A Small Departure

I'm kickin' up my heels and traveling today, and it's important to get on the road early if I want to make that fantastic concert awaiting me at the other end of the highway;

...therefore, this morning you're being offered a couple of blog posts written by two fantastic bloggers whom I follow regularly. 

Clicking on their names will take you to pieces that are especially enjoyable written by Seth Godin and Chris Guillebeau. Should you decide to explore their work, I doubt you will regret it.
Stories and photos from this untamed life on purpose will come again soon!

Have a lovely Wednesday ~ mlp

Work and Play = Contentment

As has become a part of my pattern, since we're within the first few days of the new month I'll offer a couple thoughts and links about the past month's postings that were "highlights.”

March was a full month, even with a two week hiatus from active posting. There were over 375 unique visits to the Martha Phelps Studio blog page and the visitor counter is starting to push toward the 1000 mark! Thank you all for the honor of being a part of your busy days.

I’d have to say that my favorite post this last month was one that didn’t even appear on my own own blogsite, but the site that was created as a community venue for sharing information about my son’s experience with leukemia. Day One Hundred Ninety-One shares the news and reality that is nearest to my heart and our family.

The posts Faith, Cartoon Sampler and Simple Monday Message are meaningful to me because they include a wide variety of artwork - from images that come through the camera lens to some of the painting I’ve been doing this past year to the whimsy of a quirky sense of humor conveyed through very rough computer-mouse generated cartoons. Making and sharing visual images is a joy.

Once Upon A time in Luning scratches the surface of the journey that was made to Death Valley, CA  - and there are more stories yet to unfold from that adventure, while Extending Life’s Radius was an extremely personal revelation that I took a risk in sharing, but what the heck - how else do we all learn, except by showing up and showing who we truly are?

This whole public journal is a part of the commitment I have made to continue to reinvent myself, even at 47. I loved getting Seth Godin’s blog today, Accepting Limits, where he succinctly talks about this very notion. I hope you’ll take a moment to check it out, and I hope you’ll continue to look in on what is happening here with An Untamed Life On Purpose.

Those of you who are fans through Facebook, thanks for inviting your friends and companions to also become followers. I mainly use that page to post my blog, but also offer regular interesting quotes and (hopefully) provoking questions.

This photo, a new profile shot, was taken by good friend, Jim Schlight. Yes, I really am that happy with a camera in my hands! I hope you all have work and play that make you just as content. 

Have a wonderful day. ~ mlp

The Making of a Groove

Before one can actually "get into the groove" there needs to be one in existence.

I was kindly informed by a follower yesterday that my pieces are too long. I agree, and beg allowances and forgiveness due to the infamous learning curve of one trying something new.  

While I've read that the "best" blogs are about 250 words, I suspect that the length of my entries will fluctuate according to topic, degree of motivation and/or opinion and time. Every blog is unique and their purposes vary. I sense that one of the natures of this particular blog is that it bend toward organic and liberated spontaneity.  Because my platform is the untamed life I'm currently experiencing, and particularly the situation of having a family member with a cancer diagnosis, there's a huge degree of "let's see what shows up today" in this exercise (and I mean that literally, metaphorically, and on multiple levels of this blog's purpose).

Be the entries long or short, it's tough to fathom what insights I can possibly share, or who may be interested, or if I'm skilled and articulate enough to produce something worthwhile for another. I'm committing to this process, and although I have no idea where it will lead,  I hope it will be positive. Seth Godin he says that he believes writing a blog is "a lot like curating a sound on the saxophone. Training helps, listening to records helps, but mostly you blow a lot until you resonate and then repeat, prune, experiment, prune, repeat, prune until a groove occurs."

I've started curating.