Time and adventures

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”
——Oprah Winfrey

Another month – another year – another season.
I think about the “adventures” of my life and those lives I am part of. What is the journey, what is the path, what matters in the long run, the happiness, the bitterness, the sweet and the sorrow?

Here in my area (East Coast-Maryland) spring has popped out all over and it is indeed beautiful. My favorite season. Somehow this gets me to thinking about time and what do each of us add to the giant galaxy of both physical and metaphysical space/time and the lives we share with others. The spring, the sun, the beauty helps put many of us in better moods-that’s a bonus for sure! Smiles and good spirits help positivity, and I am a big fan of that. So, maybe my point is as simple as: Try to live your life with as much positive as possible and as close to your dreams as you can. Some things are indeed way out of our control, but many are not. Our attitude is one thing we can at least try to have some equilibrium over..

There is a quote I like that is from Joseph Cambell that says “We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” Another one I like is “Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.” – John W. Gardner (Perhaps best known as the founder of Common Cause.) Both these quotes are speaking to me these days. As I recently started another year of my own life, as the seasons change, as I watch, look, observe family, friends and the world, I try to remember: We ALL count, we All make a difference, all the pieces, and all the specks, add to up to big circles of continuous cycles. We may need to take a small step, or maybe a giant step, from our comfort circle to try to follow some of our dreams but really when you think about…Why not?

It’s spring time-Use your noggin!

Engaging your brain in new tasks is a key to boosting brain performance, or at least that is what the website of “Brain World Magazine” says. I will summarize the webpage here to get to my point: Most fabulous inventions happened when someone asked themselves- Is it possible and how can I do it? When you ask the hard questions, you expand your brain. This makes sense for it forces you to think and problem solve. As healthy humans, we WANT to discover-to search for new. This process keeps our brains active and functioning. “True creativity comes from an integrated brain that establishes new, robust connections between the parts of your brain dealing with cognition, emotion, vital functions, and crosstalk between the two hemispheres of your brain.”  ( http://brainworldmagazine.com/ask-brain-spring-creativity-within/)  My thoughts today are about creativity.

Think about a snake, a crab, a caterpillar. They all shed one skin and start anew. If we don’t keep trying to rejuvenate ourselves, we too can get stuck in our old skin. It’s SPRING, the season of renew-Go For It! The transformations we create and abide by change with the times and what is going on within ourselves. It is this pursuit of transformations, this metamorphosis, that forms the very base of the process of LETTING GO!  I believe this shedding is the core of what I will call creative imagination. My imagination most often happens when I just “DO”, when I don’t worry too much about what I may be creating.  I might not know “the hard question” and that’s ok. My brain is stretched by the creative process regardless of a conscious question. The process relaxes me and lets the questions flow. Right now I am working on an array of new projects. That alone is maxing out part of my mind. Creativity churns and keeps my imagination going full steam. (Or would it be imagination churns and keeps the creativity going?) It’s hard to dial my brain down and do things like sleep sometimes.  One project is my third children’s book which is indeed about imagination. I am struggling with a cover design. Resisting the usual exploding of things from a cloud, or a head, is difficult. Colors are about the only thing I have come up with. I might resort to the ‘norm.” After all, it is tried and true- but, it doesn’t feel very creative or imaginative.

So far I have a line drawing of a book open and exploding colors.
I like the “look,” but it does it say – “Hey this story is about the main character, our friend Fuddles, who has lost his imagination and then it’s found! Ideas?

Possible book 3 cover
Possible book 3 cover


Are Colors the Secret Ingredient?

Colors of spring
Colors of spring

YES! Colors are the secret ingredient to Spring time! We are coming out of our winter shells and happy for the promises Spring can bring. If you think about it as a larger frame, all the pieces fit perfectly.

The meaning of the color indigo reflects great devotion, wisdom, and justice along with fairness and impartiality. It is a defender of people’s rights to the end. (Blue Berries and Blue flowers are popping out)

The meaning of the color pink is unconditional love and nurturing. In color psychology, pink is a sign of hope. It is a positive color inspiring warm and comforting feelings, a sense that everything will be okay. (Pink Blooms ALL around, especially in this location with the beautiful Cherry Trees, RedBuds, and dogwoods!)

The color white is the color at its most complete and pure, the color of perfection. The psychological meaning of white is purity, innocence, wholeness and completion. (White flowers abound: Lily of the Valley, Snowdrops,  my  front yard has beautiful white camellia blooms- just to name a few.)

The color green relates to balance and harmony. From a color psychology perspective, it is the great balancer of the heart and the emotions, creating equilibrium between the head and the heart. (ALL the shades of green, especially that new lush green as leaves begin to unfold-it’s hard to beat that!)

The color red is a warm and positive color associated with our most physical needs and our will to survive. It exudes a strong and powerful masculine energy. (Flowers of azaleas, poppies, and tulips are what come to my mind!)

Even though I don’t have a pix – how could we possibly not mention YELLOW! The color yellow relates to acquired knowledge. It is the color which resonates with the left or logic side of the brain stimulating our mental faculties and creating mental agility and perception. (Blooms of the Daffs and the forsythias! )

Put it all together, and you have wisdom, fairness, unconditional love, hope, perfection, wholeness, balance, harmony, mental agility topped of with our will to survive!  It’s little wonder Spring busting out all around feels so good!


info from: http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com


4 Reasons why Reinventions can be sweeter than Easter Morning-no candy involved!

Times they are a changing…
The weather, the earth, the world….it’s enough to make my head spin!

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin

Read more:  Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A-changin’ Lyrics | MetroLyrics (and hear the song)

Dylan famously goes on to write the next verse about writers and critics, followed by politicians, with the last stance about mothers and fathers. So timely!

The times certainly are ‘a-changing’, Bob Dylan is now the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for literature—first time for lyrics, as opposed to a novel. It was said that it is “perhaps the most radical choice in a (Noble Peace Prize) history stretching back to 1901.” (reason #1)

Spring brings Easter, Passover and I am sure there are other holidays of spring renewals that I don’t even know. Spring is busting out with colors- greens, yellows, pinks and red splashes all around! (reason #2) I’ve been thinking a lot about changing, or ‘reinventions’ as I am now trying to call, and view, all the changes. As a child the world is always changing, we are continually learning, and trying all different hats, paths, and ways all the time. That’s a good thing. As an adult constant learning and forward motion is still a good thing. That said-constant change is not easy. However, I hope I never stop learning and exploring. Curiosity didn’t kill the cat. Curiosity does keep the soul, mind, and body alive! (reason #3)

For myself, all these ‘reinventions’ are global as well as very personal. It feels like a spinning top at a dizzying speed. How about you?

…and speaking of changes…
A new kind of Botanical Beauties has come to town! I’m having fun with flowers in new ways (reason #4.) Stay tuned as we see together what and how this develops.

BBB3 is Expanding
There’s a new bird in town! Click on the image to see it larger.


For more about Bob Dylan.

Read more:  Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A-changin’ Special Memory By AmandaH | MetroLyrics

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/29/521898666/bob-dylan-agrees-to-accept-his-nobel-prize-during-a-tour-stop-in-stockholm