Sunday, March 11, 2012

Day 12 ~ Rise Up ~ get funky ~


"Rise Up" by Laurie Kammer July 2011

Day 1) I am grateful for Rise Up! Those two words have completely changed my life since last June....My dear friend Rising Sun (that's his name =)) spent 3 weeks in the hospital with me and not only fed me and held me when I cried...he also helped me to create a name for my fundraising events and website ~ Riseuplaurie.com (created by another wonderful friend Taylor). The words were just perfect for the situation and for spreading the news...then a few months later I came to find out that there was a non-profit called Rise Up To Cure Paralysis and the founder David McCauley was working on beginning an adaptive art studio for artists living with Paralysis. I'm now a part of the Rise Up Gallery and helping to co-create the studio space. It's surreal because this has given my life a purpose that I was longing for before my injury when I was considering and almost enrolled in an Art Therapy master's program. I actually got accepted to a grad school while I was in the hospital....but life took me in a different direction. Instead, I became the one who needed the art therapy..and this injury has led me to meet David and the other artists...I was able to create artwork and have my first real gallery reception since being in college 5 years ago. I am so grateful for those two words...for Rise UP. They make me feel purposeful and empowered.

2) I am grateful for my techno gadgets. I have so many ways in which I am able to share with others. Without the network of communication...I'd be way more of a cave woman! Not being able to go out on my own or even get out of my house without assistance, I've missed being the nomad I once was. I've been shown that those who love you will come to you. I've spent hours with myself to contemplate my life, create artwork, connect with old and new friends, grieve, pray, and really enjoy being home. Technology is a wonderful tool for giving and receiving...there's really no limit to the possibilities. For the ipad I watch movies and skype on...the iphone...the apps...the computer..the design programs...I am grateful and I feel connected and supported. It's like another dimension where I live...where I can also create the life I want just as I am doing now in my woman cave =)

3) I am grateful for feathers! A few years ago my sister nick named me feather as a joke because I was so flowery and hippie chicky...and such a freakin nomad tree hugger. haha. Anyways...I began collecting feathers when I saw them and putting them into my artwork...and created my album "Rainbow Roots" under the name... Funky Feather. I love this...I think of birds and how they are able to view life from so many different perspectives. They can get down to the detail and pick the littlest bugs from the ground or soar way way up above and get the bigger picture. They sing their songs and are true to themselves...plus there is such a beautiful diversity. Love feathers...they make me feel funKy....unique...and remind me of my inner essence which flys free. (I can almost hear my sister saying it now...."she's such a freakin feather =))

4) I am grateful for Zee Avi. Random...but she is a musician I can't stop listening to lately. She's got a serenading...soothing...kinda cute but sexy sounding voice. Plus she plays ukulele and guitar...so gotta love that. I enjoy really merging into one musical style or album for a few weeks...if I like it that much...I think that when we are drawn to a certain style of music or if a specific song just has to be playing all the time, it is like a vibration or energy that our body needs. Eventually we move on from our first love syndrome...or maybe we don't and thats when we become the loving devoted fans. Whatever...I'm feeling funky still and I am diggin on her style. It feels like a summer day...a cool breeze...and day at the beach in Hawaii...floating in the water and sippin on a razzzzzberry lemonade

5) I am grateful for people who are genuine. I'm not sure if I am saying this right...but today I experienced being out in Morristown and I continue to notice the people who feel genuine...maybe it's just the feeling behind how they speak, how they move, how they smile at you as they walk by, or how they nod their head....hmmm. It's so strange viewing the world from the height of a child. Sometimes I get the "oh look at you down there" or "awwww that's a shame" or they ask my dad if they can help instead of asking me. I tell you...it's quite a strange and sometimes annoying experience. It's all perspective though and it's really just a practice in awareness. I am practicing myself - in speaking, but mostly, in listening with that feeling....this genuineness....haha I guess that's a word! score. It feels comforting to be received in this way. Genuine attentiveness... genuine smiles especially...it is a feeling of unity..that spark of connection where we see past the surface to the light within. (there I go again all feathery)

Ok clearly day light savings is getting to me...trying to get to sleep earlier tonight. Not quite sure if I'm ready for another 4 days in a row of physical therapy but don't really have a choice on that.

Onward I roll. love and NAMASTE =)

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