Hmmmmm....

I just have to start with this ~ I took this photo,

and while it is a little out of focus,

I just LOVE it - and it is straight off my iPhone -

no instagram or any other app -

that is the colour of the sky the day I took it!

I've been in a bit of a blog fog lately...which is why I've probably relied so much on photos in my last few posts.

There is so much going on in my head and so much I want to write about that I'm not sure where to start, and how to make sense of it all....

Then I remembered Van Gogh's words:

"If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint"...

then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced"

Wise words.

So - here I am! Maybe I'll start with some photos that I've taken recently... I'm using photography as my creative outlet at the moment ( we've all gotta have one, right???) - Plus these images just make me smile - even if they're not techinically perfect! 

As I've mentioned several times before here , here and here ...music impacts my life in a big way. Here's what's been helping me lately. We sing this at Church and I just love it.

Power Of Your Love

Sometimes I feel like I need more of a guiding hand - then I realise that it's there, I'm just not using it! I get too side-tracked sweating the small stuff...

I'm trying very hard to pull myself out of the funk that I'm in at the moment - but sometimes the magnitude of things overwhelms me and I succumb to old ways.... silly, I know.... but in the words of good old Neil Diamond

"...everyone's got rainy days

it isn't so much if, but when"

The sun has been shinig beautifully today and spring is definitely on it's way - the flowers are blooming, the weather is warming up and the kids are loving playing outside again ! So I've focused on that today!

Talk again soon - I'm writing about "Truths" too at the moment - it's pretty confronting - and I think that's where my "block" is....

Love

Danni xx

A little Van Gogh Inspiration again

 

       " There may be a time in life when one is tired of everything, and feels

as if all one does is wrong, and there may be some truth in it -

do you think this is a feeling one must try to forget and banish,

or is it "the longing for God", which one must not fear,

but cherish to see if it may bring us some good?

Is it "the longing for God" which leads us to make a choice which

we never regret?

Let us keep courage and try to be patient and gentle."

Danni xx

There's a hole in my bucket...

Part of why I started this Blog in the first place... (besides being so completely inspired by Meredith at Count It All Joy was because I was feeling a little "blah" and negative. So I thought that maybe by putting my thoughts "out there" and by making a conscious effort to be more positive and to try to see the good/happy/colourful/positive things in my life and concentrate on those as opposed to dwelling on the negatives that it would help.

And it definitely has.

But I also think I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to constantly be "up" and positive about EVERYTHING - at least on a surface level and how I presented myself to the outside world.

Truth is, I took this so much to an extreme ( a tendency of mine) that it actually became a bit of a facade. Not in the kind of "fake it til you make it" way - which was my intention... but more of a " no, you're not allowed to have a down day... you can't feel like that .... you have nothing to be sad about... you just can NOT feel blah anymore in any way about any thing..."

I realise that this put added pressure on me. Correction - I put added pressure on me.

I'm only human, right?

While of course I was actually seeing the Colour in my world and being thankful for all the blessings in my life... I too felt that my bucket was near empty.

 I remember years ago our wonderful [now retired] family GP told me that it was a wonderful thing that I gave so much to others and that I cared blah blah.... but that if I was constantly watering others from my bucket... and mine wasn't getting replenished in the way that it needed to be... then my bucket was going to run dry! It was one of those "ah-hah" moments for me. Might sound simple and logical but at the time it was the only thing that struck a chord.. .and I set about filling that bucket up again... or finding the way to let others do that too

I realised the other day that the red light was flashing on my bucket gauge and I needed to do something about it. I needed to acknowledge that I have needs to ( they are actually quite simple I think) and to take responsibility regarding them.

I had a conversation with a family member that perhaps put things into perspective for me. I think I've said it before that it's funny how it takes someone else to reinforce what you already know yourself. I was on a little bit of a "poor me" rant and she gently reminded me of a few home truths. Not nasty ones, but ones that made me realise that I'm feeling sorry for myself about the things that actually make me who I am and that make me the happiest.

I remembered also, the words from a couple of addresses at Church over that last few weeks about : Truths ~Your own truths and what they mean to you and Healing ~ That I can still help and heal others (pain) and remain doing what I love but must remember to draw strength from other places so as not to "sap" my energy and take on board others issues. That's where I was going wrong...

