Inner Vision Portraits - Custom Painted Portraits

All too often, we hang out only with people like us — similar ages, ethnic backgrounds, incomes, interests, marital status, even physical condition ….

It’s rare for women from all sectors of society to get together to celebrate and connect.

Yet there’s an opportunity to do just that on March 28th in Ithaca NY. If you’re a woman within driving distance of Ithaca, I encourage you to join me at:

The 4th Annual Sister Friends Luncheon
in honor of Women’s History Month
3/28/08 11:00am - 3:00pm
Clarion Hotel, Ithaca NY

I’ll be displaying a couple of my “possibility portraits” at this wonderful, exciting event that celebrates women of all ages, sizes, religions, ethnicities and cultures.

The women’s market is open from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m; the luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. and the program at 12:15 p.m. This is an amazing multicultural, multi-generational, women-bonding event.

The cost is only $15.00, and tickets are available from GIAC (the Greater Ithaca Activities Center) at 318 N. Albany Street in Ithaca and at the Multicultural Resource Center in the Cornell Cooperative Extension building, 615 Willow Ave (off Rt.13) in Ithaca. This popular annual event will sell out, so get your tickets soon…

For tickets or more information call Audrey J. Cooper 272-2292, ext. 135 or email her at ajc3@cornell.edu.

The holiday season is upon us — with all its festivities and excitement, and its promise of reconnecting and magical mysteries – but also its potential for stress, over-consumption, overwhelm, and depression.

I’ve always loved this time of year. Yet it challenges me: how to increase the moments of magic and connection the season can bring, and decrease the stress of my To Do list with its trend towards over-consumption and hectic activity?

This year our extended family decided to cut waaay back on the big gift exchange, and that’s certainly helped with my To Do list and sense of waste.

But what about the moments of magic and connection that I treasure? How to get more of them?

Well, there is a gift that my husband, kids, extended family, friends, and even strangers really appreciate, and it costs nothing at all: the gift of my full attention and compassionate listening.

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Being fully present like this is a present we rarely give people.
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Yet it’s one of those presents that makes both recipient and giver feel wonderful.

I invite you to join me and practice giving “the present of being present” this holiday season.

Let’s see if we can catch ourselves being judgmental, or not listening, or feeling too busy for someone – and then let it go, so we can see the actual person in this moment and listen to them with an open heart.

Maybe being willing to give our full, non-judgmental attention to another human being might create a sense of connection between us. Hmmm….

Maybe giving this present to our loved ones, the people we think we know everything about, might even lead to new discoveries and deepen our bond.

Sounds like magic to me…