4) #loss (4) #love (5) #marriage (3) #mentors (3) #mindfulness (7) #mothering (3) #nature (7) #neighbours (4) #parenting (32) #peace (22) #Peaceathomeproject (19) #peace at home project (38) #PeaceCards (6) #play (8) #rituals (3) #Scotland (4) #self-love (4) #spirituality (8) #Spring (10) #step-parenting (4) #summer (7) #Waterton (9) #Waterton Lakes National Park (7) #wellness (19) #winter (10) #writing (8)
Karen Westwood

newsletter sign-up

 
* indicates required
Copyright 2019 Karen Westwood
Made by Inspire Marketing and Media