And so it sits...

I'm stuck.

I just erased about 45 minutes of writing because I annoyed myself with my whining.

I'm stuck.

I want to regroup yet can't seem to dig my way out of the day-to-day mire.

I must affirm differently... fake it 'til I make it, right???

I am free.

I let go of any and all things that weigh me down

I am free.

I affirm lightness of being.

I am free.

I affirm freedom.

And so it continues...

I have been working on this little bits at a time.  I still can't seem to find the motivation but I am finding new areas of focus.  Such as, "180."

180 - the opposite of where I am now.
180 - the weight I am affirming
180 - the amount I would like to win in the lottery so I can pay off all of my student loans.

The infinity symbol represents time - that what comes to me is not within my control but in the timing of the Divine.

And so it continues... little bits at a time.

And so it begins...

As with most decisions to make changes, it seems that everything conspires to prevent be from starting.  Since posting my intention to begin a new affirmation project I've been set back by financial stress, strained relationship issues, exhaustion, disappointment, shock and heartbreak at the world in general.  Yet today I realized something.  I realized that I have grown very weary of bad news.  I can't take anymore.  It brought this project back into focus.  I have to do this.  I have to restart focusing on the positive.  I have to let go - or may it's just let it be - of my finances and trust that the universe wants me to thrive and prosper and meet all of my obligations with ease.  Maybe the universe wants me to stop looking at obligations as a negative but as its own affirmation that I have accomplished a lot in this life and this is the rent I owe for all of my blessings.  I have to trust that the Universe wants all that is good and loving and prosperous for both of my children - that Grace will get her house and Caleb will find his path in their own time, in their own ways.  And so it begins.  It took a lot of courage on my part to put pencil to a large blank piece of paper but there it is...no longer blank.  Longing to be filled with mindfulness and prayerful affirmation.  Space is created and both it and I are open and ready to receive.  Only absolute good.  Only positive abundance.  Open.  Ready.

Affirming...

I guess I'm using this as my to do list for now.  It's time for a new Zentangle affirmation project.  It's time for some self-care.  I have let it go for far too long and I have lost sight of my path I started several years ago.  So here is me whacking through some weeds to uncover that path again.

This is a project I started in 2012 and completed in 2013.  By June 2014, I had realized all of the affirmations represented by the various tangles and quotes (which eventually filled the blank spaces). So here I am again.  It's 2016 and I have been treading water.  Exhaustion, financial stress, weight gain, uncertainty... I have to make some positive changes.  So here we go:

• Obligations - I am able to meet all of my obligations with grace and ease.  I have enough of every resource to make this happen.

This isn't just about bills and having money although that is extremely important to me.  My obligations include being Emma to two precious boys and energy is a resource that has become depleted lately.  I remember when my kids were little and I had very little energy to go outside and play.  I always wanted to be different.  I grew up playing outside but it was solitary, fairly sedentary play.  I was alone a lot.  I want to be that energetic grandma who takes the kids to the park and plays tag.  Likewise  I have obligations as an employee, a wife, a mother, a friend - all of which require energy and a willingness to step outside of myself and engage.  Therefore, I am affirming that I have all of the resources - whether it's energy or money or time or desire - to meet all of my obligations with ease.

• Abundance - I find new sources of abundance around every corner.  I embrace them with excitement and expectation.  I see only opportunity. I am open and ready to receive.

Again, this is not necessarily about money...ok.  yes it is.  I am open to new sources of income.  My money increases exponentially.  Hey...I have those obligations to meet! Alright, it's also about recognizing, receiving, and accepting that I already have an abundance of everything I need at my fingertips - it's about embracing all I have and letting go of that feeling of lack.  I lack nothing I need.  I have everything I want.  My life is rich in ways immeasurable.

This affirmation also involves allowing new adventures blossom abundantly.  I have been contemplating - I have been drawn to - engaging in a private practice for several years.  I enjoy direct service with folks who have experienced trauma in their lives and helping them discover their own path of healing and wholeness.  There have been events of late that have affirmed that it's time to jump in.  My to do list is growing and I have an abundance of time, money, energy, and resources to accomplish this task.  Research has started. I am made abundantly aware of those who have already pursued a similar path successfully and I have access to them.

• Wellness - I am in love with me.  I love my body and I respect every aspect of it.  All is working as it should and how it is designed to function.  I have an abundance of energy at my disposal at all times.  I rest completely and peacefully.  My body is the exact size to support my well-being.

