Yikes!!! Where has the time gone?

I have been off work since the 15th of November. Being off work and without a set routine makes all the days blend together and before I realize it, the weeks and months have become a blur. So, again, here I am behind in posting my blogs. So I have to once again apologize.
I am trying to get things done around my new home after the move, but it's a slow process because of the chronic pain I am in. Soon I will be done with the unpacking and setting up things around the house. My priority at this point is to get my studio finished and get back into a full production routine. With the extra space I find myself with a more organized space and will be able to set up according to my work flow. This is a good thing because I had a small cramped room for a studio before.

Forms

I am still so far behind in my forms that I can not seem to see the light any more or feel the calm they use to bring me. I've always enjoyed forms because of the calm state of mind they brought to me when doing them. When I knew a form and did it well I got a feeling of peace. The peace is gone now because I'm struggling with all the forms I use to know, trying to remember the next move, the flow of the movements and connection with the energy. I think that all I need is a 2-4 good days with each form with someone who I can work with to get them back. But retaining them is the part that has me lost. 

Apology

I have to apologize for letting everyone down by not keeping up with my journaling, especially to the I Ho Chuan team and Sifu Brinker. I could run on with tons of reasons why I dropped the ball, such as I forgot or I didn’t have the time. But the real reason, is fear! Fear of saying the wrong thing that someone may take the wrong way or getting facts wrong, the list of fears is a long one.

I have stated before that I am a very private person and therefore my biggest fear is revealing things about myself that I don’t want anyone to know. I also find it difficult to put pen to paper and write down my thoughts. So with that said, I again apologize for missing weeks. I will try and keep up with my commitment to a weekly entry. 

A New Studio

A new studio with more space means more art made . . . right? I am still in the process of getting my studio up and running so I can get into a production mode. It’s been a bit since I was able to sit down and produce the amount of work I feel I should be producing. I have a ton of ideas but with the chronic pain and the increase in my pain meds I feel like I’m walking around in a fog and can’t think straight or get motivated to do anything. But with that aside I see light at the end of my journey of pain. I am hoping that a resolve to this chapter of my life is near. It will mean time off to recuperate but the drawing, painting and working on photo illustrations, I’ll be able to do. The pottery . . . maybe not so much until I’m off the crutches. Unless I can find someone to help me out. Either way I am looking forward to producing more work and feel positive for once.

A new bigger studio means that I will now have the space to do and store more work and have space for a gallery to show my art. No more will I have the cramped quarters with everything on wheels so I can move them around and out of the way every time I want to mix up some clay or glazes or sit down at the wheel and produce ware. No more finding room for ready to fire wear so it doesn’t get broken. I’ll be going from a 130 square foot space to a 2000+ square foot studio. It’s my hope that this coming weekend or the next weekend will see my new digs up and running with everything in place. I still have to find an electrician to hook up my kilns so if anyone can recommend someone let me know. I look forward to having more light, more space and better access, warmer in the winter, to my kilns.

So onward and upward . . . let the production begin.

Struggles

The struggle with my forms continue. I seem to get to a certain point and then it all gets messed up. I know the moves it’s just getting them in the right sequence and make sure I don’t get moves from one form mixed in with another. My pain level has increased which doesn’t help with doing proper stances or techniques. The pain meds make my brain mush and I can’t retain anything. This is most frustrating since forms were my favorite part of kung fu and perfecting them has always been a priority. What really frustrates me is how the pain is now dictating what I can do and how I do it. Every step I take is a painful reminder of how a disease can affect ones well being. I’ve exhausted all avenues and now it looks like I’m slated for more surgery to fuse bones together. Hopefully it will give me complete or at least some relief from the pain. There goes another wasted year.

Techy Stuff

I’m not a big fan of technology. Sure, I have a computer, iphone, music thingy and I work on a computer all day, but I’d rather be working manually with my hands. There is no greater feeling than crafting something by hand from a wet lump of clay, piece of wood or metal or a combination and turning it into a piece of art others can enjoy looking at or touching. I think that the younger generations are and will be missing out. Everyone seems to be plugged into some device of some sort and missing out on the simple pleasures of life and nature. Even on construction sites I've seen where someone is texting. I believe that most people are hooked on techy stuff, so much so that they wouldn’t know what to do if their devices were taken away, lost or just stopped working. Notice how “vice” makes up the main body of the word device! Yes I believe they would even go into shock or withdrawal just like a junkie.

Technology, at one time was supposed to free up our time and make life easier. Instead it has made life complicated and hectic. Everything has to be done faster and faster and we are expected to produce more and more. We have to fill up every little bit of time doing something like faxing, texting, calling . . . where does it end? Everywhere you look someone is sitting in a restaurant or fast food joint, walking or what really gets me, driving while talking or texting on a cell phone. People have lost the ART of conversation, slowing down, smelling the flowers or just sitting and listening to the birds, waves or other symphonies of nature like a breeze blowing through the trees. Where does it end. Give me the old days when life was simple and easy.

But that is just my view on technology which I could really rant on and on but I won’t. How about for one day we don't use our cell phone to text or talk, don't use the computer or the music thingy. Let's just sit in a park on a nice sunny day and watch and listen to nature for once. 

The joy of food!

I watched a documentary on CBCs Doc Zone, Eat, Cook, Love, September 20th. It made valid points about the way we now consume food and the way it was in the past, obesity and the loss of tradition. One point made, was that we really don’t take the time to cook any more. I mean really cook. Not the frozen, out of the freezer meal or out of a package or can or done in the microwave food. No, I mean real cooking, from scratch food. Real quality food the way it was before the fast food frenzy started. Not many people really take the time to cook from scratch anymore. Lets face it, who has time? Picking out the ingredients at the market, chopping, preparing and loving what you are doing. Simmering soups or stews so the flavors meld together into an enormous burst of flavor when it hits your taste buds. Cooking with love and passion. Nor do we sit down together, enjoy a meal and conversation any more. Now it’s easier to hit the fast food restaurants where we grab, eat and run. Fast food, can you really call it food? Even some restaurant food, some of which is questionable, where if you take any longer than a hour you start getting the evil eye of the servers. It’s all about turn around. Eat fast and get out. There are a few restaurants that do serve quality food but they are very few and far between.

Me, I love to cook! Really simple basic food or more complex meals. Doesn’t matter. Make it from scratch with fresh ingredients, taking the time to let it all fuse their flavors together and fill the air with an aroma that makes your mouth water. Then sit down and enjoy the flavors of the meal, not wolf it down. Whether alone or with a friend or more and to really taste and savor each little flavorful portion slowly, which means chewing it thoroughly! The hell with fast food, give me home cooking any time. The way my grandma use to do. And there is the crunch. Time and the lose of tradition! In the world today, we are so busy trying to keep up that we have lost the art of cooking and eating well. No junk food or fast food. Making meals from scratch and passing that knowledge onto the next generation and who will pass it onto the next generation. The trick is to take the time, put in the effort. Get rid of the tech stuff, TV and the games and spend quality time with each other.

Eat, Cook, Love

. . . well that takes care of the Eat, Cook part . . . the Love part I’ll leave to your imagination!