Positive

I created the above image for my mother who struggles with chronic negativity. It prints perfectly on 4x6 index cards. I am gifting my mother with a small stack of printed cards to place around her house as reminders with the hope that she is willing to embrace the challenge of working to change her thoughts, thus allowing her life to follow suit. I printed out a few for myself as well. I am hoping I succeeded in posting the image above in a format you (dear reader) will be able to save and print in the event you would like a reminder as well. (I chose the colors according to the intended recipient's decor.)

More Choices

 Good Morning Blog Land!

 I'm happy to report that my days are looking brighter and my mood has lifted considerably. Part of this new found lease on life is due to the time I have had to heal and the work I have been doing to heal what woes me. Part of it is due to the warmth and love of those around me who reached out with supportive embraces and threw lifelines for me to grab if needed. Another part of healing my heart is my recent epiphany about choices. (Read my last post on choices if you're not sure what I'm referring to).

When I was at my lowest, feeling devastation and heartbreak, I lost all faith. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you will know that "faith" happens to be my word of the year. I was warned (by my soul sis Elena) that picking a word for the year is entirely different than when a word picks you. "When one picks you" she warned, "watch out!" She wasn't kidding!!!!!

One not so great feeling I experienced during my recent life upheaval was the loss of joy. I felt as if the joy was sucked right out of me. When the clouds started to clear and my heart started to heal, I thought about joy and how much I missed it. Remembering my new daily choice ritual, the decision was made to put joy at the top of my daily choice list. When I think of joy, one of the people I think of is Ashley from Li'l Blue Boo. She is an amazing woman with a beautiful family, strength of steel and an uber fun blog and business! She is a huge proponent of Choosing Joy. You can find out more about her HERE.

While on her blog, make sure you check out her tutorials, give-a-way opportunities, free downloads, her shop and more! If you click on the link, you will also find out more about her choose joy mission and the bracelets she sells. In honor of my new found choices ritual, to support joy and to help support and honor Ashley, I have purchased a pack of her "Choose Joy" bracelets. I have plans for most of them, but I would like to take this opportunity to host a give-a-way of my own!

photo source: www.lilblueboo.com

If you comment on this post, I will put your name in a hat for a chance to win a choose joy bracelet. I will randomly pick three winners to be part of the "Choose Joy" movement! If chosen, I will e-mail you and let you know you have won! Simply e-mail a response with your mailing information and I will send your bracelet on its way! Names have been chosen - winners will be contacted. Thank you!

The choice to promote My Etsy Shop has always felt like a hard one. I am really good at promoting others, believing in others, seeing the potential in others, helping others. I am not, however, very good at applying the same care to myself. Consider it a mix of fear, unease, disbelief... do you see a negative pattern here? Me too! THAT has to stop! I choose to be successful, I choose to stop hiding, I choose to lose the fear of judgment and embrace self-expression. Also, my oldest son is graduating from high school in a few months and this at-home-mama is cash poor!!! I want to throw one heck-of-a party for my first born so self-promote I will! To kick start my party fund, I am holding a one week sale in my shop. For 20% off, enter the code "yippee" at checkout. Feel free to spread the word! Thanks!

To go along with the shameless self-promotion of my shop, I should give a shout-out to the fact tat I'm teaching a class!!! Yay!!!! I adore encaustics and cannot wait to share my passion with others.

Here is the tiny hotplate I use for my encaustic medium.

Here is the new hotplate purchased to make gobs of medium to share with the class.

 

Here is the beeswax and damar resin mixing and melting away.

 

Here you have glorious encaustic medium waiting for eager students to play!

Are you still here? Well, blessings to you for your patience!

Hugs, love and all that ooey gooey stuff to you and yours this weekend.

♡♥♡♥♡♥♡

I Choose

I've been through a lot in my life.

I have felt a lot of hurt.

More than anyone should ever know.

Recently, I hit my breaking point.

Every day has been grey.

I fear I may have been heading toward depression.

Dipping my toes in.

Testing the waters.

I slipped and fell and couldn't get up.

I wanted to drown.

To stop the pain.

A battle raged inside of me.

I lost my joy and wanted it back but the pain would not allow it.

I would fight and gain my footing only to have pain grab my ankle and pull me down once again.

Last night I took a shower and breathed and prayed and mediated and thought.

This is what came to me.

A morning ritual.

Every morning I will wake up.

I will state this truth,

"Today is a new day."

and this truth,

"Every day I have choices."

Then I will choose.

This morning, it looked like this...

Today is a new day.

Every day I have choices.

Today I choose to live.

Today I choose forgiveness.

Today I will leave the past in the past.

Today I choose love.

Today I choose happiness.

I repeated this over and over.

I'm not perfect. 

I've already slipped.

This time, I got right back up and chose again.

Today is a new day. What do you choose?

What will you choose for tomorrow?

Swallowed Whole

Do you ever have days like this?

Where you feel like you're being swallowed whole?

I've had a few weeks of that now.

Can't get ahead.

Going nowhere.

Dazed and confused.

Feeling like I'm being swallowed whole.

Dori was a smart fish, but sometimes
"Just keep swimming" isn't enough. 

Sometimes you have to swim harder and faster!

Perhaps it's time to stop swimming altogether.

I think it's time to get in the boat and start driving!

 On to an adventurous weekend.

Because I said so!

 

 

Choices

Taking my son's forgotten lunch to school today, I found myself stopped at the local train.

The little town is cut in two by tracks.

When the train comes, there's no going around.

One must wait.

Some drivers get frustrated, some downright mad.

Me? I love the train.

It has such an old timey feel.

The rumbling, the metal scraping, the thunderous weight

all feels strangely soothing to me.

I love that it makes everyone stop.

For a minute, sometimes five, everyone is required to stop.

How that time is spent is purely choice.

Some may cuss and fume.

Others dance in their car and crank the tunes.

Me?

I people watch.

I study the art of graffiti.

I laugh at the amateurs.

I bask in the time spent at a stand still with my fellow drivers.

We are in it together.

This crazy trip called life. 

Each traveler chose this road at this time

and ended up at this spot

together

for a moment

or two

or ten.

I acknowledge the other drivers with a nod, a smile.

I turn up my radio, tap my fingers, bob my head.

I snap pictures.

The train passes. The lights stop. The bar lifts.

Travelers back on their merry way.

Perhaps it will make someone late.

Perhaps the pause in time saves someone from a wreck that would have been.

Perhaps it allowed someone time to think, to cry, to rejoice.

Perhaps it sparked inspiration in others as it did in me.

There's just something about a train.