The biggest struggle of my life.  I am a beautiful work in progress and I am letting the scales be ad focusing on just loving all of me the way I am put together.  It's amazing to me how interconnected everything I want to affirm is - how synchronous it is.  Just after I started working on this post yesterday a sweet young friend posted a before/after pic of herself.  The before was from 7 years ago when she was at her heaviest.  The after is a recent picture showing her slimmed down self.  The thing is what she said was how she viewed both pics as beautiful for they both represented the beginning of her decision to let go of harsh self-judgment for life-affirming self-acceptance.  She began loving herself.  Over the next 7 years she began to make different, healthier choices and the result is obvious.  The things we learn from friends half our age.  Of course, I know all of this.  I've known and attempted to practice for years.  I had some medication changes a few months ago that resulted in my forgetting that I am the one who has control of my thoughts and feelings.  So today, I make the pledge to let go of the scale and to allow my higher consciousness to make good decisions about my health and well-being.  I am healthy.  I am happy.  I am whole.  I am exactly as I should be - physically, mentally, and emotionally.  I am supported by a Universe that wants me to be my authentic self and I honor the Universe by being nothing less than that.

• Time and Timing - everything comes to me in the exact right time.  I am open and ready to receive.

I am letting go of the belief that I am bound by the constructs of time.  It is easy for me to get to work and appointments on time and it is also easy for me to allow my life to flow in its natural rhythm without self-imposed limitations of time.  I don't need to set deadlines as my body, mind, and soul ebb and flow in ways optimum to my health and healing.

I deserve to be happy.  I deserve to be content with all of my resources and afford to live in the comfortable manner I desire.  I deserve to be successful and I embrace that success in ways that allows me to enjoy all aspects of my life as I desire.  My play and my work are in sync.  My activity and my relaxation are well-balanced.

So this is my new project.  I am beginning with a blank page.  It will be finished when it is finished. I will work on one affirmation at a time or all at once depending on what feels right in the moment.  I am living in each moment making choices that best support my highest needs and desires.  I will revisit these points here from time to time and post the progress of the "ZIA" as it unfolds.

New beginnings

Yesterday, I spent an inordinate amount of time attempting to move my blog from my old blogger account to this one.  The old email address is defunct and having to switch back and forth was maddening.  At one point, I gave up and opened a new blog account on a different blog hosting site.  I spent some time trying to learn their design platform and creating a new space to babble on about my typical load of nothing-important stuff.  Then... around midnight I had some sort of inspired understanding of how to take one blog and import it to another, worked on it for an hour and, voila!, here we are - back in business with nothing lost from my old site.  WOW.  Technology.  I felt like I won the internet.  The person who planted the seed is a dear new friend - we've only met once in person but we've become kindred spirits through online means and I love her dearly.  I guess I should mention that we live in the same town and never see each other despite our assertions that we need to get together.

So, today, this friend posts on FB that she's looking for someone to share rent expenses for a business space.  I've been thinking for a long time about going into private practice part time - extra income and I really miss direct service.  I have found out about opportunities too late and have always told myself, "well, it's obviously just not the right time."  So this time... the opportunity is here but I'm always broke and I have NO idea how to get started.  But I have friends who do know.  It seems the Universe is telling me - here is your opportunity.  HERE is the abundance for which you have been searching.

And then THIS was in my newsfeed today:

Well. I have no idea how this is going to work.  The Universe is assuring me it will.  Ready... set... LEAP.

When you lose sight...

I learned some news today.  Nothing Earth-shattering.  Good news for someone I respect and admire, really.  So why did I start crying from such a core of despair?  My first thought was (instead of, cool!  She got a promotion!), "Great, now I'm even further removed from moving up around here!"  That was followed by, "I don't get it.  Other people say, when I call, "Oh, I'm so glad it's you.  You're our favorite!"  Or "I am so grateful to be working with you."  "I can always count on you to think out of the box and find the perfect solution!"  News like what I read today makes me want to shout, "DON'T TELL ME - TELL SOMEONE WHO MATTERS!"  Whoa.  Wait a minute.  Damn it, I matter.  I know what I mean... I mean, please tell my superiors who will miraculously say, "Hey, you know who is a great motivator, mentor, and leader and would be perfect for this job?"

I have lost sight of what I know to be true.  Negative thought breeds negative outcomes.  Allowing the minutia of life to keep you from practicing positive intention - letting stress immobilize you to the point that you stop taking care of your whole self - only perpetuates the negativity. By affirming - by believing even when it's tough to believe - makes the positive intentions not only possible but reality.

