random.on purpose.

Slow Down

I've been running  crazy and burning the candle at both ends and trying to get several weeks' worth of work done in several days, etc.  I've been in this pattern for close to two months now.  You may have noticed my absence here, if you still check back from time to time to see if I've posted anything.  How appropriate, then, that my daughter sent an email to me with the link to the following YouTube video.  I hope that you will slow down and sit for a minute to watch it.  It's a great reminder!

I hope your day is truly a gift and that you recognize it as such...  I'll be back soon, I promise!

The "Between" Times

As I was walking past my front door this morning I caught a glimpse of the sunrise in the window, so I stopped to gaze at it for a bit and appreciate the beauty of it.

As I watched the deep pinks pale into pastels as the light grew, it occurred to me that I loved the "just before" colors better:  just before daylight - just before dark, too.

My soul responds to the "between" times - between daylight and dark (whether daybreak or day's end), between calm and storm, between this task and that.

The respite from one thing and the anticipation of the next plays into this, certainly.  But I truly do appreciate these between times on their own merit.  Something to do with the stillness, no doubt.

"Be still" is a phrase that always stirs a profound response in my heart and soul.  It is in stillness that angels speak, that muses sing, that insights and inspiration come.  It is in stillness that hearts are filled and souls fed.  Amen and amen...

(Photo taken between daylight and dusk, October 2010)

Thank You

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

I decided to start off the new year with a challenge from Splitcoast Stampers. Sunday is the "Featured Stamper" challenge, and today we were CASEing cards by LunarLana. I chose her "Bunny Ride" card to CASE*. Here's my version:

Stamps:  Stampin'Up! Fun & Fast Notes, Close to My Heart You're Invited; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie; Accessories/tools: Bic MarkIt markers, Prismacolor colored pencil, Marvy Uchida postage stamp punch, Fiskars border punch

I thought it fitting to start off the New Year by saying "THANK YOU!" to any/all of you who stop by this sporadically-tended-to blog.  I truly do appreciate you!  Here's to a shiny New Year of infinite possibilities!  I can't/won't make any promises (since they seem to get broken as easily as they are made, as good as my intentions may be), but I have LOTS of fun ideas rolling around Odd Brain to try out and share with you - tutorials and freebies and giveaways, OH MY!!!  See you again SOON!

*Copy And Selectively Edit or Copy And Share Everything - your choice!

EXACTLY!!!

"You don't need a new plan for next year. You need a commitment."

~ from the ever-brilliant Seth Godin.  Read the rest HERE...

Ponder and Plan

As the holidays wind down every year, I take some time to ponder the year gone by and map out a semi, sort-of plan for the coming one.  "Ponder" is a great word.  I looked it up (Merriam-Webster) and it covers a lot of ground - all in the realm of thought:  "to weigh in the mind, appraise; to think about, reflect on; to think or consider especially quietly, soberly and deeply". 

"Search, ponder and pray" was the prescribed method of solving any problem or discovering any truth that I was taught in my childhood and youth, and it's still viable for me today.

Robert Fulghum (one of my favorite authors) actually has a Ponder Day, three or four days after the start of the new year.  Mine is nothing so official, and not on a particular day but, as I go about my work and during my quiet time, I ponder.  Some of the things I'm including in my ponderings this year:

• This post from Danielle LaPorte.  The first line of the last section is going to go up in my studio/workroom as a poster or something...
• This post and this post from Seth Godin
• 7 questions from Alexandra Franzen
• I love Tara Mohr's approach to mapping out the coming year by identifying your core nutrients

Some tools I've discovered that I think will be helpful:

• The Zig Ziglar goal planner.   I sent one to each of my children for Christmas, too.
• This concept from Elsie Larson - not technically a tool, but the concept is something I plan to incorporate as a tool, so it totally counts, right?
• Susannah Conway has made up a workbook to "unravel the year ahead"

There are other concepts and tools and all out there that I may or may not incorporate into my pondering and planning, but I've already started firming up a few ideas to make 2012 an EXCEPTIONAL year!

I keep hearing Abraham Lincoln in my head saying "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."  I'm making up my mind to be ecstatic!

Further bulletins as events warrant...

Never Shop on an Empty Stomach

...never go to bed angry, never put all your eggs in one basket, never make important decisions when you're in a not-great emotional state...

I've been in a bit of a funk this past couple of weeks and completely unable to nail down why.  I've been able to identify some contributing factors, but the big WHY remains elusive.  It was in this state of mind that I was re-reading some past blog posts (specifically the ones under the "Philosophical Musings" tag).  I noticed a recurring (disturbing, yet familiar) theme:  I keep saying what a breakthrough I've had on how to go about living my life and/or revamping my blog and/or just generally being a better person, then going right back to the same ol', same ol' - maybe with a tweak or two, but no major shifts...

I felt....ashamed? alarmed?  Can't identify exactly what emotion was bubbling up, but it wasn't good.  I felt like I should just pull the plug on the ol' blog and go hide in a hole or something.  I felt like I owe everyone who ever gave this blog even a passing glance an apology for being so wishy-washy and inconsistent.  I felt like a failure.

