Pretty as a Peacock Life

My birthday is next week and before heading into the month-long celebration (because really, a day just isn’t enough!) I always take some time for a little review.  How are things going?  What needs a bit of refocus as I move on?  Armed with my astrological solar return reading, I start letting myself become aware of the invitations that will be unfolding over the course of the year.   What sorts of things should I keep on my radar?  How can I make room for more fun and joy?

I would be the first one to say, and say repeatedly, I feel very blessed.  I’ve created a life I love, and it’s populated with people I adore and things that I consider to be treasures.  I love the work I do, although work seems like such a misnomer; and when I say the joy I do people just look at me like I’m crazy or flaky or both.  Every day I feel gratitude and joy for this curiously strange and utterly beautiful experience of my life.

And yet again, and again, and again I hear the whispers of spirit, of my guidance, of my own knowing that it’s time to step it up a little, push my boundaries out a bit further, play a bigger game, and above all be seen more widely.  I actually believe we’re all called to this, but I’ve become a master at resisting it.

The truth is I don’t want to give up any parts of the life I love and I’ve been fearful that any voyages into expansion would involve some sort of loss of something I consider precious.  I can’t tell you how ridiculously hard I’ve held on to this belief.  You’d laugh.  And so do I.

Laughing is always a good energy to help shift things, and just the other day I had a major shift around this.  I decided, yes decided, I’m not going to give up anything I love about my life.  But rather I am going to embark on this biggification as Project Gilding.  Adding layers of gilt to everything I love.  Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Don’t you want to play too?

So I made a little notebook to list all the things that my gilded life might hold.   The image that came to me as I was thinking about this was a peacock.  I’m going to invoke a bit more of that show-those-gorgeous-feathers energy and celebrate even more of the beauty that is possible.

Purple and lime are this week’s colors in the Summer of Color challenge, so I used those in my book.  I invite you to head over to there and check out the myriad of creations.

Here’s the cover of my little book and a peek inside before I began writing the first of my wishes/intentions/life gilts.

And speaking of gilding, here is yesterday’s index card for the ICAD challenge.

 And today’s card. 

I love this card, and I especially love how it’s impossible to photograph or scan because I’ve used holographic papers on it.  So while it sparkles and changes color as I look at it, it looks strange and pixilated in the photo.  Which I think is definitely cool.

I made the card as a reminder that I’m calling this Bubble Experiment Summer.   Every day, while having my morning coffee on the porch, I send out a stream of soap bubbles.  I’m developing  a theory about what conditions create the best bubbles – what makes them most colorful, last longest, get doubled, all those sorts of things.  Today was the best display ever – the colors were wonderful and they were lasting for ages so I could fill the air over and over again with more bubbles before any of them burst, and the breeze was carrying them all over.   Seeing them float through the trees made me laugh.  I was imaging all sorts of surprised and happy smiles from the birds and squirrels.  

What about you?  Where would you like to add some gilding to your life?  What’s already as beautiful as a peacock’s tail?  When’s the last time you had a bubble fest?  Do you start your morning with rituals that delight you?  Do tell – you know I love to hear.