E-Notes

July 2010

Hello Expressive Friends,

Vacations are wonderful , renewing, and sometimes mind boggling. My husband, Micheal, and I just returned from a two week vacation that involved 5,000 miles of driving. The trip included side trips to Chattanooga, TN, Pala Dura Canyon, TX, Datil Campground, NM, The Alabaster Canyons, OK, and Mammoth Cave, KY. Out in Magdalena, NM near our desert home, the Old Timers Reunion was going on and we dance in the streets, enjoyed the rodeo, and admired the horses in the beautiful parade. It was great fun experiencing the Old West in this frontier town that was the end of the cattle drive from Arizona. The weather in the high desert was perfect with gentle winds blowing all the time and the temperature in the high 80’s.

I highly recommend Mammoth Cave, KY if you want to get into the depths of Mother Earth. This is a 350 mile cave- the longest in the world. We set up camp and then took two 2-hour guided tours. These tours were demanding and exhilarating. The park offers programs throughout the day and there are also trails to explore. There’s nothing like a cool cave on a hot day.

Why not sign up for the Writing, Visions, & Revisions Workshop, Thursdays, Aug. 5 Sept. 9, 7-9 pm? You will love the visual journaling, sacred stories, and learning about personality type and writing style. Ann Loomis, writing consultant and author, and I will guide you through these fun workshops that will give deeper insights and expertise through writing. The workshops are offered at Health Touch in Westgate Plaza, Durham.

In this day of technology and emails, we are used to writing at lightening speed. When was the last time you sat down and hand wrote a note to someone? I always appreciate the notes I get from relatives that they wrote in long hand. One thing you might try is drawing a simple mandala design to decorate the note card. The whole experience of note writing is restful and centering. Give it a try, you’ll like it.

Get out in Nature this week-end and let us know what you found that inspired you.
Have fun,
Ruth

June 2010

Hello Expressive Friends,

We sure are blessed in this area to have such lush growing conditions for our gardens. I put in a vegetable garden at the vacant spot left by an old house on our land. This is also under a huge pecan tree. The pecan tree has covered the garden with the long wormy looking flowers which serve as mulch. Professional gardeners would say that this is the worst place to put a garden but you should see how it has grown since the first of May. I have arugula, kale, parsley, variety lettuce, and spinach now with squash, potatoes, fennel, and okra on the way. It was great fun this morning to cover the garden paths with hay. Gardening is one of the most healing therapies and it’s helping me now cope the Gulf spill. Tell us what you are growing?

I am offering my Navajo Sacred Art Workshop on Friday, June 25, 1-3:30 pm. I am passionate about the Navajo stories and art and look forward to sharing them with you. You'll see how a Navajo view of life can help us restore Mother Earth. Please help me get the word out and come on out!

I’ve copied some information about the writing workshop that Ann Loomis and I are offering on Thursday nights starting Aug. 5. Please forward this email to your friends and family.

Remember that one way we can practice the Navajo Beauty Way is through gardening. May you be blessed with more flowers and veggies than weeds, Ruth Hamilton


Writing, Visions, & Revisions: Visual Journaling, Sacred Stories, & Personality Type
with Ruth Hamilton & Ann Loomis
Thursdays, Aug. 5- Sept. 9, 7-9 p.m., Durham, NC
August 5- Visual Journaling with Ruth Hamilton. Journal with colors and images to express emotions and intentions.
August 12- Writing from Navajo Sacred Stories with Ruth Hamilton. Work with Navajo creation stories and symbols to help you get in touch with what is most sacred to you.
August 19- Personality Type & the Writing Process with Ann Loomis. Discover your “best fit” personality type and how it influences your writing style.
August 26- Write from Your Type with Ann Loomis. Practice writing from your type to help break writer’s block and appeal to various audiences.
Sept. 2 Capturing the Essence of your Travel Stories with Ruth Hamilton. Use your images and photos to create the stories of your travels, both past and future.
Sept. 9 Creating Humor in Your Writing with Ruth Hamilton and Ann Loomis. Learn techniques to “humorize” your personal anecdotes and stories.
About the presenters: Ruth Hamilton is the Founder of Carolina Health & Humor Assoc., an educational humor service non-profit operating since 1986. She also is an Expressive Arts Counselor with Arts Can Heal. Ruth was editor of the Carolina Ha Ha newsletter until 2006 and is the editor of the book Laugh Lines. Ann Loomis is a writing consultant and author of Write from the Start, a workbook that links personality type and the writing process. She has twice served as president of the C.G. Jung Society of the Triangle. Ruth and Ann share an office at Health Touch in Durham, NC where they are available for private sessions. Cost: $150 for all six classes. Early bird: $125 for all six classes if you register by July 22. Please send a check payable to Arts Can Heal, 3500 Westgate Dr., Suite 504, Durham, NC 27707. Location: The Health Touch is in Westgate Plaza near Target. Visit www.ArtsCanHeal.com for a map. For more information, email: Ruth@ArtsCanHeal.com or abloomis@bellsouth.net.

