Creating with Light

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32342669471276256202011-07-07T22:01:12.667-07:00Creating with LightNotes, essays, poems, and musings on a life of conscious creationRobin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-20604874743718267622011-06-27T11:42:00.000-07:002011-06-27T12:01:34.327-07:00The Beauty of Type

I'm a real typeface junkie! No matter where I am or what I'm doing, I can't help intently examining type. It's a little like how, because I was a dental assistant in my younger years, I can't help looking at people's teeth.The electronic age has put a myriad of typefaces at the disposal of not only designers but of anyone with a computer and a word processing program. The results in the

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-22384838199703948152011-04-01T16:19:00.000-07:002011-04-01T16:26:02.617-07:00A Doggy Update!

We found our dog in September. I'd been haunting the pet adoption web sites, and we had our name in with a couple of Welsh Corgi rescue organizations. And then one day I saw Gaby on PetAdopt.com. Her profile contained a link to a YouTube video, and it was instant love!Gaby's been with us now for well over six months, and it's a perfect fit. She's a little bundle of love—a designed-by-committee

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-53010292927086499592011-04-01T15:50:00.000-07:002011-04-01T16:09:34.404-07:00Re-focusing RMcB Creative

After months of having absolutely no time to think about my business, RMcB Creative Services, a window finally opened up to redesign my web site to reflect a re-focus of the business I do. I invite you to drop in on the site and check out the changes.I've had the pleasure of typesetting books for two wonderful authors in the past several months. Mary Carroll Moore just published her "bible" on

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-60019778770123393292010-07-10T15:18:00.000-07:002010-07-10T15:36:00.708-07:00Finding a Dog to Love

We recently moved (again!). After a year in a delightful townhome with grounds home to a herd of deer, we decided to seek out a pet-friendly, less expensive alternative and downsize a bit.The day we made the decision, we found the place—a nice two-bedroom townhome in a rather large apartment complex near the Willamette River southeast of downtown Corvallis. We had regrets about leaving the deer,

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-52609242003485550622010-05-25T15:22:00.000-07:002010-05-25T15:46:53.536-07:00Losing and Regaining One's Center

It has been many months since I made a contribution to this blog—many months and a lot of living.My mother passed away on March 4, 2010. Below, you can find a post or two on her condition over the last months. Although it was hard to lose her, we had been losing her for several years, and in some ways it was a relief that she would no longer be confined to the body that had ceased to serve her

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-45478989630850191842010-01-05T14:14:00.001-08:002010-01-05T14:25:16.635-08:00Post-holiday Comeback

The holidays pretty much eclipsed my intent to write at least a few times a week. Dashing about visiting family and friends, getting an icky cold, hosting houseguests, cooking, keeping up a physical therapy regimen for my "surgerized" knee—left little time for blogging. Any insights and illuminations just evaporated in the busyness.Perhaps my greatest Christmas gift was the reappearance in my

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-8857134163004785102009-11-29T10:53:00.000-08:002009-11-29T11:22:56.958-08:00Creating with Light

Two different streams of thought flow through me this morning. This one is about the title of this blog, Creating with Light.I spent quite a number of years, beginning in the mid-80s, doing graphic design for the print world. I love bringing order and beauty to the printed word—I can get lost for hours in the process of laying out images and exploring the best typography to enhance them, all with

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-55428089806184458582009-11-29T10:36:00.000-08:002009-11-29T10:52:12.501-08:00Solitude and Silence

It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving, fog-shrouded and a little frosty—the first really Novembery day we've had in November, with only one day to go. We've had company for a long time—dear friends trying to get resettled in the area plus the visitors who come and go: my brother and his family, my husband's best friend down from Orcas Island, Washington for the week. It's been a joyful time, but

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-42497533076813497862009-11-25T11:59:00.000-08:002009-11-25T12:11:36.028-08:00Synchronicity

A freelance job came to me to lay out and typeset a book on Alzheimer's disease by a physician in the Mid-west. So I sit at my desk a few hours each day working on this project and thinking about my mother, who has been living in a nursing home for some time with progressive dementia. My family isn't sure what to name it, shying away from "Alzheimer's." My take on it is that dementia is dementia,

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-36043974830011270912009-11-16T08:06:00.000-08:002009-11-16T08:20:22.306-08:00Healing and Acceptance

Been pretty grumpy about the physical pain and inconvenience of knee surgery and navigating my world on crutches. I have to keep reminding myself how grateful I am for an attentive mate who wants to help and guests who are doing housework and cooking for us to "repay" our hospitality—hospitality we have given with no thought of return.This morning I found this in The Soul of Rumi by Coleman Barks

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-44196998937205797542009-11-08T14:04:00.000-08:002009-11-08T14:18:38.089-08:00Sweet Anticipation

