When Danielle of GetNeat organized my studio some time back, I asked her to leave room for inspiration.  And she gave  me this magnetic strip which spans the length of my room underneath shelves that reach to the ceiling.  It is covered from one end to the other, images clipped in stacks.  It grows weekly.

This mini gallery includes works from Patti Bryan, Dotty Seiter, Carol Edan, Caroline C Brown,  Susan Schanerman and more.  Each of these artists has touched my life in some wonderful way (and they happen to have small works or notecards to collect).
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It is vital to surround ourselves with uplifting views.  Whether it is the art on our walls, the flowers in a vase or the views out of our windows.  Our eyes crave visual candy.

The next chapter of Mark Nepo's The One Life We're Given is all about windows.  There is an ancient dwelling called a cob house which is known for being built with truth windows - windows showing what the wall is made of instead of opening to the outside.  "We would do well if our walls had truth windows, so we could be honest about what they're made of," says Nepo.  But he is speaking of the walls we put up in our lives.

He reminds us that "windows go both ways, letting things in and out, and letting us see and be seen."  Oh!  Letting things in and out, letting us see, yes and ok.  But letting us be seen...that's where we cringe and cower and close the blinds.  ​Even posting this little window into my studio makes me squirm just a bit.  Like the blog itself, a little truth window into my life.

So why do it?  Nepo again: "...hard as it is at times, love your window open, and become the opening itself until your walls come down.  When the walls come down, the opening is everywhere."​   Here's to becoming the opening.