Giving Through Creation

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B103 pondi700

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Have you ever read something and felt alive, inspired?  Have you listen to music that has captured your soul, and touch every fiber of your heart?  Read a poem or looked at a painting that transported you to unexplained heights?  All these are examples of creations.  We are human, but also spiritual, and the need to create is embedded in us; it is our spiritual nature.  We give to others thru our creativity, we create to inspire, to please, to entertain, to love …

My spiritual path has been one of investigation and of finding the divine thru a non traditional approach.  In order to find true spirituality, I had to put aside everything that I have learned about it, and start fresh, with the intention of finding my true spiritual path.  It has not been easy, it still is not; I keep learning every day.

We all have a purpose, it is up to us to find it.  However, there is creativity on each one of us.  Divinely inspired I have learned that creation is like water, it gives life; it is the fountain of the spirit – the myrrh of the soul, the soul’s path to spiritual closeness.  It is contentment and happiness for our souls, and we can find it by being happy where we are, by listening, and be perceptive to our spiritual awareness.  When we feel happy where we are and we make happiness an internal issue, separate from outside circumstances, we are receptive to the divine and we fuel the creative forces within our soul.  This is how we give to others and we bless our surroundings with our soul’s creations.  By giving back we thank the Great Creator.

And how would a Creator see its creation?  How do we feel when we create something that we are so proud of?  In the eyes of God all his children are good, in the eyes of the man, the children are limited by the limits they establish themselves.  To God, there are no limits, and his children are precious – more precious than the treasures of the Universe.  When we give back through creation, we are acting thru the same love that made us.

Doing Things Lovingly

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Life has its ups and downs.  Many times we run through life at fast speeds in our effort to get things done.  After all, it is a society of doers, of achievers, and doing the opposite would attract some frowns and judging, right?  Doing is good, but sometimes, our doing becomes robotic, lifeless, dutiful, and boring.  We don’t enjoy the things we once did because they have turned into stale routine.  We go through life as “zombie doers” without realizing that the magic has left our hands, and our hearts wish for excitement in our endeavors.  However, maybe the magic is still there, and what happens is that we have stopped doing things lovingly.

Doing things with love and passion is in every one of us.  It is up to us to enjoy each moment and dedicate attention to the task at hand – no matter how menial it seems to be.  Washing dishes by hand can be transforming when you start feeling the soapy water, the fruity floral scent of the dishwashing liquid, and hear the squeaky sound of a clean dish.  Somehow, this menial task becomes alive, engaging all your senses.

This is what doing things lovingly means – to enjoy the task at the moment, or to pay full attention to it, to be mindful for the duration of it, and to be thankful that you can do.

One Day at a Time

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We all want to do our best – at home, at work, as friends, as mothers, as wives, as husbands … the desire is in our hearts.  However, many times we accused ourselves of falling short – of falling short to perfection.  We measure ourselves against ideals of perfection or super human-successful and charming role models that we create in our minds.  When we think we are falling short we become discouraged and sad, sometimes angry, at ourselves and the entire world.  What we don’t realize is that all we need to do is – to do our best one day at a time.

If we live by that motto, it would be hard to fall short of anything, we would be happier with ourselves, and with the world.  Knowing that we did your best today, yesterday, and will do your best tomorrow, takes off the pressure that we put on ourselves.

Every person is unique and everyone’s best will be different and unique to that person as well.  So don’t measure yourself to the “supermom’s best” or the ideal; instead, measure yourself to your own best. 

Mediocrity is the opposite to doing your best – it stops half way, and stalls.  Be your best _________ (fill the blank) one day at a time.

No Guilt, Just Happiness

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A smiley by Pumbaa, drawn using a text editor.

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Have you ever felt so happy that your heart overflows?  Have you ever felt guilty for feeling happy?  Sounds like a contradiction, but it happens.  Many times we don’t know how to accept the happiness in our lives and give thanks for it.  Sometimes, we think that it is temporary or that we might put a jinx to it if we enjoy it for long.  What is wrong with this picture?  Everything.

Many times we think of the old adage that said – “After much laughter, there comes the tears.”  I thought of this adage and how sick it is to think that happiness is something that we have to grab fast because it will disappear and be replaced by some sad moment and suffering. 

This adage is an example of the power of words in our feelings, and in entire cultures.  Words are passed from generation to generation.  They build stories, they become tools for educating entire families, cities, countries … civilizations.  They become sacred or heresy; they become anointed with the same feelings they have provoked in people.  But they are just words, and we choose to give life and meaning to them.

The truth is that there are happy moments and sad moments – and we should embrace both to grow as humans and spiritual beings.  Our Creator made us to enjoy our lives and be happy.  (This is a personal belief).  However, even when you do not believe in a Creator, a God, or whatever you choose to call it – him – her …. one thing remains true – It is silly not to enjoy a happy moment or a happy life.  It is silly to feel guilty about pure happiness, and moreover, to let a silly adage cloud a perfect day!

Be happy!

Slow Down

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Self made rainbow, made in home garden.