This morning I'm not really any happier (maybe even a bit more melancholy), but I realize that what I'm going through is probably a common experience for many others beside myself.  Nobody is really happy 100% of the time, are they?  Everyone faces challenges and setbacks and frustrations and disappointments and all the rest of the gamut that life throws at us.

It's been a rough year here in our corner of the world (okay - maybe the past couple of years),  with aging/dying parents, loved ones struggling with substance abuse issues, rocky financial situations, deaths of several of our friends - the list goes on, and is not unique to us, of course.

I made up my mind this morning that "keeping it real" was better than hiding in a hole.  That there may be value in laying out for the world to see that you can come through negative and struggle back to happy (I'm working on that now), and realize that, like Einstein said, "I haven't failed., I've just found 10,000 ways that didn't work".

I'm still finding the one way that does.  Or maybe there's more than one way.  Or maybe the way starts out working but, as we evolve, we need a new and improved way.  I'm hoping against hope that the latter is the true thing for me.  Maybe I just keep outgrowing what used to work, so I need to shed that and grow a new plan...

Anyway, I'm not trashing the blog, but I'm also not making promises on "new and improved" - I'll just send out a signal now and then on what I've found to be helpful...  Enjoy your day, and thanks for stopping by!

One More Thought on Futility

I live in an older home with double-hung windows.  In order to accomodate a window air-conditioning unit in my studio, it was necessary to raise the front (lower) window, which leaves a gap between the two windows.  Normally, there is a screen in place to keep bugs out but it had to be removed, obviously.

In order to seal the gap, I've put a strip across, taped in place, from the top edge of the front window to the glass of the one behind.  Bugs (moths, most especially) get between the two windows and can't figure out how to get out.  They invariably go up, hit the strip, flutter down just a bit, crawl back up, hit the strip, flutter down just a bit, crawl back up...you get the idea...

Freedom is as simple as going down, since that's where the exit is.  It must seem counterintuitive to them to do so but, judging by the growing collection on the lower window frame, release from this cycle of futility comes only with death.

Where are you killing yourself?  Maybe you should look around for another direction...

On Flogging Dead Horses

...banging your head against walls, and other equally futile acts:

Comes a time when you realize that your head hurts, or that the horse won't revive, and you must collect your scattered energies and move calmly on.

Joy on your journey...

It's All About the Attitude

Funny how we always learn the most in uncomfortable situations, isn't it?  Well, maybe it would be more accurate to say from uncomfortable situations than in them.  After we pass through whatever the event or circumstance might be, we usually have 20/20 hindsight from which to view and learn...

The past month - and, more especially, the past week - have taught me much.  I have had multiple paradigm shifts, and have now arrived at a place of relative peace and calm.  Along the way, I've had anger, frustration, despair, resentment, grief - you name it, it came a-callin'!

What I've now realized is that I was giving my power away.  NOBODY has the power to "make" me feel ANYTHING, unless I give that power to them.  I am the master of my emotions - I get to choose how/what I feel in any given situation!

I was choosing to come from a rational, logical, "this-is-the-way-the-world-should-work" place, which only led to frustration and anger, since I was dealing with circumstances that defy logic.  When I chose to shift to a stance that allowed for empathy, perhaps even pity, my emotional charges diffused and I could move into calm.

Will I still have many, many chances to test my theory and my resolve?  I'm quite sure the answer is yes.  Do I plan to circle back around to calm as quickly as possible?  Absolutely! 

Keep calm, and carry on...

Just Plain Chaos (not organized, or anything...!)

I know that my posting has been sporadic and completely all over the map of late, and it is no coincidence that this is fairly representative of "life as I know it" right now.  I have been terrible at answering email, leaving comments on my friends' blogs, posting to my own blog, participating in challenges and, in general, being present and involved in any kind of consistent manner.

This post is a heads-up that I will be completely off the radar in the next little while - possibly for several months.  I am in the process of starting a new business in addition to addressing the ever-growing needs of Greg's mother following the death of her husband (and she's almost 91 years old), and the regular "stuff" that makes up our lives over here...

Burning the candle at both ends and in the middle is not currently working very well, and I need a bit of time to get things dealt with and organized and to map out a "master plan".  I kinda sorta did that between the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, but didn't really know what/how I wanted to proceed, so I just did the usual fallback plan of "business as usual".  I think everyone involved has been cheated a bit, as a result.

I have some very solid building blocks for the new start, and some new directions to move in, and don't plan to start blogging again until I have the solid foundation squared away.  I may even start an entirely new blog to really get a fresh start.  If you would like to receive an email when I'm up and running again, please shoot me an email at: s_culotti@hotmail.com (this is not a link) and leave a quick note with your email address.

Thanks for bearing with me, and I hope to be back sooner than later!  Meanwhile, stay well and happy and all of that!  Love and light to you all ~ Sue