Perspective

via. 2 STAR art

Life

Pieces of Soul via Blanket You via 2 STAR art

 

There is something about bright colors that lifts my spirits. I can be feeling down, see something like this image above and can literally FEEL happiness flood through me.  When I was a kid in school, I wanted a 64 color box of Crayola crayons with the built-in sharpener more than anything. Somehow it never happened, so I always make SURE I have one now. I have one in my art room upstairs right now! :0)

 

Staples

I have never been able to create anything I really liked with the crayons, but I have found artwork since by others that simply takes my breath away. I’ll share some of what I’ve found soon.

The lesson that I get here, though, is not limiting yourself, opening yourself to new learning, new people, new experiences, new ideas, trying things you’ve never tried before, living life to the fullest and most colorful.

“LIFE IS ABOUT USING THE WHOLE BOX OF CRAYONS.”  I’ll put this on my to-do list!!!!!

 

Yoging

Amazon

On Tuesday of this week I renewed my yoga practice after sloughing off for a number of months. Excuses abound, but I KNEW it had been doing me a lot of good. I felt the progress, the loosening of my muscles, the relaxation. Tuesday I finally decided that I needed to take better care of myself and that started with practicing yoga daily. My husband’s question every day now is, “Are you going to yoge?”

Since I’m a bit age-challenged (I’m 72) and basically enjoy mostly sedentary pastimes, I really have to MAKE myself exercise even though I’ve proven that I actually feel better having done it.  As a former student, then teacher – I learned the motivation of the Gold Star. It STILL works for me. I can be really tired from working in the yard and I look at my desk calendar, seeing 5 stars for the week – lacking the 6th – and I go practice my yoga to be able to add the star. Stupid – Silly – but I figure whatever works….

SO – Since I ‘yoged’ Tuesday through Sunday this first week of renewed practice, it’s a 6 STAR WEEK!  :0)

 

DoYouYoga

“It’s not about being good at something. It’s about being good to yourself.” ~ unknown

I’m basically starting over, having sloughed for such a long time, but I am already seeing a bit of progress. I can again touch my toes. I do have to bend over and really breathe into it, but

g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y lower with each long breath so that eventually my fingertips touch the mat.  It takes me almost a full minute of lying on my back for muscles to stop clenching, but I am relaxing a bit more quickly each day. I am still a wonderful model for the old Rice Krispies advertisements – snap, crackling, and popping my way into each new pose, but I AM able to get into them. The worst is sitting with my legs spread out to either side and then trying to bend forward. My “Gentle Yoga” instructor, Cat Kabira, bends forward and lays her forehead on the mat. Yeah. Right. I bend forward and the insides of each leg start screaming immediately. I am taking Cat at her word, that stretching as far as you can into the pose and breathing into it will bring rewards, whether you can touch your forehead on the mat or not….

 

India TV

“Inhale the future, exhale the past.” – unknown

The big thing I’m noticing is that the stretching in all directions and forcing myself to relax – eventually – makes me feel better. It used to be that I would stretch and some muscle or other would cramp. That is not happening now! This is a benefit of the practice before, but I’ll take it. I still hurt when I stretch, but NO cramping! Hooray!

 

YouTube

“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.” ~ unknown

I’ll have to admit that I’m interrupted in my practice more by my own laughing than anything else. My husband never fails to remark at all the popping sounds my poor old body makes. I simply look at him, then can’t hold it in any longer and start to laugh. I tell him that he can make fun when HE is there beside me trying to do it, too. That usually results in his going back to reading on the tablet. :0)

 

Pinterest

“The pose begins when you want to leave it.” ~ unknown

As we age, balance becomes a problem. We tend to start shuffling our feet a bit or walking more tentatively, rather than striding as we used to. I have found that the yoga practice results in my feeling more steady, feeling my muscles work as I walk or stand.

 

Facebook

“You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.” ~ unknown

I may always be creaky, but I’m really going to try to keep this going. I need to be as strong, flexible, and reasonably balanced as I can going forward. These ‘old lady stretches’ are really helpful – assuming that I actually continue to get down on the floor and DO them.

 

Pinterest

“Just breathe.” ~ unknown

NEXT week will be a 7 gold star week!

 

Therapy

Bruderhof Communities

Playing in my art room is therapy for me. An escape from anything that is bothering me. A way to work out feelings. A joy in experimentation.

