Your Trick Bag

Old leather or new; bound up and all of the goodies rolling around in it, clinking around as you move through life. The 'stuff' of some of it touches other parts and exchanges power and energy. Others aren't as giving, and wait for you to reach in your hand to pull them out, unchanged. They will release upon your verbal command, or in the way you apply their power. Some elements are deadly, but sometimes, the solution to "life's problems" is The End.

We look and observe these limited bodies and wrongly perceive that we are as limited. But a story told before it came to pass, is that God is plentiful and stores his best in "jars of clay." He places in skin and bones, what cannot be named, will not stay confined. And when it is time, he not only reclaims it, he makes it special and unique and it more than it was when it rattled around in these old skin bags!

We are more! Far more than the skin portrays. But in placing the divine in flesh, Flesh is more than we would be. We are made in God's image and placed in bodies, on the ground, next to one another. We are permitted to love and hate, to cherish and destroy. And in living this life, we experience, both light and dark; the two cross lines and exchange energies in ways that defy our short-sighted cultural biases.

My friend: Look up and Live!

Thought for The Day - Tightrope Walking

I'm no Wallenda, I'm just trying to get through this thing called life! From the "four spiritual laws", the "four agreements", "seven habits of highly effective people" and "fifty ways to leave your lover", there is no room for just being! Seriously, I just want to be! Between regret ("I should have said, did or been there!") and longing ("I want to say, do or be there!") there is narrow chasm, a string, strung from birth and into the dark of the future. It's not morbid, in this second; I'm simply living my life in this moment. And in this moment, I am.

I remember playing as a child, sitting somewhere with my toys, creating an imaginary world in my head and acting it out with my cars and such. Children have that liberty; they can combine their inner world with the materials of the physical realm. But....oh yeah, there is always that interruption of  the joys of innocence! "Don't run too fast, don't run in the house, don't play with that little boy, he's bad, don't touch the stove it's hot..." on and on, boundaries are established, dug in, built up, etc. A child learns to "play safely" and then not at all. Imagination becomes the stuff of the few children who learned to channel their creativity against the blocks society manufactures. Musicians become performers, dancers become ballerinas and writers become authors.

Seriously, just BE. We can't eliminate our past and in truth, we are always looking for, if not "more" something else. But BE. Appreciate this moment, and if it is a moment of pain and not calm or joy, strive to get to a peaceful place.

Thought for The Day - Where Does It All Lead?

The planning, the dreaming, the effort and the failures...where does it all lead? The times you couldn't wait to get to the next step up, in your career, your relationship, to see the kids grow up and move out; where does it leave you? When you moved from this "hick town" to the big city or from the hustle and bustle of the big city to a town where everyone knows everyone, now what?

We are always reaching, grasping, trying to be there, rather than here; to make it big and to be rich. For what? What are we gaining that we didn't have before? And what are we losing that made us who we are? We read the latest self-help book, the Bible or other sacred texts and yet we remain petty and greedy. To what end?

There are moments when you stop and wonder what's it all for? And what am I gaining through all this effort? I'm merely asking questions today, wondering if this is where you find yourself as well. It's a moment of hypercritical reflection; a moment where I wonder if my life means much more than my next exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen.

What about you? You ever feel this way?

Thought for The Day - I Blinked

I'm listening 24 x 36 Oils

I could drown in it, most days; the deluge of thoughts, ideas, images, visions, community supports and business ideas. Of course, nothing is of value until you act on it and in that respect, the flood becomes a trickle. But if you're reading this, believe me, that trickle is a growing stream, gaining speed nearly every day. Every weekend, I have plans of working "no matter what." I have a list of things I want to accomplish and tasks I want to start. Some get started, others are replaced by the "normal human things." Laundry, errands, cleaning etc are the normal things. You can't imagine the frustration of having all of this creative energy in you and not having the time or space to allow it to flow. It can get "backed up" and please believe, I KNOW the damage it can wreak on the psyche!

"If you're reading this.." if you are reading this, and have been reading my blogs for only a minute, you know I write a blog a day. I would and could write several throughout the day if time permitted, and still write test cases, talk to coworkers about health, exercise, cars and requirements! I journal sometimes as if my life depended on it; sometimes, I'm certain my sanity requires I do!

But I blinked...meaning for the sake of self-preservation, I have often said: "wait, wait, WAIT!!! I can't do anything with all of this!!!" There is a sense of being overwhelmed, feeling anxiety about the enormity of the task and the limited time available. And I pause to allow reality to gain balance (control) again. Even as I write in this moment, there is that sense of realization; something won't get written, a concept may remain untapped. And yet, for the time being I have to pause, I have to "blink," to allow me to consider the:

• Allotted time available
• Three works crowded on and around my easel - can I give them the right amount of time and energy
• The list of tasks to be completed in the house, my parents and at work
• I'm so exhausted I could try to sleep 12 hours - but rarely get 6
• Possibility that this does not make sense to you, the reader

It doesn't matter if I blink or not, the flow continues and quite honestly...I wouldn't have it any other way! Lord, I thank you for the gifts and the opportunity to express them to "those who will!"

Thought for The Day - Five More Minutes, Please?

Clutching the sheets and comforter, the sun, a distant light and also hidden behind its covers, I hold out for a few more minutes as the alarm goes off.

At the easel, brush loaded with orange and pressed against the canvas, a thought comes to mind: "I've got to pick up the clothes from the cleaners before they close!" And though I'm in the middle of important work, another, more pressing task interrupts it.

Listening to my adult daughter as she stomps across the floor above me, heels on as she prepares to jet off to home, I wish 21 years hadn't gone by so fast!

And we are always chasing after, too far behind, TIME!