Cultivating What Gives You Joy

 This is a journaling prompt for today:

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. - Goethe

Cultivating what gives you joy
The easiest way to identify what our heart wants is to examine the feelings that surface when we relate to that subject. Do you find solace when picking up your journal to write a daily reflection? Does time spent with your family thrill you to tears? What feelings arise when you chase down the things that make your heart flutter? True happiness comes when we routinely engage in positive activities that we love. Take a look at your life as a whole. Pursue the things that make you feel alive and fill you with joy and healthy.

This is a very important aspect of life that we should all take the time to monitor, so that we spend quality time doing the things that inspire us and make us smile. Too much of life is made up of "have tos" and "should dos" and "can't dos". Then, at the end of another day, we are feeling like some of the most important things in life were left undone.

For me, spending time with my family is one of the things that brings me great joy. When we get to sit down around the dinner table and share about our lives, it brings just an unbelievable feeling. I am truly blessed right now to have all three of my children close enough that we still eat together several times a week. It is great hearing my two daughters laugh until they cry over some silly movie quote - or laugh at their Dad and his silly antics. Also, I love hearing about my son's day from teaching at his job. He is truly making a difference in those kids, even though he often doesn't feel like it. 

 

Ryan, Grandpa Leng, Ron, Kate, Me, Jess and Grandma Leng

Well, another thing that brings me joy is going into the studio for a few hours and making art or going down to the sewing machine and creating something useful. I love spending time thrift shopping or garage-saling looking for something to incorporate into my next creation. (Now if I could just find a way to neatly store all my "treasures". Ha!)

Spending time with my best girlfriends and talking over the problems of the day/week/year - and talking and crafting, and talking and cooking, and talking and lauging, talking and crying...... You get the idea. Closeness, understanding, trust, laughter,  shared life experiences, empathy - ahhhh - great times together. 

 

Diana, Brenda, Kate and Anastasia

And recently, I have been able to re-unite with some of my bestest old friends from long ago via Facebook.  Whoever invented that was a genius!

 

Mitzi, Me and Susan D.!

Listening to my son play his music! Now that brings me joy. But I don't get to do that nearly often enough! He is one talented guy! 

 

And I can't forget having fun playing in the snow, sailing and hanging out at Long Lake!

 

There are so many other things that bring me joy! I am one blessed woman! Well, for now, I think I'm gonna go and make some art! 


But think about it! What gives you joy? Make time to do whatever it is this week. You will be happier for it. And - No Guilt and No Regrets! 

Pink Saturday Lovelies

I am late getting my Pink Saturday post up today, but I am happy to share with you some of my favorite "pinks" this week. First is a beautiful necklace which was made for me by my dear husband. I am so fortunate to have such creative and talented people in my family that like to make things for me.

Next is my bargain of the week or maybe bargain of the year so far. I purchased a couple of scarves at the yellow dot clearance sale and the one just below rang up at $ 0.99! I was shocked. The sticker price was $40 and I thought I was getting it at a great deal for $10. But it turns out that for some odd reason that particular scarf had been marked down to $ 0.99!

 

Here is the set of scarves that I bought, along with a beautiful scarf given to me by one of my closest friends when she returned from China. It is the very light pink one. I am really into scarves lately. They can really brighten up your outfit - and even your day when you get one for only $0.99!

The rose candle was given to me by my dear friend and my pastor's wife as a thank-you gift for teaching. I have really enjoyed looking at it. It is too pretty to burn!

 

And last but now least is my little Cinderella slipper that stays on my piano. It was a gift for me from my piano teacher when I was a child. My mother kept in on our piano and when she passed away, it came home to stay here on my piano.  I believe she made it herself. 

I hope you had a chance to make it over to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and to have time to check out some of the wonderful Pink Saturday posts today.

 

Each week Beverly asks that we visit a new blag and highlight it on our blog. Well, today I would like to highlight Laura over at 52 Flea.  She has a wonderfully charming blog and you will truly enjoy it.  So if you get a chance, pop on over there and tell her I sent you. : )

 

52 Flea

We Are Going to Scotland!

I am finally going to get to fulfill my dream of going to Europe. My dear husband has been invited to speak at a conference in Edinbourgh, Scotland, in May and he is taking me with him! I am so excited. We had planned a trip to Europe last year for our 25th anniversary, but when the stock market and economy took such a downturn, we decided we had better stay home. Now that things are improving and he has been approved to go, we are going to go there to celebrate our 26th! We will be touring England, as well, while we are there. If any of my lovely readers has any recommendations of "must see" activities, or places to stay, please let me know. I am going to have fun planning our vacation. We will be there for two weeks.

Lovely Give-Aways on Diane's and Miss Sandy's Blogs

There is a lovely give-away for Valentine's Day At Diane Knott's Musings. 

You should truly go over and visit her blog; it is really wonderful. 

Another great give-away is over at Quill Cottage .

Miss Sandy has a lovely kit that she is giving away.

 

  

Walking in the House

Today I have a cold and don't feel well and it is cold outside, so I decided to walk around the house and up and down my stairs for 15 min. while I made my hot tea. It worked beautifully. If I do it once more today - for my afternoon tea, I will have gotten in my 30 min. aerobics goal today. Why did I never try this before? Definitely!!!

