The Call of the Quest

"Call of the Quest"
Digital Mandala by Kate Jobe
11/6/11



the pulse of the quest thunders
in the music of our hearts
a beckoning cadence for silenced wings.
stifled smiles of forgotten dreams
rise to its rhythm...and dip
...soaring upward...building speed.
magic begins.

Kate Jobe 11/6/11

Moment by Moment

"Moments in Time"
Digital Mandalas by Kate Jobe 8/21/10

 Each moment provides the opportunity to grow and change...physically, emotionally and spiritually. Each change holds beauty when the way it is viewed is shifted.

Breathing Truth

"Diversity"

Digital Mandala by Kate Jobe 5/29/10

Source Image: Photograph by Warren Nistad

Truth cleanses the soul...Truth shifts limited perspectives...Truth supports the enrichment of life...enhanced by the beauty of diversity.

Answering the Call

"Legions of Light Workers"

Digital Mandala by Kate Jobe 3/8/10

The Call was made...and floated for light years through the heavens...gathering speed...expanding outward in radiating waves...the Call for Healing...for Mother Earth....

and they came...relentlessly, unselfishly:Generations of Light Workers...a billion strong and more...uniting the fire of their love for this planet until it grew from a radiant haze into a pulsating beacon...Illuminating forgotten ways of being...Igniting Passion for Living...Revealing Truth & Love.

To each of you...Shine On.

Listening for the Rainbow

"Listening for the Rainbow"

Kate Jobe 4/2009

The mandala featured above, "Listening for the Rainbow", with it's lines weaving together, some times in neat orderly rows and, in other segments, in a pattern that is in the process of being loosely formed, reminds me very much of fabric that has been created from mixed media processes...hand-drawn fabric resembling a crazy quilt or a tapestry embellished with texture, color and the sheen of gold metallic glitter. As I contemplate it further, the mandala speaks to me of the fabric that defines us, woven together from the threads and colors of a multitude of processes, interactions and knowledge gleaned from everyone who has touched our lives. Many of the individuals who have added to the richness that makes us who we have become are people we have never met and perhaps, never will:authors of books whose words resonated passion within us and supported our values;politicians, scientists, visual artists,actors and musicians whose work assisted in forming the direction of the roads we traveled in life; and ancestors...born generations before us...who have gifted us with genetic assets that resonate within our cells and whisper directives to us as we create our lives. We are the vehicles chosen to act upon the inspiration whispered to us by all of these people, as well as the ones that form, or have formed, an active part of our lives. They are all a part of our web. We are their gift and they are ours.

What significant threads woven into the tapestry of your life were created by people you have never met? What dominant threads were created by people you know or knew? How did each of them change the course of your life? What new threads or embellishments are being formed?

Ganesha's Labyrinth

"Ganesha's Magic Labyrinth"

Kate Jobe 3/30/09

Illusion builds
the bones that bridge
Ganesha’s
magic labyrinth.
Listen.
The dance of
laughter shines through…
revealing golden keys
cascading
from shrouds
veiling open
doorways:
Breathe Trust.
Pray Forgiveness.
Embrace Love.
Inhale Truth.

Plunge

into

the flowing stream.
Be Abundance.

The mandala art featured above began as a rambling doodle that evolved into the image of an elephant and as I continued to embellish it, I transformed it into a mandala. The poem came after I meditated while focusing upon the image. I then researched the symbolic meaning of Ganesha, a Hindu deity, here and here (among many other sites), and discovered that Ganesha, while generally depicted as red, is also shown in blue or pink. Ganesha can have a snake draped across him and has a silver or gold crown with a red ruby on his forehead. He is sometimes shown with long flowing locks of hair. Upon reading this information, I was, once more, affirmed of how, when we allow ourselves to be guided by our intuition, we are more in touch with the interconnectedness of all things than we can imagine. Ganesha brings the gifts of wisdom and abundance and is said to both place obstacles before us to keep us on our right path and to also assist us to remove the obstacles from out paths. Many times in my life, I have been frustrated by challenges that I perceived as deterrents from what I wanted to be doing. Sometimes they were in the form of timing; Sometimes jobs or relationships, or lack of one of these, that created the challenge for me. As time passed, I would eventually unveil a greater gift that was woven into the guise of my challenge. These keys to awareness allowed me to see that I had skills I had not realized I possessed, or taught me how to stand stronger for myself, which ultimately led me to pursuits I would previously not have attempted.

