Love Is In The Air....

Not just today but everyday...Happy Valentines Day to all who visit.

For me Valentines Day isn't about chocolate, flowers or gifts of any kind...For me it's about the Love that I experience every day...not just on this one day of Red Roses and romantic verses...

You see my loves live in my heart every day...I've learned over many years that love doesn't come in a package, it comes in a hug or a warm fuzzy feeling and most often it comes with a lick on my face or paws at my feet...sitting under my desk...my constant companion is love.  It comes when my computer goes crazy and I'm not able to fix it.  I have my own in house techie who always "fixes" everything for me...Oh and my kids..they just fill me up...with Love.  Took awhile but we got there.

It came to me so strongly and clearly just a short time ago...validated you might say by little arms and a tiny little voice...I had the Noro virus and could not see my Grandchildren for almost 10 days...I missed my boys, especially my Liam who I have every week...I met him and his Mom for lunch the first day it was safe to be with them so that neither of them would get sick...Liam was sitting with his back to me when I walked into the restaurant, he did not know I was coming ,when he heard my voice and turned and saw me...oh my Gosh his face lit up like a Christmas tree..he got up on the chair and hugged me  so tight with those little arms and keep saying over and over again..."Nana,  Nana"...and he just held on...It was his first genuine expression of pure love,  given to me, so unexpected, in  that moment .We re-connected and I knew then that I was loved, really loved by this little boy.  I also knew that "he also got it". It was not Valentine's Day but it sure was a Red Letter Day in my book. Jaxson, well we know how much he loves us by the fact that he fought so hard to be here..and now he spreads joy in sharing his "raspberries and smiles".  Gotta love a boy who can make a good raspberry sound at just the right moment..and his smiles and giggles are so joyful.

Each day,  no matter how difficult or how beautiful, I am reminded that love is not ours to keep...to give love is to get love back...it doesn't just happen...it's work just like any other great gift or hard won accomplisment...time and effort and kind words...a small gesture, a hug, all of these simple gestures spread love...I'm convinced that Kindness and Goodness matter...Not just on Valentine's Day but every day..

So when you go out into the world and even in your own home...share the Love...it always comes back in ways you don't even know about yet..

For today...count your blessings and spread a little Red around...

~winter In New England~

So much snow...so much beauty...I'm finding more and more each day that passes...Today the beauty came in learning...so much fun...how can this be when just last week I was so disheartened by my limits.

Two weeks of waiting and Dr. appointments...enough...so when the beautiful, white, fluffy stuff was flying so was my mind...I decided to let the chips fall and try to set up a routine that was within my limits but also within my sphere of joy..

Today I'm sharing the results..I took to the woods, in my car...so not a lot of walking.  That will have to wait but there is a big wide window in hubby's truck so off I went...there is nothing more restorative for the heart and soul than the beating pulse of nature...birds, trees full of white sparkles and berries,  red berries that just florish instead of dying...

Then to come home and FOCUS...on my lesson...I am so excited that I got through this one mostly on my own...not to say it didn't take me awhile but I did it...I have my own custom made template in light room and I know I can do more...and my image landed on my desk top,  just where it is suppose to be, did take two tries to get it there but hey two tries is progress for me..

Last but not least it is Monday and I'm am posting...Focusing...on my days of creativeness...Monday's and Thursdays...all is well..

I hope this week brings you many small moments of joy...moments when, at the end of the day you can check off something on your Happiness Journal...in the meantime...enjoy the weather...Crazy New England...now it's raining but that's o.k...I'm loving the tap, tap on my sky-light window, right above my desk...

"The Wisdom of Nature speaks to us Heart to Heart.  And Nature's first language is....BEAUTY." Tim McNulty

Beyond Beyond and Beyond Me

Well so much for my word of FOCUS...oh it's not that I haven't been focusing,  I have,  but not on my blog..I so wanted to be up to speed, doing some more work on this blog and posting several times a week...not yet, because of what came before  Beyond Beyond even started.

So this post is a short post just to mentally say to myself...all is not lost,  you will get there.  Also a post to come to terms with Beyond Beyond and Beyond Me. 

My new class this year with Kim Klassen is Beyond Beyond...what a great title because last year I was in her Beyond Layers class and we've moved Beyond Layers so we are now 2B...Beyond Beyond. I have managed to keep up so far.. the problem is as I look at the title...I see two meanings there, both of which apply to my present circumstances...Beyond Beyond...I so want to focus on those lessons Kim is teaching but the Beyond Beyond takes on a new meaning for me which makes me think deeper than computer lessons, it takes me to..

Beyond Me...right now I am in a place that doesn't allow me the time and energy somedays to sit and Focus on my blog and all the creative dreams that I had planned to accomplish...how does this happen,  that on a dime our lives can change in such a way that time and energy are Beyond us...we become victums of our circumstances...That is the Beyond Me part...Oh I'm still learning lessons but they are not the lessons that I had set up for myself...these are life lessons that I would not have chosen if anyone ASKED ME what I wanted to learn.

But learn we do and cope we do because we have no choice...One lesson I've learned is that each of us,  when faced with a life challenge,  becomes more capable than we ever thought possible...all those times I said "I can't do that" or I wouldn't do that",  fly out the window in the face of survival...we do what needs to be done, not always with a smile on our face but with a determination that I will survive this and move on...I've also learned to use my time wisely in many ways...no more just fooling around..on a good day, do as much as you can of what you were hoping to FOCUS on, so that when a bad day hits...you sit on the couch,  pick up that great book that you are now back into and read...Oh how I've enjoyed the reading...

Bottom line...I'm working on getting better...but in the meantime...I'm learning that some things are Beyond Me. Athough that's a "bummer"...it does not define my life or mean that my life is out of my control completely...what it means is, I have two very good reasons to Focus now and both my dreams of being creative and my health are attainable as long as I continue to move forward within my physical limitations and keep my mental capabilites alive and well.

Life doesn't  always play out the way we plan...but as long as we roll with the punches, trust in a brighter future and know that "this to shall pass",  we can move Beyond today trusting that our tomorrows will bring small moments of joy even amongst the challenges...Time is precious...use it wisely,  it truly is a gift.

I'm still Focused,  I've just changed my view...

"Your body hears everything your mind says"   Naomi Judd

"I have the body of an 18 year old...I keep it in the fridge". Spike Milligan