THE (RE)NEW(ED) ME

 

      I'm growing old. I don't mind that because I like sticking around on Planet Earth now that I have a bit of a clue at last as to what my life is all about. The physical aspects of aging are awkward to deal with at times, but I have a deep sense of humor, so I get by with a chuckle. I was bothered, though, about a couple of simple things. My hair is thinner and my eyelashes, being hair, are not as thick as they used to be.

    I have a THING about being real. Being honest with self and others is extremely important to me. I also, though, have a thing about being happy. I was not as happy as I used to be when I looked in the mirror. I decided to do something about that. The picture above is me. I purchased the hair and the eyelashes, so I can say they are mine. I simply didn't grow them on my own. I'm happier once again when I look in the mirror.

    Having now adjusted to the thought of wearing a wig, I am enjoying the freedom of knowing, for $20 or less, I can change my hairstyle and color any time I want! I have two wigs on order right now.

    The only facelift I will get will come from grinning often. I love to laugh. The older I grow, the more I laugh. I've always been a believer in happy endings. 

THE BIRTH OF ALEX

 

Alex rarely ever hopped. He preferred to walk on his hind legs and saunter down the road---much like a bow-legged cowboy. He tried to get his friends to call him Tex, but it didn't work. Alex lived in New Jersey. There's not a large demand for cowboys in New Jersey, although there are a fair amount of cows. Those cows, though, were raised on dairy farms and were perfectly content to graze most of the day and head to the barn to be milked at night. They did so pretty much on their own with an occasional urging from the farm work dogs, but they ran on all fours and Alex preferred to saunter.

If the truth was known, Alex was actually afraid of horses. They stood really tall and Alex couldn't figure out how he would mount a horse and was sure he would fall off once the horse moved even if he did manage to get into the saddle.

There just wasn't a large demand in New Jersey for grandiose cowboy rabbits who liked to saunter, but Alex preferred to think of himself as a rare breed. A cut above the rest. A loner. One of a kind. Tex the wrangler rabbit.

I considered starting a new blog, but decided to recycle by simply bringing up one of my original blogs and adding to it.  This is a rough draft for the idea of a rabbit named Alex who came about through an exercise I did at Sketchbook Revival on Facebook. 

Alex came from the blob at the top of the row on the right.

 

       

I think of this as Alex's Ultrasound.

I don't know how far I will carry this, but I thought it would be fun to let you into the process of how an idea is born and comes into reality.    

::::Gone to gather some cows and a horse::::

A while later:

RICH MAN POOR MAN

RICH MAN, POOR MAN, BEGGAR MAN, THIEF

DOCTOR, LAWYER, INDIAN CHIEF

I spend a lot of time thinking about the stages of life and the differences between classes of people, races, and cultures.  I don't really fit anywhere. I'm of two races and four nationalities. All of my friends are middle class, but according to economics I am extremely poor. I have no college background. I've been unemployed more often than not. I own all I own. I live within my income and have no debts.

I believe I have a much better education than many of the people I meet. I chose my own rather than follow some school's formula...just as I prefer to bake from scratch rather than to buy and use a mix. I made good choices.

The rough spots in my life came from relating to other people. I'm much better at that now. When people begin to act controlling, I back off and head in another direction. My first loyalty is to my own sense of joy and well being. Now that I have that settled, the rest of my life is assured to be full of intelligent playfulness.

 

BETWEEN HERE AND THERE

Boy is my home neat! That's what happens when I spend too much time here. Even my "clutter" is organized and neatly piled. This place looks really settled now. I love it. I tried to picture where I am at in my life and saw a picture of a train on a turn table. OK. That's a pretty good picture. I'm not actually going anywhere right now, but I am willing to go whatever way God wants. This is one of those times I am simply living by rote...which is what good habits allow room for. I just put one foot in front of the other and do little things each day to keep life manageable. I prefer the time when I am creative, but I don't put maintenance in last place. Without it there would be no order in my life. It's just dull; that's all...so right now I imagine I am rather dull.
"How are you today?"
"Dull, thank you. And you?"
Have you ever noticed that bored people are boring to relate to? So it follows that I will be dull for a bit until I get into something creative once again.
What's nice about all of this is that for me to be bored is a luxury. I used to have knots to untie and tons to sort through. Now that's done. I'm in a "Huh?" place. There is no instruction manual with this life we give ourselves. I have spent many years sorting out what I didn't want and saying no to that. I found things I liked to do and have done them. Now my life appears to be in a wash, rinse, repeat mode. I'll practice that for a while, but I KNOW I will have to find something to learn or create. It's in my genes. (Thank you, Dad!) Waiting, though, is also a strong point of mine. (Thank you, Mom!)
It's a special joy to report that I am in a place that allows me to look at my past and pick out all of the pretty things to cherish. The other stuff? That's what forgiveness is for.

I ENJOY BEING A SQUIRREL

Squirrel gathers for the future

And lets go easily of excess

http://scottfoglesong.printandwebdesign.com/26-squirrel.pdf

I began using a squirrel icon several years ago. I joined a photography site and found a picture online of a squirrel holding a camera. 

 I love to do several things at once, flitting from one to the next and back...completing all around the same time (I love circles!). I remind myself of a squirrel running around a tree. I may appear erratic, but I get a lot done. I have a well-stocked pantry. I stock up on supplies for all of my artistic endeavors when I see things on sale. For example: I used rubber cement for my collages. Cans that usually sell for $8.00 went on a close out sale for $1.00. I bought a dozen cans. 

Since I saved $84 off the regular price of the rubber cement, I can afford to be generous with others and give away some of what I bought to those who might need it. I shop that way for anything that I consider a staple, the same way a squirrel gathers nuts while the weather is mild. When we make good use of what we have and think ahead to needs in the future, we are better able to provide for others from our excess.

'Get the picture?   

Freely you received, freely give.   Matthew 10:8

So---when I was it I ceased writing a blog post daily? I have a number of blogs online, but rarely add to them now. Returning to this, the original blog, seem appropriate, since life tends to come full cycle.


I still keep a hand written journal daily, but as a way of sorting myself and freeing myself of negativity. It's not necessarily a record of my day or anything I think another would find valuable to read.
I still write poetry very regularly, but again, with a pen in a notebook, and not while seated at a keyboard. 


A lot has changed in the last two years! I used to write lengthy email daily to a man friend and a woman friend.  Now I write 140 character statements on Twitter. 


I read today in The Writer's Almanac that Astronomer Edwin Hubble announced that there were other galaxies beside the Milky Way in 1924.  I mention that because less than 90 years ago mankind thought our galaxy was the only one. When I was a girl in school I was taught that Columbus thought the world was flat until 1492.  According to this site http://www.strangequestions.com/question/250/Who-first-discovered-that-the-world-is-round.html  that is not true at all, yet there were some in the 15th century who did think the world was flat. I just realized this week that nativity scenes are not accurate, since the three wise men did not find Christ when he was in the manger, but rather later when he was a toddler.


Change.  Correction of errors. An ever opening mind. Different perspectives. My sense of Reality is much different now than it was when I first starting keeping a blog. 


I remember life before television. Now I carry a netbook in my purse. I remember how excited I was when I was in junior high school and my mother purchased a portable typewriter. Now little children are raised to learn to use a keyboard before they attend public school. 


I speak often of God. Reality is one of the names I use for God. 34 years ago I asked God to reveal Himself to me. My sense of Reality continues to expand as I age. God doesn't change.  Hopefully, I do!

Amazing Grace