A couple of years ago, a dear friend was diagnosed with cancer. To help her through the hard days, she began a practice of listing “three good things” each day. It’s like a gratitude journal.
We know the research: keeping a gratitude journal or just being grateful improves attitudes and even health. Being grateful makes us happier people. I confess that I am not a consistent gratitude journal person. I keep a journal on paper and online in this blog. I used to post a “thankful Thursday” entry in this space, but have gotten out of the practice. Maybe I should start again.
So, what am I grateful for today?
I am grateful for my family. I visited with the sons, daughter-in-law, and grandson yesterday. It is a treat to be with them for even a couple of hours. I played with Sully. We blew bubbles outside with his new Bluey bubble blower, listened a bit to his Talking Jesus doll, and “ate” carrots while we played “kitchen.” We also played with his monster trucks and made “hills” for them to jump. He is quite the chatter box now at three and a half.
2. The weather is beautiful today–clear blue skies, sunshine, warmth. Spring is here. I could do without the pollen everywhere, but I am glad to see the spring. The jasmine has bloomed already. My rose bush is turning red. Birds are flocking to the feeders.
3. It’s a trivial thing, but I am grateful that I can start my days with a cup of steaming cinnamon tea. (My favorite is the Harney and Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice tea). I don’t even have to add sweetener to this tea even though I do sometimes add a spoonful of honey to my cup. I don’t like black coffee, but I can drink this tea “black.” There is something about a good cup of tea that makes just about anything better.
4. This is not so trivial, but I am grateful that I can spend part of my mornings reading my Bible and doing some Bible study. In these times of political and social tumult, God’s word has comforted, strengthened, and encouraged me.
5. I am thankful for books! I have always been a reader. My mother says it’s my escape. And reading is partly that. I can retreat into the world of whatever book I’m reading and get so lost in it that I even forget where I am in the “real world.” I tried so hard to encourage that same feeling in my students.
Gratitude and thankfulness–two emotions that I need to feel all the time, not just when prompted. Perhaps I will begin my “three good things” practice once again along with the “thankful Thursdays” postings.
I will close with a Bible verse my grandmother taught me in Sunday school: “Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good.”
The A to Z challenge this month asks me to consider the blogging family. Once, I followed more than a dozen bloggers, fellow scrapbookers, mainly, but somewhere along the way, I stopped. Blogging seemed to go out of fashion, and those scrapbookers either stopped blogging, or they changed their focus. Or maybe they simply changed media. Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and other forms of social media have taken over. Somehow, I never caught on the Instagram or Twitter. Pinterest sometimes interests me, especially if I am looking for ideas to create something. Blogging, though, has continued to be a way for me to record some of my thoughts–the ones I want to make sort of public, anyway (the rest are “hidden” in my pen-and-paper journals).
Family is a tough word. Who is my family? Is it confined to those who are related by blood? Or is there a broader version of family? Well, it’s both when you stop and think about it. In my little community, it seems we are all family in some way or another–cousins x-times removed, sisters, brothers, in-laws, aunts, uncles–you get the picture. There is also the church family since most of my neighbors and I attend the same church. There is also my book club family, those women I meet with once a month to share our love of books and reading.
There are my sisters, women who are such close friends that we could be blood sisters.
There are so many variations of family. One of the tropes of contemporary literature is that of the “found family,” people who share experiences that lead to strong bonds of kinship. We need those found families just as much as we need our relations and kin. Some researchers suggest that humans are perhaps more isolated than ever because of technology and social media. We can hide behind our screens. Certainly, we communicate with others, but relationships become more superficial. (I won’t even go into the ways social media and on-line communication allow us create new identities.) So, it is even more important that we cultivate in-person relationships with our kin as well as with our found families.
Tough letter: enthusiasm, engagement, excitement, electric/electricity? All of the above?
What am I enthusiastic about these days? What makes me excited? Well, one thing is visiting my grandson (tomorrow!). He is at that age when everything is new to him. He will be four years old in October. I can tell you that he is full of energy. I know he will be going nonstop during our visit.
I am looking forward to some new photography classes through the Kinship Collective. I haven’t been as active in the collective since the first part of the year, but I am looking forward to renewing my love for creating photographic art. I have been participating in the Year of Creative Photography classes since January, and this month’s theme of impressionism has really captured my Interest. I’m working on the more “artistic” elements in post-processing. I have a lot to learn. I created this image last night:
This class reminded me that “way back when”, I purchased some presets/plug-ins from Topaz Labs. I resurrected those, reinstalled them, and played with them this month. I had fun!
