I have been voluntarily working from this place more lately.  It feels really satisfying.  Amazingly enough, I haven’t been ‘trying too hard’, like I have done most of my life.

In much of my life I tried to be ‘just right’, to do what ‘I should do’.  Lately though, I’ve been living more from my heart and it seems easier somehow.  I’m not worrying about things and I’m living more in the present moment.  It feels funny really that making such a subtle change has made such an improvement on my quality of life.

So for now my life evolves in my gardens, making/selling herbal products and in my work with young children.  I love it!  Also, my singing, chanting and  spending time with my beloved partner and my friends and family bring me harmony.  I feel so blessed and thankful for all that I am and all that I have.

I only hope that all beings can live this way, with full happiness and satisfaction in daily living.  It seems to be a place where a lot of magic happens!

Blissfully,

Susie

Red-flowering currant

Have you been in your garden yet this spring?  What a pleasure this has been for me.  Daffodils, grape hyacinths, yellow forsythias, and red-flowering currants are budding all around.  Tulips are starting to flower their bright reds, yellows and oranges.  Spring is such a time of renewal and birth!

Walking the labyrinth and seeing all of my perennial herbs popping their reddish-green heads out of the soil, brings me such joy.   Mother earth is birthing lots of babies all of the time as new plants, shrubs and trees start their life cycles.

The other day as I pruned back the dead stems and leaves, I thought of the similarities of us humans and the garden of plants.  Being pruned back to us is like getting a haircut, taking a shower, scrubbing off the dead-skin cells from our body.  This is necessary for us to maintain our cleanliness, hygiene and health, much like pruning is needed for the plants to grow and show their beauty without dead parts of the plant hanging on.  Lucky for the plants, their dead parts eventually fall off anyway; I guess ours do too (our skin and hair), but doesn’t taking a shower and washing your hair just make you feel so clean afterwards?

Grape hyacinth

Weeding out plants that you didn’t intend to grow in your garden is almost akin to our life as well.  That same day, while weeding in the garden, I thought about all of the extra things in my life that I haven’t planned to happen or to focus on. Those pesky little weeds could relate in our lives to the darker sides of ourselves, or our shadow side(s), or the unexpected events that entangle parts of ourselves or our lives.  Sometimes those weeds can really take over the garden; sometimes they fill the space when we don’t know what to plant next.  Sometimes they add nutrition to the soil for us, until we’re ready to plant our garden.  And sometimes we harvest those weeds (wild herbs) for our own nourishment and remedy. The weeds can sometimes be our greatest teachers, if you notice which plants keep showing up in your garden.  You may decide that you are ‘fighting’ that particular weed every year, or maybe you decide that you want to befriend her, maybe watch her and see how she grows.  What does she bring to you?  I can relate this metaphor with varying aspects of my life.

For many years I wanted to ‘get rid’ of my fears (i.e. fear of failure, fear of success, fear of not being enough…), everything I could do to not have fears anymore was what I tried to do.  Slowly I began to realize that working towards loving and embracing my fears is more energetically beneficial for me, as long as I don’t allow the fears to take over all of me.  My garden is similar; I don’t worry so much about weeding every little plant so much anymore, as long as the other plants who I want to grow there have plenty of space to grow.  Why not share some of the soil with a few of the weeds who also want to produce?

Tending the garden is much like tending ourselves.  What does our garden need?  What do we need?  How does the garden grow, does it get enough water, compost, and attention?  Do we get enough water, compost, and attention?  Does the garden have movement; is there a variety of plants growing, insects, birds singing, in the garden?  Are the ‘weeds’ taking over everything?  Do we get enough movement and exercise, stimulation from others, creative expression?  When you’re in the garden are you at peace?  Are you trying to quickly get this job done so you can move quickly to the next task that is on the list?

As I continue in my garden this spring and into the summer these are some of the questions that may come to mind as I work, weed, transplant, harvest, enjoy and revel in the beauty of my garden.

With Love,

Susie

One thing I did discover though, is that I’m already using social media through my blogs.  What a relief!  So, I’ll keep on doing these to keep me in touch.  Also, I’ve added many ‘friends’ to my Facebook account and I’ve been adding ‘contacts’ to my LinkedIn account as well.  I haven’t started Twitter yet, although I did get an account.  My six years-old Mac computer doesn’t seem to like Twitter much; I get shut out of the internet every time I try to ‘Twit’…Who came up with these names anyway?

I must admit, it is kind of fun to ‘friend’ others and get new ‘contacts’.  I can see how a person can get ‘lost’ in social networking.  This is definitely a ‘time suck’!  As one of my classmates said two weeks ago, “How am I supposed to actually do my business if I’m spending so much time on social networking for my business”?  Social networking, however, isn’t just about your business; it is about building relationships!  If you think about it, that’s what makes the world go around anyway, right?  Relationships!

