Meri's Musings

Are your dreams the right size? How have they shifted to keep up with you? What do you need to know  that you don't know already? Get quiet and listen to your inner wisdom.

Does it seem to you as if Time has accelerated, that events are flying by at a ridiculous pace? That there are so many layers to almost every situation, it's hard to pull them apart and make sure that what you think you know is really what is? Or maybe I'm just slowing down and think things are complicated  when they're not.

Haiku My Heart they sound the warning interloper in their midst one tall red tulip

"Enchanting Iris" ©2017 Meri Arnett-Kremian Surround yourself with beauty and revel in it. However you define it, notice it. Let it soothe your soul. The more we seek beauty, the more we find. Be a seeker of beauty.

Constant Cravings @2017 Meri Arnett-Kremian And for your listening pleasure k.d. lang .

Electrical Cyclone ©2017 Meri Arnett-Kremian Sometimes wishing and hoping won't get it done. You've just got to dig deep and do the thing you can't imagine having the resolve to accomplish.

Haiku My Heart Fairy Folk ©2017 Meri Arnett-Kremian fairy folk shimmer and float in bubbles of light Irish eyes smiling

Do you ever have the feeling that you're somehow outside yourself, just watching things unfold, somehow both present and outside time? Have you ever felt that you were outside, looking in, feeling like no matter what you do, you'll never fit in? Have you ever wished for the power to shape shift? Or a cloak of invisibility? Or a titanium case to protect your heart? Tell me all about it. I'm working myself up to do something that is the right thing to do, but will come at great emotional cost. I'm wishing and feeling a lot of things in the process. Has this ever happened to you? Maybe your story will fortify me for what lies ahead.

1. Reflections 2. Bunches of flowers in pails at the grocery store. 3. A glimpse of a rainbow (especially double ones). 4. The hustle and bustle of Pike Place Market early Saturday morning. 5. A well-dressed window display. 6.  Old layered posters and handbills, peeling and fading, and making their own shabby art. 7. Star magnolias, showing off their dainty blossoms.

Something about old things grabs my attention. They seem to hold a story that shiny, new things lack. With an old house, for example, I wonder who built it and whether  their life there was happy and -- if it's abandoned -- why it's sitting there unloved. You might remember that I like to photograph old things rusty things discarded things. Maybe that fascination develops as we age.

It's been a while since I worked in my "real" art journal, the one I collage and draw in after having painted the watercolor paper pages with liquid watercolors. Well. . .  painted is probably not an accurate depiction, since I usually saturate a wadded up paper towel  and smear the damp paint on, or maybe sponge it on. And then wait. And wait. Waiting for the page to dry. Then I begin to glue various things onto pages with Yes paste or acrylic gel medium. And wait again. It can sometimes take two or three days to find just the right things for the page, adhere them, and wait for the layer to dry so I can build in the next one. Meanwhile, the thickness of my art journal expands like an unruly waistline. Digital art journaling, on the other hand, is much tidier. And quicker. And just as layered and nuanced. I make these babies on Polyvore.com. If you're interested in learning how, email me (meriak@y

What with all the fake news circulating and reporters being excluded from the WH press room, it feels like some of our most cherished freedoms are under attack, what I think of as our closely held values are being turned inside out, and I feel demoralized.

Haiku My Heart "Strong Against the Storm" © 2017 Meri Arnett-Kremian/MeriMagic like a sentinel she stands, feet firmly planted strong against the storm

So. . . according to the time and place of my birth, my Sun is in Virgo. My Moon is in Scorpio. My rising sign (Ascendant) is in Aries. I tend toward perfectionism and can be critical, sometimes directing it at others but mostly toward myself. I have emotional depth and when I fall in love, I'm totally committed and expect the same of my Beloved (though my secret fear is betrayal). I like being active and my mind is quick. Knowledge is important to me, as is mastery of things that interest me. I tend to dive into things headfirst and sometimes I let myself go hogwild. . . and wear myself out. And often, once I know as much about something as I need to know, I lose interest and am off to the next shiny thing. What's your profile? (And I know that the good stuff applies, but the bad stuff is just so much bunk.)

I call this piece Hidden Message. You might wonder why. It's not the scribble marks or the random circles. No, buried in the deepest layer of the image, there's text that says Find Yourself No Matter How Long It Takes.  "Hidden Message" ©2017 Meri Arnett-Kremian/MeriMagic Sometimes we're so burdened down by expectations and social imperatives that we create multiple layers of artificial persona. These are often the roles we've assumed, but they're not the essential us that we brought with us into this incarnation and will carry with us  when our body no longer serves us. That essence is elusive for most people, at least to glimpse their own, but it will play peek-a-boo with you when you least expect it and it may shine outward so others can see it like a holy light. I wonder if, when you catch those glimpses, you expressed gratitude toward your Soul and the creative force from whi