Day 69 - Nesting

Watercolor

The term nesting can refer to a structure, a retreat, a coming together, a gang of people, to fit together and a place of refuge. The last one is how I feel about my my space. It has become a place of refuge. It's not so much about the 4 walls of my home, but about my need to create. Sometimes others crowd that space and I can't move forward in my work. I am trying to find that balance with those trying to share my life. So far, it's still a "nest of confusion". I am sure I will figure it out eventually. In the meantime...

Day 68 - Healthy

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Healthy Grieving

Step One
Acknowledge and understand your own grief. "The people who recover are the people who admit their loss and are able to talk about it."

Step Two
Allow your needs to be recognized by others. To apply this step, you must first recognize these needs for yourself.

Step Three
Feel free to grieve in your own way.

Step Four
Tell your story to others. Give someone an honest account of your loss.

Step Five
Commit to the journey, long or short, that leads back into living life.

Day 67 - LentTWO

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More thoughts from my Pastor. I took these comments from an article he wrote for our newsletter. They were particularly meaningful to me.

Hope is possible because of a relationship with God.
It’s the kind of relationship that can weather
any storm or disaster. It’s unconditional Love,
Joy and Peace untouchable by whatever life may
throw at us. It’s like spring showers that warm
the frozen, fallow grounds of our hearts making
it ready for the planted seed.
And after what turned out to be the longest
and coldest winter in recent memory, we need
the spring showers to wash it away and rain
down drops of hope and new life into us.

Day 66 - LentONE

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Thoughts from my Pastor in our monthly newsletter:

Lent is a time for renewal and transformation. It’s a time for
us to wrestle with what’s holding us back from
truly living. I mean TRULY living, not just
existing or taking up space and resources.
“Every man dies, but not every man TRULY
lives,” said Braveheart. And maybe this is you or someone you love,
breathing but not truly living because of fears,
worries, anger, and bitterness. You need release and freedom from what’s holding you back. On Easter, the day of the resurrection, early
Christians rose to the east to meet the warmth
of the rising sun, a symbol of new birth, new life
and… HOPE. Lent for them, was a time of
preparation culminating with their own
“resurrection” from the cold, unforgiving
darkness of a life without hope. Maybe this is
what you’ve been looking for… a resurrection.

Continued tomorrow.

Day 65 - InnerPeace

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If you can start the day without caffeine
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any attention
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment
If you can conquer tension without medical help
If you can relax without liquor
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
Then you are probably the family dog.

Day 64 - More

Watercolor and Photoshop

Day 63 - Autobiography

Watercolor and Photoshop
My first assignment for my Art Therapy course was to write a spiritual autobiogaphy. Today's post as well as tomorrow are the images illustrating that document. Very introspective soul searching. I guess it's something that would benefit most people but it can be uncomfortable. The question I kept asking myself is what's a little discomfort when the outcomes are so worthwhile?