Click here for free wallpaper!

Must Be A Sign

Where Do You Want to Go? Wait For It…

Creative Commons LicensePhoto credit: craigmdennis
You are here, where do you want to go? Sometimes my impatience with “not knowing” works for me, sometimes it doesn’t.  How about you?

Even the wildest dreams have to start somewhere. Allow yourself the time and space to let your mind wander and your imagination fly.

— Oprah Winfrey

Have you sensed a theme in my recent posts?  Me too.  It’s not that I don’t have goals.  I do.  It’s that they lack joie de vivre – there’s no exuberance, no juice in them. So, even though I may be feeling the stirrings of new beginnings, my “vision”, my long-view is clouded and I’m left longing for some sparkling clarity! I am here, where do I want to go – I want to know now!

And while I’m counting on myself to create a new vision book that will engage my conscious and unconscious mind into knowing what my dreams really look like, I’m also feeling the equivalent of writer’s block… As I’ve said before, I’m not looking for standard future fare: career, family, retirement, leisure activities – been there, done that, enjoying the fruits of my labors. No, this is a different nut to Continue reading » Where Do You Want to Go? Wait For It…

2008 Ichetucknee 12

Lazy, Crazy Days of Summer

Creative Commons LicensePhoto credit: anoldent
Nostalgia reigns at least once every summer for me.  How about you?

Summer is the time when one sheds one’s tensions with one’’s clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit.  A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all’s right with the world.

— Ada Louise Huxtable

Do you remember a time when you felt the WHOLE SUMMER stretching out before you?  Remember that joyous walk home on the last day of school when you wanted to shout: SCHOOL’S OUT FOR THE SUMMER – YAY!

For me, summer was a time of possibilities tangled up with long boring days of “nothing to do”… until my Mom would throw up her hands and put all us kids to work!  I know now that summer is a mixed blessing for parents… it’s a more relaxed time with moments of fun interspersed with lifetimes of being chief Kool-Aid maker, bottle-washer, daycare arranger and on-call-chauffer.  And if Mom has an 8-5 job outside as well as inside the home, well then, the late Erma Bombeck says it all in a nutshell:

Being a child at home alone in the summer is a high-risk occupation. If you call your mother at work thirteen times an hour, she can hurt you.

Wise woman that she was, Erma also said: Continue reading » Lazy, Crazy Days of Summer

Kittens watching TV

Easy Entertainment, Easy Distraction…

Creative Commons LicensePhoto credit: shellac
I challenge you – Take time out.  Experience your easy entertainment a little more creatively than usual.

Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of toys, and personal entertainment depended on individual ingenuity and imagination — think up a story and go live it for an afternoon.

— Terry Brooks

A few weeks ago, in the company of friends, I mockingly discounted a recommendation from the Reflection Booklet we use as a guide for our discussions:

Avoid easy entertainment and distraction this week.  Turn off the television and do something that gives rise to real joy.  Take a walk, work in a garden, play a musical instrument, read a book, call a friend you have been out of touch with for a long time.

— www.sccquest.org

As I read those words, I thought: Yeah, that’s NOT gonna happen… especially the Continue reading » Easy Entertainment, Easy Distraction…

Rejoice and Be Glad

Ian & his Tickets
Creative Commons License photo credit: Brian Lane Winfield Mo

Joy is the feeling of grinning inside.

— Melba Colgrove

As I continue with my Lenten practice of listening to 15 minutes of a book on spiritual development every day, I came across an interesting idea.  John Ortberg in The Life You’ve Always Wanted points out that it is a serious responsibility that we find joy in life.  Although I’ve heard this before – I have listened to this book – for some reason, I didn’t notice it when I listened before.

This is the author who wrote about the Dee Dah Day, which I remember fondly for the lesson it taught me – be in the moment NOW!  Yet somehow, I missed the larger point – God wants me to be joyful.  Boy, have I got Continue reading » Rejoice and Be Glad

I Almost Missed It…

looking_up_medHave you ever gotten so annoyed at some little thing that you missed the goodness of the moment?

May I not miss beauty.
May I not miss joy.
May I not miss wonder.
Keep me awake and aware of the world.

— Ceisiwr Serith

Today’s post is about an ordinary day about to go off track.  AND about an extraordinary vista I almost missed in my haste and aggravation.

This morning I organized my “out” chores and clustered them together… I aimed to get in several errands before Continue reading » I Almost Missed It…

Cup o’ Inspiration

cup with steam swirl

Take a short break and consider the following:

“Remember today, for it is the beginning of always. Today marks the start of a brave new future filled with all your dreams can hold. Think truly to the future and make those dreams come true.”

Unknown

From the Giftshop

Buy an Appreciate Good Things in Life - wildflowers mug
Buy this Let Your Spirit Soar mug
Appreciate the good things in life mousepad
Awwwwww... what a sweet kitty (mug)

Recommended Reading

Image of Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life
Image of The Way of Transition: Embracing Life's Most Difficult Moments
Image of Spoon River Anthology - Literary Touchstone Classic
Image of Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want