Category Archives: Reflections

Melatonin

I was doing so well. I haven’t thought about the situation in ages. Too busy trying to improve at work, I suppose.

Then today I woke up… with an immense overwhelming feelings of love for you. It was so hard to wake up this morning, I almost just stayed in bed – my medication was out anyway, I would’ve felt like shit the rest of the day.

With having a melatonin induced rest I was able to get up without problems. Once my mind was focused elsewhere, I was able to move past those feelings and regain my strength. The rest of the day was fine.

Then when I came home and logged on to facebook. I saw your beautiful face – and I broke down – a wave of emotions hit me.

I wondered how you were – trying to tune in using psychometric energy. I picked up you were single and not in a place to pursue anyone.

I clenched the blanket and wrapped it tighter around me. I just want this living nightmare to be over. I want so many things. Sometimes when I think about it, I feel so, so empty.

I miss the way you moved, the way you made my heart sing. The warmth I felt, the energy… and my biggest fear is that I will never find someone that will make me feel that way again.

Which is why I hold on. But holding on is a bit self-destructive. 

Full Moon Effect

Full moon effect! I have this. My co-workers (even my boss!) have noticed a pattern in my behavior at work. I was talking to the other designer and jokingly said that the full moon effects me. I become super psychic and creative during the week of the full moon (and a little bit after) and while there are mystical and spiritual folklore surrounding this, I needed facts! The downside of all this is that I don’t sleep very well which affects my behavior at work as well but that’s a different story.

I was trying to do some research on the effect because I want to tell my boss somehow that I have this and it’s seriously a thing for me but I know he won’t take it very seriously. I just don’t know how to tell someone who has a position of power over me that the full moon effects my behavior at work… thankfully the other designer believes in it.

WELL, I found a very interesting article on positive and negative ions and it’s correlation to the full moon. Apparently, positive ions increase during the full moon which causes hyperactivity, depression, violent behavior, road rage, higher occurrences of migraines and asthma. And my behavior specifically is referring to mistakes, difficulty concentrating amongst other things. Furthermore the article states, “Bank employees went from an error rate of 2.5% before negative ion generators were installed, to an error rate of 0.5% while working in negative ion enriched air.” I can’t believe it! There was something there about mistakes! Maybe this erratic pattern can finally be over and things will be restored to normal. I just need to find a negative ion generator to place on my desk at work.

I have known that a Himalayan Salt Lamp produces Negative ions naturally and I have a Himalayan Salt Lamp at home and when I first got it it has affected my sleep better and just made me feel overall better.

Off to go find me a negative ion generator for my desk! I’ll link the papers and articles I found on this below.

1) http://www.policeops.com/full-moon-ion-effect.htm

2) http://www.quantumenergywerks.com/documents/Ionization101.pdf

3) http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/spiritualscience/spiritualeffectofmoon_on_man

 

 

Crystal Garden – Orange Calcite

b0fccac6853d11e39b73121f05e73e5c_8I have been slowly building a crystal garden on my desk at work as an experiment – but also as a therapeutic remedy for certain things I struggle with. And building it based on intuitive feelings rather than intellect – meaning choosing to place crystals there based on what ‘feels’ right or what I’m drawn to. I don’t think I did a whole lot with this in the beginning of working there, but it wasn’t until Imbolc where I started putting the loose incense underneath to enhance the crystals and put the dish there to contain the incense. The incense – acting as potpourri – is associated with the current sabbath. So now, I have incense for Imbolc and recently my incense for Ostara came in, which I’m planning on switching in next week. And for those who know, Imbolc is all about purity, growth and re-newal. And ironically that’s what this past month has been all about at work. What went down at work materialistically, is supposed to create a new beginning on the spiritual and emotional levels of the people working there.

