Reclaimed

As most of you may know, I lost my Mom several years ago after being her full-time caregiver for some years.

We both collected cups, although Mom had an altogether more impressive cache having had more money to spend.

We were active in CBC as long as she could go without danger or humiliation. In the singles group, I met Bernice, but she soon became a treasured friend of us both. She gave my Mom the cup above, which is by far one of the most unique I have seen.

This work of art was stored in a curio cabinet in the common area. A few weeks ago, as I was walking my circle through the house, I heard the beginning of a crash.

I was right beside the cabinet on my path, and an assortment of glass, ceramic, and china things Mom collected and painted fell out on the floor. The stud that held the shelf let go and tilted so that with the accumulated weight, the door opened, and much tumbled out to shatter.

The unique cup Bernice gifted Mom was not on that shelf, thankfully. I have been moving it around the house, hoping to keep it safe.

I was crushed that several figures Mom painted after I taught her how to help with her tremors were destroyed. I hope there are no such future occurrences.

I think this cup is so unusual; I thought I would share.

Now and Then

When looking over your year, be sure to give yourself credit for any accomplishment. 2021 may have been much more fraught with difficulty than the average year.

Going into 2022, if you set goals, be gentle with yourself. Have a baseline with a fallback plan. You may want to set ambitious goals, but only with alternates.

If your schedule increases with less free time, do not overfill your leisure with personal projects. Rest and recreation are crucial to well-being.

Do you have research to do? Try to include this requirement within your reading goal. Take notes to leverage in creative work. Wherever you are, take pictures that may lead to innovative developments. Try to make your life a multi-use platform.

Find ways to share your endeavors with a broader audience. The world is a smaller place than in the past, but sometimes there seems to be distance between us. Any way you can find for real-world personal exchange, do it. We still need face-to-face contact. Of course, take necessary health precautions, and if video conferencing seems better, you call the shots.

Be open to new things and new methods and tools to do familiar tasks. There are so many ways to bridge the problem gaps. If need be, ask others online how they solved a similar conundrum.

Share your expertise when you can. Learning from one another is still an excellent way to overcome the fear of failure and unwillingness to jump into taxing possibilities.

If it appeals to you, keep a gratitude journal. This tends to make you more aware of your blessings. You may especially find it suitable to trace the hopes and dreams coming true for you.

Ah, I hope your new year brings you closer to your cherished position, currently only a dream.

I have not fully decided, but a new Creativity Project seems to appeal to me. Stay informed, check back for updates and planned details.

Home

Home is the hearth, heart, of all abundant things, which come with daily living. Where blessings shine on faces, dearer than the self. Time lingers just a while in passing, sufferings to lessen, teachings to impart, reminding no matter what has occurred, God is near.

Choosing a place to make a home is a painstaking task, a time-consuming selection. A feeling comes at the threshold, a sensation that angels are not far off and soon returning. Though work needed may be severe, still, joy fills the soul when into its home coming.

Home, here is only for a space, a time, for other shores are calling. One can find a bit of peace, but greater peace awaits upon seeing Jesus’ face. When Heaven’s gates open to admit a soul, then all the pleasure of home will overwhelm with multiplication. All the dissatisfactions of the world will cease, and perfect joy will be complete.

Thanksgiving

Why Gratitude Is Great Every Day

It is fantastic to set aside a day annually for giving thanks, and we should. However, there is so much more meaning to be gained from an attitude of gratitude in the midst of ordinary days. We live by grace, everything flowing to us freely. Much of what happens and what we have, we did not plan.

The parking space that opens up on a day when walking hurts.
The child arrived after a long period of waiting.
The place where home is found.
The friends who love despite the flaws.
The technology that eases each day.
The books that let us travel away.
The pets that bring smiles and laughter.

All these and so many blessings enhance living, gratitude journals are a wonderful practice to indulge in thankfulness. What they give us is mindfulness of how full our lives are. Maybe it raises the spirits and keeps complaints at bay.

Try to take at least a few moments to recognize your extraordinary life every week. When you know what you have you may find yourself more content.

Life is a bountiful adventure abundant in every way. I hope you find reasons for gratitude all along the pathway.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Out of the Way

Nothing assures the imagination will show itself, but we are all creative and can manufacture situations to bring dreams to life.

One way is to face the page in actuality or on-screen and stay with it until words or art come. Another is to dive in; create as one goes, letting go of the obligation to be great in the roughness of the draft. One can clean up the mistakes and omissions later.

No one, nothing, is perfect this side of heaven. There are flaws in people and things – inanimate and living. Everyone has to deal with who they are, but change is doable. Work is not permanent, everything has a season. Sometimes the appropriate season fails to come, but this is no reason to give up.

If one only creates for the temporary pleasure of applause, little is apt to be accomplished. Seeing each moment as practice one moves close to concrete meaning. The creative act is where one experiments attempting to beget work that measures up to the triumphs of the past. Best practice is to keep the self as the competition rather than others.

If work is not displayed for public digestion it can marinate in the recesses of imagination being allowed to be edited in time for consumption by others. One must continue the work only an individual may do. Each person’s vision is important as an antidote to the fracturing of the world. Production is a valid truth, creation has meaning, dreams must be nourished. Life requires each perception of what is and is not precious. Keep going, never give up.