Thank you, Louise Hay, for teaching me how to affirm - even if I only half believe it and am repeating the current mantra through tears:

I AM WORTHY OF ACHIEVING MY AMBITIONS AND DREAMS!  I AM OPEN AND READY TO RECEIVE A PROMOTION THAT WILL MEET MY CAREER AND FINANCIAL GOALS AS WELL AS MY NEEDS AND THE NEEDS OF MY FAMILY!

THERE.  It's out there.  C'mon Universe.  Do your stuff.  Because I really am open and ready to receive.  I am worthy of recognition of my talents and skills - not just in "woohoos" but in tangible ways that positively impact my finances. 


So I state again, thank you for all I have achieved and all I have.  I am truly blessed.  I am ready to move forward in positive ways that puts me in a position of leadership and mentorship; that provides for me and family in ways that allows us to live comfortably, meeting all of our obligations with ease and having plenty with which to play and to share with others.

Power Thought Cards by Louise Hay (c) 1999

The kindness of strangers

I have often wondered about how a seemingly chance meeting can have a profound impact on your life.  I have longed stopped believing in coincidences yet I am often surprised when it happens.  Sometimes these chance meetings are only that - just meetings.  Sometimes, however, they turn into a deeper connection that time and distance do not diminish.  

On July 1, 2010, I got a phone call from my sister that our mother had been taken to the hospital from her memory care facility in an unresponsive state.  This had happened on two other occasions and both of those times Hospice was called in to provide palliative care.  But the other two times, our mother revived.  This time it was different.  Mother's major systems were beginning to shut down and her MD predicted that she would not survive more than 24 to 48 hours.  Hpspice was once again called and the decision was made to transfer our mom to my sister's home.  I left work early, drove home and updated my family, packed a few things, and drove the 5 hours to my sister's home hoping I would make it in time to say goodbye.

I arrived at my sister's home shortly after the ambulance had transported our mom.  The hospice nurse was there and making sure we had all of the comfort medications and supplies, etc.  A short time later a beautiful young woman arrived, complete with a warm smile, and an air of confidence. Ashley was our night CNA assigned to assist us with caring for our mother and yet doing so much more.  I found it difficult to sleep that night so Ashley and I stayed up and talked.  Although I am old enough to be her mother, it felt like we had been friends forever.  She told me about her diagnosis of Leukemia when she was a young teen and her successful remission.  We talked about her dancing and her career with a ballet company that was cut short by another cancer diagnosis and her current treatments.  She had just started chemo the month before and had shaved off over 18 inches of her hair.  I talked about my work as a therapist and my how I was struggling with my doctoral program. We talked about my new grandson and how I wished that he would have had the chance to know my mom.  We talked about her plans to enter nursing school and to become a Hospice nurse as soon as possible.  While we talked she cared for my mother - gently, professionally, compassionately.  

Over the course of the next 9 days, I looked forward to Ashley's shifts and our talks.  The night mom died, it was Ashley that came upstairs to wake me - giving me a chance to tell mom goodbye before she drew her last breath.  It was Ashley that took a beautiful picture of our entwined hands - my sister's, my mom's, and mine - before the funeral home took her away.  A chance meeting with an angel who turned out to be a lifelong friend.  

Six years later a lot has happened.  We have never seen each other in person again but we stay in touch.  She is a nurse.  She got married and is an amazing step-mother. She beat cancer for the second time.  She has hair again but this is the way I remember her

and the way I remember the way she provided care to me as much as she did my mom.  

Reading and reminiscing...

I was reading a blogpost tonight about a woman who found out as she entered a grocery store chain that her father had completed suicide.  In that darkest moment of her life she was recalling all of the strangers who offered comfort, solace, and tangible evidence that goodness and kindness still exist in this broken world.  At the end of the blog was a request for story submissions about a time when a stranger or someone who I didn't know well touched my life in a profound way.  The submission is to be in the form of a blog post, hence my cruise through memory land. I can't believe it's been 2 years since I posted last.  SO much has changed.  So much chaos is in my life right now.  I don't have the energy to write about it all now but I am going to make this a priority in my life.  I have let myself down quite a bit lately.  I've ignored my own self-care and reverted back to my "momma fix it" mode.  So I need this.  I need to have one space that is peacefully mineTHis .  I should probably add a pic or two to mark the passage of time:

This is the precious little boy of my earlier posts at nearly 6 years of age and his new little brother.  Yep... a LOT has happened in two years...

Nothing is sure but...

