day 228, 29, 30 and 31- no guilt gratitude

It has been some days since my last post and I realized I was feeling guilty that I hadn't found the time to make it here and post. That won't do, it seriously hampers the ability to be in the moment and to be acknowledging what is in front of you.

I have now shaken my head, given myself a little talking to and remembered that finding something to be thankful for is not necessarily a spectator sport. *smile* and the reason these last few days will remain quiet-without guilt.

For today however, I turn my thoughts to the female artists that have come before, and to whom I am full of gratitude.

Just take a moment and think about what it must have been like for the women in theatre before the the early 1900s. What they must have struggled with to free their art.

Isadora Duncan, Sarah Bernhardt, and even back further with female writers, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, George Sands et al.

Without those passionate and determined women, blasting through stereotypes and obstacles, life as we know it in the arts would look much more grim.

One of these women truly speaks to me and has for years. Sarah Bernhardt, one of the leading ladies of theatre, and whom Mucha used as his muse to paint allowing greater exposure for Sarah and her art.

I was lucky enough to wander through a museum of Mucha's works in Prague and brought home a beautiful silk of a painting of Sarah Bernhardt as she appeared for Tosca.

It hangs beside my bed, shining on as a reminder to how far women in the arts have come.