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The Friday Affirmation

Creative energy surges through me and leads me to new and brilliant ideas.

I don’t usually talk about my artwork or explain what it means to me or the inspiration behind it. The work in the photo today was made in response to a call for entries in a contest sponsored by the Quilt Alliance. It was sold to raise money for the Alliance but still has special meaning for me.

When I first decided to try to take up quilting as a way of honoring my two quilting Grandmas I had no idea how rulebound traditional quilting and quilters can be. No matter how hard I tried it was never good enough. There was always something I did wrong or some rule I violated.

This piece represents my journey from my attempts at traditional quilting to fabric art. It is called “Out of the Block.” The block is a leftover from an attempt at a traditional quilt. That’s me jumping out of the box going forward with my needle held high.

Creative energy surges through me and leads me to new and brilliant ideas, and I am so grateful. Thank you God.

The Other Side of Thanksgiving

It has been my tradition on Thanksgiving to honor the other side of the story. For members of the first nations of this country this is a day of sadness as stories of the horrors inflicted on the ancestors are retold, remembered and relived. It is important that we honor these feelings and feel the sadness.

Atrocities were committed in the settlement of America when native peoples were slaughtered. Atrocities were also committed when free people of Africa were captured and brought to America as slave labor. Pretending these things didn’t happen won’t make them go away. Healing in this country will never happen until we admit that terrible mistakes have been made and crimes committed and we seek forgiveness.

A Holiday Extra

Today I am doing the prep work for the Thanksgiving meal. The cranberry sauce is in the fridge and eggs are sitting in hot water on the stove waiting to be deviled. Earlier in the week I baked and dried cornbread for the dressing and sometime today will bake either a pumpkin pie or carmel apple upside down cake.

While it may seem that I am cooking for a crowd it will be just the two of us. We always invite people in our neighborhood who don’t have anywhere to go to eat with us, but we rarely have takers.

So why go to all the work of making a “traditional” holiday meal, especially when for the tribes “Thanksgiving” is a day of morning? Good question. Even though I do not celebrate or belive the stories surrounding the holiday season I need to celebrate something to keep going. We are entering a season that can be extremely lonely for those who already feel like “outsiders.” Standing back while the world “celebrates” in ways we do not understand or wish to participate in is difficult.

So the holiday dinner is one way that we celebrate. No food is wasted. I will take plates and spend some time with a few neighbors who are homebound and leftovers are always welcome at our house.

When I was single I liked to volunteer at a community Thanksgiving dinner. I spent Christmas Eve with the Dominican Sisters who celebrated Mass early in the evening then drove home to sing in the choir and play in the bell choir at the Methodist Church.

This is a great time of year to practice what we preach and remember that we create our own reality with our thoughts and actions. If this is the time of year that you like to grumble and complain about the “commercialization of the holidays” what can you do to make things different? Maybe we can’t change the world but we can change our mind and make our life and the lives of those around us better.

Watch for an occasional holiday extra throughout the season. I will add them as I feel inspired.

Together an Ocean

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” — Ryunosuke Satoro
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/together-quotes

A Beginning

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” — Edward Everett Hale

The Friday Affirmation

I am guided in my every step by Spirit who leads me towards what I must know and do.

Believe in Your Heart

Believe in your heart that you’re meant to live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.” – Roy T. Bennett

Just Around the Corner

I walk every morning, weather permitting. That doesn’t mean that every morning I’m happy about it. This morning was one of those days. I was grumbling to myself, my back hurts, I don’t want to walk today, do I have to? My walking friend was nowhere in sight and I was ready to call it a day.

As I walked toward my house, I was ready to go inside, but Spirit had something else in mind. Instead, I walked toward the water but turned left instead of going straight as I normally would. As I rounded the corner to the water front there was the most magnificent fiery red sun just above the tree line. The kind of view that takes your breath away. One of those “Thank you God” kind of experiences. As I stood there, I was reminded that my early morning walk isn’t just a physical activity.

I also learned an important lesson. When life gets difficult it is important to follow the nudges of Spirit and keep going. We never know what good may be waiting for us just around the corner.

The Friday Affirmation

“The world needs different kinds of minds to work together.” Temple Grandin

As humans our strength is in our diversity. Right now, many people believe we must all look alike, believe alike, think alike, and experience the world in the same way. But that is exactly what will destroy us.

If you do not know the story of Temple Grandin, please take a minute to visit https://www.templegrandin.com/ to learn more about this remarkable woman.