Yippee Ki Yay
I love the IGA show. Unfortunately it comes 4 times a year and I cannot avoid going. It exerts a hypnotic pull on me. I always have to go see what new cuts and styles of stones there are, what color trends are coming up. I saw lots of plasticy and uber crystalized stuff, and lots of empty aisles.
that was depressing. Usually the line to get in is hundreds of people... we had no problem getting in, no problem seeing our vendors. It has shrunk to about 300 wholesalers and about 500 retailers. But there are good bargains to be had, some vendors will work with you if you buy alot in one booth.
I suggest taking a lunch in your rolling suitcase for all your purchases. They charge 6.00 for a soda, no ice, just the bottles. ( cept out back they have soda machines.) last time we had a big breakfast first and then ate hotdogs and fries ( three meals) for 4 ppl and it costr 50.00 so bring some sandwiches or something. Snacks do not make cindy a happy camper, I needed a real lunch... cus I pooped out by 430 ( 6 hours was still a long time on concrete floors with a bad back)
I had my phone set for facebook and twitter so I was able to text and take pics to find out if things were as good as they seemed. ( thank you guys!) One vendor is known in other parts of the country and his sterling at .30 a gram was too good to be true. I did get some nice vermeil from him though... and not too much of it, unlike another artist I met.
that is the other great thing about the shows, I always meet potential fellow vendors for the shows we put on here in Houston since we all hate those huge booth fees! Jinx and I try to find places that are free or next to free for us to offer handmade artisan shows.
I am thinking this year is going to be reallllly slow down here in Texas, although I have a www presence with my sites. Money is tight all over and let's face it, jewelry is a WANT not a need. Thankfully, I m going to be doing small shows if any after May. I think will use this time to learn new techniques so that when business picks up, I will have a wider range pof products in different styles ( metal work, forged items, gemstones, beading etc)
Just something for my fellow artists to think about for their own biz.... Peace and love my friends. I m off again to the show. Pics will be added later tonight or tomorrow of the wicked cool antique breastplates and dangle pendants from the Far east and other tribal areas.
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Dealing with Trauma: up close and personal, what I have learned lately
Therapist called me the night of the shooting and told me she was making a special appointment for me the next day....cus she said women like me, did not know what "normal" feelings are in certain cases. She was right.
I learned that I would feel alot of feelings and that they would overlap: fear, grief, anger, depression, rage, terror, nightmare etc.
The best and fastest way I always dealt with it was to ignore it. Say "it" (the event) never happened cept those are the old ways and I am here to say from my experiences, that way doesnt work. It eventually comes to the surface when the brain says it is time, the body eventually follows.
So now, with witnessing the shooting and all the aftermath, I m learning a new, crappy way of slogging through it. There is no other way to deal with a trauma, whether it be rape, incest, domestic violence, molestation, gunfire, kidnapping or war. One must face the feeling, accept it and release it. I am learning that it is ok to be me, feel what I feel and accept myself exactly as I am at this point. ( I am feeling a lot of edginess and anger right now). Sometimes I am full of gratitude though.
I make a list of what is beautiful in life. I tape the lists around the home and carry one in my head. It can be as small as breathing free air in a country where I am free to worship as I please, or how wonderful the day is. Or how my daughters smile touches my heart.
If you are going through therapy or wondering if it would help, I encourage you not to give up. Sometimes life is what it is. Some people get to deal with more than others and I know, for me, that I must turn and do the thing I dont want to do, to get the results I didnt expect to get. Everything screams be afraid, stay home, avoid thinking ( cus my brain keeps trying to make sense of the senseless) but I know that I must face things and keep on going. That is all there is. Most of all, I know that God's hand is upon me, the love He has for me, sometimes is all I need.
God bless you.
I learned that I would feel alot of feelings and that they would overlap: fear, grief, anger, depression, rage, terror, nightmare etc.
The best and fastest way I always dealt with it was to ignore it. Say "it" (the event) never happened cept those are the old ways and I am here to say from my experiences, that way doesnt work. It eventually comes to the surface when the brain says it is time, the body eventually follows.
So now, with witnessing the shooting and all the aftermath, I m learning a new, crappy way of slogging through it. There is no other way to deal with a trauma, whether it be rape, incest, domestic violence, molestation, gunfire, kidnapping or war. One must face the feeling, accept it and release it. I am learning that it is ok to be me, feel what I feel and accept myself exactly as I am at this point. ( I am feeling a lot of edginess and anger right now). Sometimes I am full of gratitude though.
