| Public Service Announcement. |
[20 Jun 2016|11:30am] |
"Friendship is born from an identity of spiritual goals-from common navigation toward a star." ~Wartime Writings 1939-1944
This journal is now primarily 'Friend's Only' for personal security purposes. If you'd like to be added..leave me a comment and we'll see what I can do. *smiles*
"Happiness! It is useless to seek it elsewhere than in this warmth of human relations...Only a comrade can grasp us by the hand and haul us free." ~Wind, Sand and Stars
"He who is different from me does not impoverish me-he enriches me. Our unity is constituted in something higher than ourselves-in Man...For no man seeks to hear his own echo, or to find his reflection in the glass." ~Flight to Arras
All quotes by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
******************************************************
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
|
|
| It's been a long time. |
[25 Nov 2013|10:45pm] |
"She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.
She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head. She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the 'right' reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.
She didn't ask anyone for advice. She didn't read a book on how to let go... She didn't search the scriptures. She just let go. She let go of all of the memories that held her back. She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward. She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.
She didn't promise to let go. She didn't journal about it. She didn't write the projected date in her Day-Timer. She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper. She didn't check the weather report or read her daily horoscope. She just let go.
She didn't analyze whether she should let go. She didn't call her friends to discuss the matter. She didn't do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment. She didn't call the prayer line. She didn't utter one word. She just let go.
No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations. No one thanked her or praised her. No one noticed a thing. Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.
There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn't good and it wasn't bad. It was what it was, and it is just that.
In the space of letting go, she let it all be. A small smile came over her face. A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore."
- Ernest Holmes
|
|
| For my dad... |
[07 Mar 2013|08:35pm] |
I've been getting things out all this week on FB, but..my dad...passed away this week rather suddenly after doing really well with the operation.
This is what I've written for John to read for me at the funeral tomorrow morning...
"My Dad was my superhero.
Sure...other kids had Batman and Superman, but I had my Dad.
No..he couldn't fly or turn invisible, although when he'd just eaten at the buffet at Willow Valley and all us kids wanted to use him as our own personal pool toy..he probably wished he could.
I didn't need all of those superpowers though, because my Dad had ones of his own.
He could do anything...ANYTHING..he put his mind to and if he put his mind to it there was NO stopping him. He built furniture from scratch and fixed cars and spent countless hours in the garage after we'd all gone to bed building us gifts for Christmas..and one day a beautiful wooden crib for his grandchildren.
My Dad had the power of laughter. I've never seen anybody who could so easily make people smile and laugh. It always amazed me the amount of times he could get my mom laughing till she cried, which would just set all of us laughing more.
My Dad had the power of life...he positively glowed with it. He was full to the brimming with it and always lived it to the fullest..whether he was camping with his family or traveling on cruises with my Mom or just playing in the pool with his children and grandchildren. He fully enjoyed every bit of life that he was given and spread that joy to the people around him.
My Dad had the power of generosity, whether it was helping his kids put in kitchens and floors to snow-blowing..seemingly..all the sidewalks in the neighborhood..to helping kids build their cars for pine derby races. He drove a church bus for years and was always generous with his time, love and kindness.
When my Dad went in the hospital last week for his surgery, he said he was meant to touch someone through this. The fact is...my Dad touched EVERYBODY he came in contact with.
My superhero may not have flown, but he was the one that gave me wings."
|
|
| NYE Benediction |
[31 Dec 2012|03:44pm] |
This is the same as I've posted in previous years, but I really couldn't say it better and I really couldn't hope for better in the next year..so I'm going to hope the same for 2013.
Also..another thing I'm hoping for in 2013..is to use my LJ a bit more. This place in general seems to have become a quiet wasteland, but I miss the actual expressing of emotions in some more depth than can be found elsewhere.
Transcription
May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books, and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art. Write, or draw, or build, or sing, or live, as only you can.
May your coming year be a wonderful thing, in which you dream both dangerously and outrageously. I hope you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it; that you will be loved, and you will be liked; and you will have people to love and to like in return. And most importantly, because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now, I hope that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind. And I hope that somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.