E is also for EXPLORE, and EXPLORE is my word for this year. I have done a little exploring—mostly in terms of photography and a lot in reading. I’m exploring new ways of recording my “life” in art and in writing. I have to work on my One Word album. I’m a couple of months behind in recording. Now that the winter doldrums are passing, and the sap is rising, as the saying goes, I will get back into the work of exploring. I have two tools to encourage my explorations–kinds of adventure bucket lists, one for places to explore in South Carolina, and another for personal adventures. I haven’t opened either one except for a quick glimpse. It’s time to go for it!
So, excitement, enthusiasm, electricity, and explorations–all E-words to guide me.
Imagine that! It’s day four of the A-Z challenge, and I’m still in it. While I have a daily writing practice more or less following the guidelines set forth by Julia Camera (The Artist’s Way), daily blogging is not part of my routines. I’ve managed to post once or twice a month over the last year or so, mainly documenting my reading with short book reviews and overviews. Yet i’ve had this dream of being a writer since high school.
I wrote a story that I gave to my high school English teacher at the end of my junior year. It was the last year I would have her as my teacher. Mrs. Richardson taught ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade English; Miss Bedenbaugh would teach twelfth grade English. Back then, we weren’t separated into college prep, honors, or AP classes; we were all treated as college prep students. She like my story, but I wasn’t encouraged to pursue creative writing. After all, creative writing wasn’t necessarily an academic pursuit. It wasn’t until I was in graduate school that I knew that people could major in creative writing! But I was on track for Masters degree in English literature and did not even consider a creative track.
And then came the children, two boys four years apart in age, and a career as a full-time high school English teacher myself. There was no possibility of thinking about creative writing, not with small boys, soccer practice and games, then baseball, and marching band, not to mention Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and church. . . . Did I mention lesson plans and grading and reading for my classes? The dream to be a writer had been deferred once again.
And then came retirement and a free class (though not exactly) with guidance to write that first novel. I did it. I wrote the novel, and. . . . well, it’s still written; it’s just not published. Dream deferred again? I don’t know. Sometimes, writing–or any art–just has to sit for a while before it goes public. The same is true about my photography. I “dream” one day that I will be able to create those fine art photographs in the vein of Ansel Adams and others. And yet. . . dream deferred. I use the excuse that I don’t know enough about photography as art to make those kinds of photos. Still, I dream. Maybe one day. . .
Langston Hughes wrote, “What happens to a dream deferred?” Something’s absolutely nothing happens; sometimes it does explode. I will just have to wait and see what happens to my deferred dreams.
But for the sake of this year’s blog challenge, C is for communication and the many ways we communicate.
We use words, spoken and written. Perhaps the spoken words have the most impact because we hear them and often see the speaker behind them. We hear not only the words but the tone. Those words can be affirming or destroying. I’m sure you’ve heard of the “toothpaste lesson.” Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it can’t be put back. Just so are the words we speak; once spoken, they can’t be called back, especially if they are hurtful words.
We also communicate through gestures. I often used the time out hand gesture when my classes got too rowdy or excited or when I simply needed to get them refocused on a new direction in the activity. Pointing can communicate a direction. Nodding can indicate approval or rejection of an idea or request. Our bodies communicate in a wide variety of gestures.
Facial expressions communicate. Expressions are related to gestures. A smile goes a long way in communicating acceptance, friendliness, affection, and love. The tight lips and “squinted” eyes communicate disapproval, dislike, rejection.
Then, there are the arts as communication. I was reading an article this morning about Picasso’s mural, Guernica, and the message it communicated about the destruction of the village by the Nazis (supposedly as a belated birthday gift to Hitler). The utter destruction of one village and deaths of so many innocent citizens shattered Picasso, and his painting communicated that. And communication is not just for the visual arts, but also for musical arts as well. My favorite Beethoven sonata, “The Moonlight,” communicates such a sense of peace and calm in the first movement.
I think all creatures have their ways of communicating, some profound and some not so profound, but communication makes all the difference.
Today, I will think about what I want to communicate to others in my actions and words. How can I communicate through my words and photography?
Okay. I’m late to the party. That’s nothing new. I had forgotten about the A-Z Challenge until this morning as I wrote my almost daily morning pages. I say “almost daily” because I don’t always write on the weekends. My Monday to Friday routines are thrown off because my husband usually has the TV on before I emerge from the bedroom in the mornings. I have trouble concentrating on writing when the TV is on (but not so much when I’m listening to music).
So, on April 8, I will begin the A to Z challenge. This year’s theme is gratitude for the community, specifically the blogging community. I have a few folks who “like” my reading updates when I post them monthly. But I don’t really blog for an audience (though it’s nice to have readers!); I write for myself.
Today, the letter is A.