When you look back over the challenges in your life that you resisted, what gifts did you eventually find within them? What challenges are facing you now that are waiting to be transformed into greater wisdom, truth or abundance for you?

Women With Wings

Orchid Woman

comes walking.

Shimmering

softness

illuminated

by the light

of the setting sun...

Opening

to the Honey Bee.

We, and everything around us, are so much more than what appears on the surface, or in physical reality. What appears to be small may actually have an immense impact upon us, or the rest of the world. Conversely, what appears to be large and important may leave an effect that is barely negligible. The Honey Bee is small. but mighty. It''s presence, en mass, or lack thereof, has been proven to be extremely relevant to the balance of the environment. Almost all cultures view the bee as a mythical symbol. The bee, with a body that is too large for its delicate wings, is symbolic of accomplishing large quests against all odds...and the Queen Bee, powerful, but dedicated to the future of her hive, symbolizes the power that is activated when a woman embraces her feminine energy.

Several days ago I created a mandala that I titled, 'Woman Emerging". To view it on another level, I adapted its colors and cropped and enlarged a segment of it, creating the art depicted above. The poem posted below the art was written by me at least five years ago. Its words flowed into my mind while I was meditating. Today, as I examined the visual art, I realized that the mandala and the poem are representations of each other. Each of them is mystical and feminine; powerful but delicate; ancient but filled with radiant innocence. They both speak to me of the promise of things to come and of spiritual awakenings. The orchid-like motif very much appears to be a stylized bee, with her gossamer wings beginning to unfold. The web that has been holding her securely within her cell-like cocoon is loosening its hold and she is preparing to emerge. She is the Honey Bee, but she is also Orchid Woman.

I believe that Orchid Woman is a symbol for the energy of Original Peace. I also believe that Orchid Woman is a symbol for all women, collectively preparing to spread their wings and fly to a higher level of awareness, uniting their energy to create a better world. I am reminded of the words of a chant, whose author is not known, that is hauntingly beautiful when sung in rounds, acapella, by a roomful of women: "There's a river of birds in migration...A nation...of women with wings!" The time is now. 2009 is The Year of the Woman. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

The Stillness of Original Peace

"Woman Emerging"

Kate Jobe 2/16/09

My astrological sign is Aries, which is ruled by the head, and thinking is my birthright. I never stop thinking: about art, about programs to develop, about home decorating, about garden designs, about something to write. I think…and I dream…complex, symbolism laden dreams that speak to me and give me even more ideas to think about.

One of my most profound gifts is that of being a prolific creative thinker. Ironically, the act of not thinking is one of the most powerful gifts I can bestow upon myself. Prayer is when we talk to God and meditation is when we step aside and let God talk to us. The moments when I create art are among the times when I can step aside from my thoughts and allow the universal flow of energy to lead me to the peaceful stillness of just being…and trusting. These are the moments when I give myself over to expressing the embodiment of myself as pure creative energy.

Our thinking can get in the way of our ability to just BE. Many of the children with whom I interact at the treatment center where I work are unnerved with feeling the peacefulness of a meditative state. It is unfamiliar to them. Unfamiliar is equated as feeling weird and so they repel it, gravitating to the comfort of the familiarity of obsessive thinking and its subsequent impact upon them of emotional imbalance. They, like many adults, are not yet aware that the beauty perceived in the midst of the stillness of being centered is the true birthright of each of us. It is our inner guidance from the essence of Original Peace that began blooming within us the instant we were conceived.

Are you afraid of stillness? How does the essence of Original Peace speak to you? What actions allow you to step aside from your thinking and let God talk to you? What creative actions empower you? How are you emerging?

The Glue That Holds Us Together

"My Heart Begins Where It Ends"

Kate Jobe 2/13/2009

The past two weeks I have been meeting with my granddaughters and making Valentines. We gathered together pages of shiny heart stickers, magazines to cut pictures from; glue sticks and rubber cement to collage everything together and glitter glue pens to write magical sentiments on our finished products. White paper lace doilies were high on my list of necessary supplies, but I was unable to find them in the store where I shopped...a minor impediment solved by folding paper and cutting it into “snowflake” hearts. When all the heart stickers were used to embellish two Valentine cards, I used the sticky paper surrounding them to cut out more and amazed them with my ability to produce hearts where there had been none.

In addition to sharing this joyful experience with my granddaughters, this Valentines Day has brought me another special gift of shared memories. Within the same time frame that I have been making Valentines I also connected with an old friend on Facebook who gave me the phone number for her sister, who is a dear friend of mine that I haven’t seen for at least 20 years. Our shared memories began before my divorce; before the birth of my children and even before I was married. My daughter, Annie, shares the same name of this woman, given to her to honor the bond of my friendship with her namesake.

