Showing posts with label conscious living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conscious living. Show all posts

2010 A New Year

...the paradox of our time in history! We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw-away morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember, to spend some time with your loved ones because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

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More Christmas Snapshots here

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person might not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

It is the time of year where many will attempt to develop their New Year’s resolutions. Mine is rather simple: LIVE NOW. DO NOW.


Afternoon with Sara Jackson-Holman, a star in the making


DREAM...EXPLORE...AND DISCOVER! (stop by here to see what I've been creating)!
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Many First Days...First Times





















What a week it has been! T'was my first trip ever...for five days...without kidswithout husband...I have friends that do it often to keep their marriage in check; I have some that don’t. Different styles work for different relationships. I have intentionally chosen not to travel without my little ones until they reached a certain age. I guess the time has come.

I have to admit I was nervous about leaving them and worried if they would be okay without me. Leaving was harder for me than them. I was at a four-day intense workshop in Hood River with tons of fun experiments and new friends (another post in my crafty blog, another day.) Off I went...

(Pictured Right: Mt Adams and mouth of White Salmon River--bridge is Washington State Highway 14 crossing White Salmon.) I spent five days in my new spinnerati friend Mary Alice Wagner's lovely home in White Salmon--a beautiful, rural town situated on the bluff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge area in southern Washington. The views from my private studio are quite spectacular. From the bluff looking south I can see the truly majestic Mt. Hood. Looking northeast I can catch a glimpse of Mt Adams. Taking its name from the nearby White Salmon River, the City was named by the Lewis and Clark Expedition when they observed the river teeming with salmon whose color had turned white after spawning. The area is well known for windsurfing, biking, hiking, white water rafting, salmon fishing, and many more outdoor activities. Next trip I'll be sure to include some recreation fun. I had no idea how valuable the decision would be...and my neck, back, hip, thigh and joint still ache from spinning, standing, and driving.

How I used to love the first day of school! I have fond memories even of those tense, excited breakfasts in elementary school when my dad would tease me about my new teacher for next grade would be Mrs. Awful. “Really, Dad?” “Yes and I hear she’s awful.” Quivering lips and plaintive glances at my mom who’d remind me it was only, after all, Ms. Lee. I remember great new outfits in apple green, with new knee hi, and heading off to school with a new lunchbox. And I remember, years later, poring over Seventeen in search of just the right plaid jumper for a cute new back-to-school look and having my mom help me put pennies in my new loafers. Part of becoming a homeschooled-mom, I’m sure, has to do with my fondness for this rhythm of the year, this sense of September beginnings, of autumn promise. But this year, there are just too many first days/first times. Instead of feeling like a fond old hand, I’m just a nervous little kid, each new day turning my stomach upside down again.

My first ever...not only taking a class, but, a four FULL-DAY workshop.

My 13-year-old teen wants to be a part of a school band...what if she doesn’t like it...things don’t work out...what if she likes it and want to be in school full-time...

My first crossing a steel bridge, alone, over the Columbia River Gorge from Oregon to Washington

Though short...but seemed forever! Coming back to Oregon side was a breeze
...I had a target to follow. Thanks, Kristin, for coming to the rescue :D

Leaving the kids with MIL for another week while my partner and I make time for each other here at home. We are different alone as two people should be. We’re different when we are in family mode--I love that place--it gives our life meaning. But, I like who we are when it’s just the two of us too.

I am motivated to do something new…a way to break away from routine work ^:^ There's plenty of fun excitement in amidst the whirlwind while enjoying the Summer Harvest Of Goodness.

DREAM...EXPLORE...AND DISCOVER! (stop by here to see what I've been creating)!
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The Simple Things in Life

Deschutes County has so much activities in the summer months and we have enjoyed taking advantage of some of them. Today, my friend Kristin and I squeezed in a block of time and spun with a few inspiring spinners in Sunriver Summer Craft Market while our boys played games in the mall together.

Later, we met up with hubbies and Kristin's dad down at Drake Park to hear live music by my favorite band Mystic River. As I sat and watched the people, I was so touched by some of the scenes I saw...dads dancing with their little girls, hubbies slow or line-dancing with their wives, people scattering and leaving when icy rain drops began to downpour following thunders and lightnings, kids of all ages dancing, running, and playing in the way that only kids can/would do freely. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I thought it was beautiful.




I hear so much negative about our world and, the state it is in, sometimes it can be scary to imagine my angels growing up in it. Then I sit and watch people on a night like tonight and remember...people can still enjoy the simple things in life and love and enjoy each other. It put a smile on my face and made my heart sing along with the great music. Thank you, Lord, for the gentle reminder--All Things Are Beautiful.

DREAM...EXPLORE...AND DISCOVER! (stop by here to see what I've been creating)!
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A New Path...Beauty and Goodness

I don't think the feeling I have right now, in my heart and in my mind, will ever be matched again in my lifetime. We are on a new path...change is here, and it's never felt better! You know? Sometimes you can't explain why, it just is. There are times when it dawns on me that I'm having a most excellent day. I want to take a deep breath and inhale all of the beauty and goodness and light and joy around me because I can't believe how good it is.

I want to sing loudly with every song I hear.

I want to laugh with my kids.


I want to do everything I enjoy doing, all at the same time.

I want to drink in the green of the trees

and the blue of the sky

and absorb the heat of the sun all the way to my core.

Today was one of those days.

I felt inexplicably happy and thankful for my life.

It is a good life.

And even though I know that any number of variables in my life could turn on a dime and come crashing down around me, days like today give me hope that maybe, even in the face of trauma or tragedy, I'd still be able to say, Life is good because, as much as it might seem otherwise, I know it isn't the circumstances that make it so. It's the One who made it all, and he never turns or changes.

Life is good. :D

DREAM...EXPLORE...AND DISCOVER! (stop by here to see what I've been creating)!
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A Confession

Thank you for giving me such wonderful memories

Even when I am 100 years old

with a full head of white

a face wrinkled with age

and when my sight, hearing,

and energy are fading

and I can't go anywhere but sit in my rocking chair all day,

I'll think of this moment

I'll feel blissful.

DREAM...EXPLORE...AND DISCOVER! (stop by here to see what I've been creating)!
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The Unexpected

On this day of my life,

I believe God wants me to know

if I do not expect the unexpected I will not find it,

for it is not to be reached by search or trail.

Heraclitus said that, and he was right.

Life is delighted to bring me The Unexpected.

Am I delighted to receive it?

Indeed, belief in the coming of The Unexpected is the genesis of hope.

How can I hope for anything breathtaking or exciting

if I can only hope for the already expected?

Therefore, you must always think that anything can happen.

Form my ideas and dreams within that framework!

Remember, God specializes in The Unexpected.

DREAM...EXPLORE...AND DISCOVER! (stop by here to see what I've been creating)!
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True learning-learning that is permanent and useful,that leads to intelligent action and further learning, can arise only out of the experience, interest, and concerns of the learner.
John Holt
Real heroes are men who fall, fail and are flawed, but win out in the end because they stayed true to their ideals, beliefs and commitments.
Actor Kevin Costner
 

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