The quote for the first challenge day is a really good one, and to begin the April challenge, the focus is on the people who make us happy. I am grateful for some special people in my life. There is my husband of 41 years this June and our two adult sons. The older son is a musician and a middle school band director; the younger–the adrenalin junkie–is a full-time firefighter and EMT. I am proud of them. John always gives me something to think about and challenges my brain. Aaron makes me smile at his actions. Then there is my daughter-in-law, who makes me so proud that she is willing to stand up for the marginalized people in our society. And my grandson, Sully, just makes me smile! He is three years old (he turns four in October). He is almost always happy.
Last spring, I started a very small book club. These ladies are so special. We share a love of books and good conversation. Our little group ranges in age from 18 to 80+ (I’m not sure how old Ms. Biba is). I look forward to our monthly meetings at the local coffee shop. Isabelle, the 18-year-old, gives us so much joy in her enthusiasm for books and the way she just fits in with our group of women who are old enough to be her grandmothers!
Ms. Biba and Shana have been my support group over the last couple of months as our church goes through some changes that are not necessarily the “best,” if I am to be honest. They have had my back, as it were, when I feel afraid to speak my truth. I am so thankful for them. Shana makes me laugh with her zaniness.
This has been a strange month for reading. It seems I have started a lot of books, but didn’t finish them for some reason or another: Persuasion by Jane Austin, Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin (almost finished–I’m on the last chapter), The Let Them Theory (just started, so I can’ complain too much about not finishing that one). . . . I put The Covenant of Water on pause, but do plan to get back to it in April. It is such a beautifully written book that I do not want to abandon it. So, what did I read? A lot of “fluff”!
I started the Locke and Steele series with The Agent’s Demon and The Rose and the Ghost. The Agent’s Demon has paranormal investigator Agent Hazel Locke and her demon partner investigating the Whitechapel Murders of Jack the Ripper. When they discover the identity of the Ripper, they must flee England to Paris to save their lives. While in Paris, they plan to investigate the murder of Steele’s family. The Rose and the Ghost tells the story of the search for the identity of the murderer of Steele’s family, but also includes a retelling of The Phantom of the Opera. Reading the latter book has prompted me to read the classic Phantom although I may be singing the songs from the musical in my head while I read. These were enjoyable paranormal mysteries with a bit of history thrown in, but I’m not likely to reread either of them although I will read the next installment when it comes out.
Ellery Adams is a “local” author from North Carolina. I thoroughly enjoyed her Book Retreat mystery series and started the The Secret, Book, and Scone Society series last year. The Lost Little Library was another fun read that kept me guessing until the end. Nora, Grant McCabe (the sheriff and Nora’s lover), and the women of her book club have two mysteries to solve: the mysterious death of Lucille Wynter, who leaves Nora a book that takes her on a scavenger hunt for various items that will uncover a family secret and the theft of YA books from her book store. What I love about Adams’s two series is the allusions to all kinds of books, so much so that I regret not writing down the titles as I read so that I can read them as well! This is another series I look forward to the next installment.
Another mystery series that held my interest was Mary Lancaster’s Silver and Grey mysteries. Constance Silver and Solomon Grey team up to solve a couple of murders in this series. They work well together, and there are the beginnings of a potential romance. I will be looking forward to continuing this series as well.
I can’t lose when there is a Steve Berry book. The Medici Return is the latest book in the Cotton Mather novels. Mather is a retired agent from the Magellan Billet, a top secret intelligence organization in the U. S. government. In this installment, Mather is sent to Italy to investigate the possible criminal activities of an archbishop. However, things get complicated when a businessman and member of the Italian legislative body claims to be a direct descendant of the Medici family, to whom the Vatican owes a great deal of money. I love all the history and “local color” that Berry infuses into his novels–and the fact that he can keep me guessing about the outcome until the very end.
I am well on my way to meeting my goal of six nonfiction books. So far, I’ve read Maya Angelou’s The Heart of a Woman in her series of autobiographies and Mary Miller’s biography of Belle Baruch, who is responsible for a true South Carolina treasure, Hobcaw Barony, which she set up with the state to be an educational and research facility in the Low Country. This book was interesting in so many ways. First, Belle Baruch was an interesting woman, a feminist and women’s libber before there were such things. Second, she was a paradox, known for her generosity and kindness but also somewhat bigoted and prejudiced. It was her love of nature, though, that stands out. As I read the book, I kept thinking, “Why haven’t I learned about this?” There was so much South Carolina history, as well as U. S. history in the biography. I didn’t know there were U-boats off the coast of South Carolina or that German spies actually made landfall in the Low County. I didn’t even know about Bernard Baruch’s role in history as advisors to seven presidents. It was an eye opening experience reading this book, and we had a lively discussion during the book club meeting.