Years ago, my friend Annie and I spent countless hours doing what a lot of young women who are friends do. We talked about life, our futures, men and music we liked. But more than this, we spent countless hours laughing. Memories of laughter shared with good friends fortify me and burrow deep within my heart. Tonight I spoke with Annie on the phone. Many happy memories came rushing to the surface of my soul as we talked. Most of them were things I had not even thought about for years. Talking about who I was then manifested a panorama of people, places and sounds from that time frame that surrounded me and has stayed with me throughout the evening. I hadn’t realized how merging with my past would bring such clarity to the person to whom I have grown to become. To many people I am many different things and am even known to them by somewhat different names. At work I am Miss Kate, to my mother I am Kathleen, I am Mom to my children and Nana to their children. My current friends call me Kate. To Annie, I will always be Katie. I like that.

What memories have you recalled recently that help you to understand more deeply who you are at this time? How does who you were in the past give strength and joy to your present lifetime? Are there old friends with whom you are feeling compelled to seek out?

Crying For A Vision

"Fire Hawk" Kate Jobe 2/2/2009

The appearance of Hawk is symbolic of a messenger that assists us to look within the find the balance we need to gain clarity and walk upon our path of heart. Hawk's powerful, piercing cry is said to take the prayers of the people to spirit, crying out for us to receive the guidance we need to understand what has heart and meaning in our lives. Hawks presence reminds us to look for new ways of doing things and to be aware that new opportunities are being made available to us if we allow ourselves to see them and respond to them.

"Crying for A Vision" is a term associated with the act of a Vision Quest. Many Native American cultures use the Vision Quest as a rite of passage that requires one to go into the wilderness, under structured spiritual guidance, for the purpose of retrieving information regarding ones gifts, purpose in life and their path of heart.

Sometimes our lives propel us into a type of Vision Quest that evolves when we least expect it. We find ourselves crying out for visions in less defined settings, but feeling as though we are in the wilderness, nonetheless...crying out for truth, even when we do not realize we are sending out this cry. In these times, when the very core of our being feels as though it is screeching outward from us, we relinquish our desire to control the outcome of our lives and reach out to spirit to ask to be shown the awareness we need to feel grounded again.

In this act of raw awareness, we begin to see...and hear...and feel...and know...things we forgot...things we had never known before...things that we know, without a doubt, are true. Truth comes to us in words spoken to us purposefully, as well as, randomly by people we know or do not know; in sleeping dreams; in words we write but forget to read; in illnesses and pains within our bodies...truth speaks to us, but we have to hear.

What vision are you seeking? What prayers have you asked Hawk to cry out for you? What messages are trying to reach you that you are not accepting?

Peaceful Transitions

Wishing you a new year filled with unbounding

Peace, Joy & Love

Today is Christmas Eve and as we enter into Christmas and approach the coming new year, many of us are contemplating the changes that 2009 will bring to our lives. On a daily basis we are bombarded with foreboding announcements of severe recession and unemployment and some of you may already be dramatically experiencing this. Regardless of the dynamics of any local, national or global circumstances that have infiltrated our lives, we can fortify ourselves by choosing to believe that the very best will be present in our lives. Amid the frenzy and often fearful predictions, when we ground ourselves in the strength of spirit we release our attachment to owning the drama that is being presented to us. We can then become the change that we are seeking and allow ourselves to rise into the space where we are capable of manifesting only peace, love and joy in our lives.

Aligning
latent energies
my inner light
rises now
from the depths
of the
Canyon of Fear.
A radiant zephyr
unfurling
straining wingtips
to soar
forever upward
in bold brilliance
toward
it’s undeniable
Call of Love

Kate Jobe

Sharing the Dance

One evening during the summer of 1993 I awoke from my sleep with the images from my dream still present within the room. The dream had been of women of all ages and cultural backgrounds, in ceremonial dress, joyously dancing together. While they were interconnected, they also were respectful of each others boundaries. Their presence was so compelling that I got out of bed and began to sketch what I was seeing and write notes of the details if the images.

Two days later, an interior designer who sometimes commissioned me to create art for her clients called me and told me get her some sketches of women of all ages and cultural backgrounds, in ceremonial dress interacting together interdependently in a shared space. She was not able to tell me why she needed these drawings but conveyed that it was for an important project. Over time, I have grown to not be surprised by my dreams but, in this case, both she and I were stunned by the fact that I already had the rough drawing that she needed. I submitted the work to her and several months later, I was informed that my concept had been unanimously chosen by the Omaha YWCA Board of Directors to be recreated to commemorate their 100th anniversary.

