Mom 2.0: Defining a Movement

This is absolutely brilliant.
Maybe someday I'll find enough adventure in me to go to this. I want to.

2010, Welcome!

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential.

~Ellen Goodman


I've been laying low with making any declarations of intention for this year. I've battled back and forth to find a focus word. I've let January lead the way.
I've worked through a few really awesome workbooks to find a direction. Goddess Leonie created this one. It's not too late to grab your copy. Make sure to print it in colour. It makes a world of difference. Do it for you. Dig deep.
Christine Kane created a word of the year worksheet. She ran a whole feature at the end of 2009 spotlighting different people and their words. It's worth the read.
Ali Edwards did her thing spinning wonderful words, too. She is also where I learned of Wordle. Both of those places deserve more than a second glance.
Now to the quote at the top. That one has been both screaming at me and whispering its sweetness to me. It's been a top contributor to why my perspective perhaps is where it is. I'm seeing potential. I'm developing an equilibrium. I'm looking for the black and the white. I'm searching for the heads and the tails. I want to better live in and within my life.
I am on a mission to focus on and find balance.

On my mind.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
~Stephen Convey

Success is what you attract by the person you become.
~Jim Rohn

You have to 'Be' before you can 'Do' and 'Do' before you can 'Have'.
~Zig Ziglar

On my mind.

Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickley and not say no soon enough.
~Josh Billings

You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
~Christopher Columbus

Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don't wish for fewer problems, wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom.
~Earl Shoaf

Black/White.

Image taken by yours truly entirely unedited

While I was drifting around on a cloud somewhere in a daydream, I started to wonder about the kind of person that I want to be. This led me down the path to find first the person that I am. I got to thinking about the whole early bird or late night owl. Late nights have proven quite entertaining a few times over. I like my sleep but I like my mornings, too.

There is something about being able to see that moment where day breaks. I've witnessed mornings where the Sun opens over the horizon with such passion that the world bows in his presence. I've watched Night fall sprinkling her tars all around such that I could feel the spherical shape of this Earth. I've seen shooting stars. I've wished on them. This trade, day for night and night for day, is a necessary balance.

I, too, feel balanced. I take what I need, be it silence or sensation. When I am energetic, I seek out challenges. When I am daring, I search for adventure. When I am melancholy, I look within. When I need it inspiration, I look around.

Where is your balance?

What kind of person are you?

My Tree: 1

...I write to keep in contact with our ancestors and to spread truth to people.
~Sonia Sanchez

I'm embarking on a very personal mission. It's something I've dabbled with for over 15 years now. I love listening to stories of my ancestors. What were they like? What did they do? I am fascinated to know more about the roots that I grew from. I want to know more about who I am.
Who are you?
What will your children say when they are asked who you are?
What will your great-grandchildren say when answering the same question?
Take 10 minutes right now and scratch out your facts. Your birth name, date and place. Your marriage name, date and place. Start adding details as you remember them before they become lost. Tell your story the way you see it.
Know who you are.

On my mind.

Knock on the sky and listen to the sound.
~Zen saying

Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked.
"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."
~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Eggs cannot be unscrambled.
~American proverb

Let's Play #160.

Here we go! Skip over to Friday Fill-in's and join in the fun.
1. You have a chance to __make a difference__.
2. __Get started on it__ right now.
3. There is a __need in this world for you___.
4. __Don't buy now___ and pay later.
5. It's time to __be your own encouragement__.
6. __Keep your head__ up in the air but __your feet on the ground__.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __game night with my boy__, tomorrow my plans include __bathroom tlc__ and Sunday, I want to__let the day decided how it is going to unfold__.

Hello Ma'am.