SQUIRREL!! A simple comment like "does anyone else here have a blog" sent me off on a merry chase to view my old blog which led me to writing.  The most phenomenal coincidence (there are NO coincidences) is that this question came from someone who is taking an online Brave Girls Club class with me - and my last blog post was about the Brave Girls Club post I took two years ago... 

I was reading through my last posts and it occurred to me that while change is challenging, I've been through a great deal of it lately.  Another observation is that "change" should probably be included in the list of life's guaranteed absolutes:  death and taxes.... and change.

To catch up quickly:  I did finish Soul Restoration 2 (now called Life Restoration - see - another change!) and over the next 18 months completed all but one of the goals I had set for myself.  I completed all of the requirements to be fully licensed as a therapist in South Carolina and North Carolina.  I completed certification in trauma-focused therapy.  I graduated with distinction from Capella University with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology.  And now... we're one step closer to my final goal... 

We're moving back to North Carolina!!!  

Last May I left my full time job with the SC Department of Mental Health.  I don't want to go into all of the reasons that I walked away from steady income and benefits but I will just say that I never regretted my decision for one moment.  In August I took a part time job in my adopted hometown.  I started working "PRN" for an inpatient behavioral hospital and continue to do so (just with less availability) even though I took a full time position with a different hospital halfway between where I live now and where I want to be.  Thus - the decision to move closer to my jobs - my husband has decided to reduce his job to part time...

So you see... everywhere I turn there is change.  I suppose I should get used to it!

See you sooner...

Soul Restoration

I have spent this past week in several hours of self-reflection as I answered the guided journal exercise.  This is the first exercise in the Brave Girls Club Soul Restoration 2 online course which I started last Tuesday.  I, like other class members, tend to over think the answers as if we are being graded by some cosmic headmaster and the fruition of our future dreams and visions depend on saying "just the right thing."  Oh, I wish it were true.  I wish that just by writing down over and over again that I am achieving balance and letting go of old hurts that I can wake up tomorrow or the next day with it all figured out.  I do believe with all of my heart that the laws of attraction bring to us what we ask for.  But what if we ask for the wrong thing?  What if we don't have a clue what we really want? The what ifs will make us crazy.

I wish I had a way to do a word usage generator on a handwritten document.  I have a feeling several words would float to the top of the leader board:  Balance. Abundance. Letting Go. Family. Friends. Peace. Harmony. Fairness. Equality. Healing. These are definitely the things I hope for - for me... for my family.  But is this enough?  How do we ever know?  I guess that's part of the discovery process.  Being open and receptive to whatever the Universe wants for each of us - and being flexible - allows the abundance to flow to and through us.  At least that's what I intend to attract!

I can't wait for next week's class.  I can't wait to see where this path is leading.  Now if I could only find the motivation I need to start writing on my dissertation chapters!

Blessings...

Change sucks

but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), it's necessary.  I found this unattributed quote tonight and it seems to sum up how I've been feeling lately:

“As I look back on all that's happened..growing up, growing together, changing you, changing me -- there were times when we dreamed together, when we laughed and cried together. As I look back on those days, I realize how much I truly miss you and how much I truly love you. The past may be gone forever..and whatever the future holds, our todays make the memories of tomorrow. So, my lifetime friend, it is with all my heart that I send you my love, hoping that you'll always carry my smile with you, for all we have meant to each other and for whatever the future may hold.” ~Anonymous.

All relationships change.  It's inevitable.  The inevitability doesn't make it any less painful.  But, I've weathered worse... and, in reality... what I'm feeling may be nothing.  It may just be a series of missed opportunities, of exhaustion and life getting in the way.  I hope so.  However, no matter what, I will keep this quote in my heart.

Onto a slightly different topic... I've started a new online class called Soul Restoration 2.  We're in the first week and the assignment is filling out 14 pages of prompted self-reflections.  Wow... It's not easy writing for just me... and keeping the authenticity and honesty flowing.  I don't know about you, but I find it easier to be authentic with a presumed audience that with my own self.  Is that weird or normal?  I had to go back through the sheets and refine some of my responses because I felt I was trying to please a phantom reader - you know - say what you think they want to hear?  I think I've been trying to write my responses based on what I think I want to hear. Ok... that's making me dizzy!  I have to start just writing from the authentic center of my soul - pain, ugliness, harsh reality, and all.

Anyway - the end result of this journey should be a mixed media vision journal of the life I want to have.  I guess I have to work on being open and receptive to what the universe has in store for me...instead of what I think I want it to say.

I just needed to get this off my chest...

