change is good. but sometimes it’s hard. i’ve got some stories running through my head..some good, some not so much. it’s the not-so-much ones that i’d like to shift. these are stories that have been with me for as long as i can remember…and i’m preparing to say goodbye to them.
as i attempt to make room for these changes in my life, i’ll start with small, gentle shifts. shifts that may seem insignificant, but that I believe hold power.
change number one :: drink my tea in a mug made by me.
below is the mug i’ve been using for a couple of years now. we’ve got a bunch of them because they came with our set of dinner dishes. i’ve always liked the size and style…but, really, it’s fairly uninspired.
meanwhile, in the cupboard right next to this classic, white mug is a smaller, earthier, less-perfect mug. it’s a mug that i threw on a pottery wheel about 15 years ago. it’s far from perfect, far from classic. but i rather like it…i like the muted blues and greens of the glaze, i like the big opening of the handle which allows my fingers to slip through easily…and i love knowing that my hands made this.
and so this is where my first change will take place…right here in this little mug with my tea. it’s a modest shift. but it feels right to me.
i will gently try to edge the negative stories out of my mind and heart. i will listen to the whispers that beg my hands to cradle the colored pencils, to mold a bit of clay, to slather a little paint, to stitch a line of stitches.
i will hold this mug – filled with warm tea – each day. and i will remember the spinning of the pottery wheel and the hands that made it. i will remember that i created this piece. i will remember that i am a creative being. and in that acknowledgement – that i am a creative being – i will begin to make space for new stories.
sending a little love your way, m
Michelle GD 
After reading this morning’s post, I was reminded of Marx’s theory of alienation. (In my shaping of Marx), “alientation” happens when we are separated from that which our hand’s form, resulting in the loss of a deep and motivating connection to self-care and the sustaining yearning of life that gives more than it takes. Day after day in a community that takes more than it makes, where we eat food not made or grown at home, wear clothing produced in inhumane prisons, and rely on innumerable solutions to the problems we ourselves create, we feel powerless and often angry. So, today, I too will reach for those things formed by hands I know, rejecting a desire to covet things not creatively my own.
thanks for sharing this, rosaria…what a wonderful connection.
you see? small, yet so powerful.