Sunflowers and Kindness | “Life Be Lifing”

Andrea Farthofer Sunflower

Based on the sighs I hear and the withdrawn, faraway looks in the faces of others, I know that many of us are not okay. I’m not sure if this is part of post-Pandemic languishing or malaise or if this is just life doing its thing. The reality is life can be stinging and burning at times, or as my blogging friend Kathy says, “Life be lifing.”

I wish we would admit that more. I wish more of us would be brave enough to tell the truth of our mental and emotional states. It would certainly make our loads a bit lighter, and maybe, it would free someone else to be open about their struggles. 

It’s not that misery loves company. We all need to know we’re not alone on the icky paths in life and we need to know we can navigate them and come through on the other side. We can survive these roads if we know we’re not alone, better yet if learn to walk them together. 

So, let’s do each other a kindness. Be honest about our feelings, and let’s check our judgment and leave space for others to be candid with us. 


About the Image: This gorgeous abstract sunflower features the work of my Wildflowers friend, Andrea F. She thought of me and my love for sunflowers while working on it. Like Sheila’s art, shared a couple of days ago, this piece sits in my planner and brightens many days!

The Beauty of Small

Snapseed 74

“Small” seems to be the theme of the last couple of years. The pandemic invites us to scale down our lives and learn to journey through the small. These strange and unsure times urge us to take small steps, celebrate small things, and live in small moments.

I’ve been reading various articles that claim we are post-pandemic. As I skim reports of numbers rising in certain areas, I am not convinced. I am concerned that such headlines cause us to move too swiftly and risk being in the same situation we were in during the early months of the pandemic.

Though not explicitly about our Corona times, Susan Frybort’s poem, “the beauty of small,” serves as a primer for us as we move through our collective trauma and slowly make our way to living fully.

the beauty of small
susan frybort

let me paint for you the beauty of small…small words.
small observations, small greetings, short calls.

these are the bravest steps for someone shy,
someone hurt, someone trying to connect,
and someone healing from trauma.
small steps. coming out of hiding and
finally feeling safe enough to make the first move.
small steps. relaxed and ready to practice healthy ways
to bridge and bond for the very first time.
small steps, like a beautiful sunrise–
glimmering at first, before shining boldly.


About the Image: The zentangle sunflower art in today’s post was crafted by my newest Love Notes friend and Certified Zentangle Teacher, Kat van Rooyen. In a small moment she and I chatted (via Messenger) about our mutual love for sunflowers. Afterwards, she “tangled” this abstract sunflower just for me! A retired psychotherapist, Kat now teaches zentangling and uses it as a form of therapy. I chose this piece for the post because the tiny art (3.5 in x 3.5 in) represents the powerful potential of the small–for building, healing, and restoring.

If you are looking for something new as you figure out how to navigate the uncertainty, see Kat’s post for the benefits of tangling. Maybe, you’d like to give it a try!

Dream Week | Dream Journal

DreamArt-1

Dreams are thoughts you didn’t have time to think about during the day.

My dreams have been unusually vivid lately—full of color and sound, strange and derivative, a compilation of memories and random bits of information and events. There have been recurring themes, patterns, and people.

While going through my morning routine the last few days, I noticed that a number of troubling questions and past events kept popping up. Each day, I pushed them aside, thinking, I will deal with it later.

Of course, later rarely comes, so I wonder if much of the processing that should happen while I am awake is happening while I sleep.

If I look really closely, I can see there is a correlation between my dreams and those deep questions with which I have had little time to grapple.

I am not into dream analysis, that is, looking for symbols in dreams and attaching meaning to them, but I do believe dreams can be revelatory. I believe God speaks to us in different ways, and dreams are one of those ways. I also believe dreams often reveal what is buried in our subconscious and can compel us to pay attention and maybe act.

So–I’m thinking about starting a dream journal, a place that I can record the bits and pieces of my dreams I remember and see if I can make some sense of them or if I can tease out those things that Spirit and my subconscious are trying to tell me. I’d like to see what shows up.

I’ve never “dream journaled” before, but I imagine it is telling experience.

What about you? Have you ever kept a dream journal?