We converted a third bedroom into my art room several years ago. I helped my husband put up extra shelves all the way across one wall. We got extra stand-alone shelves and a drafting table advertised in the newspaper. We put up a few more shelves on another wall. I converted the closet into a supplies area. We put up another large table that is as long as one wall.  There is a ceiling fan from which I hung a cute mobile of merry-go-round horses.

Years ago my husband and son got together to give me a present of a lot of my favorite songs on CDs. I have a player up there, so I can fill the room with glorious music – some of which I danced to as a teenager a hundred years or so ago – and lose myself in the world of music and paint.

The only limitations is my imagination and my ability to make my visions come out on whatever I’m trying to paint. Lately I’ve been having ideas for tees on which I have spots that won’t come out in the wash. Since I’m a slob, I seem to have a never-ending supply of tees that can use a face lift.

Yesterday I finished another.

 

Lately I am trying to do things each day that make me stronger.  I’m getting back into exercising, monitoring what I eat more carefully, working in my flowers when the weather isn’t lethal, playing in my art room, spending time with our son, walking outside several times a day, and reading.

The result of all this is hopefully a stronger, happier, calmer me. I don’t have to be able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but being able to handle whatever comes as well as possible would be good.  I am in DAY 4 today. So far, so good!

What If

e.h. – 2 STAR art

Remember

Thich Nhat Hanh via Lisa Bearnes Richey

Announcement

imnotrightinthehead.com via Michael Remillard

When

Brian Tracy – MadeWithLovebyRecycleThis.com – pinterest.com

Shay Day

Email forwarded to me by my good friend, Marsha Koenig. I wanted to share it with you.

Hagi Kids Batting Cage-YouTube

Email forwarded to me by my good friend, Marsha Koenig. I wanted to share it with you.

 

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.   After extolling the school and its Dedicated staff, he offered a question: ‘When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.   Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do.  He cannot understand things as other children do.    Where is the natural order of things in my son?’ The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. ‘I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.’ Then he told the following story: Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball.  Shay asked, ‘Do you think they’ll let me play?’  I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play.  The boy looked around for guidance and said, ‘We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning..’ Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt.. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart.  The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field.  Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.    At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat.  Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.  However, as Shay stepped up to the Plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.    As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.     Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.  Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, ‘Shay, run to first! Run to first!’ Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.    He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, ‘Run to second, run to second!’ Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball.  The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.   All were screaming, ‘Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay’ Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, ‘Run to third!    Shay, run to third!’ As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, ‘Shay, run home!  Run home!’ Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team ‘That day’, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, ‘the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world’. Shay didn’t make it to another summer.  He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day! AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces. If you’re thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you’re probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren’t the ‘appropriate’ ones to receive this type of message.  Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the ‘natural order of things.’ So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process? A wise man once said “Every society is judged by how it treats it’s least fortunate amongst them.”

Good Friends

A Wondering Spirit via Marianna Bellantoni

We just came through a health scare.  Relatives and friends  embraced us, offering care, help, love, and support. How priceless that is!  At times like this, you realize just how very lucky you are, and that you are not alone. Wonderful people helped us through this, and out to the other side. How on earth do you ‘thank’ them?  Other than the obvious, I will try to show each of them how important they are to us and concentrate on being there for THEM whenever they need us.

Be You

Sanjay Daya – LinkedIn

Question

Lisa Bearnes Richey

Be Yourself

Gel Yogi via That Guy Steve

 

Laughter

Nicolas Chamfort-via Carla Stafford-LinkedIn

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” 

You

2 STAR art

 

Apology

Happy Grandma

Slow Learner

2 STAR art

I’m a slow learner.

Under the ‘better-late-than-never’ category, I have FINALLY learned that if I do one or two things on the ‘to-do’ list, then go up to my art room or work out in the garden for a bit, returning to do something else on the list, I’m a much happier camper.

It used to be that giving myself permission to do something fun was at the bottom of the list. I don’t know how or why that happened, but I realized no one gave me points for getting 5 things done on the list, rather than 3, and I ended up tired and feeling the days were passing me by. I tried to work harder and faster, thinking if I could finish the list, THEN I could happily play. The thing was, I NEVER get to the end of the to-do list. It continues to grow.

NOW I build something happy into my day – almost EVERY day.  It might be just taking a few minutes to read. It might be playing with our dogs or cats, It might be having a chat with our goldfish (although they aren’t much for deep conversations.) It might be a longer play time of working in our veggie garden or our flower planters. If I have an idea rattling around in my brain for a new art project, I might spend some time on that.

I look at this NOW as a gift not only to myself but to others with whom I come in contact. My happiness seems to show, and I can pass it on to others.

