Tag: blogtober

Time out

Video from mills & boon

I found this video and I couldn’t stop thinking how many times a good romance novel has helped me relax and reset.

I don’t know how it happens but sometimes when I am stressed and overwhelmed, all I have to do is bury myself in a good romance novel and I’m healed.

Most girls say they stopped reading mills & boon, silhouette and other romance books after their teenage years.

I didn’t stop.

I love to dream and they make the best material. 

Currently reading the Colleen Hoover 'Maybe Trilogy'; Someday, Not and Now

Covers

So I went on a cover hunt like I said I would in my post Beautiful Covers… And I’ve got these beautiful discoveries to share

Say my Name – Hozier…I had to start with this. It’s so amazing.

Drivers license – Madilyn Bailey

Easy on me – Sam Tsui & Casey Breves

Shivers – Amber Leigh Irish

abcdefu – Adam Christopher

If the world was ending – Jason Chen & Jules Aurora

Mood – Nicole Cross

Dilemma – Brandon Chase & Taylor Manns

Drivers Licence – Lewis Capaldi

When I was your man – Thomas Rhett

Open your eyes

Pic courtesy: Pinterest

She was 30 seconds into her response when she realized he wasn’t listening. He could hear her alright but he didn’t really care much for her response.

It didn’t matter that he was the one who asked her; “Linda, how are you feeling today? I hope you are fine now!”.

Linda had been away from work sometime around 3pm on Monday and stayed off on Tuesday and Wednesday too.

She had dragged herself to work on that Monday morning but realized she couldn’t make it to the close of work.

The flu…that’s what she had.

So when she ran into the CFO at 5:15pm on Friday and he seemed to be concerned about her health, she felt the need to give him a detailed breakdown of the whys and hows.

…but he didn’t care. She could see it. He was probably thinking about something else…but she went ahead and finished her story.

“Okay, have a nice weekend” he said.

“Thank you Sir” she replied and then she got into her car and drove home.

It was somewhere between the office and home that she realized he just wanted to be sure she was back and able to work…that was all he wanted to know.

The work…that was all that mattered to him.

It was common knowledge.

Self love vs selfish

How selfish is self love?

I think it’s been over a year since my sister Angela and I discussed this.

We agreed that some people had taken self love too far and then we worried about how much it deviated from what God intended.

If we love ourselves and ignore the rest of the world then that might be too selfish.

…but sometimes you just have to look out for yourself… You have to care for yourself to be able to care for others.

After all, the greatest commandment is centered around you.

If you don’t love yourself, how can you love your neighbor?

So the question is, where’s the line? And how do you know when you’ve crossed it?

That line that tells you that you are being a little or a lot more selfish that you should.

That line that shows you that you just ignored a neighbor that may have needed you.

I’m literally asking here.

I see you

There’s a vacant piece of land

Maybe not so vacant

There’s been an attempt to develop.

Looks like a 3 bedroom structure…abandoned…

Reptiles crawl and creep out… onto my space…

I’ve seen a few snakes

But mostly lizards.

They hover around my back door…the lizards.

Any carelessness…and they sneak into my kitchen

I see them. I try not to be careless.

Every evening, before I open my back door, I do a ritual banging on the door… sometimes some singing too…

…to scare them off.

It works.

They scamper and whisper “the lady of the house is back”.

Sometimes I peek at the window and see them…as then run.

They pause and look…they see that I see them…and they run along.

I think it’s the same with some humans in my life…they think I don’t see them…then they do…then they run.

Shun…un-shun…re-shun.

When my son was about 4 years old, I heard him tell someone “I won’t be your friend again”.

I knew where it came from.

It came from the adults around him. I hear people say it all the time…sadly, often to children.

They believe it’s productive to train and/or teach a child to do something right by threatening to take away your love if they fail to do the expected thing.

I disagree.

So I made it a duty to be sure my boy didn’t join that school of thought.

It took some time, but I won him over.

I made him see, with my words and with my actions, that you don’t shut people out of your life just because they have done something you don’t like. Especially not loved ones.

I remembered this while I watched an episode of The Office where Dwight decides to shun Andy for 3 years. He explained that “shunning is an Amish technique – it’s like slapping someone with silence”.

The good part was how Dwight kept un-shunning Andy to discuss “important” matters throughout the episode…but he never forgot to hit the re-shun button though.

While that might be a funny episode from a TV show, there are real life Dwights and Andys out there…and I think it’s really sad.

Braid for love

My braided bread

I got the following quote off of a post by Beth;

“my grandmother always made challah for Shabbat and dropped it off at our house.

she said braided bread was a symbol of love because it’s like arms interlocking.”
― roan parrish, author

…and I decided I wanted to braid some bread too.

And so I did. I made enough for at least 4 families.

It felt really good.

Tables and mirrors

No one knew I was there.

I had arrived too early and so I reclined my seat and tried to meditate. I couldn’t.

So I let my thoughts wander.

Then I heard them, first the voices of the people and their feet…and then the sound of the engine as the car stopped…right behind mine.

I looked up at my rear view mirror and there it was, everything I could hear was available in pictures. It was like I was viewing a movie…made for me alone.

I watched in awe.

Like puppets, they bowed and sang his praises.

Just a few months ago, he walked these same streets and no one even said a hello to him.

Today…different story… The tables turned.

What can I say? The oracle picked him.

Roses and thorns

After successfully sketching The cup , I had a thought to share and decided to sketch the image of the thought myself.

My artist friend, Terwase loved it and decided to draw and send a professional version of the piece to me.

Art by Terwase

I loved it. It was a better expression of my thoughts.

She also found an old version she had sketched some time ago.

Art by Terwase