Tag Archives: inspiration

Simple Ikebana display

I’ve been following Sansei Life for a few months now and I often visit to explore her blog and chill out for a few minutes with her beautifully simple and peaceful posts. In her own words: “Sansei Life! A blog exploring and learning about the Asian community in Denver. When I was much younger I tried a new Japanese restaurant in Arvada called Namiko’s for a sushi snack. It was very good. I got into a conversation with Yuri the owner and she ended up offering me a part time job on weekends. I spent most of the first evening running to Yuri asking her what the various dishes were and what was in them and what they tasted like. In exasperation Yuri asked me if I was Japanese! She could not understand how a Japanese did not know simple restaurant fare.That is when I really understood that I was a Sansei out of touch with my culture. I am ready to experience and learn about today’s Asian culture”.

Ikebana (生け花, “living flowers”) is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, More than simply putting flowers in a container, ikebana is a disciplined art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. Ikebana often emphasizes other areas of the plant, such as its stems and leaves, and draws emphasis toward shape, line, form. Another aspect present in ikebana is its employment of minimalism. That is, an arrangement may consist of only a minimal number of blooms interspersed among stalks and leaves. The spiritual aspect of ikebana is considered very important to its practitioners. Silence is a must during practices of ikebana. It is a time to appreciate things in nature that people often overlook because of their busy lives (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikebana).

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Ikebana, the art of observing nature.

Here is an ikebana display from my heart.

Simple ivy allowed to grow on its own path.  At one with nature, it is nature.

Reaching out on its own journey.

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7 inspiring things that happened this week

1. I’ve been nominated for the “Encouraging Thunder” blog award! Thank you so much to Encouraging Life for this lovely award. You know how sometimes you’re feeling slightly down about your blog, doubting yourself, not feeling inspired? Well I sometimes feel like that anyway – I sure was feeling it this week and then I got this award, which has made me feel inspired again 🙂

encouraging thunder

2. Our house purchase fell through this week. I know, that doesn’t sound inspiring! But instead of crumbling, we’ve managed to approach it with a zen-like calm (mostly), taking comfort from the knowledge that it wasn’t meant to be – to quote my favourite saying, “What’s for you will not go by you”. Our dream house is out there somewhere… Continue reading 7 inspiring things that happened this week

LifeStories – Mingering Mike

Washington DC, dawn 2003. “Record digger” Dori Hadar was hunting for rare vinyl at a local fleamarket, when he discovered boxes containing 38 albums by an unknown soul singer named Mingering Mike. “Can Minger Mike Stevens Really Sing?” screamed a hand-painted cover in bold capitals. “The Outsiders are Back” proclaimed another. The collection was comprehensive, including several greatest hits albums, free single giveaways, a Bruce Lee tribute album and collaborations.

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But why was Mingering Mike such an unknown, when he had a huge body of work behind him, recorded under numerous labels such as Mother Goose and Fake Records? As Hadar began to delve deeper into the boxes, he realised that the discs, far from being in poor condition and scratched, were actually pristine – and made of cardboard. Whoever had made them had taken enormous care to paint the cardboard black, draw on grooves, and create an entire recording career, all in their imagination. Continue reading LifeStories – Mingering Mike

I’ve Been Nominated for The Creative Blogger Award!

I love blog awards! I hadn’t had one for a little while so I’m extremely grateful to the lovely Amanda Says. I’ve been following Amanda for a while now and she’s a very supportive blogger so please do check out her blog. Her posts are always unusual and quirky – she’s a woman after my own heart!

creative blogger award

Rules:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog
  2. Share 5 facts about yourself
  3. Nominate 10 bloggers and add their links
  4. Notify the bloggers you included
  5. Keep the rules in your post to make it easy to everyone to know what to do!

Five facts about me:

  1. I’m an ecologist in my day job, and I specialise in bats. I’m off to do a great crested newt survey this evening!
  2. I have a mushroom phobia – bleeeugh, hate them!
  3. I once stood (with a beekeeper) in the middle of a swarm of 20,000 bees. I’m allergic to bees.
  4. I got my Master’s degree at Edinburgh University, where in order to graduate, you have to be hit on the head with John Knox’s pants!
  5. I play ukulele, guitar and harmonica, and I love to sing.

I nominate the following awesome bloggers:

  1. Violet and Eloise
  2. Milkshake Kingdom
  3. Lucky Otter’s Haven
  4. Jack Collier 7
  5. Little Awkward Fox
  6. Stereotypically Able
  7. Ravishing Roses
  8. Vacation Mode
  9. A Vibrant Day

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Utopia HQ

A couple of weekends ago I took an afternoon trip to the lovely Wallington, Northumberland, a grand National Trust Palladian mansion with an interesting – and political – history. As the rest of the UK was gearing up for the General Election, Wallington turned the clocks back to the 1929 election, when the house’s owner at the time, Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, stood as the Newcastle Central Labour candidate for the second time. Through a series of installations and displays throughout the house and gardens, “VOTE” told the story of Charles’ political career and socialist aspirations. As I wondered around the house, I stumbled across a room entitled “Utopia HQ”, where Sir Charles’ former estate office had been transformed by the awesome November Club into his 1929 campaign HQ. Continue reading Utopia HQ

#VIEWSNOTSHOES!

Hi,

This post is about politics and women. It’s a more serious post than my usual art/fashion/travel/inspirational posts, but hopefully just as uplifting and positive. This post is aimed at UK readers, but also to women all over the world when it comes to making your views heard (see links at foot of page) – and to all men, too, because I firmly believe that men will benefit equally from having a balanced government. Say goodbye to any of the tired old feminist stereotypes and have a think about what you want, and what you believe (I am a project manager and senior team member in my company. I frequently work on all-male contractor sites. With gel nails and mascara. I sometimes wear 4 inch heels, and sometimes Converse. I am an ordinary woman not defined by any one stereotype. I’m so tired of facing sexism and I want my voice to be heard). Continue reading #VIEWSNOTSHOES!