That sphere there, is orange calcite…

it helps integrate the spiritual realm with the physical body, enhances creativity and working with emotional issues. It is said to energize and cleanse the lower chakras as well as Sacral chakra to enhance will and remove depression. It can bring higher insights from the upper chakras down into the lower chakras for processing so they can be used in a more instinctual way without needing extended thought. Orange Calcite can bring insights into the causes of apathy or lethargy, allowing one to take back control over one’s life. Orange Calcite’s vital energy can serve as a catalyst for the release of past traumas that have been holding you back, allowing for optimism and joy to come in. Those experiencing depression will benefit from Orange Calcite’s infusion of bright vibrations into the lower chakras. Physically, Orange Calcite helps with urinary tract disorders; liver, spleen and kidney function; incontinence; sexual dysfunction, and chronic fatigue. [source]

I probably shouldn’t be too surprised that I was able to deliver that letter to my boss at the end of January… or be strong willed enough to put up with being reprimanded constantly throughout mercury retrograde…  and it doesn’t surprise me at all that my psychic ability has gotten stronger too. Everything that has seemed to have happened in the past month and a half seems to be associated with the orange calcite stone. Despite feeling a bit defeated with being reprimanded … I felt really strong – a feeling completely different from the way I felt while working at the tearoom.

Recently I added a good chunk of Malachite to the dish. When I went to go visit Lauren at Groundings in Florence, MA, a nice piece of Malachite drew me in and I picked it up right away! I later looked at the metaphysical properties and chuckled:

Malachite has been used to aid success in business and protect against undesirable business associations. It is a stone of balance in relationships. [source] Malachite is a protection stone, absorbing negative energies and pollutants from the atmosphere and from the body. It guards against radiation of all kinds, clears electromagnetic pollution and heals earth energies. [Hall, 183] Keep near microwaves in the kitchen and televisions in living areas. In the workplace Malachite protects against noise, over-bright fluorescent lighting, and harmful rays from technological equipment, negative phone calls and emails. [Eason, 283] Malachite is known for being a stone of support for airplane and airline workers as a protection against accidents, miners for protection from unexplained accidents, and for secretaries to stimulate clear thinking. [Mella, 129,132-133] [source]

$_57Previously I’ve added stones such as hematite, sodalite (releasing tension), carnelian, lepidolite and started off with quartz and orange calcite.

Today, I bought a 2″ Septarium stone that  generally speaking is good for communication. I want to see if its effects will change anything in the work place. Crystals work best when they are put in plain sight, but are not being paid attention to.

 

The Septarium stone properties are:

This stone coheres spiritual groups, aids public speaking, and healers use it for diagnosis and insight into the cause of disease. Septarian is an excellent support for self-nurturing, caring about others, and caring for the earth. It incubates ideas and helps bring them to fruition. It harmonizes emotions and intellect with the higher mind. [source ] Septarian brings calming energies which have a nurturing feel to them, and can bring feelings of joy and spiritual uplifting. Septarian is used to enhance and nurture communication with groups, making it much easier to speak clearly and kindly in group settings. Septarian is a “concretion” stone. Concretions are protective stones, providing both grounding and shielding of the physical, mental, and emotional bodies. It is a stone for regulation of spiritual, mental, and physical prowess. It promotes both calming and understanding on the emotional level. It is also quite useful in determining the direction in which to progress. Septarian loves to be held, emanating a loving, kind, and sincere energy pattern. It is said to be a speaking stone and enhances communication on multiple levels. [source]

Considering the stone is associated with the element of fire, I want to predict that it will have the strongest effects on the fire and air signs – which are most of the signs I work with. Perhaps instead of headbutting each other all the time, we may actually appear to be all on the same page.

I also purchased a small tiger eye sphere to place there as well;

Tiger’s Eye is a balancing and grounding stone that helps soothe emotional turmoil. It promotes courage and strength, confidence and protection. Tiger’s Eye is also a psychic protector that guards against negativity. Tiger’s Eye softens stubbornness. It helps you to see things in the best light and enhances your connection with your own personal power and will, thereby encouraging self-clarity. Tiger’s Eye helps you to find the most positive way to reveal your true inner light. It helps show you when to take action in a situation and when to wait. It is therefore, a great stone to help achieve goals. Tiger’s Eye is a good luck stone that attracts wealth and money. It aids in manifesting ideas into reality and in bringing Heaven to Earth. [source]

I’m excited to see what new effects these crystals will bring to the workplace and to discover more about their energies.

An open reflection on mistakes

You have learned well, my friend. To value personal relationships over money is something that we should all learn. I am very pleased with how you handled things this past week. Yes, loosing money is bad… but money is tangible… it can be regained. And I know I have a lot of work to do… but meaningful relationships cannot be regained – sometimes.