That was how the unknown name and number call began. Immediately at the unknown part, I should have screened out the call.
The first go was a lady on the other end of the line. She wanted to know the interest rate on my mortgage. I refused the information explaining that I could not understand her clearly enough to continue the call.
Moments later, call numero 2 comes through. Having sparked my curiosity -YES I do know that it is this same curiosity that did kill the cat - I answered again.
This time, it was a man that did not speak English all too well. He insisted to know the current interest rate and outstanding balance on my mortgage. =ahem= no. I told him that the best I would offer was an interest rate plus or minus 2% of what I currently have. He seemed confused but accepted. I said 5% and clarified that this could mean 3% and it could mean 7% or any percent between the two.
He goes on to demand the outstanding balance on my mortgage. ummmmm....nope. Not today. So after a few ring-a-round-the-rosies I told him plus or minus $50,000 a number that he could work with.
At this point in the call I firmly state that I am quite content with my current financing arrangements and not interested in any others right now.
He says...now, dear readers, make sure you're sitting...that's fine ma'am (why am I a freakin' ma'am!) the rate that I will give you will be much better and you will switch. Then, as though oblivious to my every response thus far, he continues.
Ma'am (grrrr!), how much do you owe on your credit cards, personal loans, and credit lines? No dice. I told him I was not interested in discussing my finances. He tells me he knows that I owe money and he knows to whom. I express an interest and state that if he knows I owe then certainly he can tell me how much and to whom. I encouraged him to tell me what I owe since clearly he knows. He chuckles a nervous laughter and asks the question again to which I respond the same way. And we go round and round the mulberry bush another time. You dizzy yet?
This bombastic call continued about 20 minutes before I had had enough. There is only so much I could take.
"So tell me, Sir, what is this great offer that you are proposing is my financial salvation?"
"Ohhh Ma'am, you see. One of my colleagues will be in contact with you within 48 hours to set up an in-home appointment to meet with you and present the best offer. I can't give you that information right now. So, you can guarantee me that you will go with us, right?"
'Scuse me - WHAT! After a very short second, I reiterate his request to make sure I'd heard him right. Yes, he was looking for me to guarantee that I would switch to his guy without knowing any of the details behind this supposed best offer. He continues to tell me that it is necessary that I guarantee a switch in order to send someone out with the offer. I laugh. He says, "Ma'am?" I say, "No. No one will be phoning me from your company again and no one from your company is welcome in my house. Do not contact me again. Take your shenanigan scam to someone else but I'm not buying in."
He becomes more verbally forceful insisting that I contacted them and now how could I back out. Blah blah blah blah blah. I told him to replay the recorded call and note right from the start that he phoned me. He bickered for a moment only to perhaps appreciate my refusal (or at least that's what I would like to think) based on the fact that he hung up on me.
Really? Thanks Dude!

On my mind.

We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation.
~Francois De La Rochefoucauld

There's more to the truth than just the facts.
~Author Unknown

Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth.
~Ludwig Borne

A Writer.

If I were a writer, I would know what to pen to captivate an audience. Words would flow freely, form sentences of cohesive thought, fill pages with insight. Those words would make a difference. They would reach out and grace faces with smiles, catch you nodding your head in agreement or gasping in disbelief, wiping away at a tear, thinking twice, digging deeper, asking questions, craving more.
If I were a writer, my heart would swell with excitement each time I started and again upon completion. You know the feelings. First, that feeling that springs about when you crack open a new notebook, journal, paper pad and pick up the pen to get started. Then, that feeling of relief, release and contentment when you lay the pen down and know that what's on the pages is exactly what you chose to put there.
Because I am a writer, I know that I need to write what is in me. I need that excitement. I like the pressure. I have fun with the words.
Because I am a writer, I like to tell stories. I share what I know and what I dream.
Because I am a writer, I write.

Where do you go?

I'm struggling with a battle of heart and head. I'm searching deep within to find what matters most and what doesn't matter at all. I'm confused.
I appreciate what I am and what I am not.
I am hurting.
I am not without faults.
I am trying.
I am not always wrong.
I am strong.
I am not alone.
Where do you go and find answers when all you feel are questions?

Let's Play #159.

These are fun to quickly whisk through and get your creativity moving. Hop over to Friday Fill-ins and play, too.

1. The lesson I learned yesterday was ___sometimes it's good to just jump into things___.
2. __Around the table is___where friends and family meet.
3. All these years __I've been alive__.
4. __The world smiled__ when I arrived.
5. The truth is__I've been pretty uninspired lately.
6.__The feeling of complete emptiness__is what I remember most from that day.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __tea and a movie__, tomorrow my plans include __rearranging__ and Sunday, I want to __enjoy the outdoors__.

Reading Spaces: Side Tables.

The table included in my space would be important. It is, after all, where I'd keep a notebook to jot ideas, quotes, quips, comments and anything else that enters my mind while reading. It also is the special place where I would try and keep my current reading material.

