I really value thinking. Not everyday “what do I need to do today?” or “I wonder what would happen if…” thinking. But deep, curious, free-form thinking. Usually with a pencil and paper in hand. It’s Monday morning. I have a pile of things to tackle today. I have a list of meetings and actions to take. And, I’ve decided to come into my painting studio to think. It’s a superpower I put down when I moved to California years ago. Now, I am picked it back up again. Giving myself big blocks of time to think has always produced results.…
Author: Kristen Marie Schuerlein Ferry
Kristen Marie Schuerlein Ferry
We vote with our time and our money. If you want to know what's important to me, notice what I do with my time and how I make and spend money. That sums it up.
Red. In our culture, it represents love and passion… it also represents emergency and debt. These are all things I have some experience with. So, I think it’s fitting that my first collage in this creative chapter is red. Bold. Bright. Unabashedly red. Here’s my starting point…
I suck at vacationing. Truth is, it wasn’t until Matthew and I merged our lives that I’ve taken vacations on a regular basis. And, I am not very good at it. I still bring work. I still try to get too much done. I still refuse to go on adventures where I think I will get stuck with a bunch of tourists. But I am getting better. This Spring we took the boys to our favorite place in Mexico. And I actually spent 4 hours on a boat. I was surprised at how much fun it was. Turns out I…
The days and weeks progressed and I found myself stretched huge canvases on the floor on garage. There were moments when I wondered what the hell I was doing late at night with a cigarette hanging out of my mouth, wrestling with canvas nearly as big as my car.
About four years ago I had this insight about time and money and their profound impact on our modern lives. Both time and money are contexts. The are ways of relating to the world the either empower us, or defeat us – often both in the same day. The more I began exploring the idea of time… being on time, having enough time. or being freaked out that I am running out of time… the more I began to see it as a reality that I could manipulate. And, when I took control of my relationship to it, it no…
I love ebay. One day I got this crazy idea so I jumped on ebay and found exactly what I was looking for: used money. It was better than I could have imagined. Within days I had little packets of money arriving in the mail, with used and uncirculated paper bills from countries all over the world. The designs blew my mind. So, I decided to start making tiles, that will someday become part of a bigger whole. Here are the first 6 from the collection… I’ll post the final piece when it’s done.
Matthew Ferry, has it right; “You always get the essence.”
Do we ever end up where we thought we would?
Finding myself at about the midpoint of my life is really cool. I was so happy to end my 20’s. I celebrated the end of my 30’s for totally different reasons. Moving into my fifth decade means that finally, finally people aren’t asking if I’ll be having kids.
Consider that it is insane to continue thinking the same thoughts, and doing the same behaviors that keep you from experiencing what you really want. It is insane to declare you want X and operate in a way that assures you will not attain that. One of my favorites “I am going to take Friday’s off.” For YEARS I set this goal. And for years, I worked every Friday. Crazy. What the hell is that? Check it out: The goal I was setting was what I thought would fulfill the ACTUAL intention of having freedom and flexibility in my life.…