Ruth Hamilton
Expressive Arts Counselor
Arts Can Heal
Health Touch, 3500 Westgate Drive
Suite 504, Durham, NC 27707
http://www.ArtsCanHeal.com/
Ruth@ArtsCanHeal.com
Cell phone: (919)943-8834

May 2010

Hello Expressive Friends,

I'm just back from one of my favorite places- Floyd, Va. I did the winging buck dance at the Friday Night Jamboree at the Country Store. I'm glad to find out what it is that I do when I hear old time string music. My feet get a jig in them and I'm hard to stop. I even got my husband Micheal out on the dance floor for two-stepping. We stayed at the historic Mountain Rose Inn in Woolwine, VA which I highly recommend. On the way back we checked out Yanceyville, NC and found it delightful with a beautiful court house and historic district. We sure have wonderful places to visit in the northern NC and southern VA area.

I am offering my Navajo Sacred Art Workshop on Friday, June 25. This replaces the May 14 workshop. I am passionate about the Navajo stories and art and look forward to sharing them with you. You'll see how a Navajo view of life can help us restore Mother Earth. Please help me get the word out and come on out!

Where have you traveled lately that you would like to tell us about? My friend Ann Loomis just got back from Turkey and she had a wonderful time.
May humor, music, and travel enrich your life, Ruth Hamilton

April 2010

Dear Expressive Friends,

Hello from the Land of Jack Rabbits, Junipers, & Pinons. Spring is very beautiful here in Pinon Springs, NM. Birds of all colors greet me in the morning. A woodpecker awakens me by tapping out a love call on the porch rail. The moss on the ridge is turning green and herds of elk and antelope are grazing in the grasslands. Little calves scamper down the dirt road. This spring is especially green for we had a snowfall weekly this winter. I soon expect to see the hedgehog cactus & cholla blooming all over our “rock ranch.”

My husband, Micheal Jokinen and I took Navajo language classes on the nearby Navajo Reservation this winter. Through these classes I gained a deeper appreciation of the sacred culture, art, and healing. The traditional practices and art can bring healing to all of our lives. I am offering "Navajo Healing and Sacred Art" in two parts on Friday, May 14 and on Friday, June 25. You can take either class but a deeper understanding is offered by taking both and also a discount. Please see the attached flyer and also send to your friends and family.

I look forward to reconnecting with you when I return to Health Touch on May 3. I also am making more jewelry to put in the local galleries and bring back to NC. You'll like the traditional Navajo jewelry that I make with Bolson Guerro and Vergie Jake of the Alamo Reservation. You'll also like my the beautiful gem stones that I wire wrap.

Hagoonee' and may you experience the Spring rebirth and may enjoy Nature, Ruth Hamilton

Ruth Hamilton
PO Box 440
Magdalena, NM 87825
http://www.artscanheal.com/
Ruth@ArtsCanHeal.com
Cell phone: (919)943-8834, leave message

May 2008

Hello Expressive Friends,

It’s so great to be back in NC after a six month sojourn in Magdalena, NM. My husband, Micheal Jokinen, and I were on a mission to build a compact adobe house on our land which is in the Bear Mountains. What a thrill! Last summer, we designed the passive solar house while primitive camping on the land. We got our well drilled the next day and everything fell into place for us to relocate last Oct. We lived in a mobile home for the winter. The wood stove kept us cozy in the cold, snowy, and windy winter. A local family, the Oteros, built the beautiful soulful house. We moved in two weeks before we left to come back to NC. We will be here until Oct. and then return to NM for six months.

It was good to return to Health Touch today to meet with clients. I look forward to seeing you and invite you to come by the office on Tuesdays or Thursdays. I also welcome working with you in an expressive art session. I continue to help speakers and presenters enliven and humorize their public presentation. Two clients are now enrolled in the “Certified Humor Presenter” course.