This one is an interesting design:

image found here

These are a bit plain and might need some paint dribbles or art doodles to spice them up. I see potential:

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In keeping with my tree obsession, it would only be natural that a piece like this would find it's way onto my list of considerations:

image found here

Finally, while I picked this table to share, I would consider anything from the link below this next image. So classic. So beautiful.

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Such a diversity of dreams. Do you have any ideas for me?

Reading Spaces: Lighting.

My perfect space needs beautiful light since most of the time I find to read is long after the sun says good night.

This lamp reminds me of a bouquet of balloons:

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This one looks like it would give off a nice white glow:

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This one is all right and would concentrate it's efforts to my immediate space although I might get annoyed if I had to keep moving it to position it right all the time:

image found here

This white one is a front runner right now. A calla lily shape, beautiful lines and curves, quite feminine. How would I change the bulbs?

image found here

Reading Spaces: Shelves & Chairs.

I am a book junkie. It's no secret. Books act both as my therapy and as my psychosis. I have a dream to some day incorporate a dedicated reading area into my home. A place to find silence and tranquility. A place to sit and unwind, get lost in the written word. A place to feel my books.
I've started carousing for some ideas of various elements that are reaching me right now.
A reading space would need some serious effective space to house all my literature.
Something like this would be completely me - although the pink might have to become a shocking teal:

idea found here

And while that would be ultra cool, something like this might be a bit more practical for space:

idea found here
My space will also need something so comfortable it calls to me. These look appealing right now:
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There are some many more elements to include in this space. Coming soon!

What about you? Are you a reader? Do you have a favorite space? Share your ideas. Tell me your ways.

No one

remembers. No one but me.
Today was the day all those years ago.
It only matters to me.
I have found my peace.
Lift love on your wings, my sweet angel.

Silence.

Where do you find you silence?
Where is your space to just exist?
Where do you go to let the world speak to you?
What do you hear when the whispers from inside?

The Colour Purple.

I remember writing an essay in my final English course of high school. It was worth a significant amount towards my graduating mark. I sat down the evening before it was due having not yet finished reading the book it was to be about and I wrote. I just hammered out my thoughts on what I knew and I resisted the panic that I could feel creeping in. It didn't matter that I wasn't done (nor does it matter that I never have finished reading that novel), I felt and knew what I knew.
Into the wee hours of the night, I transferred my thoughts from paper to type. Typed assignment submissions for me had just been made mandatory and I'd neglected to remember how long typing took back then and how short the pieces became in comparison to the printed versions. I also remember how much I enjoyed the editing part of the process. Write. Edit. Reread. Read again. Edit some more. Change a word, a phrase, a whole section. Undo. Change one word again and move along. It was repeated so often in this particular piece that I couldn't remember where I had started and what my writing had evolved into. I just knew it could not be submitted late and there was no way I was going to give up. Finally, at some even more obscene hour, it was complete. I was satisfied I'd given it all that I had.
It was a piece filled with passion, courage, determination and perhaps a lack of sleep. There was a rawness in the writing expanding beyond the requirement of the novel that related to me personally. I can feel that same rawness as I type this memory now.
I love to write. Words are my playground. They entertain my mind. It is of words that my sandcastles are built. The murkiness and muddled mess left behind as the ebb and flow of the ocean wipe away what was fun leave my mark on the world. And so, after floundering for too long, I write again. I write from my heart for me.
That piece I wrote ten years ago, under a situation that I should never have been so careless to entertain, returned the best work of my school days.
*******
This post was prompted by Jen Lee. Visit her and have a look around. She is inspiring.

Working on it.

My word of the year, that is. I've come across some great information online and can't wait to share it all with you. Be patient with me. It's coming.

I'm engulfed in my studies and enjoying them this go. It has been an altering experience to pour myself into them so wholly. I'm dedicated and excited for the outcome. I know I can do this. I want to do this. I wonder sometimes where I could be had I made this decision some time in my past. But, living in this moment tells me while wondering is fun, it is now that matters most. I'm doing this and I am doing it with the best I can give. After all, if you're going to do something, do it with all your heart. You'll love it or you'll learn to move past it.

Ahoy!

Welcome 2010!

There are great things in store for you and me.

I'm making big decisions. I'm taking some serious time. I've got lots in store. I have a few ideas brewing in a previously-lost journal and I'm loving every ounce of them. I'm pushing forward. The temps outside might be frigid but I certainly am not frozen.

Order: One fantastic year....coming up!