I hope the same to all of you.
|
|
| Cross-posting from FB for those of you that will be amused ;) |
[16 Oct 2012|10:16pm] |
John and I are doing absentee ballots for the election, since we'll be on vacation for early voting AND the actual election and there was NO WAY we weren't going to vote. We always check the League of Women Voters site, because they send out questions to the candidates..even for the smaller local offices and we like to do some research even for those positions. There's always the really crazy answers though, which make the whole thing worth it. ;) Only one guy this time really had some answers that made us laugh out loud and I've saved them here for you. You can thank me later.
First...
"Man made climate change is a proven hoax and is simply a tool for statists and communists to exeert control over every aspect of our lives."
I had NO idea that climate change was all a secret communist agenda!
Second...
"We need to close the southern border, put a hold on immigration from third world countries, stop immigration from muslim countries and concentrate on Americans for a change."
Nope. No bias showing right there. *sighs*
|
|
| Cross-posted from LJ - Aging. |
[28 Sep 2012|04:18pm] |
I don't think I've ever had another birthday that has affected me as the one coming up on Thursday.
I'm turning 40 and I know that these random numbers have been made into a big deal and that's probably affecting me, but..to some extent..these nice round numbers make some sense in meaning more to us. I've never dealt so much with the feeling of 'aging' as I am with this birthday. Probably a part of it is because I'm finally seeing the more physical characteristics of that process, but I've always wanted to be the sort of person who allowed herself to age gracefully..and yet here I am bothered by wrinkles.
*rolls eyes at self* It's all a bit fascinating..once I get past the 'Ack!' emotional part of it.
Also..randomly..this is not me asking for gifts, but for those of you that have that sort of thought..I'd just like to say that I'm always utterly overjoyed to just have people reach out and let me know they are there celebrating with me (the gift of words *smiles*) and it makes me thrilled to have people donate to one of my favorite organizations (Heifer International) as a gift. It's a wonderful way to celebrate another year in a life..to bring help to others traveling on this globe with us.
This is their site - http://www.heifer.org/
|
|
| Pottery. |
[29 Aug 2012|11:36pm] |
A friend asked for pics of me today at pottery, so I decided to get some action shots! ;)
How DO I see what I'm doing? (Ok, so usually my hair is up in a clip or pigtails, except..you know..today, because haircut.)
These are a bit blurry (action!), but I like them anyways.
|
|
| Repost from FB :) |
[23 Jul 2012|07:39pm] |
This is a cell phone picture, but this is a compost bucket that my friend, Laura, had requested for her kitchen counter for putting scraps in to take out to compost. I'm unsure if it's big enough, but..if not..well, it can be used for other things. I'm happy with it though. It has a lid with a knob and the two handles on the sides will either have twine or a wire handle that I'll create. This isn't fired yet at all.
|
|
|
[20 Jul 2012|10:24pm] |
A certain friend (who shall not be named...TEETH!)..requested some more photos of my hair as I've been growing it out, so I tried to comply today (because I listen very well *laughs*).
|
|
|
[12 Jul 2012|02:14pm] |
Something sort of settled deep inside of me yesterday.
I've had several people over the past month tell me that I was one of the kindest and most generous people they knew.
What I sort of opened myself up to yesterday was that..well, I may feel that I don't know my 'purpose' and maybe I won't have one particular one. I don't know if I'll ever be the sort of person who knows what they want to do when they 'grow up'.
Thing is..*ponders a moment*..if I died..if I left this earth...and I was remembered for being kind and generous...well, that's ok with me.
|
|
| Quote |
[09 Jul 2012|11:36pm] |
Another good quote for my head right now...
"I'll tell you what I think," said Wiggin. "I think you don't grow up until you stop worrying about other people's purposes or lack of them and find the purposes you believe in for yourself."
-Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
|
|
|
[09 Jul 2012|09:47pm] |
I apologize...if I'm not as present as I have been in the past.
I'm both trying to...find my way out of this place I've been in for months, while also..in whatever way I can..still be there for the people around me. I know that I do fall short in that regard, especially if compared to the past.
I'm very, very quiet right now. I was reading a description in 'Xenocide' about a man who due to an injury is frustrated, because he can only form speech very slowly and with great difficulty.
Not just the listener's, either. Miro had to be fair - he was as impatient with himself as they were. When he thought of the sheer effort involved in explaining a complicated idea, when he anticipated tryin to form the words with lips and tongue an jaws that wouldn't obey him, when he thought of how LONG it would all take, he usually felt too weary to speak. His mind raced on and on, as fast as ever, thinking so many thoughts that at times Miro wanted his brain to shut down, to be SILENT and give him peace. But his thoughts remained his own, unshared.
