Story of the Coyote

I dreamt...
My sister was once manager of a horse barn, which occasionally coyotes liked to pass through. At the time, a coyote killed several horses on the ranch, and no body managed to shoot it or catch it. The neighbors, feeling helpless as a crab skittering across the sand, called on the manager to recommend my services, as Sharron the Hunter, to kill the coyote feeling no other person was equal to the task.

However unfortunately, the dream was I was killed by a coyote during my last trimester of pregnancy. The doctors were able to keep me alive long enough to extract my baby daughter. The father, standing close to his newborn as a shadow, prayed and made a wish about his daughter: You must kill coyotes for your livelihood, that is your calling. Owing to this, all of the Sharron women were experts at hunting and killing the coyote.

So finally my sister employed the Sharron Hunters, promising a large reward. When they rode in on horseback, one was an old woman with white hair, who coughed and wheezed, and had pronounced veins in her cheeks, and the other was a seventeen-year-old girl with dull stays on the sides of her vest. The barn manager was greatly disappointed by their appearance. Noticing the disappointment, the old woman knelt on one knee and said, "I hear that this evil coyote is only 5 miles from town, so we had better get going and catch it before it travels any further." And so they set out at once, pressing their heels into their horses' flanks silently urging them on.

At an easy lope they followed a narrow dirt road through a desert-like pasture and found the den. Outside the den, the girl howled loudly like a coyote, and in no time the coyote rushed out with its ears flicked and leapt at the old woman. The old woman stood her ground, raising a short switch blade, three inches long. As the coyote was about to attack her, she dodged to one side, and the coyote jumped over her, landing in the pasture with blood streaming out. They crowded around and discovered that the coyote was neatly cut right from the chin to the tip of its tail as it touched the blade. My sister then generously rewarded the Sharrons' for their help. The old woman recounted that she had trained with knives since she was ten years old. She could also stare for a long time without blinking and her arms were so strong that even a strong man could not move them a little.

To conclude and in support of my afterthought, achievements through practice are always convincing. A person who is born clever can never surpass one who constantly practices.

{{Dedicated to the 2 coyotes that inspired this piece: one that crossed the street in front of me on my drive to work in the morning and one that crossed it on the way home (neither were killed). And to Debbie for allowing me a journey and a place to practice.}} Love, Sharon

What is artisan jewelry, you might ask?

Well, I can answer that! It is classed as jewelry that has been made by the hands of a creative jewelry artist, comprised mainly of high-quality stones and metal findings. If the artistry is resonant enough by using components with meaningful words and special, rare gemstones, it can exist as a highly personalized piece of jewelry for the wearer.

Artisan jewelry is often made completely from scratch, where the artisan uses lost wax casting or prepares the metals through heating, bending and shaping, sets stones, fires enamels, as well as creates the jewelry. Some artisan jewelry is crafted with ready-made components, whereby the artisan artistically connects all the pieces together. Regardless of the techniques used, usually hours of time and concentration are given to creating a piece of handcrafted artisan jewelry to assure that it is beautiful, unique, and far from ordinary.

One of my greatest passions is creating, selling and giving artisan jewelry as gifts or wearing it myself. I especially enjoy giving it to women that appreciate having it as "their own." My favorite elements are organic sterling silver findings that are lovingly made by hand in small quantities rather than mass produced (see examples at my website at Sharonunlimited.com). Having a rare and exquisite piece of jewelry that has been made or chosen specifically for me (or my customer) is a touching and memorable gift to receive and treasure for many years to come. Love, Sharon

Drawing a Parallel

I've been thinking a lot lately about the parallels between tango and yoga, tango and family relationships, tango and business management, and even tango and love making! When it comes right down to it, observing and reacting in the moment takes top priority. I guess I don't understand the part of human nature that prompts us to point out the flaws of others: to have expectations and imagined scenarios, rather than responding to what is and immediately adapting to the changing needs of our partners, our loved ones, our co-workers, and of ourselves. I think it becomes even harder when leader and follower techniques come into play. I know a lot of us go into relationships, in general, totally naive to the natural forces we are sending to and receiving from each other. Are we speaking and listening to the other person in that moment? Or are we thinking things should be a certain way "during the dance" and question others' creative desires, that they'll take the wrong step or do it differently than we would, and do not trust them-?

I know personally, I went into my first couple tango/partner dance lessons with a very strong desire for self expression and maybe even to achieve that ideal dance. How I regret I passed judgement on others in the class for their lack of expression "the know how" -being what I thought a man, a leader, should express physically and verbally. I was impatient and then would probably pass more judgement at the non-verbal level as well, unless I caught myself. I think many times we judge what we don't understand. And I think that once I entered the situation where I needed to heighten my senses to touch and hearing (and ironically I already consider myself highly sensitive to touch, pungent conversation, and loud noises) I began to understand remarkably the parallels as they run through other areas of life and I love it. The steps and fancy legwork became secondary almost.

I still believe that there are absolutes, there are right and wrong moves (in dance and in life), but I think many times, we make our absolutes too broad. Unless you see someone crossing that absolute line, we should have more faith in our partner's (and in dance, in the lead's) ability to do their job, to dance their own way. This doesn't mean I don't have standards, I hold many of them. But I guess I'm trying to get to the point where I will think long and hard before holding anyone but myself up to those standards. Ahem.
Until next time... :-) Sharon Marzonie

Creative Travel

Today I sit here in Prescott scratching my head in amazement at the turn of events. This year will be one of road trips and festivals (yes, I know even with the price of gas) instead of international travel. Believe me, if I get offered a chance to squeeze in some passport time, I will.

My first festival of 2011 I traveled to this past weekend in Apache Junction: the Arizona Renaissance Festival. It was a fun side priority to put my costume together for it. Some people feel it is essential that you develop a persona too (lords and ladies, maybe next year I will). A few weeks before I scouted my local thrift shops looking for the perfect, affordable dress and/or accessories. I never did find any tall lace up boots or corsets. So for simplicity's sake and because I'm not one to surround myself with a lot of drama, I wore a faux velvet smock, black hippy skirt (which I got during my travels in Thailand) and gladiator-style sandals made by Dansko. All of my jewelry I made myself.Travel, even a short road trip, is a phenomenal vehicle for personal transformation and another way of meeting interesting people. I know from experience I don't have to travel all the way around the world to reap the benefits or the fun. I've also learned to try and not plan too much ahead that way making room for changes along the way. It's so much more "organic." I let one event (at the festival) lead me to the next, and I didn't really have to think about it. Many of the interesting people I met working at the festival move from one to the next all around the US. They seem to have "organic travel" down pack and enjoy being nomadic.

Thanks for reading as I make sense of and embrace many more trips like this ahead, which really has my wheels spinning. This year I will downsize my "stuff" and learn more about sustainable living in case I ever take to the open road for a long stretch of time. Goodbye for now, you lovely gypsies! ~Sharon Marzonie