Women's Notes
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Monday, June 30th, 2008The job of the artist is to deepen the mystery.
-Francis Bacon
I attended the River Arts District Studio Show recently in Asheville, North Carolina. In an old warehouse area on the French Broad River that’s been converted to artists’ studios, and for two weekends a year, the artists display their hearts and souls on [...]
MASQUERADE: WHAT IS YOUR MASK?
Monday, June 23rd, 2008I’ve just returned from New Orleans — the city of masks and disguise and carnivale. Along with museum curators, teachers, collectors and designers, I attended the annual symposium of the Costume Society of America.
Our delightful keynote speaker from New Zealand, James Acheson (costume designer for films such as The Last Emperor, Dangerous [...]
FRAGRANCE & CONNECTION
Thursday, June 12th, 2008I love how a certain scent can bring a sweet distant memory into focus. On a walk the other morning, the smell of honeysuckle took me on a childhood journey of adventure with my father. I remembered how we would pick armloads of wildflowers in the piney woods of our Alabama farm, and then surprise [...]
A SOFT-FOCUS WORLD
Monday, June 2nd, 2008We live in a world where we tend to “hard focus” most of our waking time: concentrating, figuring things out, trying to remember a myriad of facts and details — over-using the thinking mind. Sound familiar?
Resting the eyes is one way to have a quick and relaxing “refreshment of ease.” By closing out the visual [...]
HOW DO I RELAX?
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008I recently participated in one of those giant bridal extravaganzas where dozens of vendors displayed their wares and services to several thousand assorted visitors: future brides with various support teams in tow. The fancy hotel ballrooms were bustling with brides-to-be of all shapes, sizes, and expectations (with upcoming weddings in a couple of months to [...]
VEILED
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008Waterfalls are a delight of nature that I enjoy finding wherever I travel. There are many around the Cullasaja Gorge region near Highlands, North Carolina, in an area close to where I’ve recently moved. A small waterfall named Bridal Veil Falls caught my attention recently — a rather sheer, narrow spray that drops right at [...]
NURTURING
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008Recently I was treated to a nurturing and healing Ayurvedic body treatment and massage at an exotic day spa. Gracious attention, aromatic tea and a delicious vegetarian meal were also a part of the gifts of service extended to me during the quiet and soothing afternoon.
To end my meditative body wrap session, the lovely practitioner [...]
Love Is Breathing Into the Heart
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008I’ve worked with thousands of brides through the years and I’m aware that planning a wedding can put brides-to-be in the middle of an emotional journey — a rite-of-passage of inner growth and discovery that can get a bit bumpy at times. But what phase of your life is not an emotional journey? More and [...]
Weddings (or Life!) as a Cliche
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008[Originally written for my Notes from Cornelia newsletter, especially for brides, but with a message for all women!]
How to create a wedding — following the appropriate protocol and traditions — that is not a cliche? How to plan a ceremony and reception that does not become a cookie-cutter formula with the character, soul, and intimacy [...]
Love & Renewal
Saturday, February 9th, 2008When I travel to other parts of the world, I’m interested in the sense of community in the towns and villages I visit. I notice the relationships between men and women and discover a great deal about a culture from their wedding and marriage customs.
The other day I was reminded of a trip in 2004 [...]