It’s that time again for TTOT, a time to reflect on the many things to be thankful for and to celebrate moments in our lives.
The world as we have known it has changed. There’s a pandemic happening and we citizens have been through many changes in a short period of time. Mother used to say things happen a reason, so naturally I am wondering about the reason. Some things are clear and I will have to accept the unknown isn’t meant for me to know, at least at this point. The expression: “You don’t even want to know,” may be appropriate at this moment in time.
I created the header picture a long time ago when trying to put together an article about stress management. Well, could we use some of that? I am thinking it is a “yes.”
I have a lamb who makes me think of peace, it’s actually a dog toy, but I like it and it’s on my book shelf, snuggles up next to my Wonder Bunny. The pillow is one my daughter made at a church camp many years ago, and it is also on my book shelf. I can see them from where I do most of my writing. The bubble bath is self-explanatory for relaxing. The candle goes right along with that. The Sleep lotion has lovely scents and relaxing properties and the quartz sits on my nightstand to stabilize the energy forces. All leading to relaxation and better sleep, which is something I must work at hard. And I would say my first thankful will be that my sleep has been better lately, so yay for that! I wake up kind of early, but I go to bed early so it’s a win. Sometimes I will wake up in the night, but my going back to sleep is better.
Second would be this lovely memory. There are my mother’s siblings. They all came out to Illinois where we lived to see my mother as she was getting close to her time to cross over. It was actually March 25 in the year it happened. Just this week, her last sibling, Uncle Joe, joined her and the rest for a Heavenly reunion. Aunt Dorothy and her husband came from California to spend time with mom and the brother all got in the car and drove from Louisville Kentucky. It was quite the gathering. And as much as they all liked to cut up and tell corny jokes, they all were most somber when they came to see mom. They all loved each other so much, a very close knit family. I am grateful they all came out and that there is no more suffering for any of them.
The Hall siblings:
Randall, Johnny, Dorothy (Gunnett), Joe, Warren, Ralph
Thelma Hall Tomey – Mother
Third is the fun I have been having with my daughter as we have been doing the Sketchbook challenge. In a little while, I will be joining her for the next session. It’s nice to have her here and we are having such fun.
Here are some of the pictures I made from the event. She doesn’t want her shared, just yet.
This was food art created by drawing with ink the basic picture and then watercoloring the subject matter. We were asked to draw what we had for breakfast and this is what I did. Charlie O’Shields – Having Fun While Sketching Food! was the video.
This was a class on a combination of freestyling, relaxing and creating collage.
Mary Beth Shaw – Doodle Sketch was the title and she guided us on having fun.
This is my Quirky Bird watercolor from Tamara Laporte – Embracing YOU, Quirks And All! It was a blast!
Fourth I am thankful that I have art supplies to be able to do these things.
Fifth I did a presentation about Poetry on Wednesday night for the Triangle Association of Freelancers and it went well.
Sixth Scored Toilet Paper today at Target! And a canister of disinfectant wipes. We were not desperate but it would be coming real soon.
Seventh Zoom Rooms and figuring out how to use them. I had a lesson on them and am working on getting more proficient as the virtual world is becoming more of a reality. Nice thing is that with these I was able to meet with people online.
Eighth First Responders who put it out there to help others be healthy and safe.
Ninth People who wear scrubs. I brought out my old acrostic for their dedication. You can read it here: Scrubs
Tenth is the place setting for YOU! What’s you thankful today?
You can enter it here!
Day 1 – We focused on what prayerful intentions we might have and write them and then the blocks, which are represented by the triangles in mine. Many people used squares, but there are no rules. And you frame the blocks to create barriers. Each star on mine represents a prayer I made for individual concerns and general concerns, so chances are you were prayed about, as well. The lines or swirls are trip ups that could create barriers but that I trust I can overcome and even make them a part of the beauty.
Day 2 we spent working on overcoming imperfection. So many times there is that voice which says we are not good enough if we are not perfect. We created an intentional ugly page and then tore that into strips and placed on a page where you picked colors which make you happy or relaxed. So I used the purple and then created this tree or plant, whichever from my ugly piece. The bird, flower and lemon sun were just things I had on hand to add. So, basically I turned what one would call ugly into a work of art. It’s funny and fun!
Day 3 We focused on what brings energy and made a picture representing this. I chose fire and that is symbolic with the lady figure in the center. On one side was the stuff which gets in the way of energy and the other side what helps. Then I took the blue pluses to represent positive and the red to represent love. The wing like flames were to shield from the negative and I mentally merged the two sides to overcome negative with the blues and reds.
Day 4 We focused on the critic. The left side we wrote criticisms and drew a picture of a critic. On the right side you drew a picture of a representation of yourself. I decided on a vibrant look of happy. Then you wrote positives on the right side. After you painted over both sides, you wrote whatever you wanted to turn this into a piece of awareness.
Photo by Amy Reed on Unsplash
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