I think initially, the time commitment is much larger than after you become familiar with each of these accounts, the in’s and out’s of the vocabulary and the actions you can take, adding photos, etc…

There is a lot to learn and do of course.  Social networking is not for a person who’s just purchased a computer for the first time, or even for one who uses the computer just for typing documents or checking emails.  Oh no.  You must spend the time necessary to learn, so you are proficient at your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or however you choose to network online.

I almost forgot to mention now there’s also Pinterest.  What the heck is that?  I just learned that it is good networking for selling products.  One more thing to learn….and I haven’t even gotten on Etsy yet.  “Do you know about Etsy”, or “Are you on Etsy yet”, people keep asking me.  I’m not, but I guess I better hurry and get on there too!

Wow, this can definitely be an overwhelming place to be in our world today.  I have a hard time keeping up with the news.  I don’t even have a cell phone that I use regularly.  Partially, it’s because I live on island without coverage.  When I go to mainland ‘America’ I do carry my pre-paid cell phone and use it.  Boy, am I out of date or what?

A few years ago someone visiting our labyrinth shared with me that coming to our island is like going back in time 50 years.  I guess this is true.  Maybe that’s why I’ve been so resistant to getting on board with social media.  Now that I’m a full-time small business owner, I have to keep up with all of this.

What is a person to do who is trying to live simply in these times?  I think it’s really all about Balance!  Finding a good balance between what you’re passionate about, your relationships with others, how to make a living fulfilling your passion, and staying up to speed with marketing and technology.  Whew, that’s a mouthful and a lot to do.  And I haven’t even mentioned the daily ‘to-do’s that keep us so busy already.

Good luck out there!  I’ll keep ya posted on how things are going for me.  And if you’re reading this, would you ‘Like’ my Whispers of Nature page on my Facebook account?  Thanks!

Socially connecting,

Susie

PS.  Thanks to my friend who suggested I write about this topic!  You know who you are!

Do our minds ever find complete acceptance?  I believe this happens for short periods of time, but extending acceptance for longer periods seems much more challenging.

Life brings us lessons as they are needed, in such unexpected ways.  I just recently had been practicing singing everyday for a concert that my husband and I did with a friend this past weekend. When I first started practicing a song where I was lead vocalist (my first time), I constantly wanted feedback.  “How does it sound”, “Should I change this part”, “Does my voice project enough”?  Then I noticed that in all of these questions, desires for feedback from others, and doubts of myself I was rejecting my own opinion and in essence, acceptance of my voice.  Ouch! That hurts! Luckily, I had an awareness of this after a period of time and began to allow my own knowing to take on the role of self-acceptance.  After noticing this in myself I had more clarity and recognition of my voice. The concert was wonderful, lots of wonderful singing and music from amazing musicians.

Acceptance is an awkward thing.  We may say that we are accepting life for what it is, but are we in actuality?  Or are we contradicting one thought with the next one, living in complete chaos within ourselves?  If we’re lucky enough to live from our heart, this task is much easier.  However, when we live from a place of responsibility to others, our community, it seems more complex.  In this scenario there seems to be more recognition of others and less comfort with ourselves.  Those sneaky words “competition” and “ego” come into play much more often when we’re around others more.  Am I off base here?  Maybe I am reading into this too much, but I don’t think so.  In some ways, it’s easier to be alone, but then we find ourselves lonely, so then the dilemma continues in another suffering direction.  So again, we are refusing ourselves of the simple pleasures of life, breathing in acceptance.

Just when you think you’re in acceptance, something happens to you and you catch yourself thinking “I should have done this instead of that”, “I wonder what s(he) thinks of me”, or something like this.  Self-consciousness sets in again and your own fears arise, the same fears you thought were gone.

Part of acceptance is understanding yourself as a human being.  We are a simple yet complex species.  We think we are so intelligent and yet our true knowing may rarely be highlighted because of our self-reservations.  But the reality of life is that there are many people in your life who love, support and accept you for who you are.  The question is, “Are you in a place where you can love, support and accept yourself for who you are”?

