I’m not sure if I’d call it a possession…Daily Prompt

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Posted on April 2, 2013

The Daily Prompt lured me in again with its devious, thought-provoking challenge – Prized Possession: Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a child. What became of it?

For all intents and purposes, it wasn’t actually mine. It was tangible and readily accessible when I summoned up the courage to play games with it, but I had no ownership of it. I couldn’t play with it on a whim because I had little to no control over the time I would get to spend with it. Whatever time I did get to spend with it made me love it even more.

It had many different features and helped me develop a true sense of competition. It had a hard-outer shell, but once you worked it in a little bit, it became much softer and more pliable. At certain points in my life, I actually tried to emulate this item.

I have never lost my attachment to it. If anything that attachment has only grown stronger over the years. I never had to think back and wonder what became of it because it is still near and dear to my heart. It resides five minutes from my house in a house all its own. I still play games with it, like the old days, but the games are different now.

This prized possession, the item I am still so attached to is the father of my two nephews, my brother and one of my best friends.

Hoarding gives me the Heebie-jeebies

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Posted on March 31, 2013

The Daily Prompt asks this question today:

Does a messy home (or office) make you anxious and cranky, or is cleaning something you just do before company comes over?

(image credit: accentondesign.net)

The items on my coffee table do not have to be positioned at precise angles at varying degrees, but things do have a certain place in my house. I am not fanatical about cleaning, but I am stringent about being organized. I don’t get many surprise visitors because I live in a very rural area, but if people drove off the beaten path and arrived at my home, I would not be frantically searching for the Swiffer or tossing newspapers or wrappers under the couch cushions.

The same goes for my desk at work. Sure there are piles of paper and file folders, but they are organized piles that I strategically am able to work through because everything has its place.

Having said that, the entrance way into my house could potentially negate anything I’ve mentioned about seeming organized, but that will be rectified soon. My entrance way is the only spot for me to store my patio cushions and other outdoor items that are longing to be freed from their winter incarceration. It’s nothing close to being a Hoarder’s episode, but it does make me a bit anxious when I see everything piled in one spot. Hazmat suits are not required, but until I win the lottery I will have to deal with the negative aspects of living in a house that is only 650 square feet. At least the rest of it is organized!

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I’d do whatever it takes – Trifextra Post

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Posted on March 30, 2013

The treatments were grueling. Her body was showing the signs. My support was unending, but I don’t think she realized that. I shaved my head the next morning. Actions speak louder than words.

Trifextra: Week Sixty-One

This weekend we’re asking for exactly 33 words including an idiom somewhere within. Examples of idioms include – add fuel to the fire or wear your heart on your sleeve. You can find more examples and a definition of idiom here. Good luck!

Pieces of Me

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Posted on March 29, 2013

Taking the day off yesterday was just what the doctor ordered. I had put my faith in Mother Nature to provide some sun for my entertainment, but she must have been busy shining elsewhere. Left to my own devices, I decided to delve into the creative aspects of my life that I have shelved for too many years. Writing is a cathartic and brilliant way to release the thoughts in my head, but getting back into a tactile artistic passion that seems to have been forgotten was a great way to spend the afternoon.

I used to love calligraphy when I was in high school and I was always doing one form of craft or another, so a cloudy afternoon was spent indoors with some paint, some brushes and a piece of wood. I had been trying for a while to set aside some time to create a new sign for the end of my driveway and yesterday inspiration struck and creativity flowed. This is the beginning of the sign that I hope to finish today.

In getting back into the crafty aspect of myself, I found a piece of me that had been missing. I began to realize how many of those small enjoyments I have been ignoring over the years because I was letting work and the needs of others take priority. I vowed to myself that I will start to put my needs first and make time to do the things that I enjoy. I only get to live this life once and I don’t want to look back with regret wondering why I let my life pass me by and I didn’t participate as much as I could. I don’t want to be on the sidelines doing things for other people and not be in the game.

Today is a beautiful, sunny day and I will be on my deck wrapped in a warm sweater with a paint brush in my hand. Today I’m back in the game.

Putting some life back in my life

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Posted on March 24, 2013

I finally took my own advice. I threw caution to the wind and ignored the voices in my head telling me to go in to work on a Sunday to try to get caught up. Instead, I took my mom out shopping, chopped the rest of the snow and ice from my deck and am about to embark on a lazy afternoon sitting in the very welcome sunshine. Perhaps I will find myself with my Kindle in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. My options are limitless. I may even dig out my fire pit and recreate this lovely scene below. There is nothing better than coming inside after a day of fresh air and smelling like freshly burned wood.

Those inner voices are now quieted (with some well placed duct tape) and my head is free of disruptions. I have always had a difficult time silencing those inner distractions and letting myself just relax and enjoy the day, but I’m taking back control of my thoughts. Today is a day I put some real life back into my life and breath in the fresh spring air, feel the warmth of the sun kissing my cheeks and watch the day go by from the comfort of my deck chair.

Happy Sunday everyone!

The Days I need to learn to forget

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Posted on March 23, 2013

Life moves at a million miles an hour. And so many times I feel engulfed by its pace and overwhelmed by the many things I have to balance on a daily basis. It feels like several days attack me all at once, but I have to learn to step back and change the pace of that onslaught.

