Carol Wiebe

We are beings with hearts. They are so much more than pumps. When we think of love, we envision it as coming from our hearts. Perhaps that is why we see them everywhere, heart shapes, to remind us that love is what our existence boils down to. Without it in our lives, we have precious little, no matter how much stuff we have accumulated. Found Heart There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindn

I drew a lot of cartoons as a kid. As a teen, I wanted to attend an art school where cartooning was taught, but my parents thought a University education was more important. Three degrees and decades of work in libraries and schools later, I still enjoy cartooning. That is why something like this . . . . . Whirling Wings turns into that . . . It Won’t Bug Me If You Love Me #school #CWWOL20120507b #CWWOL20120507a #CWWOL20120507 #bugme #teaching #bugs #love #library #cartoons #

I think Leonard Cohen writes like an angel. And he apparently hears them. Dark Angel His words move me, because they are so raw and honest. And at the same time as the lyrics seem to convey utter despair over one thing or another (usually having to do with the tricky aspects of love), they somehow make me feel hopeful about the world. I don’t know how he does it, but I am grateful he does. I walked into this empty church I had no place else to go When the sweetest voice I’ve

We often think our blood ties predetermine who and what we are ~ including what we can do, whom we can love. Even blood ties cannot make up for what your inner self really wants. Let’s say you became a lawyer, because your parents expected you to. Your father had been one, perhaps was now the head of a firm, as was his father before him. Or, everyone in your family appreciates sports, goes to all the games, and you just want to make music. If your heart is not in what you are

In the company of our Elders we get a sense of where we came from, and where we are headed. When Elders speak, we need to open ourselves to their words. When Elders move, we would be wise to make  maps of their journeys and study each terrain. When an Elder loves us ~ we are greatly loved. An Elder knows the worth of love, how nothing is more precious, how empty we truly are without its full expression. #precious #birthday #empty #full #elders #Mom #loved #love #CWWOL20120228

. I found this pic of a small piece of cloth I once painted, and got a craving for painting some abstracts. Blue Painted Cloth This is how it works for me: I follow my cravings, and use the appropriate skills I already have, or experiment with new ones, in order to satisfy them. I do not consider it a problem to have a large menu of skills and techniques at my disposal. It just takes a while to work my way through practicing them all. There are people who employ the phrase “j

. I have been working on my Cracked Paper Quilts site. The subtitle is and Other Paper Possibilities, so I am adding my art book pages to it as well. So far, I just updated my gallery for the paper quilts, and tomorrow I will work on adding an Art Book gallery. At least that is the plan. We all know what can happen to our well laid plans. We shall see how long it takes me. I keep reminding myself of the little sermon on time I gave yesterday. I used the royal we, but it was p

. I met with three friends today. We have reached a place in our friendship where we share at a depth that is not often reached ~ it takes a great deal of trust. It also takes a tolerance for what is usually characterized as the “messy” aspects of life, except we don’t call them that. We prefer to describe them as learning opportunities or life lessons. And we are not using those terms euphemistically or cynically. We really believe life works (and can be healed) that way. Ha

. It is said that a butterfly flapping its wings can have a profound effect on distant weather: In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions; where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state.  Wikipedia There is just such a profound effect that many of us have experienced firsthand. I call it the eyelash effect. It works like this: Boy sees girl. Girl sees boy who sees her. Girl

. They say no-one is an island, but I feel like one. Her sigh was such a heavy one. You know I love you, don’t you? It was hard to see her feeling so lonely when he was right there. I do, she said. But I feel as if I’m not worthy of anyone’s love, that I deserve to be alone. Then don’t listen to the hateful feelings. He wasn’t sure it was a helpful thing to say, but he was desperate. What do you mean? She looked him right in the eyes, then. When loving feelings and hateful fe

The heart is on my mind these days, for very personal reasons. And so, it keeps emerging in my artwork, beating its steady beat. And, it keeps reminding me to be mindful of the fact that despite all that we might find wrong with the world, and our lives ~ if we choose to use our precious energy to pursue such thoughts ~ love persists. Stay attuned  . . . .  to your heart’s messages, to the many examples of love constantly being presented for your delectation. This is my simpl

Lies are counterproductive. Truth does not feel comfortable with being twisted, and will eventually straighten itself out. This will lead to exposure of the original lies, and the fallout of hurt all around. Even if the lies have not yet been deciphered, the liar’s spirit already bears the telltale wounds. The basic elements of spirit are love and truth ~ which cast a light that exposes lies. This is neither cruel  nor judgemental: it is rather a cleansing that allows the exp

This is so lovely. I found it on Jude Hill’s Spirit Cloth. She called it amazing, and I absolutely agree. This little stop animation speaks so gently, yet powerfully, of sacrifice, of being willing to “let go” of someone you love because you realize that they must have the freedom they need to pursue their own dreams. I have written about Rima before, and am delighted that she has added another video to her repertoire. Rima’s Etsy Store Rima’s YouTube Channel P.S. Rima, if I

Lynn Powers, of Creative Catalyst, offers these words of caution, as she calls them, to artists: Years ago, an instructor pointed out that more women than men attend [art] workshops. He then pointed out that more men than women enter shows. He wondered why that was. It was not due to lack of talent. I believe it’s because women are generally taught to be more cautious than men. This caution has spilled over into an arena where it has no place. In other words, you have the tal

Sometimes Love Hurts ~ by Carol Wiebe Sometimes, love hurts. We might even question if exposing ourselves to love is worth the potential pain. But love is not just a surface emotion: it embodies a wide spectrum of feelings. So wide, that poets, writers, artists, saviours, politicians, advertisers and countless others have tried to define and describe it through the ages. Various holy writings declare that God is Love. I do not think it is possible to live on this earth and mi