It was both and honor and a joy to create "Sharing the Dance." As is the case in all of my major work, it became a part of me during the time that it was flowing from my mind and hands and taking form as colors, shapes and lines upon paper. "Sharing the Dance" felt like it was inspired, through me, by spirit. I continued to dream about it throughout the time that I was engrossed in its birthing and each woman that I drew spoke to me and became a manifestation of healing and awareness for the part of me that related to them. The majority of their clothing were adaptations of garments that I had designed and painted on silk fabrics, but two of the garments are embellished with motifs that are symbolic of the logo of the YWCA.

The completed work, a large mixed media drawing, hangs in the Omaha YWCA and it was reproduced and sold as a signed and numbered limited edition print. My most profound wish was that whomever saw the work would be able to experience the power of what I had felt while creating it. Later that year, the work was displayed at a large women's conference and the theme of the drawing was incorporated into a closing presentation. After the conference had ended, a young woman tearfully approached me and said that she wanted me to know the healing power she had felt while observing the picture and said that she had never before realized the significance of the support and community shared by women. Her words not only validated my work, but filled my heart with joy. My journey upon the path of artful healing for the human spirit had begun.

Information regarding purchasing of "Sharing the Dance" can be found here

Honoring the Dance

As a woman matures and enters into the phase of her life when she is considered elderly, her energy often turns to contemplating upon the legacy that she has created with her life. This part of her life reflects the qualities of the north on the medicine wheel. The north is focused upon wisdom, generosity of spirit and the path of right action.

In the energetic realm of the magnanimity of ones achievements being proportionate to their impact upon the world, the quality of size is nebulous. Seemingly small actions can have an immense impact that is far-reaching and enduring, while the flamboyance of what appears to be a massive achievement can project a minimal impact of little significance.

If she is wise, the elderly woman understands that her legacy is not an accumulation of wealth in the form of money, but in the wealth of her knowledge gained throughout life. Her legacy is the quality of love and compassion that she has received from and extended toward others. Her legacy is the wealth of her stories that can be shared with others that provide insight into the historical and cultural content of her life and that illustrate parallels of her behaviors and thought to those individuals who are younger than her.

The elderly woman draws upon all of the phases of her dance in this life to honor its complexity and totality. When she pursues life with a balanced and healthy perspective, she has the opportunity to nurture herself while honoring her needs on a deeper level and to rejoice more profoundly in the reverence of living. When she also extends her nurturing and wisdom to those who are beginning their dance, assisting them to honor themselves and to approach the dance with joy, the elderly woman stands in her true power.

A woman's legacy, in the end, is the invaluable asset of the gift of her Self and her willingness to be part of the dance.

Rejoicing in the Dance

This post is the third in the series of vignettes from "Sharing the Dance", the drawing I created for the YWCA in 1993. I call this segment, "Rejoicing in the Dance." It is representative of the time in a woman's life and in the maturity level of her energy, when she can experience the gifts available to her during midlife.

At this time, much contemplation is often experienced, assessing where she has come from, reviewing what she has accomplished and discerning what she now wants to achieve in her life from this point on. With her children raised, she may experience the empty nest syndrome, yearning for a way to express her nurturing. In response to this yearning, dreams she had tucked away and put on hold will begin calling to her. When she directs her creative energy toward this calling and channels it into joyfully embracing the fullness that this period of life has to offer she will remember dance steps she had forgotten, adapt old ones and construct new ones.

This is a time for self-actualization, when she stands strong in her style and the way she presents herself to the world, regardless of what current trends may dictate to the public. Through the passing of time and the many things she has experienced in life, she has earned the knowledge of what works for her and what does not. A woman within this time of her life does not feel intimidated by going against the grain. If purple is not the popular choice for current fashion, she will wear it anyway and with glorious aplomb.

This can be a time of freedom on many levels. The symbolic quality of the years when the sun is setting can provide her spirit with a brilliant panorama of warmth and illumination. She is in the symbolic time of autumn when change and transformation are occurring. Regardless of challenges that may be presented to her at this time, rather than being a time of midlife crisis, this time in a woman's life can be a time of new awareness's and new beginnings. These are the years when, more than ever, a woman can attain a deeper quality of comfort with change and a rich sense of embracing the minutes available in each day to learn more, experience more, love more, laugh more...and to rejoice more in being part of the dance of life.

