When I Grow Up I Want to be . . . a Tribal Fusion Belly Dancer

I've been belly dancing since after I gave birth. I tried other forms exercise to get back in shape. I got bored and I was still in pain from the pregnancy and birth and a bike run in shortly after. I discovered the belly dancing twins, Veena & Neena and fell in love. I thought, 'I can do that!' I luv to wiggle and I didn't have to jump up & down hurting my joints like aerobics so it was perfect for me! It felt good, I felt like a woman, feminine and powerful! Not only did it feel good to my soul but my body. The hip and back pain I had (so bad I couldn't sleep at times) went away! When it did occasionally come back I just belly danced the pain away!

Now i'm in the habit of constantly doing the hip rotations and tilts constantly without thought, so now I never hurt. I do it in my computer chair, on the couch, in bed, doing dishes and when I crank up the radio! It is now the only dance I know. For years I loved to use my hips when dancing pop/hip hop and now I realize that it was in the vain of belly dance. We all do it, all woman! I now see that it is a natural movement for woman to make, instinctive, powerful, healthy. Some say the Egyptians would use it to aid in child birth, a dance, a movement good for woman. I don't know if the Egyptians did do this but it is great for me.

When I was zapped a link of Rachel Brice dancing Tribal Fusion style I wanted to be a belly dancer! I've always wanted to do it but m a n. When I saw her on youtube I was amazed, inspired, moved. Because of her and other artists of the dance like Zoe Jakes, I can't suppress the desire to be a Tribal Fusion Belly Dancer when I grow up (again:D ) !!! Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm to old, too fat! But not for belly dance it seems. Look it up! Many woman are large, and over thirty! I may never be a professional but I can have fun trying!!

Listen to this interview with Rachel Brice and you will see what this dance does to a woman, why I would want to do it. One of many reasons.

Look at this woman's confidence and love for herself and her body!

Here are more empowered 'more to luv' women like me!

if you want to see some of the best dances on youtube just check out my play list on youtube!

What has made you fall in love with your femininity, your womanhood??

BTW: I will be adding belly dance work out vids to my weekly routine in addition to what I already do. So go to my Moving Enchantment blog to find out more, to join in!

Creation Station

I have my art table supported by storage bins that have been bending under the weight of my beautiful supplies and their containers. Like my grandmother's juice glasses, jelly jars, old jars from my mother and a flower pot that has been in the family for a few generations. And of course there are the dollar store, thrift store and wal-mart finds.

So Thursday I dragged all the bins out of the harry potter closet and put two deep of bins under the table top my mother gave me from a woman she took care of years ago who past away. It's the perfect size for our small space! I put the leaf on top against the mirror and all my supplies sit on that. I dusted, edited, & rearranged my creative station ending in results I luv. Though I miss having my glasses of brushes, pencils, etc. spread out more.




ps: sorry the pics are SO bad! please forgive me!

Inspire Me Thursday . . . Pear

I can't stop drawing, doodling, creating something! Usually I struggle to create now I struggle to stop. Going to enjoying it while it lasts!

I went to Inspire Me Thursday and was inspired to make this doodle. I love pears and the piece they had up for an example got me going. I started that night and couldn't stop. I was up past 3am and started again when I got up early afternoon.

Illustration Friday... MAGNIFY

I've been wanting to paint SO bad for the last few days. It was an itch, a craving. But no, I did not paint. I did everything else! Ink, gel, paper, color pencil, charcoal (my fav!), & marker. I just needed to create something. Get my hands dirty sitting with a chaos of paper, paints, scissors, pens, pencils, art mess stuff. I feel much better now!

Here is my submission for Illustration Friday... MAGNIFY

Broken but Healed by Art & Creativity

With all the losses and other things I've been through the last four years I see the therapeutic benefits and necessity of art, of creating something, anything to let it out. A poem, painting, scribbles, anything. Right after the loss of my brother I literally couldn't think. I couldn't read, I couldn't even watch TV because I couldn't fallow what was going on, it was gibberish. But I could knit. Some may not see this as art but it is creative, it is zen. I find myself looking for my paints or typing away when hit with more stress or pain than I can bear. I feel the need to express it in some way. Cry yes, I needed to cry but I needed other outlets.

