19 Monday May 2014
I gave her life,
fed and nurtured her,
and she blossomed before my eyes,
much like my healthy viola.
Encouraged by her surroundings,
she continued to grow and excel
beyond my expectations.
She’s a mature adult now
and has flourished on her own,
encouraging others to
reach out and start on their own.
Violas are beautiful plants known to self-seed (true self-starters), and with the right conditions, can bloom all year.
17 Saturday May 2014
Posted in Children, Family, Inspiration, Life, Nature
I felt his spirit as we worked in the garden
and felt his warmth as we worked the soil,
letting it sift through our fingers, treasuring it
as if pieces of gold.
I saw his smile as we deeply embedded roots
of small, budding flowers into the warm earth.
We were three generations, enjoying our roots,
just as he taught us, flowers and family alike.
15 Thursday May 2014
Posted in Inspiration, Thoughtful Thursday
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt
14 Wednesday May 2014
Posted in Animals and Insects, Inspiration, Nature
Ever notice birds perched on a electrical line? Did you happen to notice if they were all facing the same direction? Did you by chance notice if they were facing a particular direction, say due South? Turns out, birds choose to face into the wind while on the wire and often in flight. The compass direction does not matter. Why? They use the wind for added lift when returning to flight. It also smooths rather than ruffles their feathers, creating less drag.
Moral of this story:
Like birds on a wire on a windy day,
facing adversity head on will smooth the way.
13 Tuesday May 2014
Posted in Children, Inspiration, Nature
Tags
acceptance, children, color, green, inspiration, Nature, poems, Poetry
Mingling like branches of different trees,
children reach across open spaces,
crossing paths, joining together,
totally oblivious to species or color.
09 Friday May 2014
I blinked through tearful eyes
to see if the yellowed ivory keys
of the old family piano
were really moving.
In my mind’s eye, I saw them
dancing a Sentimental Journey of
Saturday nights growing up;
a special time when we children
forgot animosity and joined together
in harmony, creating memories
more precious than Ivory Palaces.
08 Thursday May 2014
Posted in Inspiration, Philosophy, Thoughtful Thursday
“Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
05 Monday May 2014
Posted in Art, Children, Inspiration, Life
Careful not to cut the creases,
children cut along drawn lines,
creating a fan-fold stack
resembling a man,
albeit a vertical half–
half a head…half a torso…
an arm…a leg.
As if an accordion, a gentle
opening pumps wholeness
into the paper doll figure,
no longer half but complete as his
full body emerges, joined by
many others, all holding hands,
supportIng one another.
04 Sunday May 2014
We have woven our lives together,
tangled threads of two individuals
coming together in smooth fashion,
continuing to love one another.
Each stitch of time was treasured
as the fabric of our family was formed,
knit of love and compassion, and
growing in value every year.
Through all the years, however,
we’ve come to discover that
not all stitches were even, and
the edges have unraveled a bit.
But, as with the troubled oyster,
we’ve been blessed with pearls
added to our family heritage,
a daughter and grandson, jewels
that add sparke to our lives.
01 Thursday May 2014
Posted in Inspiration, Philosophy, Thoughtful Thursday
I am simply what I am, or I begin to be that. I live in the present. I only remember the past—and anticipate the future.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), U.S. philosopher, author, naturalist. Letter, March 27, 1848, to Harrison Blake, in The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, vol. 6, p. 163, Houghton Mifflin (1906).
Meditation focusing on the present moment and Buddhist studies emphasizing living in the present are nice reminders of ancient philosophy. Today’s Thoughtful Thursday is another simple yet beautiful way to say it.
28 Monday Apr 2014
Posted in Family, Inspiration, Life, Love
She died, and my head felt dizzy as if water surrounded me,
searching for my bearings as I struggled to accept the loss.
And then he died, and I felt engulfed in tidal waves,
ebbing and flowing between my loss and his new peace.
But I’m now caught in an eddie in the sea of grieving,
kicking to stay afloat; stroking to soothe my soul as yet
a younger family member is unexpectantly called home.
Yet I know I’ll not drown for my life raft of inner strength
keeps me afloat as I row toward calmer days.
24 Thursday Apr 2014
Posted in Inspiration, Life, Thoughtful Thursday
Change your thoughts and you change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale
22 Tuesday Apr 2014
Posted in Inspiration, Life, Love
As my life strings along like
a clothesline, taut yet flexible, your
arms provide welcome support.
Through hanging together to
keeping me from falling as
weights of life pin me down,
your strength keeps my life from
buckling under added pressure,
bringing brightness to darkened times.
05 Saturday Apr 2014
Posted in Children, Family, Inspiration, Mountains, Nature, Philosophy
Tags
children, family, foundation, mountains, Nature, philosophy, poems, Poetry, religion, rocks
A solid
foundation
rises
to the
challenges
placed upon it.
Neither large
nor small
burdens
shake or upset
the balance.
03 Thursday Apr 2014
Posted in Art, Inspiration, Life, Mountains, Philosophy, Thoughtful Thursday, Writing
“Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon.”
Ikkyū (一休宗純 Ikkyū Sōjun?, 1394–1481) (self-named: “Crazy Cloud”) was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet. He had a great impact on the infusion of Japanese art and literature with Zen attitudes and ideals. Wikipedia via Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, entry “Ikkyū” by James H. Sanford
01 Tuesday Apr 2014
Posted in Family, Health, Inspiration, Life, Love
Ah, but to enjoy the simple things again
Where grief does not interfere,
Where memories are once again pleasurable,
Where a smile comes with happiness, not obligation.