I'm in no way saying that I compare, as I'm not dealing with a physical disability, but..I..understood his frustration, but feel it more from an emotional level.
So..please understand that even if the touches I give are short texts or postcards in the mail or maybe something I've baked or made..that I understand these are more shallow touches, but they hold behind them all the love that I have and I hope to find my way back to the deeper conversations and connections.
|
|
| Cross-post for those not on FB |
[05 Jul 2012|03:10pm] |
Plates!
I've been working on plates and bowls and so on to send to Fin, Alex and Rio for their new home in SD. Thankfully, they are very cool about having non-perfect pottery and just enjoying the 'handmade by a friend who loves them' aspect.
Still..plates have been difficult, but I think these three are the first that I feel are good enough to send.
|
|
|
[01 Jun 2012|11:47am] |
A friend wrote a limerick about Foxglove for me and it cracks me up and is just a bit too perfect.
The cat named for gloves of a fox
Insists there's a toilet that talks
You can laugh if you like
At the cute little tyke
But it tells her to kill he who mocks
|
|
| Thresholds. (...and ask me a question!) |
[25 May 2012|01:47pm] |
I've been meaning to begin to post here again, but..as I've been feeling a bit..stoppered..well, it hasn't happened.
This may be cheating, but I thought I would put something here I posted over on FB that was a bit longer/deeper than most of what happens on FB.
Hmmm..was responding to a friend who just made a big move outside of her comfort zone (and physical area) and the back and forth really made me think a bit about where I am with my own life.
Me: What's so beautiful..is that..it's like you've spent your life in a nice enough room..sometimes looking out the windows and now you've found yourself actually outside and find there is this whole, amazing world. I love the discovery of it all.
Friend: Absolutely, that's pretty much exactly what it was like. The room was nice enough that I had no real NEED to leave it, too, so it took me awhile to see the reasons to do so, and now that I'm out, I wonder why the hell I didn't do it much sooner.
Me: *grins* I've seen and been a part of many people opening the doors on nice-enough, comfortable-enough rooms...whether places or jobs...and it's always inspiring to see. My choice with my job could have been exactly stated as you just did, but I have yet to..I think...move past the step I took outside of it and I need to push myself further out.
That pretty much sums it up really. I've been hanging out on thresholds again..afraid to step forward. I need to do that.
It hit me that I was doing it again..hovering on thresholds..afraid of the actual jump..the actual movement forward. Now I just need to figure out how to get past that.
Also..I thought I'd do something here that might get me..talking again..and do a bit of an 'Ask Me A Question' thing. I know I've done this in the past and I've started strong and then slowly stopped, but mine as well at least try and it'll partly show who is even around anymore. *laughs* I ask you that if you do ask me questions..ask me one or two per person..and then when I answer those..if you'd like..ask more. I think I get overwhelmed by a whole hell of a lot at once. I also get overwhelmed if they are ALL crazy-deep-soul-searching sort of things, especially in light of how stoppered I've been. I'm not saying that you shouldn't ask those, but maybe..don't ask..just those. *smiles*
So..ask away in comments and I'll answer in comments, although probably after this weekend as we'll be away at my sister's house and then seeing an old, old friend after that.
|
|
| Random pics for people without FB :) |
[12 Apr 2012|03:40pm] |
Well, this is the early version of the tree I painted for Laura and Doug's WeeGirl who has yet to arrive. :) It now has two different-colored green leaves on it, but I didn't get a picture of that. There will be two more trees on the wall adjacent to it with some branches hanging down as well..so a small grove for the WeeGirl to sleep within :) I'm actually quite happy with how it is coming out.
I sketched it in chalk first on the wall from a picture that Laura had liked and then filled it in with paint.
In pottery class the other day, I learned how to do plates for the first time ever. It was cool to learn something completely new. She also showed me how to do a chip and dip combo throw, as something fun to use the plate knowledge. This was my first try on the chip and dip thingie ;) I'm rather proud of it.
A favorite new picture of John and I from going to see the cherry blossoms in DC a few weeks ago with Fin and Rio.
|
|
| *proud* |
[03 Apr 2012|06:43pm] |
My first pieces are finished from the wheel-throwing class I've been taking at Art on Main in Elkton. I'm very happy with this small pitcher, especially due to the glaze..which makes me very happy.
|
|
