A New Group--Two Questions!

A New Group--Two Questions--

You would think that writing about an event in life would be an easy thing to do.  Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't.  There are times when I sit down at the computer, place my fingers on the keys and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  What is that about, anyway?

Words can be elusive little things.  All one has to do is string letters into words, words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs and soon it all begins to make sense, right?  Well, there are times when the fingers on the keys simply do not function.  They hover over the keys as the brain attempts to make sense of the jumble of thoughts and ideas that are floating around the gray matter upstairs.

For several days I have attempted to write about a coming together that happened at my house.  Each time I sat down to form those words, sentences and paragraphs, nothing came.  Oh--there were thoughts but nothing firm for the fingers to write.  Finally, this morning it came together.

Recently some women gathered in my living room.  We formed a small, intimate circle of chairs and sofa around a hope chest used as a coffee table.  On that table was a platter of cheese, sliced ham and turkey and crackers.  Each of us had our drink of choice.  Seven women gathered to visit.

Seven women coming together from different backgrounds, different ages, different interests.  Each carrying their own set of challenges.  This was not simply a social gathering.  It was also a gathering to learn from one another.  In the course of this evening, we would set a different course.  A course that will challenge us.

The original intent was a book group.  You know the drill.  Select a book, read it, and then come together to discuss what you "got" from the book.  There are many small groups who do this.  It is a great way to discover a new author.  It is all good.  This group made a one-eighty from that direction.

So often in our world we take little time to discuss really important issues that touch us.  If we carefully examine our conversation, we probably see how shallow our interactions with one another truly are.  Of course, all conversations do not need to be serious.  That is a given.  But, what a pleasant change when we actually come away from a conversation feeling as if we have been given a new way of looking at something.  We do not change or grow when every conversation presents no challenge to our present views.

Back to the group--In anticipation of the group's decision, I pulled a couple of questions from a book.  The book is Pub Theology 101.  It is an e-book.  As the title suggests, it is a book of questions about how religion/beliefs impact every part of our lives and culture.  The questions are designed to help us rethink.  To open ourselves to other's thoughts and to possibly change our own minds.  Now, that is a scary thought, isn't it?  We love what we think.  Sometimes we might even think we have all the answers and don't need to be bothered with anyone else's thoughts or beliefs.  But, what if a belief we have held for years is simply wrong?  What if a belief/thought of ours helps another on their journey?  Honestly, it is much easier to remain shallow in our conversations, isn't it?  There is no fear that the ground we stand on will be shaken.

So, a sheet of paper was passed around with a few questions.  Everyone read the questions, and then we discussed two of them.  One I slipped in just for fun.  Ask me about it sometime!!  The rules are simple.  Listen to one another.  If there is disagreement, be respectful of the other person as you state your own thoughts.  That's about it.  Engage in conversation.  Be open within yourself to hearing another point of view or belief.  Enjoy the opportunity to actually talk with others about significant things.

It was wonderful.  You could tell by the body language of everyone that there was trust within the circle of women.  No one felt intimitated by another.  All points of view were shared openly.  And this was the first night of two questions!  What a fabulous evening.

The women at the gathering came together to learn.  To form friendships and share life experiences.  There were tears, laughter and looks of understanding and agreement. There were gentle disagreements.  Who could ask for more?

We will meet each month.  Two questions may become the name of the group.  Two questions that will cause us to think outside the box we have so carefully and lovingly placed ourselves in.  Two questions that will cause a little discomfort as they stretch us to move to new understandings.  Two questions that will help us see another point of view.  Two questions that will help us love one another more deeply.

What about you?  Are you ready for some deep conversation about really important issues in life?  Then take this model and form a group.  Chase fear out the door and open yourselves to a new adventure--the adventure of knowing yourself and others.

Talk again soon.

Garage Sale

Garage Sale--


This is the day to find treasures you didn't know you wanted!  My garage sale runs from 9-2.

Come on out!

A Change is Coming

A Change is Coming--

It's that time again.  Even though I try to ignore it, that time has slowly rolled around.  I have waited and waited thinking it might take care of itself.  But, no.  I must deal with it this time around.

Dealing with this is not going to be easy.  It will demand my total attention.  It will require discipline.  My dad used that word on me all the time.  I was always going to receive a healthy dose of discipline!:)   This time around I have to do it all by myself with no threats to my person.