In Love,

Susie

EMPOWER YOURSELF!!  Give your ‘normal’ self authority to be confident. Let’s talk about this a little more. Give yourself authority to be confident.  You may say, “Well yes, that’s just common sense.  I’m a confident person.  I get along ok in life with my choices”.  This is true in some circumstances perhaps.  And, my guess is that most folks who read this also have many hang-ups about yourself, chattering in the back of your mind regularly about what you “should do” or “change” about yourself.  This is a ‘normal’ thing of course and it’s also one that is potentially dangerous for your own empowerment.  You see we are living in a day and age where self-empowerment is not the norm.  It is not what mass consciousness thinks about or wants.  Rather, our culture is busy with the latest technology, hearing media that may shed a ‘hair of truth’, but really we are constantly being fed lies about a large number of situations!  In addition to these external misconceptions are our own fallacies that we tell ourselves.  We do not need to allow these mistaken beliefs to overtake us; we have choice in the matter.  We need to trust, support and love ourselves.  Here is a ‘given’ I would like to share with you:  you are trustworthy, supportive and loving!

Many people completely rely on others to ‘make them feel better’.  Our connection with others is one that is indescribable when trust, support and love are there. Relationships with these qualities we seek, honor and are grateful to have; we can depend on others in these situations.

Yet, how many of these relationships are actually in our lives, realistically? And, how often do we spend our time in these situations where trust, support and love are prominent? While preparing for this blog I did a little mathematical equation and scenario I’d like to share with you…

Pretend with me for a brief time…Let’s say you have an adult daughter.  Every time you talk to her she ‘ALWAYS makes you feel better’ no matter the situation.  She lives in Minnesota and you live in Denver, CO. Life is busy for you both, working, home life, weekends, etc…  You talk on the phone once per week for about an hour and see her twice a year for about a week at a time.  You spend about 164 hours per year talking with your daughter either in person or on the phone. Also, you have 3 good friends who you spend an hour with each week, talking and sharing your weekly stories. You also attend a 2-hours weekly social gathering with several of your friends.  Your spouse or significant other… you love each other, but you two are most likely focused on the day-to-day, work, or other circumstances and may or may not take time to talk about the meaningfulness in life, unless there is an absolute emergency situation.  In this scenario, you have about 170 hours of ‘real’ support from others throughout the year…maybe 200 for those wonderful moments you have with your spouse, or significant other…maybe a few more with your coworkers, other friends, family members and your pets…let’s take the number up to about 300 hours, in case I missed anything else.  In one year there are 5840 hours of life when we’re awake (given you sleep 8 hours per night).  The percentage of time you have that is emotionally supportive and makes you feel good while, relying on others:  (300hrs/5840hrs) X 100% = 5%. The time in your own life may be uniquely different so you may want to compute your own mathematical equation, if you’re interested in knowing your percentages, out of curiosity.

Do you want me to teach you how to feel self-empowered? What about the other 95% of the time?  You’re working, doing chores, taking care of life’s tasks or some other activities that are meaningful or meaningless, supportive or unsupportive.

Just by reading these words you are already on your way to self-empowerment…

How do I say this any other way? REALIZE how your time is spent with others, but mostly with yourself…  Are you in meaningful relationships?  Do you love yourself as much as you love others?  Are the hours in your day momentous or are they insignificant?  What kinds of things do you tell yourself when you’re alone?  How do you spend your time when you’re alone?  Are you as kind to yourself as you are to your family and friends?  I can’t answer these questions for you.  I can simply ask the questions.  Only you know the answers.

This next section is not full-proof by any means.  It is also not FDA approved and is not meant to diagnose, treat, or prescribe any sort of authority over you.  If it works great and if not…well hopefully you got a little laugh here and there.

Here are a few days worth of activities to start you on the right track to self-empowerment.  For most effect, commitment to the full 8 days is recommended.  And plan ahead for Day 4 to be a day off or at least a part day off from your busy work schedule.  You may want to begin the program on a Wednesday if you work a Monday-Friday job.

Your Journey to Self-Empowerment:

Day 1: Be yourself the way you usually are, doing what you normally do for today.  Take notes prior to going to bed on things like, what you did today, how you felt when you were doing the things you did, what was meaningful and what wasn’t meaningful.

Day 2: Be yourself again for today.  Take notes prior to going to bed on how things were for you today.  What did you do today, how did you feel when you were doing the things you did?  Did you notice certain thoughts through the day that stuck with you?  What was meaningful and what wasn’t meaningful?  Did you notice your thoughts, your self-talk?

Day 3: Wake up and review your last two nights’ notes during breakfast.  Allow your day to be filled with all of the things you normally do once again today. This is your life and it’s good to pay attention to it.  Take notes.  What happened today that made you happy, sad, fulfilled, unsatisfied??  What did you tell yourself today?  What else did you notice today?

Day 4:  Take a break today.  Go out and do something really special for yourself, something that you don’t normally do, but is always in the back of your mind or heart urging you to do it.  (I don’t mean something related to purchasing large ticket items, like boats, jewelry, clothing…).  Your excuse for not doing whatever this yearning is, usually goes something like “I’m too busy”,  “That’s out of character for me” or “I need to do these other things first”…  You have no time for that excuse today…if you’re still following this journey to self-empowerment, today is your day to have fun!  Enjoy!  At the end of the day before bed, again take notes about what was and wasn’t meaningful and how you felt throughout the day.