Nurturing the Dance

All women are creators. They are born with the ability to carry and birth new life. It is female energy that allows both men and women to birth life into the inspiration of creative new ideas that become projects of all kinds: visual art, music, homes, gardens and businesses. All creative ideas are like our children and, like children, thrive and can become strong and independent when love and nurturing are directed toward them. Their energy eventually withers and dissipates when they are in an environment of anger or are forced to mature with an excessive focus upon power and control.

The female aspect of nurturing energy assists to provide open, heart centered communication and emotional support that can achieve rapid growth and positive change. The quality of nurturing adds the component of safety to the dance of life. Safety encourages freedom...freedom to walk our walk and talk our talk...and freedom to feel safe enough to adapt the steps in our dance of life when the way we were no longer works with what we have been presented in life. Life changes...always...and so the dance must change. If we are afraid to change, and subsequently feel out of alignment, our personal power withers and dissipates and we ultimately become angry. Our fear flourishes.

The nurturing essence of healthy female energy is like a soft warm blanket that encircles you. It fills you and surrounds you with love, for yourself, and for the people with who you interact. The dance of life, when directed by compassion and nurturing, glides and flows easily with joy and harmony.

Are you feeling in need of nurturing? Do you have new ideas, projects or employees that need you to direct your nurturing energy upon them? Are you needing to reaffirm the creative, nurturing aspect of your female energy? Focus upon this aspect of yourself and ask what dance steps this energy can assist you to inject into your life.

Beginning the Dance

Each of us is composed of both male and female energies. Each of these energies has its own unique gifts and challenges. Regardless if an individual is a male or a female, both of these energies are needed, in a balanced and healthy form, to allow them to act upon their intuition, to think creatively and to move forward and act upon these ideas systematically and consistently...to manifest their creative thoughts. Balanced male and female energy allows us to express our feelings, while at the same time, maintaining healthy boundaries.

The art above is one of four segments of a mixed media drawing, entitled, "Sharing the Dance," that I created in 1993 for the Omaha Nebraska YWCA. The complete work will be featured in a blog entry after all four of the segments are featured and discussed. Because the work was created for a woman's organization, it is about women. It is a journey through the growth of a woman, and symbolically, through the maturation of female energy.

This segment is about the invincible quality of youthful female energy. It assists us to remember that all things are possible when approached with joy and vitality. It reminds us that life is a dance...a dance that can be learned and a dance that we can create from our own personal rhythm. This level of female energy possesses both innocence and passion that can bring strength and healing when expressed from a place of balance. When out of balance these qualities can evolve into a victim mentality or excessive drama.

Do you feel like you need an injection of hopefulness? Are you missing the quality of playfulness in your life? Meditate upon the innocence and youthfulness of this facet of female energy, ask what is needed from you to remember this part of yourself...or think back upon a time when this quality was present in your life...remember it with as much clarity as you can and then breathe this awareness into you and allow it fill you up, nudging you to remember parts of the dance of life you have forgotten.

Passion & Peace (Mandalas for Peace Series)

The wellspring of peace lives within everything on earth, but it cannot flow freely when it is tended with apathy, rather than passion. Apathy causes us to detach from our passion and forget who we are; forget what we stand for…and, as I recently heard someone say, ”If you stand for nothing, you can‘t stand at all.” The indifference of apathy quenches the fires of passion.

Passion and peace….two dynamics that are seemingly very different and yet, peace cannot fully exist without the presence of passion. Passion is often thought if in relationship to fire and tumultuous intensity. Passion, in its true form, is the ability to live life fully; it is the quality of embracing life with joy; it is being fully present for each moment that is experienced; it is the quality of being committed to walking your walk and talking your talk. Passion does not have to be expressed loudly. It can be a continuous but slow burning fire that burns brightly, with occasional bursts of flames that can be seen more vividly.

Like the unending ripples formed from the action of throwing a pebble into a pond, your personal commitment to living your life with passion will activate an awakening within your soul, creating a deeper level of peace within you. The energy of your inner peace will ripple outward and into every aspect of your life and will impact upon the people with whom you interact. When you stand with passion and peace, you stand strong.