There are always two days in every week that I should learn to ignore. With everything I have going on in my life, these two days do nothing to help me live in the moment. Yesterday and tomorrow always weigh heavily on me and distract me from the here and now. I focus too much on what I didn’t accomplish yesterday and think forward too often about what is waiting for me tomorrow and I forget to live in the present.

(image courtesy of babydearlyn.blogspot.com)

I need to embrace each day as an opportunity to live life to the fullest and accept whatever challenges may face me on that one day. There is no sense in worrying about what tomorrow will bring, because I will never truly know that. And there is no point in reliving yesterday, because it is over. I cannot change the past. It will reflect itself in my present, sure, but I can choose how much power I give to that reflection.

I need to lay yesterday to rest and not consume myself with thoughts of tomorrow. I must give myself permission to meet the obligations and promise of each day with an open mind and an open heart. One day at a time will let me absorb all of the life that day has to give without being consumed by the days that lay behind or lay ahead. Those days, I cannot change.

My favorite saying (and my email address in short form) is Carpe Diem – Seize the Day. Life happens – there is nothing I can do to stop the moving freight train of time and only I can choose how I ride that train. I can look out behind me and see where I’ve been, I can look ahead and ponder where I am headed, or I can embrace the vibration of the life flowing through the train and live in the moment. The choice is mine.

Today, I am making the conscious choice to forget all of the things I didn’t accomplish at work yesterday. I cannot go back and do anything differently. Today, I am making a concerted effort not to think about the fact that I will be sitting in my office on Sunday catching up on the paperwork that has eluded me this week. Today, I am going to empty sap from the buckets hanging from those towering Maple trees. Today I am going to shovel the remains of Mother Nature’s perverse sense of humor from my deck and sit in the sun with a glass of wine in my hand. Today, I am going to live only for today.

How will you live your day today?

Ethereal beauty

13 Comments

Posted on March 16, 2013

Mother Nature can be a divine creature. Every day she amazes us with her beauty and she presents us with images that may last for only a visual moment, but they are able to be photographed and conjured up at the click of a button. Technology helps us hold those moments and preserve them to be enjoyed again. These are some of the beautiful images I was presented with yesterday. Although I was having reservations about Mother Nature’s sanity, she has restored my faith in her.

I love the sunlight shining from behind the clouds.

The sky changed so quickly in a matter of minutes.

Although the cold temperatures are back, the clouds look like they are on fire.

Mirror, mirror

17 Comments

Posted on March 15, 2013

This post is written for the weekend Trifecta Challenge: This weekend we’re asking for exactly 33 words inspired by the following photo. Please remember that if you use the photo on your own blog, you must give proper credit (with clickable links).

Photo credit: Bérenger ZYLA / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Life’s mirror reflects the things that I hold close. It may not involve truth, but it involves dreams. My dreams. And it will only make me see the things I want to see.

Morning is broken

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Posted on March 12, 2013

As the days get warmer I have a renewed sense of faith in nature, but the person responsible for daylight savings time has a very perverse sense of humor. I know the typical lyrics of the song are “Morning has broken”, but in my case, sitting in my living room at 6:00 am, that is not the case. Morning seems to be broken. The blackness that swallowed my house in the night still holds these four walls in its confines and my outside world is invisible.

(this is a photo of my front lawn taken with no flash….isn’t it beautiful?)

After several cups of coffee and much patience, that darkness gives way to the day and the world is brought to life again. When the sun finally graces the sky in our hemisphere, its heat seems to increase in intensity each day. The dank smell of dirt pushing its way through the melting snow permeates my nose and the morning darkness no longer holds the same power it once had. Light breathes life into the day and the earth stretches and yawns.

Soon the mornings will become brighter and rising to greet the day will require much less effort. The days will become longer and the seasonal creatures will poke their heads from hibernation to inhabit the freshly revealed landscapes. Blades of grass will breathe deeply after being suffocated under the weight of the snow, flowers will bloom and allergens will perform their invisible dance .

Within the morning darkness, the promise of spring awaits.

Only You – Romantic Monday

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Posted on March 10, 2013

Technically it is still Sunday, but Romantic Monday has captured me again! Thank you Edward Hotspur for encouraging us to pour our hearts out.

Only you can make my heart skip a beat with one look. You see me like no other person ever will because you don’t look at me, you look into me. You see my beauty beyond the boundaries of flesh. You see my soul. You see the love and happiness that I hold close, but you also see the pain and heartache that balances me.

Only you can light my skin on fire with a single touch. A simple gesture, a hand gently tracing my cheek and my body warms to your touch. Your lips barely graze mine but I feel a slight quiver sensing the emotion of that moment. I know the passion that lurks behind that kiss.

Only you make me want to dream of the impossible because everything seems attainable with you by my side. There is no limit to imagination. There is only you, encouraging my dreams and wanting to be a part of them. You understand when I hear whispers in the wind. You enjoy my child-like excitement when I discover new stories in my head and you appreciate that I have to put them to paper as soon as I have them.

Only you know my need to be accepted for who I am and not who people want me to be. You encourage me to be an individual and embrace the quirks that have created the person I have become. You appreciate that I feel like a Raggedy-Ann in a Barbie Doll world, but you would rather be Raggedy-Andy than Ken any day of the week.

Only you are the part of me I didn’t know I was missing. It will always be only you.

If only I knew where to find you.

polysyllabic profundities

Random thoughts with sporadically profound meaning

Category Archives: beauty