I am feeling very vulnerable today.  Well... actually, it's been a few weeks that I've noticed old insecurities creeping in. It reached a pinnacle of self-pity last night as I watched the Lionel Richie special and bawled my eyes out because I felt like I was in mourning over our relationship.  I guess that happens when you feel more connected to someone than they show* you that they are.  I let my imagination run to the "she must be mad at me... I am a bother to her... I've done something to screw up our relationship" cesspool and drink deeply.  I don't want to.  I really don't want to be that insecure, needy, codependent, passive, self-centered person anymore.  I don't want to need validation that our love and connection are solid - but I do.  There... I've said it.  I need to know that I am thought about sometimes; that she turns to tell me something or ask my opinion about something and realize that I am not sitting there just like it happens to me most days.  I need to know it's ok that I sometimes screw up and say the wrong thing.  And what I really need is to stop putting so much responsibility on her.  Maybe that's why she is so silent right now.  I suck too much energy out of the room.  So... what will be my affirmation today?  "I am sucking less energy?"  Or, "I let go of my relationships and let them be what they will be" knowing full well that if I believe this, let it go, that I risk a change so drastic that I might never breathe again?  But isn't that what unconditional love means?  Isn't that what I preach to my clients each and every day?  I have to let go. I have to stop expecting others to show (*aka PROVE) that I am important in their lives.  "I am open and ready to receive love in whatever form it chooses me. I let go of all strings and conditions."  Hmmm... still have to work on that affirmation.

Reflections on Lent

Things I learned during my Lenten fast:

1. This isn’t a new year’s resolution.  It’s a disciplinary practice to make us think about our priorities.  
2. Relapse happens.  The point is not to give up when we blow it but to figure out how and why we continue to make that “priority” more important than our commitment to our spiritual practices.
3. Every time you think about your “forbidden” thing you have the opportunity to think about how this thing takes over your life and your other commitments.  It’s not so much that you quit a bad habit or take on a healthier one – what do you do with the time you would have spent on this?  What do you do with the money you spent on this? Are you more consciously aware? Are you willing to spend your time and money on something that brings you closer to your spiritual self instead?
4. Has my “fast” moved me to be more thoughtful in my practice or use of that priority I gave up?  My fast did not stop me from getting incensed at the political stupidity that has been running rampant.  It did not keep me from feeling ashamed of the people who still believe that by sharing we lose.  Yet, I have stopped letting every idiotic, prejudiced, ignorant political attack rile me to the point of rage.  I have learned that no one listens to ranting – it just makes them look at you like you’re a crazy person. I’ve been rereading a lot more of the quotes attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi lately.  
5. I have also learned that the reason I get so riled up has a lot to do with my own feelings that others think I’m unintelligent just because I think we should all have the same rights and privileges.  My own feelings of inadequacy and insignificance contribute to my anger about a lot of things.  Self-affirmation is a daily practice that has to happen long past 40 days.
6. I have learned that I am guilty of the sin of generalization.  I thought I was good at carefully wording my thoughts to avoid this. Evidently, I don’t do so well when it’s a group with whom I wholeheartedly disagree.  I have been working on not lumping “all conservatives” into the same pit and I continue to work on not letting the over-generalization of “us filthy liberals” make me forget all that I’ve learned.
7. I have been reminded that I am in control of my feelings and, therefore, can choose how I express them.   And, although I am in charge of how I feel and respond to anything – I am not in charge of the outcome.  Ever.
8. I think the biggest lesson for me is that it is absolutely ok to be passionate.  It is absolutely ok to act passionately.  And it is absolutely, 100% OK for me to share that passion with others.  The part of the lesson that I still have to work on is that it’s absolutely ok for your passion to differ from mine. 

I hope your Lenten season (whether you participated in fasting or not) has been a beautiful and meaningful time of self-discovery.   

Palm and Easter Sundays 2012

Challenge 64 and other random tangles

Happy Friday on this next to the last day of March.  I am the Diva's challenge this week is for everyone to use the same string - 8 (quasi) special right triangles (one 90º and two 45º angles).  I was sitting in an all-day training this week when I created my tiles.  I've said before that Zentangle helps me focus and opens my auditory processing so I can retain more of what's being said.  Therefore, I didn't pay a lot of attention to what I was drawing.

