Oct 28, 2012

Winter setting into our bones, our minds

Dear Friend
Outside there is a drizzle, sort of like our minds which on any given day contains a drizzle of thoughts that parade through. This week was a quiet one, a queer one, one filled with some oddness. Our day and age of computers and cell phones leads to a sense of loneliness, a loss of connection to others at times. I often feel that this is why so many reach out through networks such as face book. People want some sort of connection where they feel they are being heard and perhaps touched if even through cyber space. Somewhat gone are the days when we gathered at family and friends homes to connect, share, and visit. We simply text (if you feel like it) or put some remark on face book in hopes that someone might respond. If you want to really shock then slam one out there...hmm. I totally understand this for there have been times that I try to fill a void with networks, too. 
Roasted provides a gathering spot for me and hopefully for others. A place to hang and bullshit. A place to visit, gossip (if you so feel), and share ideas. When people come drifting, sailing, ambling through it is non-stop enjoyment to pick their brains (a term from my childhood memories) and dig for gold. For each of us have gold in our heads that is meant to be panned and sifted. Our minds can only hold so many thoughts before we feel like exploding. I often feel this is why some people crack and fissure for they have no outlet in which they can vent and release their trickle of gold (or at times other elements and minerals). You will often times find people who can't stop talking and just spill forth with so many words that it's difficult to comprehend, or you will find a table of people where everyone is talking at once....waiting to be heard. 
I truly enjoy just listening to thought after thought..for there is so much gold to mine. I know that when people feel they are not listened to they often crawl deep within their body cavity and it's then difficult to excavate that beautiful mind full of gold nuggets. Our world has some difficulty dealing with people who contain pain, past memories, or darker visions but it's all a part of this wonderful world we live in and each part makes up the whole. 
We are all connected, humans, the land, all life is connected through waves of energy..
I look forward to hearing your trickle of gold, come in anytime..
from Annie

Oct 25, 2012

Life at Roasted, where art and coffee form a weaving of wonder

So I begin my first installment of life at Roasted where art surrounds my soul everyday... gently lifting me, enlightening me, and sometimes baffling me. This has been a journey of love through hills and valleys, through red-neck agendas and city folk views, through neighborly opinions and friendly support, and of course through the family and friends that I love strongly. I'm sure there was some bafflement as to why Annie Allen (Daniel) would put together a coffee art house in the middle of Lincoln Montana. Life in Lincoln is made up of hard working folk, low-income wages, skeptical viewpoints, and enough bars to support the mind when times are too difficult to manage ( I say this lovingly for I do love to have a drink or two myself :). Years ago I found while wondering with art students around the country side, coffee art houses provided uplifting art and a warm atmosphere. We began to look for the coffee art houses that provided plenty of artistic vision when we traveled. Houses that supported the arts, that loved people (especially students), and that filled your memory banks with an infusion of new vision for the world we live in. I've never been one that is satisfied with the same scenario every single day. I like a challenge, I like to surround myself with active thinkers (thus, art students), and I love great coffee!!! 
So as my life changed directions many years ago with a divorce and a father's death, I knew that I had to challenge myself. I had to allow change to fill me up, to light me up, to carry me to new pathways. I was surrounded by loving arms in the school where I worked. These arms carried me along and often times caught me when I crumbled. For this I am forever grateful, but alas I knew that I had to take a giant leap of faith and start anew. I was blessed with a family who supported this even though it meant changes for them also (especially my dear son & daughter). 
I began to piece together all the supplies I had to create an art studio, of which I had many! I began to search for information on art classes and creating art studios. Each step was a learning curve. Slowly I also began to collect many items that would be helpful in creating a coffee art house without even realizing it. The last item needed was a place to rent or buy and a great coffee machine. I moved to Helena thinking lets rock over here, lets start a new life, lets just make this happen. Well life had different ideas for me. Patience was needed, flow was arranging other plans for my mind, and I had to learn to rely on myself! Period! It was so damn easy to just want to fall into the arms of loved ones. It was so damn easy to get around strong personalities and let them just take over. But as much as these individuals are loved and needed it could only be me.
With reluctance and some sadness I moved back to Lincoln. Lincoln provided a home through my son and grandchildren, love and support through my family, and a couple months later a daughter who returned! Sure enough avenues opened up and the coffee art house was on here in Lincoln Montana. I was blessed with a wonderful land lady and her family, a coffee machine that I was able to work for, and great furnishings from all around Lincoln!!! What the hell, lets plow ahead and see where this road leads. You see, I feel that we must always challenge ourselves and challenge others around us to consider new ideas. Hopefully they do the same for me. So here at Roasted I try to weave together the lives of over 45 artists with my vision, I try to weave together new and fresh art lessons for the house, and I try to weave prayers and mantras through all the lives that enter Roasted. Is it working? I'm really not quite sure but life is very interesting and the energy that flows through Roasted is amazing for the most part.