Pronoia Party

Holidays inevitably shake up my sense of time in their wake and I kind of like that.  I’m not sure I’m very anchored in the linear anyway, but there’s something about not being exactly sure what day it is that’s rather more liberating than confusing.  I mentioned that to a friend today who replied affectionately but likely with an eye-roll I couldn’t see, that I did have a way of looking at things optimistically.

LOL – well, yes I guess I do. 

I’ve certainly have my share of challenges and sadnesses in my life, and it annoys me to no end when people give me a superficial dismissal as being stupidly Pollyanna-ish.  Au contraire I want to snap.  But the truth is I believe bottom line that the forces of life , the universe, and all that is beyond are 100+ percent conspiring to make this incarnation one filled with meaning, with joy, with love, with laughter and all that is asked of me is to keep my hands and heart open to receive it all.  And I make a point to do that. 

Which is probably one of the reasons I like astrologer/author Rob Brezsney who wrote PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia, which is a 400+ page compendium of quirky philosophy, inspiration, challenge, and strange wonderfulness and  is one of my favorite books to dip into and pull treasures from.   Brezsney defines pronoia as “the antidote for paranoia. It’s the understanding that the universe is fundamentally friendly. It’s a mode of training your senses and intellect so you’re able to perceive the fact that life always gives you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it.”

I think we need more pronoia and I like dancing in that energy, gathering bits and sprinkling them about as I move around my life.  Which is why I like to play and create so much, because I absolutely believe our Muses have direct lines to expansive goodness and joy and beauty and want to help us stay plugged in.

This week’s Summer of Color challenge was to create something/anything with the color combo charcoal grey and pale pink.  And in keeping with my past creations in this challenge, I created another little mini-journal that I’m dedicating to jotting down little inspirations and demonstrations of pronoia this summer.

It’s difficult to see in the photo but I have a pale pink button attached to the cover.  I love that button because it looks like a little round flower made of pink depression glass, and I LOVE pink depression glass.  Which delights me because it’s depression glass that makes me happy.  Snort. 

The inside view:

A couple of little pockets to stick stuff in, because I have to have pockets in everything (except my clothes).  I’m always sewing in or somehow attaching pockets to purchased journals because there are always things that need to be held and hidden.  And the quote is from this week’s horoscope from Brezsney which suggests a way to play with a project that I’m welcoming.

I’m delighted with the pages I’ve created here which are also difficult to see, but the signatures are staggered and the pages themselves are folded unevenly. 

I encourage you to stop by the Summer of Color site and see what other have created with this color combo. 

I haven’t done daily posting of my index cards for the ICAD challenge, so I’ll do a bit of catch up here as well.   As you can see I’ve been dipping into my cookie fortunes for life wisdom this week.

And finally, it’s Friday and I like to play in Share the Link Love, the invitation to link to 5 inspiring blogs so they can receive a little notice and love.  Such a lovely idea.  I invite you to head over to Diane of Crafty Pod’s blog to see what blogs she’s loving this week, and also see who has posted links to their loves.

Here are my five this week:  

• I love Tracey Fletcher King’s art and I love her humor.  And when she writes and illustrates about an exploding head, well, it definitely earns a place on my link love list of the week.   (And I have to say I’m utterly inspired.  I’m playing in a 6-week project of taking daily selfies, and I’m pretty sure I now have to play around with photoshop to get an exploding head selfie this summer.

• Tara Leaver is a new discovery for me, and I’m linking to a post she did this week showing how she created a deck of inspirational cards.   A card deck is one of those projects that periodically starts shouting in my brain for attention, but I have SO many ideas I don’t know where to start and so I let the invitation from my Muse slip back into the pool to surface another time.   I think the idea is up again for me as I’m delighting in the little “deck” of index cards that has been accumulating thanks to the ICAD challenge.

• I adore Pat Pitingolo. She and I played together for many years as mailartists and some of the most creative and hilarious creations visited my mailbox thanks to her brilliant mind and fingers.  In this post you can take a peek into one of her journals.

• Elizabeth Bunsen’s blog is eye candy that always sparks an inspiration and always makes my heart sigh in happiness.

• I love Mary Jane Dodd’s adornment art.  Check out this lovely piece.

So there you have it, a peek of some of the delicious things that add to the pronoia of my life.  What about you?  What’s bringing you delight today?  Have a link to share?  A favorite cookie fortune you love?  What do you keep hidden in your pockets?  Do tell – you know I love to hear.