Healing and Hope

I decided to go check out the local thrift stores today. At the third one, I saw two Willow Tree angels. They were priced at $1.99 each. I grabbed both of them and finished looking around. When I went to pay, she only charged me $1.99. I guess they were having a year end clearance sale or something.

 One was the angel of healing.

 The other was the angel of hope.

I'm taking their appearance to me today as a sign of healing and hope for the new year.

Happy New Year!!

Twisted Christmas Greeting

I was taking a Leisure Learning class and I could not get own pictures off my jump drive so I had to search google for pictures. The class was focused on doing Christmas cards. This was three different images combined and it makes me smile.

Merry Christmas to all! I am off to my parents' house for fun and festivities! 

Joy

I really like the blurred exuberance of the angel in the background of this photo. I got a new lens and was trying it out on my mother's Christmas tree. 

Then I went into Photoshop and tried to add some texture to the photo. I am not entirely sure I like the results. I have not been playing around as much in Photoshop as I'd like to be doing.

I got behind on the December prompts. I haven't decided whether I am going to jump back in where they are or try to go back and catch up on what I have missed. Some of the questions are asking for more than I want to share! But they are really good things to help evaluate the coming year, and to consider for the coming year. 

Body Integration

December 12 – Body Integration This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present? (Author: Patrick Reynolds)

I believe the times I have felt most integrated with my body this year were when I was exercising regularly, eating (mostly) right and engrossed in some sort of creative endeavor. For the last few months, I have not been exercising, have not been eating right and have barely been involved in any kind of creative endeavor. I can tell, my body doesn't like it when I do not treat it properly!

Wow, these prompts certainly are giving me plenty of things to think about for the coming year! 

Things I Don't Need

December 11 – 11 Things What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? (Author: Sam Davidson)

First of all, let me say that I have given myself permission not to follow these prompts exactly so I only have five things! I am sure there are more but I have not thought of them yet. I will continue to think about this theme of what I don't need in 2011.

I don't need any more:

1. superfluous calories
2. grief over things that are past and can't be changed
3. self-pity
4. need no more clutter
5. heartache over son's choices/problems

Elimination process:

1. pay more attention to what I eat, recommit to my health, and life
2. stay mindful, remember that "NOW" is all I have and God's mercies are new every morning
3. focus on what I can be grateful for, help others
4. take one step at a time, work steady and persistently
5. see # 2

How will elimination change anything?:

1. I will feel better, I will literally add years to my life
2. I will have more peace
3. I be less "weighed down", self-pity is heavy
4. My whole family will feel better
5. See # 2

Wisdom

December 10 – Wisdom
Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?
(Author: Susannah Conway)

All I will say is that I have done a lot of hard growing this past year and I have seen this verse played out in my life several times over:

"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." (Ecclesiastes 1:18)

Sometimes it really is true that ignorance is bliss.

Perhaps the wisest decision I have made this year has been to keep hobbling on toward life and hope and growth in spite of the pain involved.

And that is all I am going to say about that.

(http://www.reverb10.com/)

Party Time!

Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.
(Author: Shauna Reid)

Ha! Here I have a bit of an ethical dilemma--I'm writing very early on the 12th about an event that happened on December 11th, and I am dating the post for the 9th because that is the date for this prompt.

Social gathering rarely ever knock my socks off. It's not that I am anti-social, it's just that I don't often enjoy social gatherings. But tonight we had our annual church Christmas party and it was full of cheesy good fun: gumbo, cookie contest, talent show, magic man, hayride and bonfire. How much better could than that could it get? The gumbo was excellent, the cookies were delicious. The talent was spotty, the magic man was interesting. The hayride was cold and the bonfire was warm. My oldest daughter came and left at the end of the talent show but before they announced the winners of the cookie contest. She was disappointed because she had missed the hayride earlier. After they announced the cookie contest winners, they announced there would be another hayride. I called my daughter to tell her (she only lives about a mile up the road from the church) and my husband asked about whether she would have time to come back and ride. They said yes and she got there and we took off. When we returned we went and stood by the fire a little while to warm ourselves and then we headed home. I am assuming a fun time was had by all!