Link to my Spark People blog entry:
Walking in the House

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Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:23

Some Thoughts About Life

Here are some wonderful thoughts that I came across tonight. I needed to read them and I thought you might too.

written by Regina Brett of the Cleveland Plain Dealer  on the occasion of her 50th birthday:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

May 28, 2006: Regina Brett's 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on

Pink Saturday - An Apron for a Friend

Happy Pink Saturday! I don't have a lot of time today, because my dear Father-in-law has been in the hospital and much of this week has been spent with my dear Mother-in-law, helping out with her care. Fortunately, we are hoping that my dear Father-in-law will be coming home tomorrow! Praise the Lord.


So as for my Pink Saturday offerings, here is a picture of the apron that my daughter and I made for my BFF! It is so cute in Pink and Black. I think she really liked it! She is a marvelous cook and now she can look so stylish when she prepares those delicious meals.

Below is a picture of my youngest dd opening her present. We were late having our gift exchange this year, but we had fun anyway! It is all wrapped up in beautiful pink paper & a big gold bow.

And this is a beautiful photo that she took of her lampshade. She is quite artistic with her camera!

Be sure to drop by Beverly's at How Sweet the Sound to see other great Pink Saturday posts.

And I would like to highlight a special blog this week.  Take a minute to visit Collected Treasures. You will find so many wonderful things to explore.

Have a wonderful day!

Shoes for Mexico and Pink Saturday

For this pink Saturday post, I want to share a project that we do every year during Christmas at our church. We purchase shoes for a group of children in Mexico. A tree is decorated with shoe tags with appropriate size information and a family or person will take the tag and purchase the corresponding pair of shoes. These shoes are then wrapped and shipped down to be opened by the children on Christmas. It is a blessing for each of the people who are able to participate. It is a small way that we can help to provide for the children.

These are some of our Acteens decorating the shoe tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a very special honor for our church  to be involved in the lives of these children in a small way. Every year my daughter goes down for a few weeks in the summer and works with these children as a ministry. She hopes to spend a full year down there when she graduates from college. Her heart for these children has spread into the lives of all of us in our family. We were fortunate enough to be able to go down for ten days as a family two years ago. The children are absolutely delightful.

Thanks to Beverly for once again hosting Pink Saturday over at How Sweet the Sound. Take time to drop over there and visit more posts for Pink Saturday.

 

And if you would like to visit I fabulous blog, I would highly recommend that you take a few minutes to visit Stephanie over at Queen of Dreamsz. I just fell in love with her blog this week. There is so much creativity over there that you really should go visit! You'll be so glad that you did.

 

 

Blue Monday

Today, I am going to participate in Blue Monday by posting the rest of the pages in my altered book, Love Eternal. I hope you enjoy the rest of these.

Cover - I may do some altering to this, but it is scary to actually change the cover - so final!

Eternal

France and After

Dissertation

India

Rue de France

Marriage

Orders

That is it for this book. I was literally shocked when I realized that I had 24 double page spreads. I even found a couple of pages that I prepared and never finished. Guess I'll have to go back and do those two pages. I'm excited. You are never sure when these things are actually finished, but I'm getting close here. I'd like to add some sort of closure to the book so it hangs together.

If you'd like to see some more beautiful examples of BLUE head on over to Smiling Sally's place and check out the other blog posts for today. Happy Blue Monday to all of you.

Every Child is an Artist & Altered Art

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

~Pablo Picasso

What is it about growing up that tends to make us lose our creativity? Is it the harsh judgments we hear from others? Is it the perfectionism that we incorporate into our being as we try to live up to others' expectations? The old "don't color outside of the lines" routine? I know for myself I continue to replay the old song of "you didn't do that good enough" in my head, whether it was making up the bed, trimming the strawberries, baking biscuits on the WRONG pan, for goodness sakes!, get off that roof - nice girls don't climb up on roofs!, and on and on it goes!

When I go into my tiny studio with the goal of making art, it is difficult to "turn down the noise", so to speak, and let my spirit be free enough to create. Ohhhh, I see so many talented artists out there, and then I start to compare......and I am never quite good enough.

You know, I think, for me that is the appeal of "altered art" and "altered books" - there is no right or wrong.  It just "is". For me it is a time to explore, to create, to test out new techniques, to find beauty in things that are not inherently beautiful.  To create! I can just start playing and let the pieces fall where they may - literally. I love to arrange and rearrange till the piece looks good to my eye. And the great thing about altered art is if you don't like it, you can always paint, tape, paste, and cover it up and do it over. It can be so forgiving. And if you come back to it later and decide it needs something else - you can just add it. Wha la! there it is- a new piece - different, fresh and sometimes - BETTER. Makes me smile when that happens.

And so I offer a few more of my pages for you to look at and hopefully to inspire you to go make ART. Just do it!

Leaves and Juliette's Farewell

Hearth and Home

Know Life

Buttons

Let Me Hear the World's Music

Together - Windows - closed

Together - Windows - open

India - Tiger

India - Elephants

India - Longing....

That is all for today. I'll post more tomorrow for Blue Monday. I hope you have liked what you have seen today.  It really is with fear and trepidation that I post these - hoping for the best and fearing the worst. Not that I am an artist, but I expect most artists go through that sort of thought process.

Happy 2010 to all of you. I wish you the very best.