Right now I want to paint, I want to write, I want to play with my web designs, make graphics and I will and am and have. Those who are already artist's or creative types know what I'm talking about. You do it too. But those who may not be right brained like us, I encourage you to try it. Find ways to express your pain. It is so healing. There is a reason why the loony bins have arts & crafts, music therapy and tell you to keep a journal. So lets do all that before we need to be locked up! Ok, the last part largely applies to me but it makes sense to do what works for even the worst cases, art and therapy!

What are the ways you deal with great losses or everyday stress? What do you do when you feel broken like I do now?

books i'm luvin' right now

Yesterday i was THRILLED when the UPS guy showed up with my free book! YAY! You know how i LUV books and what is better than free?? I got to have it free just for blogging about what i think about the book, good or bad :D but i was relieved when last night i found that I'm luvin' it. I was laughing so much! Laughter is good medicine and I'm needing that a lot right now. The beginning of this month was the one year anniversary of my brother's passing and I've been feeling depressed, crying again. That is why I try not to remember when people pass so this doesn't happen. But how could I not remember this one. I was there, i watched his body change after his body died sitting at his feet in ICU. I want him back, that's all i can say.

“The BackBerry Diaries...adventures in modern motherhood” by Kathy Buckworth has been a wonderful LOL book so far. Even the most boring parts of a book (for me) the preface and introduction was funny! It is perfect for my circumstances, needing laughter and short entries that enables my ADD mind to keep reading & stay in the book.

My second book I got from half-priced yesterday is amazing! “Gifts of the Soul.. experience the mystical in everyday life” by Constance Rodriguez, Ph.D. It looks like it will be a more serious in-depth book, no fluff. Now I've only read a little so far. There is a lot about Carl G. Jung in this, mythology, psychology, and spirituality. It reminds me of what Joseph Campbell talked about in his interviews on PBS when talking of retrieving lost pieces of your soul. Keep in mind I just started this book so I don't know what else it will reveal.

If I like the freebie, “The BlackBerry Diaries” I will most likely do a give away! So start following this blog and me on twitter and you will know when the contest is up!

Y'all have a great day!

PS: i have a new youtube channel to focus on weight loss and a new blog to go along with it!

Music from HeyKelsey

this woman is an AMAZING artist, singer & song writer! her voice is earthy & true.. go to her channel and send her love, DON'T forget to tell her Dinah aka: Ms Dragonfly sent you!

i get to join in on a fun meme, MUSIC MONDAY where we share a something something, good music!

My Creative Journey

here i've put together a list of my blogs focused on my arts and crafts. i have such a wide range of interests i thought it would be nice, easier to just put them all in one place so if you like, you can fallow along with me on my attempt to create. i may not be an 'Artist' but i am an artist as are all of you!

starting on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 to February 2009:

passions wain
i did it!
Paralyzed
I've Got My Mojo Back!
Inspire Me Thursday ~ Peace
Creation Frenzy
My Shop is Open!
Creative Cruse
Illistration Friday ~ Primitive Flower
Inspire Me Thursday ~ Scrap Yard
Midnight Creations ~ this is what i do when i can't sleep!
Read All About It!
New Girl!
Art is . . .
Soul Food
Great Loss
Sewing, Knitting, & Crochet
Autumn Pear
hiatus
I Think I'm Back
Divine Insperations
Juicy!
Netoholic, Reporting My Deviations

Need Help With Hooping Questions?

Love, I Want That!

Women

PS: i made this video!

Deceit

Sweet and quite she sits and waits
motives hidden behind her shy face
the perfect moments collect as her lies percolate
each deceitful seed hidden in one, unknown to the other

days upon days
weeks upon weeks
collected into months she waits steadily
patience her virtue
cunning her vice
her innocent face and quite voice hides
her plans to ostracize

back from my journey I find her hall closed to me
'why' I ask but her angelic voice is silent while her courtiers reliant
on her words of secrecy deceiving them of my banishment she planned for me

I shout out my innocence and point out her lies
but it's to late, this witch must hang till truth cries
friends now turned against this witch in pain

I plead, 'why can't you see she planned my fall long ago
now am I to be a witch alone?
Your friendships I can not forgo'

straddling my corpse
now that eyes are upon her
she is quick to apologize
false words fall from her
her courtiers satisfied
they believe her heavenly fantasy
accepting she caused me no harm though it be fallacy

heart broken, abandoned, to summerland I ride,
to the gods I cry 'let them see through her lies!'

