Hello. It has been a while. Happy 2014! To be happier myself...I am embarking on a new creative and healing project 100 Days To Get Happier. I am inspired by Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project http://www.gretchenrubin.com/ and 100 Day to Get _____https://giveit100.com/projects/how-to.

I feel happy but could be happier. I want to figure out what makes me giggle..delight..from the inside out. Also what do I really enjoy doing? What makes me feel free? At home? Peace? Satisfied? Juicey?
I am worth it..so are you. Part of my project involves keeping up with my blog. I love to write but have had long lapses showing up to my blog.  I am going to show up for myself a write a little bit and video tape a 10 second video every day starting Feb 1 2014 to record my effort... I see it also like putting down some bread crumbs for others..I hope....

With love and warmth I take a leap of faith...don't know what will come from it...but I would like to make a change...

Beginning

What happens now?
I don't know.
How does that work?

At some point we are all beginners. We  start a new projects or meet someone new. It feels like a new frontier. It may feel a little exciting or maybe scary. Just remember to keep breathing. Life is an adventure and nobody gets out alive.

Weekend of Sept 20-22

It is monday morning and I feel refreshed and happy. I think the happy feeling comes from the feeling of accomplishment and being part of a community. The weekend stated out at City Council on Friday. A group of us from Rogers Park surprized the The Tawani Group and testified against them getting zoning variances. The zoning board gave us two hours to testify. I testified on senior safety. Saturday was a full day of clients. I feel blessed to have them. Sunday I was at the Les Turner ALS Walk with the most of the same volunteers for the past three years. Thanks to Biff, Lynn, John, Theresa and others. A big thanks to our artists who painted live. Helen Graef and her family, Karen Perl, Cliff Questel, Laura Questel and Miranda Stillwell. Theresa, Lynn and Caty Brownstone-Stillwell also painted. Both of my sisters painted. This makes me happy. There were a bunch of children and teenagers who came over to the Arts 4 ALS tent that said I really want to paint that hadn't painted before. That is what I like to see. People catching the fever of art!!! Thanks to Megan and Mike Gaffney, Liz, Maria and Wendy from Les Turner. A huge thank you to Dick Blicks who donated Uber amount of art supplies and was a sponsor for the walk. Yeah for a great weekend!! A great start to this week.

Happy 5773!!

Happy New Year 5773!

It is a time to reflect. This is  a good  year. It was definitely a year for art. I organized four major arts events: Light and Dark, Arts4ALS tent at Walk 4 Life, A Celebration of Life an art show/fundraiser for Les Tuner ALS Foundation. I feel proud of these events and I had my own booth at the Glenwood Avenue Arts Festival. My goodness. I feel proud of myself for making those things happen.

Business is going well.. I feel blessed to be working with my clients. These are stressful, sometimes unnerving times, and it is good and healthy to reach out for help. I feel honored that my clients reached out to me

On a personal note my father and his wife moved to Chicago from New York City. It has been a dream come from for my sisters and me. It is really nice to get to know Dad as a fellow human-being. I am finding I really like him.  Our step-mother is also pretty awesome. It is fun just hanging out. Thanks Peter Brownstone for being you.

This has been a somewhat stressful year…fear and worry about what is happening in the world can take over. What has helped me is not to watch the news or read the newspapers. I pick and choose how I get my news. Meditating and living by the lake has been a God send. Lake Michigan is my BFF…no really. Swimming this summer in her waves has been a joy.

We can’t predict the future, but whatever comes, we will get through this together. I wish all of you much peace, good health, joy, love and courage.

Love,

Eve

Art4ALS at Walk for Life Soldiers Field September 22

Gearing up for this great walk to support the Les Turner ALS Foundation September 22. Arts4ALS is going to have a tent with: an art show, family activities and wonderful artists scattered through out the walk painting live..so excited...Four years ago I walked with mom Judy Erickson. This is the third year the Arts have been highlighted at the walk.. Yeah for art!!

http://www.alswalk4life.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1055133

A Friendly Monster by Eve Brownstone....my impression of ALS..horrible but comes with blessings..

Losing Contacts

Losing Contacts

By Eve Brownstone

Oh, puke my contacts got wiped out again. Not the eye kind  but the phone kind that I keep near and dear to me because I have forgotten most people actual phone numbers. The handy dandy new technology I’ve grown to love and obsessively depend on-the blessed Iphone!! I got accustomed to seeing friend’s names pop up. Now if you call me, I will wonder who you are?  Please don’t take it personally. Don’t get flustered if I ask for your name. I have no names on my phone. It feels uncomfortable. This happened this morning after my phone went into a spin. It looked like the phone was having seizure. It lit up and then went dark. The screen showed a spinning thing moving around. I don’t know. It looked a little freaky. This is the second time my contacts were wiped clean from my Iphone in the last six months. What to do? The phone works don’t get me wrong, but I don’t have peoples’ names and it errrks me.

Coffee Shop Girl

Coffee Shop Girl

By Eve Brownstone

I learned a good lesson today when my ego got bruised. This morning, I was at my usual Wednesday morning coffee clutch with fellow artists. I asked a friend and artist which I respect, “ How can I put my pictures of sunrises more out there in the world?” Her reply, “You are at the level of coffee shop pictures.” My ego felt bruised. I wish she said something that inspired me or motivated me. I felt cut down. Later she explained herself with an apology, adding,  I like your photos. She said, “You just need to take your photos up a notch”. I wish she had said that from the get go. I thanked her for her feedback. However I wanted to get the hell out of the coffee shop. I think she thought she was being helpful. If I detach myself from my ego, her comment was helpful. She wanted my photos to stand out to find my niche. My art is not me! My photos may be displayed in a coffee shop but I am more than that. This was good lesson to relearn. Thanks.