I will be offering the workshop, “The Power of Gems” on Friday, May 16 from 9:30 am-12 noon. You will interact with a vast array of the gems I love. We’ll create gem and rock art and everyone will take home semiprecious stones crystals. Also, I worked with the Navajos in NM to create beautiful bracelets, necklaces, and rings. I designed the jewelry and Vergie Jake of the Alamo Navajo Reservation (beside our land) created the beautiful turquoise and gem stone jewelry. It was exciting to work with a lady who puts prayers and healing power into each jewelry art piece. This jewelry will on display and for sale. Please print out this flyer and help me get the word out.

I’d love to hear from you and catch up on your life. Find a way today to experience nature and bring beauty into your life.

Have a wonderful expressive day, Ruth Hamilton

Beat the Heat with Humor & Expressive Arts!

How the Piedmont Wildlife Center helped me in my effort to save a baby bird.

It was no laughing matter last week when the temperature hit 104 F. Being the energy conscious being that I am, I took charge and raised the thermostat to 85 degrees. Then I started searching for creative ways to cool off. Some of the methods I tried were the wetting-down methods: the trusty ice water spray bottle, the mister on the garden hose, and a cool shower. And then there were the internal cooling methods: sipping ice water, crunching ice, and eating frozen fruit grapes and bananas. I also enjoyed an Arctic animal nature film and let the penguins and polar bears create cool imagery for me. You might also enjoy Planet Earth, BBC Video, narrated by David Attenborough.
Another of my favorite cooling off methods is water coloring with cool colors while sipping peppermint tea. The cool colors of blue, green, turquoise, white and silver gray work wonders for creating a relaxed mood. These colors are calming and restful and can create imagery of cooling nature places. To watercolor, youll need a large paint brush, a large piece of paper, and an inexpensive translucent water color set. Then you just paint away, covering the paper with cool colors. Soon the color effects will work on your brain and youll feel cooled down.
Playing with colors is a fun way to broaden your self healing techniques. I developed the workshop Watercolor for Emotional Healing to help everyone discover the power of colors. This workshop is offered on Friday, Aug. 17 at Health Touch, 3500 Westgate Plaza, Durham, NC 27707. At this workshop you’ll be dancing with color and taking a color bath, and also learn the watercolor wash method. Call me for more information at 919-544-2370.
Jane Austin said it well: What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps one in a continual state of inelegance. I say that heat and elegance don’t mix so just try to be creatively cool.
Happy daisies, Ruth Hamilton

How the Piedmont Wildlife Center helped me in my effort to save a baby bird

Hello Friends and Family,

Last night while I was cooking dinner, I heard a loud thump on the patio door. This is a sound I do not like to hear for it is usually a bird in distress. And there is was- a baby woodpecker clumped on the deck. We watched him for an hour hoping he was stunned and would fly away. Then my mothering instinct took over. I picked the little bird up and started hands on healing. Then there was the medicine dropper with droplets of water and finally pealed grapes. He devoured all of these. Next it was the shoebox and dish towel bed. Since the flicker couldn't use his legs, this was a good idea. We decided this morning to seek professional help. My husband, Micheal, Goggled "Durham NC Wildlife Rescue" and found 11 animal rescuers with 3 specializing in songbirds. I called a volunteer who directed me to take our little friend to the Piedmont Wildlife Center which is only a block down the street.

Piedmont Wildlife Center is an emergency hospital with a veterinarian on staff and friendly volunteers. The receptionist told me that the bird was a Northern Flicker and not the red belly woodpecker that I thought. There are five other flicker babies at the hospital now. My little bird is #1831 and I can go to checkup@piedmontwildlifecenter.org to follow his progress. I was also told that I should not have feed or watered the bird as sometimes the food gets caught in his throat. The better approach would have been to put him on a heating pad set at low. I don't feeding hurt my bird but I won't do it next time. This little bird will be cared for until it can be released into the wild. It may have to be euthanized if this is not possible.

I am most impressed with the Piedmont Wildlife Center and will support them with a donation. I also invite you to consider the good work this center does and see if this is somewhere you want to volunteer or support. And remember good information about animal rescue is the first step to keeping animals "positively wild."

Lover of all things wild & wonderful, Ruth

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