When will the pain and suffering end?
To what lengths must we go to assuage these feelings?
How long must one endure the roller coaster,
The ups and downs of emotions?
When will one step in front of the other actually
Take one forward instead of treading water?
Grief has no true beginning nor end,
Nor does it follow the same path for everyone.
The road to recovery will have potholes and bumps
Along with curves and forks to traverse.
But be assured, the grief will begin to hurt less
As you travel this journey to a new destination
Where you can find joy and a renewed self.
29 Saturday Mar 2014
Posted in Family, Inspiration, Life, Love, Philosophy
Tags
brain, family, inspiration, life, love, philosophy, poems, Poetry, positivity
Damaged treasures,
Broken hearts,
Injured pride.
Images
indelibly stored in brains,
negativities
heavily weighted by physiology,
tipping the scale, if allowed.
Even mathematically,
a negative will take
a positive down.
So stack the odds with
purposeful remembrance
of good times,
of positive feelings, and
of loving family and friends.
27 Thursday Mar 2014
Posted in Inspiration, Life, Thoughtful Thursday
I’ve learned that
people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget
how you made them feel.
—Maya Angelou
26 Wednesday Mar 2014
Posted in Art, Inspiration, Nature
Tags
art, flowers, impressionism, inspiration, Monet, Nature, poems, Poetry, water
Monet’s quick strokes of intense color
bring impressions of 3-D to his
two-dimensional oil paintings, even without
fiiltered glasses. It’s as if stems
catch a breeze…perhaps a wind,
a dog chase, or even a nibbling bunny.
Or as if water gently flows ’round corners
with reflected shadows dancing along.
Reading between the strokes,
I continue to be moved by Monet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Agapanthus, Claude Monet, 1914-1926, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Photo: wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1914-26_Claude_Monet_Agapanthus_MOMA_NY_anagoria.JPG
Branch of the Seine near Giverny, Claude Monet, 1897, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Photo: wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Monet_-_Branch_of_the_Seine_near_Giverny.JPG
23 Sunday Mar 2014
Posted in Family, Inspiration, Love, Nature
Tags
earth, family, inspiration, love, Nature, poems, Poetry, responsibility
I don’t like getting dirty,
Yet I like to play in the dirt.
Oxymoron? Perhaps, but
Fresh tilled soil, raked and ready for planting,
is a welcome invitation to run the soil through my fingers,
sifting through memories as I stop to remember
our first flower gardens beside the porch,
mine on the right side, my sister’s on the left.
Tilling, planting, watering, weeding…it seemed so
tedious at times to a child, but it brought beauty to our lives.
‘Twas Mom’s clever way to teach the ways of work…
Responsibility, competition, rewards; and
Dad’s way of sharing his connection with earth,
Where today he rests in peace.
20 Thursday Mar 2014
Posted in Humor, Inspiration, Thoughtful Thursday
Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.
Lord Byron
13 Thursday Mar 2014
Posted in Inspiration, Thoughtful Thursday
“The pessimist complains about the wind;
the optimist expects it to change;
the realist adjusts the sails.”
― William Arthur Ward, inspirational poet and writer, 1921-1994
09 Sunday Mar 2014
Posted in Family, Inspiration, Life
Tags
family, inspiration, life, poems, Poetry
The conversation opener
was an oft heard phrase,
“These young people today,
They have crazy ideas,”
As I sat on the couch, I
feigned sharp interest,
and I prepped myself for
a story about teens.
My mind drifted
only momentarily,
but even half listening,
I realized that
this 90-year-old man
was talking about
someone from
my generation.
We’ve been friends so long,
he didn’t see age;
just a faithful listener
to share his rage.
08 Saturday Mar 2014
Posted in Health, Inspiration, Life
Tags
chronic illness, Fibro, fibromyalgia, health, inspiration, life, poems, Poetry
I tried to ignore it; I said
it couldn’t happen to me;
surely there’s some mistake,
I’m as healthy as can be.
I’m merely getting older,
my muscles just need worked,
and creaking joints are natural
when you’re ’bout as old as me.
But, symptoms started stacking,
and just like children’s blocks,
when too many are unsteady,
reality comes crashing down.
For me, it’s Fibromyalgia,
maybe yours has a different name;
but our life altering prognoses
bring changes just the same.
Sometimes I’m the energy bunny,
you’d never know I’m sick,
but the next day I’m a turtle,
paced slowly or retreatingly.
I never will be returning to
what people knew as me,
but with positive affirmation,
I’m creating a better me.
06 Thursday Mar 2014
Posted in Art, Inspiration, Life, Philosophy, Thoughtful Thursday, Writing
Tags
art, Dr. Seuss, inspiration, life, memory, philosophy, poems, Poetry, thoughtful thursday, writing
“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.”
Often credited to Dr. Seuss, originally attributed to Georges Duhamel in THE HEART’S DOMAIN (1919). Originally composed in French, the wording in English varies slightly in translations. This is such a beautiful translation.
“We do not know the true value of our moments until they have undergone the test of memory. Like the images the photographer plunges into a golden bath, our sentiments take on color; and only then, after that recoil and that transfiguration, do we understand their real meaning and enjoy them in all their tranquil splendor.“
Phyllis Moorman 