My husband tells me that I'm no longer a beginning artist. So then why does my art look so amateur, with the strokes of a novice? Ok. Please don't answer that question. I've taken the path less traveled in terms of learning the art, and as they say, we usually are critical of our own work. My question is this: How do I get out of this slump?

I've been going through an "ugly art phase," which I confided to some friends about when they showed the preference for some journal pieces that I had ma...

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The other day my neighbor came over to invite us to his father's one year death anniversary. In India, people observe death anniversaries, but usually the first year is marked with a large meal, shared with family and friends.

That special day arrived today in the morning. In India, mornings are busy. Most housewives get up early to do their pujas, their prayers, sweep and clean, make an exhaustively prepared breakfast, iron bathe and dress everyone, eat, send their family off to work and s...

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New art is coming through me again. Finally, like one of Ray Bradbury's poems about his muse stealing down his arm and coaxing him to write; a stirring has begun again inside. Bradbury writes, "I do not write/ the other me demands emergence constantly..." Ok. I wouldn't say that my muse is constantly coaxing me into doing art or writing, but lately I've been rather productive. 
Art and writing make me happy.
I've been following an art course called 21 Secrets, which has a lovely online commun...
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But today I will talk about more art-making. Yes, I'm working with skill development in art, wh...

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Well, I'm very grateful, because this was my first painting lesson, aside from the lessons I received at a museum in San Francisco, California when I was 4...but that may not count. My Mother, ...

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Yes, I knew that it would eventually come down to this: watercolor painting is part of the “program” if I want to be an artist. Not that I've dreaded it. I've painted little pieces—1.5 X 3 inch tiny paintings. There is a resistance inside somewhere that I have to let go of if I want to “get with the program.” It's a little intimidating—so much water in watercolor—it's as if one has to be constantly aware of how much water is on the paper, and plan ahead with what one wants to do...
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Have you ever read a book that awakened something important for you? These past few months have been markedly insightful in my personal life, especially in relationship with living and “dying.” A number of people close to me returned to God these past two years...six people. In my spiritual practice, I believe that when we return to God, it will be the best time of our life, as we reunite and become one again with our source of inspiration. And this is why a celebration is due for our hom...
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Life in motion begins today. What does that mean? Today I had some thoughts that set many ideas in motion—and gave me hope for the future. Sometimes we can be bogged down with “this reality,” and for me, it happens more as a feeling, as I try hard not to keep up with current international events. Sure, the information reaches me in one way or another as I am in this world, but keep my focus on the Divine, mostly.

A few days ago a friend asked when I was going to finish my 100 painting...

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Today I'm breaking the silence. I hear the whirr of the tile cutter. I’m crouched on a very short plastic stool giving myself a sponge bath. This has been the norm for the past five months, using about one gallon of water and bathing over a bucket. We’ve had a combination of different incidents affecting our water supply, the most recent being that the water pump broke, and given that my husband was away for a while, we drew the water from the well with a small bucket and a long rope. R...

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In 1972, my county built a new shiny library that was one floor, and took up a quarter of a city block in my home town. The children’s librarian Ms. Staratt had a round, friendly face, and her whole body shook with a bubbly inspiration for children’s literature. The library became a kind-of day-care-center for my sister and me during the hot summers. While growing up, we were dropped off and would spend up to six air-conditioned hours daily, reading books in the comfortable lime-green c...

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Uncle Joe, my mother’s brother, gave me a wonderful gift. He showed me how to love Nature. Many times he’d come visit us, taking my sister and me out into the woods. He taught us how to identify local plants, animal tracks and scat. Joe Clopton was a biologist who spent a lot of his time in nature. In his spare time, he’d go up to the Mendocino National Forest, to the Yolla Bollys, where he examined his surroundings, counted the population of birds, p...

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My thirtieth high school reunion was amazing. Embracing many people, I was moved to tears, speechless with awe, amused, warmed, and cajoled by friends. Although we hadn’t seen each other for sometimes even 30 years—friends that somehow I may have even forgotten their name or face—they returned to my heart with joyful memories and fond regards. Past issues melted with love and forgiveness, and forgiveness of self. Words and insights will come later on ...