Resin From The Dead

i've been learning so much.. reading, reading, reading. I've finally gotten off the net and into my books! But i find that i have to read several all at once for me to keep moving forward with any of them. Hey, what ever works, right? I'll be up-dating my goodreads so you know what i'm reading. The new additions are 'discovering spirit in sound chanting' by robert gass (got to get more of his cd's!) and 'dreaming true' by robert moss. Woah, lot's of roberts, lol... the dream book is the best one i've ever read. This is the one we all need to read! Forget the rest with thier keys that tell you what things mean to other people, you have to learn what things symbolize for you!

I'm sorry i haven't been around much, although i've really tried to keep in touch with my tweets, pings, and ning. I've been super busy mommie. My son has so many activities my head just spins and he is worn out. We both can't wait till summer when all this frenzy will end and we can just relax and hear our own thoughts and breath.

I can't hoop y'all. My feet keep giving me trouble! So i will spend the summer in the pool as much as possible! Hopefully if i loose enough weight i can get on my feet and do other things like hooping and belly dance. I can't even belly dance! My feet start hurting and i have to site down! Help me guys, i need to see the doc about this but i don't want to go. I just hate going to the doc! Remind me if you think of me :D

hope all is well with you friends!

xoxo,
dinah

Hooping Break

i haven't written in so long that i don't know what to write beyond my one obsession – hula hooping! I've gotten the flip-like cam i was waiting for! The LCD screen pops out so you can change it to face you no matter where you point the camera. I've been playing with it a lot, mostly with my son at home, school, ball games! Oh and my new dish washer! Lol yep, i'm that excited!



I am going to have to go to the doctor because i keep having trouble with pains in my feet and ankles. I dread it, i HATE going to the doctor! I am planning on buying two new pairs of good shoes. One for the house and one for outside. I go around bare foot too much i think and at my weight it's not good, at least that is my assumption. I'm so sorry i won't have hooping vids yet but i will see what else i can do.

Everyone, have a GREAT week! And 'shake it'!

xoxo,
dinah

I Won 1st Place!

jessicadoyle.com
jessicadoyle.etsy.com

My Son Corrupted by Twain!

we watched 'Mark Twain' a documentary after school. it told of his life and his careers, what made him a writer, they had quotes and excerpts from his letters, books, and articles. we laughed out load the whole night. i didn't realize how funny Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemens was. i new he was a great writer but i felt like i could relate to him and his style of humor. humor is my son's first love, how he copes and all he wants to take in. he doesn't care for anything unless it's funny!

as i put my son to bed tonight he repeatedly told me, 'i think i'm going to write! i can cuss when i write!'. 'yes', i told him,' you can cuss and say what ever you want in your journal. it is your world and you are god but. . .' 'but not out load!', he finished. he's very happy to get to cuss... lol

oh yes, Twain cussed! :)

The documentary is titled simply, 'Mark Twain' a film directed by Ken Burns. through PBS home video.

xoxo,
dinah

ps: another example of how corrupting art can be ;)

The Power & History of Woman

part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6

i encourage all to watch this documentary. those of all faith and spiritual belief and non-belief will get a lot out of it. i strongly encourage woman to watch this to learn more about our history of which there is little.

this is my path, this is me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

So sorry i am late! We have had a interesting weekend! ;) Just like my birthday i also celebrate Valentine's all month long! This is the month of love! So go out and buy up all the half price chocolate to get you through the hormonal months ahead! Lol ;)



Have a great week!

xoxo
dinah

Netoholic, Reporting My Deviations

pic i took yesturday

I'm not in the mood to paint. I think that i am afraid of what crap i might come up with bursting the bubble from the beautiful girl i made the end of last month. I've made some backgrounds and painted Hecate on cardboard, gesso'd the cardboard from frozen pizza's but when i tried to paint another girl i couldn't even get the sketch right. So i'm going to let it go for now. No use in torturing myself. If i force it i will only get frustrated and make it harder to do it.



