Anniversary of my first post

2010, eight years ago, I first posted in this blog, which was called first edition, because I wanted to change a few things along the line, back in 2012.

I also deleted a lot of my early clay efforts, which were more a learning experience than products that I wanted to see around still.  You know how that is.

The new version, which is what you're looking at now, has had 1293 posts. The older one only has 191 posts left.

And there aren't that many pottery bloggers out there any more.

I was thrilled to meet two of them this summer in Seagrove, NC.  And I think I'll meet a couple more at some shows this fall.  I'm looking forward to it.

So I hope you might consider writing a blog, or at least reading mine every once in a while.

Thanks!

Oh, and here's my first post, as well as my comment that I added later.

Monday, October 4, 2010

beginnings come from endings

There are so many beginnings, endings, changes.  Almost everything in the following pictures has been sold.  I'm no longer going to be working in the community studio I've been in for 2-1/2 years after this week.

Alchemy of clay...new blog.  Celebration of the elemental nature of clay sculptures and pots.  Knowing a possible joyful suprise can come out of the kiln, or a grotesque mistake that I couldn't possibly have created.  Both are possible.  When I studied ceramics in the 80's, I learned to expect anything.  I made things with reverence, thinking "everything is holy" and then released them, thinking "nothing is holy."

I'm dealing with knowing I'm the Crone.  Hecate, the guide, the wise one who can give directions when asked by others.  Unfortunately most everyone doesn't ask.  Most everyone is in a rush, using GPS, or just wishing slow old me would get out of their way.  Some even say "excuse me" as they run around me to ...whatever.

I had a croning ceremony several years ago.  But this is the year when I'm feeling that I've become related to the hag, the elder who should have respect, who knows answers.

I need to remind myself a lot of the time as well.

Today I gently confronted someone who discounted my feelings and hurt me.  Perhaps it was unintentional.  I begin to wonder each time this kind of thing happens as very possibly intentional, from a person who likes to control rather than be direct.  It causes me to examine things closer, to see what made me feel that way, as opposed to feeling joy or just sorrow.  The dispair, the hurt feelings, all arise suddenly and seem to to me to mean I'm not important enough for someone to have communicated honestly with me.  Not that I think I'm unimportant...but somehow a lot of folks in the world do.  At least that's the feeling that comes up.

So I will enjoy being invisible for a while.  There are lots of advantages...

Seven Years

Seven years of Alchemy of Clay.

Oct 4, 2010 I began sharing my life as a person with one hand in clay, another on the shutter of a camera, one eye looking at Ancestry, and the other looking at the beauty in my own neighborhood of Black Mountain, NC.

This was my first post. Alchemy of clay, First Edition - Changes, that's what it's all about, in the alchemy of my life, and clay.

I also combined my interest in art with goddesses, archeology, my personal life, and a few rants expressing my opinion.  It is also noteworthy that I've deleted a few of the posts, so there are 196 remaining in "Alchemy of Clay First Edition."  That's because I've become a bit more discerning in viewing my own work, and I imagine as I continue to look back at my pots, I'll delete more posts.

This is my 1477th posting at "Alchemy of Clay and Living in Black Mountain," if the counter is correct.  I'm not going to question it.  I stopped posting to "When I was 69" which was more personal, and had most of my family genealogy posts.  Now I post that information here on the regular Alchemy blog.

The Booth home, Hillsboro, TX

I've also enjoyed meeting many new friends here in Blogland.  I list most of them in the column over on the right.  I'm so glad to have comments from a few of them.  I am interested when a friend may say, "Oh I read your blog all the time." In order for anyone to comment I've allowed anonymous comments to be accepted, so you don't have to have a blog to add a comment. I do still monitor comments. We'll see how much spam this generates!

I just had my iPad updated for newest version, and blogger no longer opens.  There's a new app which lets me read it, but without the right hand column.  Geese, now I wonder if anyone will keep looking at blogs.  I could just start writing things over on FB, where they disappear in a flash, and aren't read in depth, because everyone is rushing to say something themselves, rather than taking a moment and reflecting on each other's ideas.  Drat and dang.  I won't be able to read all my friend's blogs on the iPad at all anymore, because I would read what had just been posted by them over on that right hand column.

I try to have something scheduled here every day.  There are times it can't happen.

For the seven good years we've had together, salud!

How many years of blogging about pots and...

Alchemy of Clay First Edition LINK HERE came out Oct. 10, 2010.  After 195 postings I closed it Dec 2, 2012, mainly because I ran out of space on Blog for more photos. And I gave up WordPress because of photo limitations.

But Goddess in Clay (Here) was before that.  This is fun, I've now found it started on Oct. 9, 2008 HERE  and the last post was May 17, 2011.

Goddesses I've made

I been blogging not quite as many years as I've lived in North Carolina, namely eight.   So this year marks my 7th birthday as a blogger.  I'm also not mentioning the three other blogs to which I kind of contributed daily for several years.  Goodness, when did I find time to live?

Who really cares?  Me. I like having an independent source of my memoirs of blogs as well as pots.  Oh my goodness, there were so many chunky learning ones back then (pots, I'm obviously still chunky!)  And I found I could review a year's postings at the end of the year and actually delete the ones that were less than stellar. Now I think I was a bit heavy handed on the delete key last year, so this year I'll be a bit more careful.  Once deleted from blogland, things are gone.  But wait, I do still have those posts, because I send each one to an email address, and don't delete those ever.  Ah, double backups for saved files!

Thought for today:

Stop using the past to poison your present. Don't let who you used to be prevent you from getting the things in life that are available to you now.

What you seek is seeking you.

Rumi