I will probably finish Women of the Word this week. This book describes a method of Bible study that goes deep into the Word of God. Although the target audience is women, the method of study outlined by Jen Wilkin is applicable to anyone who wants to study Scripture in a meaningful way. I have tried several study methods over the years, but Women of the Word brings them all together. I am also using another method, the James Method, which incorporates many of the same elements (but with different names) as Wilkin’s method.
This morning before I began this post, the Book of the Month Club posted its April selections. I’ve chosen Six Days in Bombay, a historical novel; Famous Last Words (a BOTM exclusive), and The God of Woods (I’m late to the party for this book). Hopefully, I will be able to get into the books more in April.
Oh, by the way, April is National Poetry Month, and my “practice” for this month will be to collect quotes from poems every day of the month into a handmade commonplace book. I am starting with Mary Oliver’s collection, Devotion.
My #100DayProject this year is to work on my photography. This week, I have chosen to work on editing last week’s photos, mainly the water/reflection photos of the pond in the back yard that I made last week. In particular, I’m working on learning to use masks in Lightroom Classic.
This is the original image, straight out of the camera (SOC):
I do shoot in RAW, so naturally, the image is a bit dull. So, with the help of Lightroom Classic and Photoshop, I came up with this edit:
I asked for feedback in the Year of Creative Photography group. Following the suggestion of one of the moderators, I cropped some of the dark sky at the top of the image, increased the exposure slightly, and adjusted the highlights and whites to brighten the image. This is the result:
I made the sky reflection bluer. I still need to bring out the greens at the bottom of the image, but I am making progress.
Another image I worked on is this one:
OriginalEdited
I may have gone a bit overboard with the blue, but I like it.
It has been a long winter. It’s been cold (even though some of the news articles I’ve seen have reported that the 2024-2025 winter has been warmer than usual); I have shivered and worn more layers than usual. Maybe it’s my age.
Regardless of the meteorological data, I am seeing signs of spring: the daffodils on the pond dam are blooming. The cherry, plum, and apple trees are in full bloom. A. E. Housman described the white cherry blossoms as “snow.” This is the kind of snow I like!
With spring comes the #100dayproject and the One Little Word month of developing a practice. I’m working on both of those this month. For the One Little Word practice for March, I have chosen to write “morning pages” a la Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way: three pages first thing in the morning. I confess that I find Cameron’s practice a bit restrictive, so I modify it to suit me. Sometimes, I write three pages; sometimes not. Sometimes, I write later in the day. I don’t want my practice so restrictive that I don’t do it.
The morning pages are just part of a larger practice for the year. My word for this year is EXPLORE, and one element I want to explore is self-expression through “art”–writing, photography, doodling, drawing, etc. So, my 100 Day Project will center around developing my photography skills. I have set up five ways to work on this goal:
Make photographs. Yeah, that seems simple enough. Just pick up the camera and go out and shoot. Or use my phone camera. I have a new Lensbaby, the Velvet 56, and I haven’t practiced enough with it to be “good.” That will certainly be one of my goals while making photographs.
Learn new photo editing techniques and develop Lightroom and Photoshop skills. One of the things I like about the Year of Creative Photography class is that each month, Lori introduces a photo editing technique. I plan to experiment with them throughout the year.
Post things in Cosmos. Kim Klassen introduced Cosmos in a short four-week class last fall. Unlike Instagram, there is no need to write commentary (although there is a way to post notes and text). It’s not so much a social media share-to-brag site as it is a gigantic vision board from which to draw inspiration. By creating clusters around topics, I can search for inspiration and add photos, quotes, and videos to use as reference.
Research other photographers. Again, the Year of Creative Photography has case studies of various artists and photographers in each month’s lessons as guides and inspiration for things to try. I will research other photographers as well to learn from them as much as I can.
And, most importantly, work on the photography classes I signed up for. I have a bad habit of starting an online class and then giving up half-way through. So, I want to make follow through part of my practice.
I made a tracker for my planner to note by progress. I use reading trackers in my book journal, and I have a 31-day tracker in my OLW album to track my month-long practice of writing in my journal.
There is something to be said about putting one’s intentions out there in the world. If one announces it publicly, then there is a certain commitment to completely the things. So, I’m putting myself out there in the world. Day one has begun. (But there is also something to be said for every day being Day One. If I falter, I can always pick it up and make today Day One.)
By the way, I can color in my 100 Day tracker for gathering elements for the AYCP–Water cluster in Cosmos. I hope this gives me some ideas to try when I take out the camera later today.
Just a portion of my cluster for AYCP–Water cluster of images.
Telling Stories 