Life as I now know it will disappear.  Painful.  But necessary.  Sometimes one simply has to do the difficult thing.  Kind meaning folks try to be encouraging and helpful when life changes.  I appreciate the encouragement.  But, I know that this is a walk I must walk all by myself.   It would be wonderful to have a companion accompany me, but it is simply not possible.  This battle belongs to me.

Somewhere down the line I will look back and celebrate.  All the difficult times will be history.  There will be rejoicing in the camp.

I am going on a diet.

Now, going on a diet is not earth shattering.  Dropping extra pounds does not change the world.  Wait a minute.  Maybe it doesn't change the big world, but it has the power to change the small world I inhabit.  It has the power to change my attitude about myself.  And that is earth shattring to me.

Anything that moves me to a better place is a positive.  I can use all the positives I can find.  Can't you? Is there something you are struggling with that you can change?  Why is change so difficult?  Could it be that the struggle to decide is our largest obstacle?  Why is making a decision for our good so hard?

I wish I had all the answers to these questions.  If I had those answers, I would share them with the world.  But, the truth is we can only handle one obstacle at a time.  So, my challenge is gaining better control over my food choices.  Exercise might be a good idea, also.

So, let's begin again.  Let's decide to work on one thing that we can change.  Let's celebrate the fact that we have made a decision.  And let's look toward being our best selves.

With wishes for all of us!

The Stuff We Smear on Us!

The Stuff We Smear on Us!


Have you ever thought about all the stuff we smear on our bodies?  Well, I gave that a little thought the other day and had a good laugh.  It goes something like this.

After drying off from a nice refreshing shower,  the process begins.  Hydrating lotion is squirted on the legs.  Rub, rub, rub it  in so that the skin stays nice and moist.  Then move to the arms.  Repeat the process.  Next to the chest.  Skin is very thin there so more moisture is needed to keep the skin soft.

Ok--that is done.  Now let's get to the chicken neck.  Really wished someone had told me when I was much younger that giving the sun full control on that neck would someday come back and bite me.  To stop further cracking(!), squeeze the neck cream into the hands and rub it into the neck.  Rub it until it disappears.  Whether or not it does any good--who knows.  But, it makes the old neck feel good so it doesn't hurt.  It doesn't hurt anything but the pocketbook!

Did I mention deodorant?  Smear that all around so that no one will walk in the other direction when you get close.

Lines form around the eyes after years of living.  We don't want those lines now, do we?  Well, there is a lotion to use to help fill in those lines.  Who wouldn't want to use that?  Only takes a minute to apply. Same thing for those lines around the mouth.  If we can help Mother Nature stay away a bit longer, why not!!

Let's move to the face.  Moisturizer is a must.  Just a dot here and there will prevent the face from drying out.  Not on the eyelids, please.  Something else goes there.  The directions say to rub it into the skin in a circular motion.  I slap it on!  The point is to get it on the face, right?  Once it disappears into the skin, it is time for the tinted moisturizer.  Tinted moisturizer with sunscreen gives extra protection from the sun--that same sun that did all the damage!  And tinted moisturizer also covers up those age spots that weren't there a few years ago.

One important body part I have not mentioned is the feet.  Often they are overlooked in the process of smearing.  Since they are our primary means for moving from place to place, they deserve a little lotion, too.  So, let's cover them with a thick cream and then a little abrasive lotion.  Once the abrasive lotion is applied, it is time to rub them.  Let's get all the dead skin cells off those movers and shakers.  Rinsing is the next step.  Then drying and applying a lotion.  The feet now feel like a baby's behind.  Lovely!

Dead skin cells can collect on the face, too, you know.  Time to cleanse the face and apply a microderm abrasion.  Rub that into the face until it feels like sandpaper.  Then rinse, rinse, rinse.  Of course, that step is followed by another lotion.  The face has never felt so soft.  Trust me.  I do that often.

No doubt I have left off some of the smearing we do to ourselves.  Have to admit that I feel better when I have taken a little care of myself.  Whether anyone else notices is not the point.  I know that this is the skin I will live in until the end.  So, maybe I should take better care of it.  Ya think??

Of course cleansing and moisturizing happens prior to bedtime.   Gotta give the skin time to repair after a hard day of meeting all the nasty elements in the air!:)   And when morning arrives, all the smearing begins again.

Oh no!  I forgot the hands!  Gotta run.  Time to apply hand lotion.

It's a wonder I don't slide right out of my clothes!!:)

Talking About Love

Talking About Love--

I love your shoes!  Love the way you decorated your home!  Love you!  Love your garden!  Love that you took the time to visit with me.  Love the dessert you made.  Love, love, love.