Seeds of Love (Mandalas for Peace series)

Several months ago, while checking out links on the web related to creative expression, I came across Cheryl Finley’s blog, Mandala Oasis ( http://www.mandalaoasis.blogspot.com/ ), which led me to her yahoo group site of the same name. I joined the group and have been repeatedly enriched by this connection. The group is comprised of predominantly women, but also include a few very creative men and everyone, male or female, is welcome. Over the months, I have found all of the members to be supportive of each other, incredibly creative and overflowing with stimulating suggestions for books to read , art techniques, supply resources and mandala prompts. The art presented for viewing in this group often takes my breath away.

Currently, many members of the group are involved in the creation of two Mandalas for Peace projects. One of the these is a card deck that 9 women have committed to produce. Each woman will create 9 cards that are symbolic representations of 9 themes: (Birthing/Transformation; Body/Mind/Spirit; Community; Creativity; Family; Ancestors; Nature; Right-Livelihood; Womanhood/Women/Woman) and the work will be completed in increments of 9 week cycles with a re-evaluation of the project occurring at the end of each cycle.

Yesterday, while facilitating a mandala group with six teen-agers in the residential treatment facility where I work part-time, I began to create the mandala pictured above. I find that when I create my own work with this group, it assists them to stay centered and focused upon what they are in the process of creating. My focus upon creating art that focuses upon going within to my center reflects back to them. The mandala, titled, “Peace Grows from Seeds of Love” reflects the birthing of peace and new possibilities that grow from a heart centered approach to life.

Love creates fertile soil for effective communication. Allowing seeds of love to take root in your life promotes the appearance of silver linings. When nurtured, seeds of love flourish to create a web of peace and strength that expands out from you and to everyone with whom you interact.

Papercuts

The other day I found a large colored pencil and graphite drawing I had done of my son, Jesse and my daughter, Annie, when they were ages three and 6 months, respectively. Because it was so large I had never framed it and it had become badly torn in places. I had always loved the drawing and felt that throwing it out was not an option. After getting past the sacrilege of thinking I should cut it up and create new, smaller and re-designed pieces from it, I picked up my scissors and cut. Once I started there was no option but to finish what I had started.

As I cut and pasted and altered the existing colors of the work, I thought of how each child had changed over the years and of how alike they still were from the way I had depicted them at that time. I contemplated, how my approach to creating art had changed since then. Tender thoughts of that time in my life flooded over me. The scent of baby lotion and talcum powder wafted up to me and I remembered the incredible softness of their skin at that age. As each thought emerged, I was shifted back in time, standing by the bed where they lay, sleeping, watching them with as much overflowing love as I had felt when I had originally been inspired to create the picture. I felt myself brushing back the dampness of their hair and listening to their gentle breathing as they slept.

The process of reinventing their portraits was validating and healing. It filled me with joy and re-connected me with a precious time frame I had forgotten. With each piece of the drawing that I cut and evaluated new placement and then glued into place, I felt a deep satisfaction at the significance of these changes: filling in some of the negative spaces with warmth and brightness; honoring and appreciating the details that created us as a family and re-designing old ways of interacting with each other to construct a new way to express the fabric of our lives.

The Essence of Details

The Japanese Geisha Moth shown above, is a large embroidered motif I created for the back of the silk Georgette kimono serape shown on the right. This garment was created for Opera Omaha's spring 2006 benefit auction that correlated with their production of Madama Butterfly. The exquisite sets and costumes for this opera were designed by artist Jun Kaneko and I wanted to honor my appreciation for his artistic excellence through the authenticity of the details of this garment. Based upon a serape style, it combined eastern and western styles, reflecting the lead character's beauty and angst. Butterfly, a geisha, desperately wanted to marry an American sailor with whom she had fallen in love, and to then move to America and merge with the western culture.

Although I do not usually invest this much time in creating a garment, over 100 hours were spent researching Japanese motifs and the story of this opera; hand dying the fabrics; carving linoleum block stamps; strategically block printing the motifs to create a more Western design influence in the front and an Eastern one on the back; embroidering the 8"x5" moth motif with delicate silk and metallic threads and sewing on tiny beads. Each stitch that I put into this project was a process of a mindful meditation. It created peace and happiness within me as I created it. Whatever we do with love radiates with the energy of love. Whatever beauty we create with a mindful intent shines that much brighter with a positive quality. Small details, although perhaps not always seen, will always be present in the overall essence of what we do.

Moths and butterflies symboliize transformation. As we enter Autumn, we are entering the time on the Medicine Wheel to go within and seek answers. We are preparing for spiritual hibernation and, like the butterfly, to cocoon some facet of ourselves. What thoughts and behaviors of yours are needing to be cocooned with love and given adequate time for their details to gestate and be changed into a new form that can take wings and fly?