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Many times I find myself rushing thru the day, even when there is plenty of time.  I have found myself writing a mile a minute when I could simply slow down the keyboard speed and let my thoughts flow.  Why is this?  I used to be a “take my time, smell the roses” person.  Somehow, I ended up in a frantic speed that certainly does not make sense.  When I look at people around me as I run errands, I see myself, rushing, running – when there is plenty of time.  The other day, I slowed down a bit, I realized that I had missed a lot of colorful roses along the way, because I went by too fast to notice them.  One thing is for sure, as I slowed down, spirit started talking, inspiration began to flow, and life’s colors started to paint a beautiful picture. 

Slowing down might be one of the best things we do to tap into our inspiring source.  It makes you stop and look at things in a different speed, the eye shutter lets light in and suddenly colors appear fresh.  Today, I invite all you to slow down a bit, and take in the air, the picture, the beauty of life around you.   No matter what your circumstances might be, when you slow down, you are forced to see, to listen, to taste, to smell, and to use whatever senses you have.

Bookmarks Ideas

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Victorian, 1885

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Love to read?  Always out of bookmarks?  Hate to dog-ear pages?  Hate to use pieces of paper?  Are you fastidious about your bookmarks?

For an easy way to have tons of bookmarks available when you need them set up a space near your reading nook – the space could be a drawer, an envelope, any space that will be near your reading area.  Next, go thru your old birthday cards, christmas cards …  Select the ones that you love.  Cut the front and toss the rest.  Use the pretty side of the card as a bookmark.  Don’t forget to use this year holiday cards for that purpose.

Another idea is to save the ribbon from gifts and use it as a bookmark.  Other cool ideas are favorite pictures of your pets, the spines of old books, a deck of cards, tiny calendars, pretty vintage seed packets …

For an elegant homemade bookmark, buy old leather books at a flea market, take the spines and cut them out.  Insert a ribbon at the top and there you have it – a unique bookmark with an old flair.

Today’s Inspirational Picture

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It is October, the crisp air is making its presence and I become alive on this season – I love fall.  Today’s inspirational picture is a chubby spider.  After all, October makes me think of Halloween, and Halloween makes me think of spiders.  Spiders are considered good luck in some cultures.  So get inspired and good luck to all aspiring writers out there!

Sustainability – Reduce – Reuse – Repurpose – Recycle

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We are making a conscientious attempt to become greener and utilize the planet’s resources responsibly.  Each individual is responsible for doing his/her part as best he/she can to help save and preserve this beautiful planet.  Every little counts, from buying products in environmentally friendly packaging to growing some veggies in your backyard.  By reducing our daily waste we contribute a lot to being responsible Earth citizens and become an important part in sustainability efforts.  Reducing waste should be our primary goal, followed by reusing items as best as we can.  We can give a second life to objects, we can think twice before putting something in the trash in order to use it in a different way or alter it on another form and for another purpose.  This takes us to the issue of repurposing.  When we repurpose items we help the environment as well.  We reduce our waste and we give a second chance to items which would end up in a landfill somewhere.  when we want to dispose of items we should recycle them as well as we can, by following our city’s recycling programs and doing as best as we can to keep these things out of a landfill.

Many items such as plastic items, glass items will end up as new products, companies will save money in the manufacturing process, and the economy will benefit from it as well.  This is how we affect a cycle, we are an important part in every sense of our existence in this planet.

A great example to illustrate this method is buying eggs.  Depending on where you live, you can either:

  • get your own eggs by raising chickens,
  • buy your eggs from a farm, reducing packaging waste,
  • buy the eggs at a grocery store, but choosing eggs in a cardboard container instead of the Styrofoam containers,
  • reusing the cardboard container to grow seeds for your vegetables,
  • last, recycle the cardboard container in the garbage, as appropriate in your town.

By using our imagination, we can turn used items into something else.  We can be innovative in our everyday living by following this method – reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle.

Keeping Up with the Techies

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Micro-chip - integrated electronics

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Technology changes so fast that it amazes me.  I am conflicted at times by this issue.  Although it is fun to try new gadgets, it is hard to keep up with all that is going on in the technology area, especially in the world of electronics.  I do my best to keep up, at least to be informed.  It seems that as soon as one masters a gadget, another one appears, faster and better, with more applications and elements of awe.

This is the world that we live in, fast and techie, like it or not.  As writers, we can take advantage of these applications and technological advances or we can just get behind, and have less exposure and opportunities.  Eventually, the world keeps moving, readers evolve, genres do as well – even if it does not seem so obvious.  Embracing technology is opening doors; attempting to get up to speed on it, might be suicide for many, but at least we try.

Young writers are born with the speed and skills of a new generation of super techies, they are the future of writing, in tune with today’s readers, and at par with readers of the future.  Writing will evolve, at least in the mediums in which it is presented, as well as in the way stories are created, and future words come to be.  New technology creates new words … new worlds.

Inspirational Image for Today

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Here is an image to inspire you to write a story, a poem, or whatever you’d like.  Sometimes, looking at a picture is just what it takes.  The following is today’s inspirational picture and a short sample of poetry I just wrote while looking at it for this post.

Blue moon of silver made

shining thru the popcorn sky

take my heart and breath away

my desires bring to life.