I discovered a new Barbara Kingsolver novel last week and hied myself to Amazon.com to order it. It arrived on Friday. Now I am forcing myself into a delicious anticipation of reading it. I couldn't help dipping two toes into it the day it came, but I'm saving the rest for later in the week.I'm having arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday to take care of a torn meniscus in my knee. It's been months

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-32090894080452752212009-11-05T09:05:00.000-08:002009-11-05T09:31:55.283-08:00Love Endures

A couple of months ago, my husband and I, my sister, and another couple close to us went to visit my mother. My mother is nearly 89 years old now. She had lived her life as a working artist since I was a very young girl. An extraordinary artist who explored media as some people explore the planet. Although she never received national recognition, she was well-known in our little world of San

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-46407712319693620412009-11-02T11:22:00.000-08:002009-11-08T14:19:01.913-08:00Autumn Light

I drive to Portland at least once a month to visit my mother, who is in a nursing home with dementia, and my sister and whatever friends I have time to see. This last weekend, transitioning from October to November, was my day. I always drive the long, more scenic way up 99W through Polk and Yamhill counties. Saturday was a wet, gray drive through intermittent showers and downpours. The beauty of

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-66721435402088236412009-10-29T14:34:00.000-07:002009-10-29T14:38:53.066-07:00Since the Beginning

Yearn not out toward the stars—You reach and strain too far.I wait hereIn the deepest chambers of your heart;WaitTo embrace you from withinWaitFor you to stop searching the galaxies for my loveWaitFor you to redirect your yearningTo your own universe,Where I have dwelt since the beginning.Embrace yourself!And you will find you have embraced me,Wrapped in my transcendent cloak,Where you have dwelt

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-14141244266537262102009-10-27T13:45:00.000-07:002009-10-27T14:03:07.227-07:00The Earring Tree

Years ago, I had a small fake ivory box, ornate, with legs and a red velvet lining, that sat on my dresser as a container for earrings. Over the years, I acquired more and more earrings, and each new acquisition went into the box to mix and tangle with the earrings already there. Every morning I complained and muttered under my breath about how hard it was to find a matching pair of earrings in

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-85615554297196223702009-10-24T14:16:00.000-07:002009-10-25T16:34:48.534-07:00Miracle of Birth

Almost 20 years ago, a dear friend asked me to be her labor coach when she delivered her second child. The experience was so profoundly spiritual, that the only way I could speak of it afterward was in a poem. Here it is:The BirthBefore dawn the phone rang.It's time, she said,And I rose in great excitementAnd made ready.The room was hushed, the light dimmed,Peace filled this sacred space,The

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-58004442549974977022009-10-24T10:53:00.000-07:002009-10-24T10:58:13.814-07:00Celebration

Having a quiet inner celebration today at the launching of a project many years in the creation. Such a sense of completion. Check out the Eckankar Online Bookstore, a source of hundreds of books and audio/video materials on spirituality. If you're a spiritual seeker, you may find something that will help you answer your own deepest spiritual questions.

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-22487471134083430562009-10-23T13:55:00.000-07:002009-10-23T14:09:16.251-07:00Soft Oregon Rain

It's a soft, grey, drippy Oregon day—entirely conducive to cooking warm, inviting food and curling up with a book and a cup of tea. My houseguest and I braved the copious water this morning to stock up on groceries for our ongoing healthy-eating vacation from our husbands and on books at the Corvallis library—a bright, airy place with none of the heaviness of urban downtown libraries. It was

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-5236929161119573982009-10-22T06:59:00.000-07:002009-10-22T07:09:36.980-07:00A Cure for Restless Legs

I've had restless legs syndrome for many years. Sitting in the evening with my husband, watching TV or reading, my legs had a life of their own, twisting, squirming, jiggling, jerking to some strange inner compulsive rhythm I had no control over. And then I started knitting. It was magic! As long as my hands were busy my legs behaved like the obedient appendages they were meant to be!In the

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-88782302492810528382009-10-21T14:25:00.000-07:002009-10-21T14:46:04.667-07:00Succulent Plants

Fleshy pads—Translucent jade and silver-greyNear to juicy bursting they.Flowering iceplantCarpets the land—Crunchy, slimy crushed in hand.Donkey tails and portulacaHanging in the sunny spotsShelter clustered hen-and-chicks safe in terra cotta pots.And oh—what was it called?sea lettuce—grew in patches at the beach,Trailing down the sandstone cliffs, always just beyond my reach.With salty, shimmery

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234266947127625620.post-88627143768090890962009-10-21T14:04:00.000-07:002009-10-21T14:15:35.422-07:00Virgin Blogger

I've contemplated starting a blog for over a year now. For someone who has been doing Web design for many years, I'm curiously resistant to making forays into the world of social networking and media. Nevertheless, semi-retirement and a new inflow of energy combined with a look at friend Mary Carroll Moore's blog today provided the impetus to get started. Do I think I have anything to say? Only

Robin McBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15620638766408968788noreply@blogger.com2