Maybe my bucket wasn't nearly empty... I think there was just a hole... but I fixed it Dear Reader, Dear reader.... fixed it!

 

Danni xx

One of my favourite things ....

Don't you just LOVE to have a steaming hot long shower on a cold windy night after standing ironing for 4+hours??? Please note : yes I said long! No interruptions, no keeping an ear out for sibling domestics, no cleaning the shower while in it... Just a long hot shower to wind down the day...


Next best thing is climbing into a freshly made warm bed in comfy, snuggly pjs to read and regroup before drifting off to sleep... Ahhhhh

BTW ~  I had lost my blogging mojo for a bit - but be warned - I'm back with a vengeance! Things have settled down a little here and there isn't quite as much chaos as there  previously was ... so am not as exhausted and brain fried at the end of the day... and lots of ideas, thoughts and photos to share with you. See you soon

Lotsa Lots

Danni xx

Forgiveness

I saw the Oprah show the other day where she interviewed a set of twins that had both been sexually abused by memberS of their family ( yes I meant the capital S ) During the course of the interview - the topic of forgiveness arises.. naturally I guess, given the nature of the show and the topic.


Oprah quoted her favourite definition of Forgiveness:


      "Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past can be changed"


I think forgiveness is such a hard thing to do - for the majority of us - maybe because it's also a hard thing to define. I admit - initially when I heard the above quote - I thought it was fabulous and was like "yes, that's it - that's really it - so simple yet, yes! That's it!" ( okay - I can get a little excited about these things sometimes)

However, I have since had time to ponder this a little more - and I really don't think it can be that simple, can it? Or can it? I guess by choosing to forgive, you are choosing to live in the present and  future, rather than in the past. You don't have to forget, but you can release and move forward. It is a conscious decision. The pain and hurt can still be there - it  may just take more time - but the process could be helped along with forgiveness, perhaps?

I think I've come to the conclusion that  forgiveness shouldn't deny responsibility for behaviour. Rather, I think that it means that it's a conscious commitment to not hold the other person in debt for that behaviour. This includes ourselves.

As we know better, we do better. I'm striving to know better....

Danni xx

You know....

.. how things just seem to come along when you need them... like a song on the radio that makes you smile from a distant memory just when you're feeling a bit blue...or you just happen to find exactly what you were looking for .. in the most unusual place?? That kind of thing? Are you with me?? {Well as an aside .. I don't believe these things are coincidences.. but that's a whole other post ( stay tuned) }

But....

What I wanted to share was that I had one of those moments this morning! Things here are a little... let's say "strained" at the moment ( just cause of the renovations)

 and I wasn't a very nice person to The Big Cheese last night...

actually, we weren't very nice to each other, but I was out of line.

 We even went to bed on a sour note - not something we make a habit of doing.

I was wondering this morning how to address it when I came across this

from Louise L. Hay:

"Share your good with others. Kindness, love, and appreciation are the greatest gifts you can give."

Just what I needed to put things back in perspective at just the right time. Coincidence?  

And then I saw this:

Maybe I should start to  smile more?!?

Have a wonderful Peace-full day

Danni xx

Thought for the day....

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that" - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tolerance....

I have been thinking a bit about tolerance and intolerance lately.

I have witnessed a few situations that caused me to think about it and to wonder why people think/act/react in ways that they do. For the majority there is usually a larger underlying issue, I understand that. What I don't understand is why people believe that THEIR thoughts/beliefs/practices ( or lack thereof) are better than anyone else's? It's the holier than thou attitude that I find hard to accept and understand.

People expect respect for their beliefs but more often than not - the more vocal ones are the ones with the least respect for others.. how does that work? I struggle to understand the logic behind this. My understanding is that respect is a mutual thing - a two way street. Maybe I am too idealistic and naive.

I struggle to understand a lot of things


But this concerns me.


The human races' lack of tolerance and respect for each other saddens and  concerns me .

A lot

I was never a huge fan of Michael Jackson, however I can't get this song out of my head as I think of these things at the moment:  Heal the world

Not much more to say today really - other than I wish there was more tolerance in the world - at all levels - then this world might be healed a little and be an even better place for us all

I'll close my eyes, make a wish, and blow.....

Danni xx