So i am sketching fairies instead. Something i am in the mood for. From the book, Dreamscapes by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. She makes the most beautiful fairies and fantasy creatures! I did one sketch before my brother past-away and when i came back to it recently i was surprised that i thought it looked pretty good. Feeling confident about what i have already done makes it easy to go ahead and do more.


My resolve as an artist is so weak. I have to be gentle with myself. Let go of what i can't bring myself to do and just redirect my creativity and try something new, something different.



One of the other ways i have been expressing my creativity is through all the many social networking sites, blogs and net toys that i have started, well, mostly improving the one's i already have. I have 14 social networks, blogs and net toys besides the other 6 or more blogs i don't fool with anymore.


You can find and friend me at Vox, LiveJournal, FaceBook, MySpace, Xanga, Twitter, seesmic, last.fm, MyBlogLog, wakoopa, stumbleupon, Flikr, listography and goodreads. Woah, that's a LOT! Lol, I will be and have been posting regularly so you can keep up with me at any of these places, especially twitter, i so love it! When i first heard of it i thought it was ridiculous but now i find it so useful and fun! Oh and Every once in a while i post to deviantArt. I'm having so much fun organizing, beautifying, and connecting to people on all my sites! Ooo, i am so loving Vox. It is so easy to use and i like that i can keep up with my books, video's, movies, music, etc. It's easy to add your other sites, you just put in your url or user name and it adds your site links like the sites above and it puts the matching icon in front. Tre cool! I'm using it for my personal blog.



I have been so bad about reading. I've been playing on the computer ALL the time so i haven't done much else. I'm so naughty! So i have decided that i will commit to reading one chapter a day out of my top four books i am currently reading, Soul Lessons and Soul Purpose, The Love Spell, Why Does He Do That?, and Talking With Tweens. I keep track of my books at vox and good reads if you care to know what i think of them and what's on my night stand, bookshelves, and on top of my t.v. :D What are you reading?


Hope you all had a great weekend! Have a wonderful, fulfilling, peaceful, prosperous, fun week!

xoxo,
dinah

The Ultimate Creation

I don’t remember much about the stay in the hospital right after having my son. It was a blur of drugs and exhaustion. Although I can clearly remember one day shortly after coming home for the first time with my baby walking over to his crib and just looking at him. Taking him in with my eyes amazed that I created him in my body. Ten toes, ten fingers, to legs, two arms, one head {thank goodness} the perfect little body.

I was in awe of what I had created. I felt humbled as if it was too great a thing for me to have done. I felt the sacredness of his new life, how precious and important it was that I had a life I had created but would mold and be responsible for him. I can’t express how holy that moment felt, this was god, this moment. I the creator of this little life and he the creation but the Divine was in both of us and in the process that brought him about. I felt unworthy of having grown him in my body, in my sacred womb. This too sacred and amazing, unbelievable event - life.

Remember that you are Divine, that every month your body goes through the process of preparing for the potential of life you and that experience is sacred. Each act of love making is sacred for the potential life it may bring. I need too, to remember how sacred and Divine I and my body is. We are not separate sinful creatures but rather Divine co-creating demigods, gods and goddesses connected always to the Divine and to each other!

Christ himself said, “know ye not that ye are gods!”

Juicy!

Here is my ‘I Am” assignment for suzi blu’s life book/art journal exercise. I just went wild and played with texture and color. I ended covering it all up with different shades of red and pink following Milliande’s journal prompt. Then I scraped white paint across it all and made my beautiful girl. I just get lost in her eyes. After creating this I hate the last journal page I made I showed you and all the other ones I didn’t show. This is just beautiful to me. I may hate it later too but for now I’m happy with it.



This was in the background of the first pic in my last post. I took coffee grounds to create the texture. I love it so much as is that I can’t bear to add anything to it!