I lost a meaningful relationship once. And working with you is healing that… I have been carrying regret and a lot of baggage because I feel like I fucked up that meaningful relationship and because of it I lost it. It was a mistake to express myself to them – because by doing so it caused me a lot of heartbreak. This is a strange time for me… I know mistakes aren’t always forgiven, but when it does happen… I find it healing. 

I hope you realize this? The mistakes I’m making aren’t necessarily because I’m not looking/seeing things… but I feel like they come from my subconscious because I am consciously thinking about how I fucked up my relationship. It’s a karma thing see.

Karma is not how most people see it. It comes in cycles, and is depicted in a big wheel in the sky and when you are in one, you have 12 months of positive events and 12 months of negative events alternating in a six month interval. I see it turn in the cards, and know when certain events happen based on solely that knowledge. I am in a karmic cycle and it started when my relationship ended.

Everyone who you meet in a Karmic cycle is going through one as well and is either going through the same lesson you are or ones you’ve already been through so you can teach them. We all meet each other when we’re supposed to, to galvanize lessons and to teach each other certain things.

I wish I can tell you what I am seeing… because based on recent events I can almost guarantee that things are going to get better. That wheel turns in March, around the Spring solstice, and these past six months have been rather trying. The good news about the wheel turning is that things will become more positive for the next six months in all areas of life. And because we seemed to have both learned our lessons, it will be really good for all of us.

 

 

 

Work-place tarot reading

Sometimes my co-designer Krista and I hang out at the shop after work and I do readings. The last time it happened was this time last month during the week of the full moon. I bought a tarot deck of celtic orgin as this area reminded me of the Druids and Celts because of the woods. Last month I read about a new salesperson my boss was looking to hire. I saw some pretty sleazy stuff happening with the new salesperson and that this person was a karmic test for my boss. If he hired the new salesperson a storm would take place and things will eventually be forgiven.

However, my boss didn’t end up hiring the new salesperson (which meant that I was still the new kid) and the events are still taking place and I’m taking the hit since I’m the weakest link (though I’m not doing anything sleazy – same events, same affects, different causes). Because it’s Karmic the events still happen no matter what. Things at work have been obviously rough these past couple days and I’m starting to rethink things. Venus retrograde just became direct, so I feel like my relationship to my boss will be better at the end of the month (in two weeks).

Ironically, that’s the amount of time my boss told me that I had to clean up my act or it will be the end of me working there… However, Mercury is retrograde and I began working at MMPNE during a mercury retrograde – just a month after my Karmic wheel turned which was last September. My Karmic wheel turns again next month and Mercury becomes direct at the end of this month but calms down for the first two weeks in March. I am home today due to the snow storm we’re having and took the time to start applying to other positions. I found an ad on craigslist for a position out in Ellington, CT where it will be the reverse of what I’m doing now. More focus on design creation and less on the pre-production and post-production. And Ellington, CT isn’t that far away from me from Longmeadow, MA.

In minutes I got a response and the interviewer was ironically doing phone interviews today – the interview went really well. I just need to play my cards right and pay attention to the subtle energies at play here. I am given two weeks at MMPNE and within those two weeks at home I have to juggle landing a position and then announce my leave at MMPNE at the right time. SO MUCH DELICACY. DAMN YOU UNIVERSE!

I am so heartbroken that things aren’t going well at MMPNE. I love the people I work with, I love what I do as my job, but it is too much juggling for me to handle on top of healing, on top of loosing my bosss’ patience… on top of moving my studio to Western Ma… I am seeking stability damnit!

Changing the Course of the Future

I did something really hard this past week and I’m quite satisfied with myself that I was able to pull through.

Things at work have been really crazy and my work dynamic with my boss has been intense and from my perspective it was really dragging me into the ground – mentally, emotionally and physically speaking.

I saw for a moment in time two directions my life at work could go in. One in a really positive, happy direction and the other where I was always miserable and feeling quite helpless – and I freaked out. If I continued on this path, the mistakes I had been making I would keep making and things would just become extremely tense. If I made an intervention and apologized things would go in a happier, carefree, positive direction…

I did not have the strength to do what I had to do when I had to do it. But it needed to be done, otherwise things would’ve gone horribly wrong.

