July 15th:
Hello! My name is Mela, I love the fPOE community and so wanted to give the “Day in the Life” challenge a shot :)
At this juncture of my life, I am a self-employed “multi-artist,” as my partner calls me. My business has multiple facets, including my photographic ventures, but I also read astrology charts and have a very strong interest in internal healing arts and martial arts and do a bit of teaching. As such, on any given day I’m usually engaged in a number of different things, and it’s perpetually changing. These days my photo business is the highlight, as I’m in the busiest season of the year, doing weekly art markets, and attempting to strengthen my online presence for the off-season!
July 15 was a nice, pleasant and mellow day for me, and I really liked taking pictures all day – it made me appreciate the little things more, instead of always flying by the seat of my pants! Ha!
So with all that – here it is! My day in the life…
…
Every morning when I wake up I always look out the window first thing. Basically, I guess, I’m checking the weather and trying to figure out what time it is. I live on the north side of the mountain so I can usually tell by where the sunlight has landed whether or not I’ve slept in for way too long ;) In early mornings, there can be a beautiful misty fog that hangs in the valley – but no such luck on Tuesday cause it was overcast!
There are a few rituals that happen every morning. This morning in particular I felt the need to record my dream from the night before, which I often do in a specific journal (fuzzy monster journal, apropos right?) I use for recording things like dreams, card readings, or anything else of a symbolic nature. There are times where I get into interpreting it all, but a lot of the time I don’t have the energy beyond jotting a few things down.
Once I’m up, I go to visit my altar space where I always light a candle, and start the tea. I often will do some kind of meditation practice, though just as often I feel pressed to start working right away. I find, however, that I feel more at ease if I take even just a short time to practice invocations, quiet sitting, or read the I-Ching before I dive into work projects.
I found the hawk’s feather while out in my yard the other day. A friend told me that it is a symbol of spiritual messages.
This is my lovely living room. Sometimes I don’t get a chance to appreciate it, but it is a beautiful place.
Now – work!
Lately I’ve been slaving away at these new wood block mounted prints. I think I started off with a simple idea but then got into this whole acrylic glazing/epoxy resin ordeal… and there’s been endless trial and error. However, when done correctly, I love the finish. The ones pictured here were dried and I put them out to cure.
OK, So evidently I worked for ten seconds and immediately needed lunch. Sometimes I’ll get so involved with my work that I won’t eat all day long, but on Tuesdays I do 3 hours of martial arts training in the evening so I need to make sure I eat a good lunch!
Quesadillas – easiest food to make with leftovers. Just butter up that pan, throw cheese on a tortilla with some hot sauce and put whatever veggies you want. Done.
After that I needed to digest, so I spent some time on Etsy fixing up my shop, doing promotions – whatever it is that I do there. Look! There’s a bunch of fPOE’s I was researching.
I have an actual office in my house but I often end up in the main room when I’m doing computer work because it’s so sunny and bright with lots of greenery to look at.
After working online for a bit I went to add another coat of varnish to a small batch of wood block prints. I took a picture of myself all geared up with my respirator and paint clothes but I looked ridiculous so you won’t see it, ever haha.
Anyhow, once that was through, I only had a little bit before I had to leave, so since it was it was such a nice day, and I had camera in hand, I took a wander about the yard.
There were lots of pretty rhododendron flowers to admire and wineberries to eat.
My yard is just full of flowering plants, fruit bushes and trees, and so many other great things. They bloom and fruit all spring, summer and fall! The rhododendron forests are completely wild, and cover the entire mountainside with pretty white (and sometimes purple and pink) flowers! Other things I see a lot are azaleas. I never used to care about flowers, but ever since I moved to North Carolina, there’s just so many and it’s great!
At around 3:30 on Tuesdays I meet my partner and we travel together to his internal martial arts school. He is an amazing master teacher, and also a great mentor to me in my life pursuits since he’s also a working artist in his own right. We set up the school together and chat, usually. I sweep the floor, answer the phone, collect tuition. It’s a really demanding job – ha!
This particular day I had some homework to complete – reading chapter 48 in the I-Ching, “Well.”
…The well is deep
The water is shallow
The rope is short
The bucket is broken...
My spiritual and martial arts life is very important and key to everything else that I do. I see it as a way of life, and something that my soul understands. In the most concise terms, my martial arts training keeps me grounded in my journey here on earth -- able to survive, and adaptable to change.
On Tuesday nights we practice Tai Chi. In the second / entry level class I am also an assistant teacher, which is something I really enjoy. We usually finish up around 8PM but this particular night we ended up staying very late having a discussion with one of my classmates, and got a super late night dinner at this foodie cocktail lounge next to the butcher’s shop – they served stuff like porkbelly poutine and rare salt-cured hamburgers.
It wasn’t our usual night, but it was good and ended warmly. Everybody was exhausted, and we all went to our various homes where, for me, I relaxed a bit and went to sleep!
Alright – so there it was. July 15, 2014 through the eyes of Mela!
More places where you can find Mela:
http://melaluna.net //
astro.melaluna.net //
http://etsy.com/shop/melaluna
