Today was so warm and sunny. I walked my dog along the old train tracks near my house and admired the beauty around me. Still on the tracks, however, were trees and branches felled by Hurricane Sandy. I thought about how fragile I have felt since the storm. How does one treasure life and its ephemeral nature without becoming overcome with worry?
In my mind, this haiku took form:
Knowing as I do
that all I hold dear will change
how then live with joy?
When I came home, I wrote these words in my journal, and thought about how opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the world and inside of us; how we're always striving to live with grace and a sense of balance.
 |
| (using the Dots & Dashes, and 6 Pointed Starry Night stencils from Stencil Girl) |
Must we experience feeling fragile to recognize our strengths? Do we need darkness to appreciate the light? Do we know what pleasure is because we have felt pain? Life is made up of all of this, and yes, it is beautiful and grand, but sometimes heartbreaking too. Linking up to
Frilly and Funkie's "Light" challenge.
List it Tuesday's theme this week at
Artsyville is
"small comforts." Besides
meditating, making soup, walking in the woods,
cuddling with my kids and hubby, and connecting with friends, my "go to" thing for self-soothing is making art. This weekend, I needed a lot of that, so I went on an ATC (
artist trading card) making spree:
Because my next post will be
my 100th post since starting this blog in March 2012 (I can hardly believe it),
I am giving away 2 ATCs to one of the commenters to this post, my 99th. So leave a comment (and for an extra chance, let me know if you follow my blog), and you might be chosen by Random.org to win two ATCs! Then, check in on Thursday, December 6, to see if you won. That post,
my 100th post (!!) will also be the first post of the
Stencil Test Drive, where
Carolyn Dube,
Michelle Rydell,
Judy Shea and I will be giving the
Hebrew Calligraphy stencils a whirl!
UPDATE: The winner of the medieval leaves stencil is Gloria!
Finally, instead of doing a holiday card with our photos this year, I decided to do a Santa/yoga card. Here is our card for Christmas 2012.
I painted Santa, the tree and the yoga mat with watercolors, and then assembled it in photoshop. Linking him to
Christmas Cards All Year Round!
Thank you so much for visiting!
I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.
Gloria November 26, 2012 4:49 PM
