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Monday, September 30, 2013

For the Month of October

Last Sunday would have been my son's 26th birthday. We had a quiet weekend where we took birthday flowers to his grave. When we left to go there, a song from his funeral was playing on the radio. Also I noticed some flowers blooming unexpectedly beside the road across from my grandfather's old home place. I hope to go back and dig some of them up to plant at our place in the country. I am sure one of my dead relatives planted the flowers there many years ago. At the cemetery, I saw a ladybug as I was arranging the flowers in the vase. And then, on our way home, not far from where the flowers were growing, we saw a turtle coming onto the road. We passed him and then I said something about turning around to take his picture. We turned around pretty quickly but we never did find him to take his picture! All of these sights were strangely comforting to me.

This is the flower I noticed on the side of the road.

The heart in the "Vita Brevis" photo is a piece of paper towel that was on the bathroom floor at work.

There is something about noticing the small things that makes me feel grateful. It almost feels like a gift.

My friend Beth has made a commitment to doing a 31 day experiment in noticing things, to "recognize moments that too easily skip right on by." I think I'm also going to remind myself to be a "noticer" during this month. It's the first month of the last quarter of the year, a perfect time to begin a new challenge.

I'm also going to be working on a 12 week study of the book, "The Artist's Rule." I am not at all sure I will keep up with this challenge but I sure want to. I need more order, and more intention in my life. I am wasting far too much of my time on mindless fillers that really do nothing to enhance my life.

In five months, I've worked on changing my eating habits, eating more mindfully and with an awareness of how what I eat affects me. I've committed to regular exercise, moving in some meaningful way on most days for my health. Surely I can do this, too. We shall see how it goes. . .


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8 comments:

  1. Jim5:39 AM, October 01, 2013

    Annie, you have more than talent. You have a gift, a great gift, one that captures the mystery, the sunshine within the humdrum, a reason to smile and remember life is precious. More than all that, though, you, yourself, are a gift in sharing all that with others. Good to find you still here, still popping up to bless us with your words and pictures....

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    1. annie8:36 PM, October 01, 2013

      Thank you so much, Jim. I appreciate your encouraging words.

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  2. spookyrach10:01 AM, October 01, 2013

    Sounds like a good experiment. I think I'm in. Hopefully. (I really need to work on getting rid of some time wasters, too.)

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    1. annie8:37 PM, October 01, 2013

      Get on it, Spooky! (Have I mentioned my fear that I will not follow through on my intentions???)

      Delete
  3. Beth1:59 PM, October 01, 2013

    You, my friend, are the queen of noticing things (I think). Your blog posts, your photos, your phrases and quotes and statements are all things that have helped me to focus and notice the things that matter.

    You are a spark of light and hope. AND an inspiration!

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    1. annie8:37 PM, October 01, 2013

      Aw, Beth, thank you! You've been a tremendous inspiration to me, too.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous6:00 PM, October 01, 2013

    Noticing is a good thing. A camera lens helps me do that more. I like how you are recording the changes in your life. I know your day was a hard one, and I see how comforting those signs of continuing life would be. That turtle must have been the only fast one in existence!

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    1. annie8:38 PM, October 01, 2013

      I don't know about that turtle! Someone on Facebook joked that he might have been an angel! We don't know where he went!

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