Catching my breath after my first 57 years of life

November 18, 2012, 11:30 pm

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What a wild ride it’s been so far! I love this saying below, by Brian Andreas, which he pairs with a painting of one of his colorful StoryPeople: “Is willing to accept that she creates her own reality except for some of the parts where she can’t help but wonder what the hell she was […]

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“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning”

November 28, 2012, 8:47 am

≫ Next: It’s never too late to be happy

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Daybreak, Thanksgiving morning 2012 . . . I stand for a moment at my window taking in dawn’s red sky, the streetlamp still glowing below. I can’t remember if this is a delight or a warning? And then it comes to me . . . ah oh . . . it’s a warning. I refused […]

It’s never too late to be happy

December 9, 2012, 3:48 pm

≫ Next: My Crazy Walkabout 2012 (Pictures)

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“Claiming our own lives creates fulfillment and joy. We don’t need to be controlled. We don’t deserve to be repressed or stifled. We don’t have to let anyone convince us that we do. We can trust ourselves. We know what we need, we know what we yearn for — we long to be set free.” […]

My Crazy Walkabout 2012 (Pictures)

December 31, 2012, 7:30 am

≫ Next: What is calling you in 2013?

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My walkabout 2012 in a picture collage. It was as rich, colorful, fun and crazy as it appears. Happy New Year! Bring it on 2013! Filed under: Betsy Lewis

What is calling you in 2013?

January 15, 2013, 8:30 am

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Do you know what you are called to do or be? Have you always known? Have you had several different callings or just one? Do you have a calling on the “back burner”? Some people seem to know their calling at birth. They make a beeline straight toward their destiny. I ran across an old […]

Post to Post with Patty

February 25, 2013, 7:34 am

≫ Next: Skating on thin ice

≪ Previous: What is calling you in 2013?

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“A walkabout requires a decision to take a first step, and a conscious and intentional movement  (inwardly, outwardly or both) in the general direction of a longing or calling — with an openness to the actual experience, and  a minimal attachment to expectations and results.” Betsy Lewis This is a guest post by new Walkabout […]

Skating on thin ice

April 9, 2013, 5:58 pm

≫ Next: Folding my mother back into my body

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The Walkabout Woman blog has been languishing. The truth is . . . I have been busy making a living. The loss of my pension in February sent me off in a new direction, one with less time for writing or art. I am actually enjoying my foray back into the working world.  I find […]

Folding my mother back into my body

May 12, 2013, 8:17 am

≫ Next: Introducing pLaNeT PoRtLaNd

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My mother told me that a mean old rooster used to chase her around the yard, so her father chopped off its head — but it still ran around headless.  I was but a girl myself when she told me this story and I didn’t like thinking about a bloody headless rooster. But, what terrified […]

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Introducing pLaNeT PoRtLaNd

May 14, 2013, 7:30 am

≫ Next: Slowly pulling the tree out by its roots

≪ Previous: Folding my mother back into my body

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Working almost full time in the wake of losing my pension has put a severe cramp on my artistic output. Introspection-wise I am still functioning but not putting much of it into writing. The Portland Nine writing group, which meets once a week, has been my only expressive outlet. However, just as my head was […]

Slowly pulling the tree out by its roots

May 21, 2013, 4:00 pm

≫ Next: What’s art got to do with it?

≪ Previous: Introducing pLaNeT PoRtLaNd

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The rain and gloom have returned to Portland–which fits my mood. I have been feeling low the last two days. This usually means I’ve come upon an unhappy “anniversary date” of my life. This time I attribute my mood to a loss — some 10 springs ago — when my long marriage came to an […]

What’s art got to do with it?

July 18, 2013, 9:35 am

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“Art therapy? You’ve got to be kidding!” Those were my words 10 years ago when a friend suggested this type of therapy to help my kids cope with divorce. Sure — I knew art could be fun, but I was skeptical about its role in emotional healing. Reluctantly, I decided to give it a try, […]

Living my life outside my windows

October 5, 2013, 10:20 am

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My work (and live) space is a modest 450 sq ft apartment on the 5th floor of a historic high-rise in rainy, quirky, PC (politically correct) Portland, Oregon. It’s Friday, 6:15 p.m. TGIF. I have just consumed a hearty dinner, prepared in a compact kitchen a few short steps from the couch — where I […]

Win a signed print. Little effort required!

November 1, 2013, 11:56 am

≫ Next: A love letter from my past

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It’s the one year anniversary of my walkabout in Portland, Oregon, a place I affectionately refer to as Planet Portland. Help me celebrate! Visit my pLaNeT PoRtLaNd Gallery Page and make a comment. I will make a random drawing from all the comments and send the winner a signed 8″ x 10″ print of an image […]

A love letter from my past

August 13, 2014, 7:57 am

≫ Next: The No Bullshit Selfie

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Today is my birthday. Born this day in 1955, I am now 59 years-old. I have lived one year longer than my mother did, and nine years longer than my father. I was the first-born in a family of four children, and I am also the first of these children to live longer than our […]

The No Bullshit Selfie

March 16, 2015, 10:40 am

≫ Next: Love In The Time of 40 Rose Bushes

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True to my walkabout path, I took a small step out of my comfort zone a few days ago and did something new and moderately scary. The repercussions resulted in an inner earthquake I could not have anticipated — catapulting me into a new version of myself — that feels like growing up.  As a […]

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Love In The Time of 40 Rose Bushes

March 24, 2015, 8:19 am

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I used to own 40 rose bushes. They came part and parcel with a house my new husband and I bought in Boise, Idaho — when we were young, in love and wanting to settle down and start a family. The roses were a riotous mix of colors and shades, lined up prettily against a […]

The Invisible Woman?

April 23, 2015, 8:58 am

≫ Next: The heart and the not so lonely hunter

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  Last week a sales clerk gave me the senior discount automatically — without me having to ask. Whoa! That was a first. I had dressed up too. Made an effort. Had my makeup on. I’d also recently lost a few pounds. I thought I looked good, middle-aged perhaps, but certainly not a senior. Apparently […]

The heart and the not so lonely hunter

April 30, 2015, 8:36 am

≫ Next: Brave little girls, big sisters and beach angels

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I have been on the lookout for heart-shaped rocks on beach walks near my home. It was only a casual effort at first. I usually have an eye to the sand anyway, looking for interesting debris tossed up by the waves. Lately, I almost always find a single small rock with a tiny hole through […]

Brave little girls, big sisters and beach angels

May 27, 2015, 8:18 am

≫ Next: On Being Ordinary

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Bandon Beach ~ May 2015 Walking on Bandon’s beach last week, I remembered another day at this same beach — some 20 years ago. There was the same ominous heavy moist grayness, the same biting wind and moaning fog horn, and the same super low tide – which left a wide sandy beach covered in […]

On Being Ordinary

August 28, 2016, 12:40 pm

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  I intended, at the start of my walkabout several years ago, to write my story frequently. What I found is that writing is hard for me. I get too perfectionist about it. So starting now I am writing just for myself — and I forgive myself in advance for typos and nonsense. You are […]