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The Shine

You shine behind 'India Shining,'
unnoticed by many, but not by all.
The boats cruising the backwaters
leave your unread signature,
unclogging the arteries of Kerala.
                                                           By Rajkumar Reghunathan

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There are changes indeed. Yes, I am splitting my blog into two separate entities, because I know that the audience who was interested in what I am doing in India isn't so interested in how I experience (and how they also might enjoy) God. And I know that my friends who read my blogs about God and are really enjoying my sporadic outbursts. And so I would like to let you know that I have a new website for my blogs about God and stuff. The following website I have created is for prayer. It's bes...
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We live in changing times. Many things are changing, even inside of ourselves. At best, we are getting stronger inside, learning from our mistakes and receiving deep spiritual insights that allow us more wisdom. And this is the time to be in action more, a time to fully experience life's wonderful gifts.

There is something that I'd like to write to you about today. It has to do with a small mechanism that is built inside of us--and this is not scientific, by the way, it's my own personal obs...

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A friend's friend wondered where God was. Actually, he denied His existence. And instead of writing an answer in small box, I opted for the bigger venue to answer. This is just my own experience. I don't expect anyone else to understand God the way I do, because we all come from such different backgrounds and have such different experiences. But I'll tell it how it is for me, and maybe someone will relate to it; maybe it might help someone in a small way, find his way back to God...

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I was asked to write about unconscious evil. But why such a subject if we are all interested in Love and Light? Because we unknowingly use it unconsciously. I only speak from my own personal spiritual experience. If you test it out for yourself, you may notice some of the same things that I'm writing about. This is a blog about spiritual healing from my insights. How much Good is good enough?

Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary has a lot to define as evil. a : morally reprehen...

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Being here on this earth, and living in these bodies is such a privilege, because they aren't really ours. They are on loan—like a library book, or bowling shoes, or roller skates. We must take care of them. We've been allowed to be here to learn lessons during our time on this lovely earth. And part of our task is to keep track of what we learn. And this is why we carry a tool box, because if a page gets ripped, a wheel falls off, or a shoelace breaks, we have the right tools to fix it. ...

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How can you know what is going on inside of other people if you barely know what is going on inside of yourself? I write this at the risk of bending a few egos here and there. But it's the truth. Many times we make assumptions about people, or judgments, or assessments, And this does not necessarily mean that they are accurate—but our mind registers this as a “fact.” And I know that some of my dear readers “have it all figured out” and “know it all.” Sometimes I still know it a...
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My dogs are barking up a frenzy. I had let them outside from the back porch—the safe place similar to a den or kennel—where I enclose them when life in India gets too stimulating. Today, the political candidates are working their precincts well, with the huge speaker boxes tied to small vehicles run by two-stroke engines. They look more like little rickshaws with a pickup bed in the back. Some vehicles are SUV’s with speaker towers that barely clear the electrical lines, plastered w...

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The other day I asked God to fill me up with his wisdom. This isn’t an unusual request for God. Actually, I begged like a child. Things in my life had become funny—like something needed to change. I live an Indian existence, so differently from my family in America. My values are so God focused, that sometimes the only things that I can talk about when I Skype home are gardening and healing. This is fine, but it must get boring for some who might rather have different conversations. M...

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Dear Friends,

People write to me to tell me how they admire what I am doing, or to ask me how I do it, how do I live in India? Last night someone from France asked me what from America do I miss? These are subjects that I have written about previously, but for my new friends I will quickly recapture these questions and a few other themes.

Yes, coming to India to live full time was a very strong decision...following my man anywhere was my intention. There is a lot to be said ab...

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Dear friends, this past month I became a mother. A friend from high school sent me her daughter—then 17—to visit my husband and me in India for a month. We were thrilled. We worked hard to prepare our old Indian house, so that it would be in good working order for our new youngster. We put in a new bathroom, complete with a western toilet, sink and shower area. We touched up the paint, and brightened our living room with a new table cloth.

