Signs that speak

Making signs has become a passion of mine. It involves words, discarded wood, and sticks. I can do it outside and inside. It’s expressive and involves color choices. I like it. The following is my latest group of signs and their stories.

The devotion sign had to be made because I kept saying devotion in my head for about 1-2 weeks. Not constantly but consistently. It wasn’t pushy but insistent to come into being. I like this word because it feels good to think it, and it feels good for the mouth to say it. The V sound is a fun one to form and make your lips buzz. Oh, and it also feels good to feel devotion, to be devoted.

When I feel immersed completely in something creative, I feel a sense of holiness, a current of timeless blending of the separate self joining the universal flow. It feels like I’ve caught the wave I didn’t know I was seeking.

Anne Lamott wrote a book with this title, Help Thanks Wow, the three essential prayers. It’s one of the first signs I made (not the one pictured). I put it up in my back art/eating/outside/inside space. It’s known as the temple. A rustic kind of barn-like simple temple. Temple light.

The background light layer happened because I ran out of paint. Now it’s my favorite background look.

Groove is in the heart makes me happy. It also makes me sing the song, so makes the day more fun and heart groovy.

Deee-Light was the band who sang, groove is in the heart, so that inspired this sign. Thanks, Corbin. I love friends who help remind me of what I love. My favorite relationships bring mutual delight. Ultimately they bring light and a floaty levity to the human experience.

Once at a Quaker meeting, a very old wise one said that we tend to be stingy with love. We reduce it. We don’t think there is enough. In fact, he said we are downright miserly with it. I silently agreed. Months later I watched someone talk feverishly about a subject he knew well. At the end, after a stretched-out pause, he said “SO MUCH LOVE!” with great emphasis (although it had no direct link to his subject). The impact of his words and statement rang in my head, weeks later. SO MUCH LOVE hung there as if all around, filling every space. This sign was born to be a reminder.

I made this one about two days before Thanksgiving. I meant to make it say gratitude, but I had a friend over and we were talking so I wasn’t paying attention. I realized gratitude would not fit, so changed it mid-way to grateful.

Zen Zone came from Katie at work. She visits our back area where it’s all acupuncture, massage, aromatherapy, plants, and quiet. It’s now known as the zen zone. It hit me that others might want a designated zen zone. You gotta claim that space!

A second scripty version of devotion. I wasn’t happy with how it turned out originally but didn’t get around to throwing it away. Later I added black outline to the smudgy gold and liked it better. I like how the firecracker plant is photobombing this shot.

Grit is a favorite word of mine. I love reaching down for grit and finding it! At Rena workouts, Jon uses this word a lot when we are grinding out burpees. This word reminds me of my friend, Beth. She got grit.

 

GIDDYUP is another word that is fun for the mouth and throat to say. Besides meaning go for a horse, the urban dictionary says it means, “let’s go! or “Yes, let’s do it!”As in, “do you want to grab a pint of kombucha? Giddyup!” I like my giddyup people. Sally is a giddyup gal.

 

About a month ago, I dreamed I was riding a horse through uneven urban concrete junctures. Cutting through different grades and hills and drops and buildings did not faze my ride. All I had to do was sit down in the saddle and stay balanced, trust her technique. Trust the anima of the animal upon which I was seated.

This weekend, during awake time, there was another anima at work, in the form of making signs. If you look up anima in the dictionary, you’ll find a few different definitions. It starts with “soul; life.” My favorite: an individual’s true inner self reflecting archetypal ideals of conduct. I don’t know if anima fits here, in regards to sign making, but it feels right, so I’m sticking with it.

What’s your sign? What are your words?