If YOU are not doing this, consider giving it a try.

Reminder

Inna Kashkovar

Be

The Age of Enlightenment via Janet Melendez – LinkedIn

You Can Be Anything….

The Muse via Stephanie Youmans Wilson

Notice

Terrance E Stock – LinkedIn

Choose Joy!

Sassypants via Carol Auclair Daly

Resilience

Wall Street Journal – Illustration – Brian Stauffer

 

“I think that life is difficult.

People have challenges.

Family members get sick, people get older, you don’t always get the job or the promotion that you want.

You have conflicts in your life.

And really, life is about your resilience and your ability to go through your life and all of the ups and downs with a positive attitude.”

Jennifer Hyman

Good Goal and Reminder

Lettie De Winnaar – LinkedIn

“It’s Really All About the Ice Cream, Anyway”

iStockPhoto

We go bowling every Monday (mostly) with long-time good friends.

I’ve heard the adage, “Practice makes perfect.” Whoever said that has not seen us bowl. We can’t even say we have ‘averages.’ Each Monday is an entirely new “bowl game” ( :0) ) with each of us being ‘on,’ ‘off,’ or somewhere in the middle. I’ve missed getting 100. I’ve bowled a 211. Sometimes I look like I know what I’m doing, picking up spares. Sometimes I would do better standing in the lane on either side of ours and throwing the ball like a baseball. (Assuming I COULD…)  There is no rhyme, reason, or consistency in this pretty nice group of people.

We always go to Braum’s Ice Cream after we bowl. The ice cream may be for celebration of a good job that night, or commiseration that we embarrassed ourselves once again. We are all trying to lose the lard, so the ice cream is a really special treat. I look forward to my ‘one-scoop-of-chocolate-in-a-cup’ all day Mondays and plan the rest of my eating around that, since that one scoop is 16 carbs and I try to stay at 20 or under daily.

My sister-in-law, Mary Lou, got to the crux of it in an email Tuesday.  “It’s really all about the ice cream, anyway.” 

Since We’re Talking Fireworks….

Josh Billings via Kelly Mizell – LinkedIn

Wisdom of the Dragonfly

Attitude of Gratitude via 2 Star Art

After a pretty long, awful day yesterday, my husband and I are doing a bit of resting today.

I’ve been up in my art room playing, and am about to go back up in a minute. I hope to be able to share what I’ve been working on with you.

Maybe Not ‘Forever’

trendsandlife.com

On the way back from the grocery store this morning, I asked my husband, “Will you love me forever?”

He said, “Maybe not forever, but I’ll go for the next 1,000 years.”

I’ll take it. :0)

Good Advice

Jim Cody – LinkedIn

Things are slowly coming together as we try to repair or replace the things we lost since we were hit by lightning. We are actually discovering what is most important to us.

• We are very lucky we didn’t lose more and can recover from this, even though there is no help from insurance with high deductible.
• As far as electronics go, my phone is most important to me because I am now able to communicate with people on it in several ways, even when all else isn’t working.
• The clothes washer is next important. We are still trying to get someone out to repair it, or tell us the bad news we have to get a new one.
• Computers and Internet access are super important to us. I really missed writing my blog, and I didn’t have access to either of my online shops. I also enjoy being able to communicate with people with typing, rather than having to use one fat finger to laboriously type out messages to people.
• We can do without a TV, but it’s kind of a quality of life thing – we’re spoiled.  We’re supposed to be able to pick up a new one tomorrow or Saturday (we hope)

As far as I’m concerned, all the other little electronic gadgets my husband is trying to repair (or get new parts for) are just icing on an already nice cake.

So, We have done most everything we can at the moment, just waiting and looking at the stars….

 

Today

Kids Best Interest via Desiree Angelique Hackett

Playing in My Art Room

My Artistic Wonderland via 2StarArt

I spent a little over an hour upstairs in my art room yesterday afternoon and I had the BEST time. Sometimes things get so busy around here that I go for several days – or even weeks – without giving myself permission to play.  Yesterday I started a group of note cards that I’ll list in my new shop on Etsy.

I love playing in the paint, experimenting with media and techniques, whether they work or not. The playing takes me back mentally to childhood, where I can imagine I’m playing with finger paint. It doesn’t matter whether what I do is ‘good’ or not. I just get lost in the joy of colors, textures, and dreams.

Though other things are pressing on me a bit today, I’ll make time to try to finish the note cards this afternoon, listening to some of my favorite music on my MP3 player, a hot cup of coffee in the warmer beside me… AHHH!