Casting About

Casting About

It’s easiest to find inspiration and gratitude in the morning. I find it easier to believe possibilities are boundless when the day is new. I keep trying to give myself a practice–to meditate for just 4 minutes on what it is I want to create–and yet, somehow, the task evades me. Sitting comfortably on my patio, I listen to birds and squirrels and the sound of water flowing in the pond fountain just outside the door. I become distracted. At times, the beauty and abundance I’m surrounded by fade into the background while my thoughts paint pictures of other scenarios. I’ve spent so much of my life engaging fantasies–why do I find it so difficult to focus on one now for 4 short minutes — especially on ones I enjoy?! Of...

Embracing Discomfort: A Pleasurable Experience

On Friday, I resolved to use my moments of fear as learning tools. I publicly declared it. (Well, publicly HERE, anyway…) The VERY NEXT DAY, in its inimitable, helpful fashion, the Universe, threw a little exercise my way to…strengthen me. Rant: A Little Background My situation at work has been dissatisfying lately, to say the least. Our office has been “reorganized.” I’ve felt unappreciated and demoralized by decisions made by my employer about my position and its value, which is apparently far less than I would like to believe after nearly a decade of my efforts in the job. It’s a position I thought I would stay in for the duration of my career, but the recent economic situation coupled with a new administration has recently...

What Coincidence?

Do you believe in coincidence? Coincidence can be defined as events that occur which have the appearance of a meaningful connection when there is none. I just can’t accept that. Maybe because the coincidence itself –the fact of its occurrence–is meaningful. Therefore: when an event occurs that seems to have a meaningful connection to another seemingly random event, for me, the connection IS meaningful. Because I believe it to be. For example: yesterday I thought about change and learning and opening up to the discomfort of both. Today, I tuned in to Brezsny’s Thursday column for the first time this week and found my section to be all about being open to change and learning! How utterly cool! How I found Brezsny I discovered the column...

Being Uncomfortable

I’ve gone through my life largely avoiding–or dreading–change.  In fact, I have actually worked harder to preserve unhappy situations than I might have if I’d faced my fear and allowed myself to go through the discomfort of change in favor of possibly improving my circumstances. A pair of gifted teachers I admire put forth ideas on comfort and learning.  Here is what I took away from the lesson: Our comfort zone is a happy place. Outside of our comfort zone is where learning takes place. I’ve grossly oversimplified the message, but this is the essence of what I think is important today about being uncomfortable. In the act of  resisting change, my mind is closed to possibility. I’m like that. Only when it seems I have no choice...

What are you gonna do about it?

Consider your circumstances. Look at the daily situations in which you find yourself. Think of the people in your life. Notice the thoughts that you regularly entertain. Is everything the way you thought you wanted it last week, last month, last year? Everyone has problems, challenges to deal with.  What are yours? Welcome to Farm City Studio I want to welcome you to Farm City Studio, a website dedicated to the mosaic artwork of December Lauretano-Haines. That’s me, December. Some friends call me “12.” You can, too. I started creating mosaics in 2000. Actually, it goes back quite a bit further than that, but we’ll get to that later. For now, let’s just start with those tiny pebbles I collected in New Zealand. It was a fantastic trip...