I brought this down stairs along with everything else. It hides behind my couch across from my dinning table now my ‘art studio’. there is a door I stick up there so I don’t have to look at this mess. I don’t like the mess of this cupboard but the mess on my table makes me smile!



I’m doing much better lately. I am so loving netflix. I can watch movies, tv shows, documentaries, etc… online anytime I want free. I LOVE it! I think going without my pc did help me be more creative. I made all this and more while it was down. I just get on the net and play with all these social networks ning things and twitter and on and on. But I am so glad I have these distractions when I need them so I don’t cry so much but I need to let go and create more, do more, live more off the web.



xoxo
dinah

Divine Insperations

My Divine inspirations have helped push me over the edge from fear into the pool of creativity, my connection to Spirit and intuition. On the 10th I created my first journal page of the year in last years altered book - art journal while waiting for my new moleskin to arrive to journal along with suzi blu.



Here are some of the books that have been inspiring me. I bought the top three, the rest I got at the library. It is hard to find good art books anywhere! They are like gems hidden. You have to commit much time and effort if you want to acquire them that is unless you just do a search on amazon, that’s a lot easier!



In “Pretty Little Things” by Sally Jean Alexander she recommends putting different techniques on slips of paper and put them in a bowl and then pull from it until you don’t need the prompts anymore. It is a great way to push you forward when you don’t know where to begin! I upcycled scrap paper I crumbled and then soaked in tea and hung dry. Tearing each piece added to the effect and then I used my elaborate handwriting to write each prompt, charcoal, ink, magazine, text, water color, etc. . .



I appreciate everyone’s condolences. I’m was relieved that most did not try to give me a pep talk because I don’t need one. Just an ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ is all I need to hear. The thing about loss is that there is almost never the right thing to say. For me, less is more. I’ve been through this about 10 times or more. I know what to do. Even if I hadn’t I wouldn’t want to hear it anyways. That’s what therapists and mother’s are for. I just need to talk it out. It is such a huge part of who I am right now. It is apart of every motion of my life. I can’t express myself without my loss coming up. Thanks for listening, thanks for the kind words.

I Think I'm Back

For weeks the desire has been growing and pulling me to create and yet I resist it. I don’t understand why I pull away from what makes me feel so good. I know that my art corner was a mess and I was afraid that if I started anything that I would destroy the rest of my bedroom. I didn’t know where to begin. This week after watching suzi blu on youtube I was pushed over the edge and decided that the mental block of trying to create in my messy tiny corner could easily be rectified.



So off I went, up and down the stairs for two days putting my ‘studio’ in the middle of the living room. We never use our dinning table so it’s perfect. It’s there in line with my desk where I spend most of my time on the computer! I took the center leaf and put it on top against the mirror behind my round table and put all my paint and brushes on it. Then I just pilled up things on the table brought down a little cupboard I have some other art supplies in and put the rest in storage tubs I’ll keep in my ‘harry potter’ closet under the stairs. It feels great! I don’t even mind the clutter of it because it is supposed to be that way, the landing strip of art and art is messy!



What a shift in my phsyce. Now if I can only get the courage to do something. I’ve drawn a little but I don’t feel right putting things in a journal I should have filled last year. I’ve bought a Moleskine Large Sketch Book to fallow suzi blu around with her free art journal class on youtube. I have tried to combine all my many journals like she talks about and it never seems to work. I have journals for everything, dreams, thoughts, wishes, art, but I tend to keep them apart. I would like to have everything in one place to chronicle my life and growth.



As you all know I am still in mourning over my brother. There have been two other deaths since him. Despite all this pain and loss I am ready to move forward with my life again. It’s like I held my breath and ceased to exist when he died. I didn’t want to live if he couldn’t. so I did nothing for myself, nothing that I loved. But now that has changed finally. I’m still crying, still mourning but I am ready to join the living and live again even though he can’t.

ps: suzi blu has lost her long time beloved cat, pooh. Something I’ve been through several times. It is hard to go through, I know it was for myself. Send her some lovin’. I’m so sorry for your loss suzi!