Diane Clancy's Art Blog

I like to enter the 2 Things Challenge each week. This week is Home and Health. I was trying and trying to figure out what to do. I was going to put some images on one of my bubblescapes .. like kitties … that was as far as I got. So I went looking for the right bubblescape to work with and this jumped out as me as home and health – hope you agree! I would like to be able to create more conceptually – so I am excited about this – because I think the vision of seeing an idea is very important. This is also called Evening Shelter. So thank you! I hope you like my entry.

Home and Health, Digital © Diane Clancy

Have you heard about the book “Complaint Free World”? When I have heard about such ideas of not being negative at all, I also get confused about how to use that kind of idea without losing my thinking and integrity. As many other women I have been taught to accept and not question. Taught to basically be a doormat. I have always questioned, but I have also wanted to stay respectful and hear other perspectives.

When I posted a comment about such conundrums, Lisa Call pointed me toward Christine Kane as a useful resource for helping to sort of this issue. Christine has two posts, here and here, that really helped me sort this out. These kind of ideas helped me sort out what I think for myself. It helped me clarify some issues I have had with this idea (without having read the book) and also helped illuminate which behaviors I want to improve.

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: 2 Things Challenge, bubblescapes, respectful, perspectives, Christine Kane, Lisa Call, complaining, negative

Two days ago I mentioned that day was the first day of Kwanzaa, December 26 to January 1, a 7 day celebration started in 1966. Kwanzaa is for the African American and Pan-African community to celebrate their heritage and reinforce positive community and human values: a celebration of family, community and culture. I find it a very moving, welcoming, uplifting observance from the ones I have attended.

Violet Mist, Digital © Diane Clancy

A core part of Kwanzaa is the 7 Principles:

(NGUZO SABA (The Seven Principles) taken from the site of Dr. Maulana Karenga, founder of Kwanzaa, link above)

1. Umoja (Unity): To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
2. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
3. Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.
4. Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
5. Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
6. Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
7. Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

~ Diane Clancy

p.s. Shall I continue with marketing tomorrow?

Technorati Tags: Kwanzaa, celebration, family, community, culture