Love is a word we throw around.  We just love everything.  That includes food, clothing, cars, hair cuts, vacations, people, jewelry, books.  The list is never ending.  We love, love, love.

Do you suppose there are other words that would more accurately describe our feelings about objects and people?  Have we devalued this wonderful word by overusing it?  Or does it make any difference how and in what context we use it?

And just what is love anyway?  Is the warm, fuzzy feeling we have from gazing at a beautiful pair of summer shoes the same as the feeling we experience when we look into the eyes of a beloved friend?  If no is the answer, then is it possible that we use the word love a bit too much to describe inanimate objects?

A new shiny car cannot love me back.  It can provide me with a lovely ride.  It can move me from point A to point B, but it never expresses feelings about the way I take care of it.  Perhaps it is the latest model, color and style.  I may feel like a million bucks as I cruise down the road.  But, that object will never laugh with me or grieve with me.  It will always be an object incapable of feelings.  (I still really like a cool ride!)

The same is true of all things.  They provide us with what we think we need at the moment.  A house gives us shelter.  It provides us a place to live and grow.  We have many life experiences inside the structure.  By inhabiting it, we bring life to it.   But the house itself--nope.  Just wood, cement, tons of wires, pipes, floors, ceilings, windows, doors.  It is a thing.  And  things cannot give us love.

Mountains can inspire us to new heights.  They are silent giants that speak to our core.  Oceans do the same.  Forests give a certain peace found nowhere else.  Nature has great power.  We feel at home in certain parts of nature.  However, mountains, trees, oceans, forests cannot give us what we need the most.  What is the one thing all humans must have to shine?

Yep--love.  Babies left without human touch will not thrive.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  Young children who are hugged believe that this world is a darn good place.  Teens, who push people away, need the same thing.  It is simply their time to try those wings adults have been trying to develop.  Adults need to believe they are valued.  Now that is not the same as love, but it comes close.  So much of who we are and who we will become revolves around that simple four letter word.

I am not going to the dictionary for a definition.  You can do that.  The point is we all know what love looks and feels like.  It is the warm eyes that greet us when we have been absent.  It is the embrace that shows us understanding has arrived.  It is the affection between two people who have chosen to care for one another long term.  It is the joy of life itself.  The intimate moments shared with that special someone who puts our needs above their own.  It fills us up.  Sometimes we cry from the sheer joy of that word love.

It can go away.  Oh--that is so hurtful.  When love departs, it takes us with it.  Recovery can be longer than recovering from surgery.  We have been wounded down to our core.  That is probably when we truly know what love is.  The moment it departs, we feel dead inside.  Don't want to stay on this paragraph very long.

So, this is what I think.  Love can only accurately be called love when it is able to be returned.   And who can return love?  You got it!  People.  When we want to talk about a troubling situation, it is not a tree we go to.  It is another person.  Maybe even a person who has walked the same walk we find ourselves walking.  When we are fearful about anything, we don't tell our car about our distress expecting to hear comforting words.  We call a friend or family member.  You know this.  Love binds us together.

While I truly do enjoy nature down to my very bones, love belongs to those who share life with me.  Who reach out and tell me they care when I am hurting.  Who laugh with me over another goofy thing I have done.  Who simply enjoy our time together.

Love this time with you!  Take good care.

Kindness

Kindness--

There are times when ideas and thoughts whirl around in my head.  One thought follows another in rapid succession with no time to put pen to paper and record them.  Lately that has been happening quite a bit.  I love it that the mind takes us to new places and drops us off leaving us to think in new ways.  Sometimes the ideas take me by surprise.

This past week we have been out of the country.  That in itself is an experience.  Going through customs, hoping you have done it all correctly, hoping you are legal with the items in your bag.  It is good to be outside the regular schedule and stretch the boundaries.  That has always had great appeal to me.  So, it was quite fun to read signs, try to follow directions, get to the designated place.  Thanks to the kindness of strangers, it was a perfect holiday.

As we walked down the streets in this new village,  many languages floated by our ears.  Often the speakers of those languages held maps just as we did.  They had selected places to visit and were trying to get to those marked spots.  I understood.   We were in that same boat.  Many had packages full of goodies they had purchased.  It was exciting to be in a new place sharing experiences with strangers.