During all of this preparation, I didn’t ...

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Let's Cook today! We are making a fusion food. Fusion food means that we are integrating two different cuisines, or fusing them together.  A food hybrid of sorts. Today we are cooking "Indo-Italian!" The following recipe is my favorite food to make when I begin to feel the "rice fatigue" of Indian food. I love rice, but sometimes eating rice two or three times a day for a Westerner can be too much. Today's fusion food is Pasta with Fish or Prawn Curry, which is a very rich and thick coconut s...
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Sending you so much Love and Cheer for the whole year!  May you love and be loved. May you feel love and harmony in your hearts, and peace within yourself. All the best to you, your friends, and your family. Greetings from India!

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Spiritual strength and maturity come from developing good habits during our daily living. This may sound funny to you—it did to me—that we have a “spiritual routine” during the day. The constant observance of our creator, our “unseen” helpers and guides or whomever you call on for divine guidance, cause a change in us. Depending on your source of inspiration in which you connect, will either result in developing spiritual weakness or spiritual strength.

Depending on which ...

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The other day I forgave someone for something that caused a deep sadness inside of my heart, a lingering pain, even though we had had an “everything is fine now” status for years. Afterwards, I noticed a considerable change. I was more relaxed, and felt happier (even still) than I have been. We can have an intellectual knowing of forgiveness, but when it comes down to it, the feelings and the thoughts that come from the heart are the main substance of our existence. I'd pret...

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When the world is spinning around me with all of its hurricane-like symptoms, I remain calm. Sometimes I sit in the eye of the storm here in India, and God keeps me safe. I sing a song, recite spiritual text, and keep the other elements far away from my heart. I don't think about the “not good.” They are just symptoms. This is the kind of world that I live in, where all challenges and burdens turn around for the Good. Everything is good in my world. Even friends and family who are h...

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In 1995, the summer before my first trip to India with my university, I drove across America by myself. I was driving my grandmother's six cylinder Buick, pulling a six-foot trailer packed with my “life,” as I was planning on living in North Carolina, USA, forever. I love my country, the land, the people. They are truly unique. The idea of permanently living in North Carolina, however, shortly changed a few months later, when I traversed Indian soils. “You know, Susan, they say th...

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Today I swept the yard early. It had just rained the night before. More bright yellow leaves from the star fruit tree behind our house have fallen with the water, and the wet sandy path around the house is sprinkled with purple jacaranda flowers and neem leaves. The familiar tropical scent when it rains fills me up with joy.

The sound of sweeping is the first thing that you hear early in the mornings in India. It is like a sacred movement of energy, putting one's life into order, an...

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Today I was cooking in God's kitchen. I cook every day. This is no ordinary kitchen, it's God's kitchen.  Everything in it belongs to God, and humans have the job to apprentice with God. This kitchen is like a laboratory. It is here that we create the sweet sauce of life. In this creation we are offered free will to make whatever we please, and that includes quite a menu. With God as lead Chef in this kitchen and guardian angels as assistants, we have all kinds of tools to create at wil...

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Oh, the delicate things of life, such as a single fine grain of sand, the loving, lingering eye contact from your beloved, the cell membrane of a flower. What do all of these things have in common? When we make time to grasp on to life's tender details, we begin to observe God's “fine print,” the reason that we are really here.

Relationships and friendships are so important. We are similar to cells and grains of sand, that we all participate and respond and react with each other. ...

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Tomorrow is Onam, a holiday celebrated worldwide exclusively by the people of Kerala. Onam includes all religions, and is a state holiday. This is my favorite holiday, because it reminds me of Christmas and Thanksgiving at the same time. Onam is a harvest festival that celebrates the abundance that God has given us. We give clothing or money to our family members and employees, or to people who perform services for us—such as our fisher woman, our trash collectors, and our coconut harvester...

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