{"id":1293,"date":"2012-01-12T11:46:24","date_gmt":"2012-01-12T19:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisathorpeartist.wordpress.com\/?p=1042"},"modified":"2012-01-12T11:46:24","modified_gmt":"2012-01-12T19:46:24","slug":"cleaning-the-only-thing-to-do-when-the-muse-wont-come-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lisathorpe.com\/index.php\/2012\/01\/12\/cleaning-the-only-thing-to-do-when-the-muse-wont-come-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleaning: the only thing to do when the muse won\u2019t come."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A new altar for the new year, an ode to rebirth<\/p><\/div>\n

Well I took a 3-week hiatus from the blog and the regular flow of life and art.\u00a0 I spent time with family and friends and had both hectic and restful days in the mix.\u00a0 The idea of a vacation, or at least the ideal, is to go away and break the patterns and get reenergized and renewed.\u00a0 That\u2019s all good and there is definitely a piece of that in taking a break but another piece of it is messy.\u00a0 I mean literally messy. For the weeks before vacation there is all the hustle and bustle of getting ready to be gone and then upon return all the putting away sorting and through what didn\u2019t get done. When I returned to my house and my studio and regular life and time, after the Christmas tree came down and the furniture was put back in place, there was an underlying uneasiness, an unsettled feeling, I couldn\u2019t keep on task, and I certainly could get anything creative done. For me there was only one solution, cleaning.\u00a0 The layer of dust in my house was daunting; I had been able to disregard it in the low and lovely light from the Christmas tree, but no more.\u00a0 There was no ignoring now.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t help that we are having an unusually warm January; with the screen door open in the middle of the day\u2026there was nothing better to kick my creative malaise than to don the rubber gloves, fill up the bucket with detergent and arm myself with a hearty stack of rags.\u00a0 Five laborious hours later from ceiling fan to baseboard, my house was clean.\u00a0 All that sweeping, scrubbing and dusting set this teetering porcelain vase that is my emotional self squarely back on a firm dust-free shelf ready to be filled.\u00a0 Now my studio!<\/p>\n

This is a favorite poem by Rumi that is about being swept out whether you are ready or not and embracing what comes.\u00a0 It seemed to fit my mood for the week, hope it inspires you too.<\/p>\n

The Guest house<\/span>
\nThis being human is a guest house.
\nEvery morning a new arrival.<\/p>\n

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
\nsome momentary awareness comes
\nas an unexpected visitor.<\/p>\n

Welcome and entertain them all!
\neven if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
\nwho violently sweep your house
\nempty of its furniture,
\nstill, treat each guest honorably.
\nHe may be clearing you out
\nfor some new delight.<\/p>\n

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
\nmeet them at the door laughing
\nand invite them in.<\/p>\n

Be grateful for whoever comes,
\nbecause each has been sent
\nas a guide from beyond.
\n-Rumi<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the break my husband, Jack, revised my website, adding to the Mandala Challenge page as well as a new page of iPad art. Check it out lisathorpe.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well I took a 3-week hiatus from the blog and the regular flow of life and art.\u00a0 I spent time with family and friends and had both hectic and restful days in the mix.\u00a0 The idea of a vacation, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[37,88,96],"tags":[236,347,553],"class_list":["post-1293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-inspiration","category-spiritual","tag-cleaning-house","tag-finding-the-muse","tag-ode-to-rebirth"],"yoast_head":"\nCleaning: the only thing to do when the muse won\u2019t come. - 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