On one early morning walk to purchase that cup of coffee, a woman walked up beside us.  It was probably around 8 AM.  It was quite chilly as we were in the mountains.  The sky was that deep shade of blue that makes you smile.  She matched her gait with ours, and we chatted as we walked.  She asked if we knew where the grocery store was.  We had driven by it the day before so we could give her directions.  She told us she was visiting from Hawaii, and that she was freezing.  What made that so funny was the way she was dressed.

Most people on holiday in the mountains wear tennis shoes or hiking boots, jeans, shirts and sweaters or sweat shirts.  She, on the other hand, had on tight golden, glittery pants and a lightweight black sleeveless top that also glittered in the sun. Her shoes were covered with sparkles.  I could see why she was cold.  She looked adorable.  Maybe she was welcoming the day following an all-night party.  I hope she found what she was looking for at the grocery store, and that she found warmer clothes.  She was only one of many people who spent a few minutes with us.  Strangers who connected for a moment in time.

And that made me think about human kindness.  It costs nothing to smile.  It takes no effort at all to offer assistance.  In fact, when we offer ourselves to strangers, we make a memory.  That new experience becomes part of who we are.  One morning in the coffee shop I was waiting for my latte.  The woman in front of me had three drinks and was trying to place them in a carrier.  I noticed she needed sleeves for the hot drinks.  Those sleeves were right in front of me.  I did the obvious thing.  She gave me a big smile and thank you.  I don't write that to speak well of myself but to remind us all that small things make the world such a pleasant place.  Is it possible that we miss the oppotunity to do a kindess simply because we don't see?  Absolutely that has happened to me many times.  My bad.

Time after time people extended themselves for us.  And because of that, we left with such a positive attitude about the place and the people.  In fact, we are already making plans to return.  Nature gave her all to this spot on the earth.  Add in the lovely people, and you have the perfect package.

Travel forces us to see the world through different eyes.  It is possible that we fear doing the new.  Yes, the unknown can be frightening.  But, my how it grows us when we take the chance to walk outside our own boundaries.  We don't have to leave this country for that to happen.  Simply placing ourselves in a new environment in our homeland can give us the same sense of adventure.

Kindness--something we are all able to give.  Like everything else in life, it is a choice.  We can decide to give that gift every single day.  Or we can withhold it.  Not always easy when we are in a funk but well worth the effort.

Think I will spend a little time reflecting--reflecting about our world, people and how kindness has such a huge impact on us.  Want to join me?

Let's Gather Around a Table

Let's Gather Around a Table--


It is a marvelous gift to sit down and visit with friends and strangers who become friends about things that really matter in this life.

To visit about significant things requires an open mind.  It requires a listening spirit.  And it also requires a little time.  Recently I was introduced to a book about meeting in pubs to converse about all things important.  Since the word pub was used,  it had to be born in England.  Some would say it is wrong to meet in pubs to talk about faith and God and life issues.  Some would not attend unless the venue changed locations.  But, others welcome the friendly, accepting atmosphere of a pub.

Does it make a difference where people meet to have meaningful discussions?  Really--does it?

From what I learned, it is about sitting down at a table and talking honestly about things that matter.  Is it important that those around the table agree on all issues?  Not at all.  People need an opportunity to express their views and learn how others think on issues that touch us all.  By coming together around the table, we are making space in our heart for others.  Wow!  Making space in our heart for others.  I think that is an amazing thing to do.

Meeting around a table in a pub or a kitchen or a restaurant yells hospitality.  For one thing, the group cannot be larger than the number of chairs that fit at the table.  Another factor is everyone has the opportunity to express views if they decide to do so.  No one is pressured to believe anything.  No one is asked to share personal stories.  No one is ever put on the spot.  Most of us are afraid of exposing our true beliefs because we believe others will judge us.  That must end.

Do we ever really discuss important issues?  Our world is a troubled place.  Would conversation spur an action?  Would discussion change a mind?  What could happen if a few people gathered to engage in meaningful conversation?  It sounds so exciting to me.

So, this is my call to those of you who are reading and live close by.  Would you be interested in gathering with the intent of engaging in discussion about topics that are important?  If you are, would you message me on Facebook.  We can arrange a time and place to meet and see what direction this could take.  Nothing ventured--nothing gained.  I am ready to step out to learn from you and to share my thoughts.

One hour a week--doesn't seem like much, does it?  That one hour has the power to move us to new places in the deepest part of our being.   To change our lives.

Looking so forward to sitting around the table with you!