Begin Mandala - (Meditation Card series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008

What I love best about my new job is being able to approve housing  for those who desperately need it. Working in HUD approved low income housing puts me in a position of understanding from both sides (having been low income myself for the past 4 years and a part of the "welfare system" for almost as long). I understand not only what it is like to be treated *less than,* but also how hard it is, as an administrator, to not get emotionally overwhelmed by some of what I see on a daily basis.

This complex does have fairly stringent guidelines for approving who is moved in (credit check, criminal background check, registered sex offender check, previous landlord check etc). Most of this comes through HUD guidelines, but not all of it. Throughout it all I do my best to treat applicants with dignity and respect. I keep things as lighthearted as possible.

At the beginning of the month I moved in a woman who has been homeless, living in her van, for the past 4 years. Today I am moving in a 23 year old woman with 3 children under the age of 5 who has been homeless almost as long. Never in a million years would I have imagined myself working here and enjoying it. It is gratifying to feel like I can help make a small difference in the lives of some people I meet.

So for these two women and their families, I offer this mandala of new beginnings. The source image I used for this mandala is a bush called pieris japonica or Lily of the Valley bush. There is a lot of it used in the landscaping where I work.

I wish them both well.

~ds

found in my email yesterday...




A man is dining in a fancy restaurant and there is a gorgeous redhead
 sitting at the next table. He has been checking her out since he sat
 down, but lacks the nerve to talk with her.


 Suddenly she sneezes, and her glass eye comes flying out of its 
 socket toward the man. He reflexively reaches out, grabs it out of 
 the air, and hands it back.


 'Oh my, I am so sorry,' the woman says as she pops her eye back in 
 place.

 'Let me buy your dinner to make it up to you,' she says.

 They enjoy a wonderful dinner together, and afterwards they go to 
 the theatre followed by drinks. They talk, they laugh, she shares 
 her deepest dreams and he shares his. She listens.

 After paying for everything, she asks him if he would like to come 
 to her place for a nightcap and stay for breakfast. They had a 
 wonderful, wonderful time.

 The next morning, she cooks a gourmet meal with all the trimmings. 
 The guy is amazed. Everything had been SO incredible!
 'You know,' he said, 'you are the perfect woman. Are you this nice 
 to every guy you meet?'

 'No,' she replies. . .


















 

 She says:

 'You just happened to catch my eye.'

Expand Mandala - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008

Spring is here and so it is time for a little spring cleaning. Off with the dark walls, on with something lighter and , well, springier! Green for the Earth, green for growth, green for the heart chakra, green for spring fever.

My experience with Weight Watchers is going well, but boy is it  a test of my allowing for change in my life. I know that people are resistant to change; I have thought I embraced change, but you really need to be smart about change once you invite it into your life. I do feel better in my mind and in my body than I did six weeks ago, and have lost close to 10 pounds.

The mind likes organization. Did you know that? When I'm not organized, I fall back into old patterns.

I am working on new patterns and techniques in my art as well. Art mirrors Life. When I began making mandalas I envisioned creating a deck of meditation cards. I am working on a prototype now, first draft stuff. This is one of the cards. I am enjoying currently working in a more abstract style than I have in the past and am wanting to really contain Light in these Circles.

I hope Spring is treating you well.

~DS