I told my boss what I’ve been dealing with roughly for the past 9-18 months. I wrote him a letter and apologized for the shit that went down at work.

Strangely, I have found a sense of healing from doing so. I’m not sure if its’ because I could finally tell someone what I’ve been going through that I trusted or if it was just supposed help me gain some closure or what. But I feel like a load has been lifted from me.

The tension at work has calmed down and things are back to normal. It is very rare for me to see directions of where my life could go so clearly like that. Moments like this are when I’m very glad I am psychic and could see and pick up things like that.

Studio Wrap Up #1

My first studio wrap up!! I’m sitting here in my studio after having coffee with a former high school teacher. We ended up talking for 2 hrs and I didn’t get to Beverly until 2 pm. I’m having lunch from Green Papaya, a Vietnamese food restaurant that’s downstairs and trying to figure out the best use of my time. I COULD set up the darkroom and spend a couple hours making negatives only to put everything away… OR I COULD sit at my computer and work on my schedule for next year.  HMM. What to do? I do have tomorrow, so I am definitely planning on coming here early tomorrow to make negatives. I think I may just end up working on my calendar for next year.

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My first project in the studio was a sculpture project for my art residency proposal which ended up being a TOTAL FAIL. I ended up submitting something, but it was only after much headache to finally toss this idea out. Kind of sad that my first project in my studio was a fail. But the first time you do anything you don’t normally get it done right.

 

 

 

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To the right is a photo of the epic failness. The sculpture block did not solidify the way I expected it to and thus could not carve it the way I expected to. I think I didn’t buy the right type of plaster even though Dick’s said that it was a good plaster for carving. Phooey.

 

 

 

 

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To the left is what I ended up submitting long with an explanation. It’s not that clear as a photo alone, but my project is to take an existing photograph and to translate it into a 3-dimensional sculpture of that photograph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Studio 19 had it’s first opening reception! Which went very well and a lot of the people who showed up were interested in purchasing the artwork. I also established a partnership wit The Healing Center in Beverly. They want to use my process and I want to use their outreach and clientele for my personal projects on spirituality.

 

 

 

 

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AND most importantly, the first ever paper negatives were made in my studio. The process isn’t perfect, but I now feel like I’m going somewhere with this space. Everything is coming together and I’m producing things!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Next, I made my In/Finite Earth experience memo board. I’m hoping to, as I gain more experiences in the art field, to make more of these. I used encaustic board so the paper is a bit thicker and I can nail it to the wall if I wanted to as a base. Then covered it with print outs of the postcard that had everyone’s art on and printed out pictures and bought scrapbook materials that reflected the trip. I really enjoyed this project!

 

 

 

 

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And last but not least, Cabot Street Studios has its’ first Holiday Open Studios!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s coming up:

Exploration in Papermaking

– Using the dried flowers from my kirlian photography and the recycled paper from work to create a work of art.

– Oceanic Kirlian Photographic Prints. Using organic materials from the ocean to produce kirlian photographs

– developing a portable darkroom…

– and much more to come! 🙂

Holiday Open Studios at Cabot Street Studios

162c838c5e1011e3b0391231e80ea787_8Thursday I came home from Enfield to attend the Holiday Open Studios at Cabot Street Studios. We had really bad weather so we think that that kept some people at home. We had a bit of a turn out, but there was definitely food left over. I was able to show my studio and do some positives of the paper negatives I had already made. Unfortunately my device stopped working again and my Dad has to work on it. Also the paper negatives did not completely develop so the positives came out grey and not black. Process still not perfected, but soon it will be! But overall, I was glad to have been there and socialize with the artists that were there.

 

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Haymarket

  Tonight I drove out to Northampton, Ma and met Kim the owner of The Boxcar Gallery – (yes this gallery is really in an old boxcar) at the Haymarket Cafe! I had their hot chocolate and their Fried Egg and Mozzarella sandwich. The sandwich was a little too much food than I expected but I enjoyed it overall. Kim asked me about my photographic process and I asked her about the arts in western Massachusetts. She had also asked me for a tarot reading and I gave her one at the end. Never been to Northampton (or “Noho”) before and it reminded me of Bethlehem – but holy shit did I feel at home in Northampton! It’s definitely a city I’d like to explore more. The funny thing with meeting Kim is that she had seen my artwork in Pomfret before I submitted my work to her as she grew up in Pomfret. It was a cool moment for me because I was all, “WOAH! MY ART IS GETTING RECOGNIZED!” I seriously hope this job in Enfield continues because I’m falling in love with this area.