The top one was done on an actual tile and the other two in my sketchbook.  Of course, at some point (after lunch) I just started tangling on a random string in my sketchbook (which for some reason only scanned as a portion:

I had to take a picture of it and resave to get the whole thing:

Uhm.... no matter how I turn it it looks a little phallic.  Oh well... probably had something to do with the lecture on how psychotropic medications effect the body...  :-)

I'm looking forward to my grandson's visit this weekend.  It will be a wonderful whirlwind of 2-yr-old activity here.  I hope everyone has a weekend that is filled with your favorite things to do, too!

Happy tangling!

No challenge this week -

other than setting up a new computer.  I have to rebuild all of my bookmarks and other stuff (and get used to a new keyboard) so I don't have time to tangle this week...

I'll be ooo ing and ahhh ing over everyone else's offerings, though.

Happy Tangling!

Challenge #61 UMT v.II Golven

Mariet's tangle pattern, Golven, is this week's challenge from I Am the Diva.  My tile was actually started before the challenge was posted.  I've mentioned before that I often tangle during church services to keep my mind from wandering and my butt from squirming in my seat (back row center of the choir loft - pretty noticeable!).  I rarely finish one and this one was no exception.  I took my tile home and forgot about it until Monday when Diva posted her challenge.  The center just beckoned to be filled with Mariet's waves.  Love the tangle and I will definitely be using it again!

Happy Tangling!

Challenge #60 - Duo Tangle v.III Cirquital/Munchin

Wow.  Two tangles I've never used before.  Sometimes I am really not up the challenge of using new tangles or using only one or two specific tangles.  I almost passed on this one.  But then I saw a technique on the Pinterest boards that piqued my interest.  I am including a picture of it here because the visual is better than any explanation I could give:

So, anyway, I was thinking about the challenge and got the idea to use an outline of my hand for the challenge. The original intent was to color it with this technique but I had the forethought to scan it first. 

I printed out a copy and colored it - and hated it.  I thought, "maybe it's because I don't have much of a border around the edges (I used a Strathmore 5x7 Drawing Card)."  So I decided to draw another string, use the same challenge tangle patterns and then color it.  I'm still not fond of the results - and I forgot to scan the black and white version first.  

I understand the concept.  I just didn't achieve the effect I was hoping for. I will keep practicing.  Until then - Happy tangling!

Challenge 59 Update

I got bored tonight so I decided to color my mask.

'

I like color but I don't usually use it because there's just so much pressure figuring out what color I want to use where.  It's a little easier when I limit it to two or three colors - this time I used the "colors of Mardi Gras" - gold, purple, and green.  I used both Marvy and Tombow markers and played with the blender.  

I really appreciate the nice comments I received on my black and white version.  I have so much fun and one of my challenges is to avoid comparing my work with others.  It's so hard when we have been raised to compete.  It's sort of another part of my Lenten journey this year.

I was going to write about that last night when I posted my black and white Mask.  I was too tired to think but I decided to share tonight if you don't mind.  This year I decided to give up talking about, reading about, thinking about (way harder than I thought) politics.  I did this not as some sort of self denial but as a way give up being angry, disgusted, and frustrated all of the time!  We'll see how this goes.  I'm pretty opinionated and can get pretty darned emotional (which includes screaming at the TV).  It's only day 3 and already I've been tempted and challenged.  But I'm riding the mute button to avoid getting sucked into news stories and I avoid reading anything posted online.  Maybe by Easter I'll either not care anymore or succeed in channeling my anger and frustration into something much more productive!

Tangled blessings to you all!

Laissez les bons temps rouler

Let the good times roll!  I haven't worked on a zentangle inspired art piece this detailed in awhile.  I'm not completely satisfied with it - as always, when I try for a specific outcome it never quite turns out like what's in my head.  But that's ok. I like it anyway.  Since Shrove Tuesday has actually passed and we are now squarely into Lent, I suppose I can give up that need to control this outcome, too.

I was going to write about Lenten  journeys but I'm tired and I wanted to get this posted.  So happy tangling and blessed journeys.

In between challenges

I've been reading a blog lately by Dan Pearce called Single Dad Laughing.  You can find the link over on my favorites list. Dad wrote a post recently called "Who's Life is it Anyway."  I don't think I've ever seen so many comments as the result of a single post - it really hit a nerve with me and, obviously, with a lot of others, too.  Due to the response, he's following up with a series on what happiness - or more accurately - what the choice to be happy means.  I encourage you to read.

After getting some major work on my dissertation proposal done this past week, I am ready to work on the next Diva challenge - Mardi Gras!  I can't wait.  New Orleans is one of my favorite cities.  I'm also doing some more work on my "visioning" ZIA.  So I'll be back...

In the meantime - happy tangling!