Inspiration

Today and last Saturday I went to the ranch with my mom to visit her horse. The ranch is almost magical. It's located in water valley, a beautiful area in Alberta about an hour NE of Calgary with abundant wildlife. When I go there I feel a sense of fullness - like everything a person needs to live comfortably is there. It's peaceful, no city distractions, lots of wilderness and space, and lots of love. The lady who owns the ranch is a very interesting person, and I often think that it was a great blessing for my mom and her to meet and bond over their passion for horses. It's almost like she gives a positive energy to the world. She's very spiritual, a vegetarian, a believer in animal rights and she treats her animals (dogs, chickens, cats, horses, etc.) like family and with great care. You can tell the animals are loved and are healthy and happy because they are so friendly, calm, and tolerant of each other. The Dog's and cats get along, they don't bother the chickens either, and the horses enjoy their company as well. One of the details that I especially find inspirational is the Tibetan prayer flags that she has hung on the tack-room eves. This is the area where everyone meets and brings their horses to feed and brush. My mom bought her those flags for a gift and I truly believe it has added a new level of peace and positivity to the atmosphere there.

Her house is also very unique. It is very open and filled with relics from the travels of he children - especially things from India and with spiritual significance. She gets along without buying many new things - something I very much admire in a person and hope to cultivate in myself (slowly but surely - I am working on it). There are sheets of fine material that hang from the ceiling that act

as "dividers" (I use this loosely because they simply hang in front of the bed and very vaguely separate rooms in a wide open basement) . The light passing through is orange and pink and creates a romantic and exotic ambiance. It feels as though you have stepped into another country - like creativity and energy in the cloths are filling the room with foreign music and prayers.

The floor is carpeted with pieces of old carpet patched together to cover the cement. Then larger beautiful rugs cover the spaces between the pieces of carpet. The beds have very comfortable looking sheets to top it off.

It's a very inspiration place that makes me want to start doing art again. I've been trying to get back into it for awhile now.