One step forward, five steps behind.

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One can’t just move on. When someone says to me, “Just move on”. It’s not that easy and those words just make me angry. It’s hard to forget a moment in your life when you were floating on a cloud in heaven, with someone who is filling a piece of your heart that you’ve been yearning for all your life.

It’s hard to forget a moment in your life when that same person pushed you off that cloud and you landed on the ground and it broke every inch of your body (and heart) into a million pieces. But, yet somehow you are still living.

  • Somehow you wake up everyday and face the pain.
  • Somehow you still seem to live on, in a whole new world without them.
  • Somehow you go about your day and not break down with every thought about them that enters your head.
  • Somehow you have created a new life, a life that excludes them, when just 5 months ago they were your everything.
  • Somehow you are forced to think that they do not believe in true love and happiness and that they don’t see the same in you as you see in them.
  • Somehow you have to live on without contact from them, which makes it even more painful as they convinced you that they’re living a normal life, one without pain.
  • Somehow you just live, knowing you had the feeling of living in ecstasy and then it all came crashing down on you tearing apart your heart and soul.

18 months later, it may be all a memory but the ghost of the pain still exists and haunts you every day. A pang in the heart, a pang of yearning, desire, longing to return to that cloud in heaven – yet you have to look up at that cloud from the ground and pick up the pieces slowly and continue to heal.

Artiste Marketplace and a New Calling

DSC_0115This weekend I participated in the Artiste Marketplace sponsored by Artiste Art and Craft Studio.  I didn’t sell anything but I gave away a lot of marketing material which is always a good thing. As usual, people were generally interested in my artwork and spent time asking questions and looking through the portfolio. I’m glad I had that experience. I even met someone who wants to do a trade – teaching her photo processing and her teaching me Reiki. In the past week that was the second time my artwork has attracted Reiki practitioners. I met the Owner of  ‘The Healing Center’ in Beverly at my reception last Tuesday who is also a Reiki practitioner. It makes sense that I’m attracting these type of people because Reiki is all about using the life force energy to heal people. The owner of ‘The Healing Center’ wants to do a collaboration with me and my process which I mentioned in my post about the Studio19 reception. I went on their website and I found a class about plants – too perfect for my usage! I’ve been wanting to use the medicinal properties of plants in my artwork some how. And I love that it’s only one Thursday a month. I signed up for the December class since next week is a little to soon for me. I’ll have to leave work early, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I’m excited to see where my artwork is taking my professionally and spiritually. 🙂

Minuteman Press Recap

1456633_2258532223081_205963381_nSo it’s been my first 7 days at my new job as graphic designer at Minuteman Press New England. It’s been fantastic! The work is cool, my boss is great and my co-workers aren’t too bad either ;-). I kinda enjoy the fact that some of the work I do isn’t always considered design. For example, sometimes its’ editing copy on excel or recreation of previous artwork for a new customer. I’ve also been able to use my psychic abilities too which always makes for a good time. I had made a comment the other day about my monitor not being as big as what I’m used to and my boss asked what size I was used to and I said about the mac that was sitting on the desk to the left. He was like, ‘you know you aren’t getting a mac’. I was like aw shucks, lol. But he bought me a new monitor the same size during lunch and its’ supposed to be of similar size – so we’ll see. I had a really rewarding experience so far where I had a design project to create a new design for a business card for a local frame shop. They wanted ornate scrolling full bleed and a golden frame in the center around the logo. I just went with what I was seeing in my head and she ended up really liking it as it matched her ‘vision’. She just didn’t like the typeface I used, which was OK with me because I had mixed feelings with the typeface anyway. Another design project I did lately was a letterhead for a local Grammar School which I included in this post. It’s still a bit surreal to me that I’m finally working in my field – a position I’ve coveted for so long.