BOOKS & PROJECTS

Finally! After years of distractions, my book, an unabashed confessional based on years of entries from my spiritual diaries, is published!  Eat (Less), Pray (More), Love (Christ) plays on the chic lit title to bring a modern woman's experience into an Orthodox ethos.

Available on Amazon and the publisher Wipf and Stock coming to a bookstore near you.

From the back cover:
Having faith in a postmodern world is a grace. This collection of reflections captures the struggle, the joy, and the angst in keeping the Orthodox faith in the everyday workings of an Orthodox woman.  Whether grumbling about completing the endless to-do lists in a working woman's life or reveling in the beauty of a winter morning, this book given an interior look into the soul of a tortured soul hoping against hope for the grace and the peace that comes with knowing the Lord.  Told in a confessional style, each reflection speaks of the difficulties in keeping faith, keeping the fast, keeping gratitude in the heart. It reveals the interior monologue of a prodigal and narrates the insights that come from the fear and trembling of living in the twenty-first century with its nihilism, despondency, and existential agony.  Divided into three parts, it reads as a lament, a prayer, and a confession while offering nuggets of wisdom that come through contemplation of specific traditions and feasts of the church. Eat (Less) Pray (More) Love (Christ) is the spiritual diary of a prodigal heart yearning to love Christ in spite of her vulnerabilities, her shortcomings, and her doubts.  

FREE LITTLE ART GALLERY UnDEr RENOVATION

After this brutal winter of wind, snow, and pelting rain, the FREE LITTLE ART GALLERY got under the weather. In fact it was obliterated. But our friends at Astoria Woodworkers Collective are coming to the rescue by designing and constructing a bigger, better, and more durable one.

In case you don’t know about the FREE LITTLE ART GALLERY. It is like the Free Little Library concept but instead people contribute art and handmade pieces and take those they like. It operates on the TAKE AND MAKE principle.   It's a small wooden "gallery" box outside my art studio. I am always changing the "exhibits."  It is a way to encourage community creativity.  I have had everything from sketches, prints, photos, ceramic mugs, even a $2 bill.

COMPASSION THROUGH CREATIVITY 

Creativity is a sign of compassion. That has been the impetus for the free little art gallery of Astoria. When I started the project it was mostly me making little art works and handing them out on the little ledges to the community for free. It was a way to channel my output and have a reason to keep creating.  The idea was to see if creativity could be reciprocated if it could come back like some boomerang of creative karma.  Sometimes there would be nothing. And other times it was a beautiful bonanza: ceramic mugs,  self made stickers, tiny art prints  dollar bills , buttons, embroidered bookmarks, paper flowers,  poetry, kid drawings. I would go to the FLAG every morning with the anticipation of a kid opening up a birthday present. I wanted to see what could come back. It always surprised me to open the little gallery doors.  Over all the response has been astonishing.  To offer ones creativity without expecting for something in return is a gift. Those who share of themselves through little random creative acts make an impact on those who receive.  This tiny print the 4th out of a series of 10 an iteration of Wyeth’s Christina’s world I have kept by my computer since last spring. It gives me so much joy to see it. Thanks S.Reynolds. The compassion through creativity of this community of Astoria gives me hope in humanity however divided it may seem during this time.  

So here is your call, Astoria: compassionate creativity.  Create and give it up to the universe.  You do not know what could come back to you.  And those who say well, “I’m busy I have so much on my plate.” That’s exactly the point.  You create because there is so much noise  and chaos in the world. You create despite the selfishness to take and not give. Create because the community like a bountiful ocean can bless you with.  Create because it is a sign that you care. So you! Yes, you , the one with no time, with too many cares, the one who thinks she/he has no talent, this call is for you!  Engage in Creative Acts of Kindness. They all fit in the little wooden box that passes for a gallery under the cherry tree in front of the studios of Atelier Eirene 28th street between Ditmars and 23rd Ave. 

SUPPORT THE CREATURES, wild and Domestic, in IOS, Cyclades

The cats you see on the Greek islands are cute. But do you know the majority are feral with little government aid to keep them healthy? My high schooler has started a campaign to help the wildlife and domestic animals on our island of Ios called CYCLADIC CREATURE CARE. You can find buttons and other merch for sale in local establishments such as Whiskas Pet Supply near Astoria Park. You can contribute from Instagram.