I make a list of what is beautiful in life. I tape the lists around the home and carry one in my head. It can be as small as breathing free air in a country where I am free to worship as I please, or how wonderful the day is. Or how my daughters smile touches my heart.
If you are going through therapy or wondering if it would help, I encourage you not to give up. Sometimes life is what it is. Some people get to deal with more than others and I know, for me, that I must turn and do the thing I dont want to do, to get the results I didnt expect to get. Everything screams be afraid, stay home, avoid thinking ( cus my brain keeps trying to make sense of the senseless) but I know that I must face things and keep on going. That is all there is. Most of all, I know that God's hand is upon me, the love He has for me, sometimes is all I need.
God bless you.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
No more Absolutes?
In the United States, 1.3 women are raped every minute.
That results in 78 rapes each hour,
1872 rapes each day,
56160 rapes ech month and
683,280 rapes each year.
1 out of every 3 American women will be sexually assulted in her lifetime.
The United States has the world's highest rape rate of the countries that publish such statistics. It's 4 times higher than Germany, 13 times higher than England, and 20 times higher than Japan.
from Cease at http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~ad361896/anne/cease.html
Is there a direct correlation between our violent culture in America? I love America and am very blessed to have been born here. I have travelled extensively around the globe ( except the East). I have always felt safe in foreign cities, unlike in some of the US. I know it is unpopular to speak out against guns or violent images, videos that objectify women, numbing young men to the effects of their actions with weapons. Even grown men see no problem playing a game that helps you score if you run over a hooker after you have sex with her.
There have been rapes and brutalizations in many cultures over millenia. I am not saying we have it worse than 1000 years ago. And life here is far less brutal than in many Third World countries, but considering we are a "civilised" society with many advatages and much more wealth than other countries, I believe that we are sorely lacking in educating our children about the culture that is swirling around the drain.... and taking our kids with them. Parents do not always supervise or interact with their children/teens, instilling a core belief system of right and wrong. There are no more absolutes it seems.
When I saw my guy drooling over some commercial with a beautiful young woman, rubbing whip cream over her thighs and moaning, I asked him what he would think if men were thinking that way over his daughter. He said he would kill them. I pointed out that woman was someone's daughter.
Why do women have to educate their men on what is acceptable? He is a grown man with two parents who raised him. Why did no one tell him that it was not cool to be "one of the guys", laughing at smutty jokes, playing with their guns, denigrating women? We have been together 5 years now, and he has grown through many of the conversations we had in those early years.
I have a daughter who should not have to walk in fear or educate men on how to treat another human being. Fortunately, she is not a doormat. I learn much from this sweet child!
That results in 78 rapes each hour,
1872 rapes each day,
56160 rapes ech month and
683,280 rapes each year.
1 out of every 3 American women will be sexually assulted in her lifetime.
The United States has the world's highest rape rate of the countries that publish such statistics. It's 4 times higher than Germany, 13 times higher than England, and 20 times higher than Japan.
from Cease at http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~ad361896/anne/cease.html
Is there a direct correlation between our violent culture in America? I love America and am very blessed to have been born here. I have travelled extensively around the globe ( except the East). I have always felt safe in foreign cities, unlike in some of the US. I know it is unpopular to speak out against guns or violent images, videos that objectify women, numbing young men to the effects of their actions with weapons. Even grown men see no problem playing a game that helps you score if you run over a hooker after you have sex with her.
There have been rapes and brutalizations in many cultures over millenia. I am not saying we have it worse than 1000 years ago. And life here is far less brutal than in many Third World countries, but considering we are a "civilised" society with many advatages and much more wealth than other countries, I believe that we are sorely lacking in educating our children about the culture that is swirling around the drain.... and taking our kids with them. Parents do not always supervise or interact with their children/teens, instilling a core belief system of right and wrong. There are no more absolutes it seems.
When I saw my guy drooling over some commercial with a beautiful young woman, rubbing whip cream over her thighs and moaning, I asked him what he would think if men were thinking that way over his daughter. He said he would kill them. I pointed out that woman was someone's daughter.
Why do women have to educate their men on what is acceptable? He is a grown man with two parents who raised him. Why did no one tell him that it was not cool to be "one of the guys", laughing at smutty jokes, playing with their guns, denigrating women? We have been together 5 years now, and he has grown through many of the conversations we had in those early years.
I have a daughter who should not have to walk in fear or educate men on how to treat another human being. Fortunately, she is not a doormat. I learn much from this sweet child!
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