Friday Quest – Sacred Angel of Memories by Randy Gallegos

“Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”  — Nathaniel Hawthorne

Marcela’s Quest: Enjoy a precious memory.

Suggestion: Take a few minutes to remember a moment from your childhood that you haven’t thought about for a long time. Write it down for a journal or scrapbook. Think about how that moment affects you today.

I find great value in journaling about things.  It might be a regular journal, or a visual journal, or a combination of the two, so I’m very much looking forward to thinking about this quest and following through on this suggestion. And may I just add that if anyone is unfamiliar with what a visual journal is, or how to go about one, there is a woman that creates YouTube demos on how to make journals that I absolutely ADORE!

She’s my shero of how to lure your muse out to play and have fun experimenting and making art. Let me emphasize that visual journaling is for everyone – not just for people who identify as "artistic!" I dare you to watch a few of Suzi’s Journal Playshops and ‘not’ be inspired to create.

Thoughts from the 'Angel of Memories' artist, Randy Gallegos:

Memories…. I'm naturally retrospective and nostalgic, and spend a lot
of time not in the past as in not living in the present, but making
sense of the past or visiting the best parts of it. Though always
working towards the future, it isn't here yet, and the moment you savor
the present it passes you. In that sense, we spend more time with our
pasts than anything else. I've often sought to live my life such that I
create a good past–anything I do will (hopefully) be with me for
decades, so where it is in my own control, it's best to load up my past
with wonderful things.

When I got involved in Angel Quest, I
was living in England, and it was winter. This was a strong contrast to
the beach setting! I actually am not naturally drawn to the beach as
some are, and Natalie Merchant's song about reflecting on memories,
"Where I Go," made a strong case for switching to a riverside setting;
however when thinking about places where people might go to sit and
recall their pasts, the beach did seem like a natural place. I'm also
natively Californian, which has something to do with that.

Included here are 4 of the small digital thumbnails very quickly
sketched out to help sort out the idea. These were the 4 finalists. In
one case, the figure is au naturale which though artistically
appealing, I figured was not appropriate for the assignment. It may
still be my favorite overall, however, draped it really didn't work as
well. What followed was a pencil drawing and then the final, which was
painted 11×14" in oils. 

Terese's Quest Report:

Last week my quest suggested that I write a letter to my future self five years from now, to talk about who I am right now, and where I hope to be by then. I have a pretty clear grasp of where I am today. It tends to be the "where I want to be in a few years" that I find difficulty in nailing down. I feel as if I flit about like a fish from slipstream to slipstream riding the path of least resistance, switching to whatever pulls my attention at the time.

As I ruminate over it I'm not certain if I've always been so restless, or if pinning me down to a plan is a recent phobia . . . probably the later as my college and early career years were very focused. For me, raising children has a way of psychologically "pinning one down," so I think my current fantasy is the complete feeling of freedom to go and do whatever excites me.

Three years from now, all four of our teenagers will theoretically be "out of the house" and launching off onto their own paths, so this concept of freedom and undiscovered adventure is becoming a very real idea to me now… one that's close enough to spend time imagining and feeling.

All that said, I didn't actually write my letter yet, but I intend to this
weekend. I'm starting a workshop with a group of women called "Living
by the Moonlight- Manifest the Bridge to Your Dreams." We'll be meeting
every 28 days on the evening of the new moon. I have homework to do tonight to start assembling my vision board with
the group tomorrow evening.

I intend to keep it a FUN
process and not a hard-core-swim-upstream do-whatever-I-have-to-no-matter-what
process. I know how to utilize that approach, and now I'm going to work
with another method I learned from the Abraham Hicks Publications: http://www.abraham-hicks.com

So, if I haven't finished my letter to my
future self by next weeks' Friday Quest, then anyone that calls me on it gets
a free print.

-Catch up on more of Terese Nielsen's Angel Quest posts!

-Select your favorite Angel Quest print.