Day 5: Allow yourself to just be totally yourself today, doing the things you need and want to do.  Take notes at night prior to going to bed on things like, what you did today, how you felt when you were doing the things you did, what was meaningful and what wasn’t meaningful.  Notice if there is any difference in your thoughts and feelings throughout the day.

Day 6: Allow yourself to be fully you today.  Notice during the day your thoughts, feelings, actions throughout the day.  Take notes at night prior to going to bed on things like, what you did today, how you felt when you were doing the things you did, what was meaningful and what wasn’t meaningful.

Day 7: Today is a big day.  The day is the stop this plan all together after you do this one thing.  Make a conscious decision about the way you are in your life.  You are already deciding on your choices in life on a daily basis.  Today though, is the day to really decide, fully, responsively with full intention.  If you are in any situation that isn’t working for you, today is your day to decide how this will continue to play out in your life.  DECIDE what you are going to do or how you are going to be!!  You may decide that this whole “journey” is silly and that it’s not for you.  Maybe you have no new ideas inside of you right now.  Maybe you have some things that you’ve wanted to do awhile now, and now is the time.  Or this could have been a week where you were simply being mindful of your life, and that is enough.  No matter what the outcome of this journey, you did this for yourself for seven days.  Congratulations for focusing on your own self!

Day 8:  Today is another day in life full of decision-making with consciousness about your choices…Good luck, you are well on your way to mindful living with your own empowering skills!

You may think this is ridiculous and something not worthy of doing.  If so, that’s okay.  Recognize that this is your mind going back to the same ole tricks it plays on you oftentimes.  Your life is already important.  You are already an incredible person, in all of the roles you play in life.  You’ve just been mislead into believing differently, causing you to not believe in yourself.  This exercise is a start to noticing your life using a different method.

Please let me know how it goes.   Happy New Year!

In light and love to you,

Susie

What do you think about?  I know, I know…you think about all of the lists of ‘to do’s’ that you have, especially during the busy holiday season that we’re in.  Well give yourself a moment to stop thinking about all of those goal-oriented tasks, just for a moment.

This next part is your choice (of course it all is, really).  I want to keep this interactive for you.  To read the whole blog, simply continue reading.  To skip the depressing part go down to where it begins “EMPOWER”.

Ok……relax for a moment….pause…….breath…….  What are you thinking about?  What are you feeling when you stop and slow down for a moment? Do you feel love and joy?  Do you feel sad, alone, or anxious? If so, tell me, what are you thinking about?  Are you remembering something, missing something or someone or wishing you were in a different place?  Now what are you doing?  Are you still reading this or have you decided it is a waste of time, so now you’ve moved to another site that is more entertaining to distract your mind? (I’m not saying that distractions aren’t good things sometimes.)

Your mind has likely told you something about yourself that is not true.  You might be blaming yourself for something that happened years ago that you think was your fault or maybe you’re angry and you’re blaming someone else for something that happened in the past.  Or maybe you are just plain sad, alone or anxious for ‘no reason at all’.

Let’s take the word ‘blame’ for a moment.  ‘Blame’ means ‘consider somebody responsible’ or ‘criticize somebody’.  We do live in culture where blame is prominent either to ourselves or blame is shifted regularly to another person, another culture, another country.  We have learned about this since we were children.  Blaming others for whatever has gone ‘wrong’, is easy to do and takes us ‘off the hook’ so to speak.   Blaming ourselves brings feelings of ‘guilt’, ‘shame’, ‘regret’, ‘sadness’.  Blame is a ‘normal’ part of life really, isn’t it?

Geez…this is getting depressing, isn’t it?  STOP IT!!!!  I thought this started with the words “Empower yourself”…..Ok, let’s get back on track…

EMPOWER – “give authority to somebody” or “make more confident or assertive”.

YOURSELF – “making reference to somebody spoken to “ or “your normal self”

EMPOWER YOURSELF!!  Give your ‘normal’ self authority to be confident.  I know I played with the definition a bit on this, but I think you get what I’m trying to say, hopefully.

Empowering yourself is a little tricky, wouldn’t you say?  It’s takes away all of the fun of the ‘blame-game’.  Actually it’s simple, but sometimes the most simple things are the hardest to do.  Decision-making and commitment to yourself is the beginning to self-empowerment.  The fable here though is the script that keeps running through your mind over and over, what you’ve said to yourself for years, that you really have never even consciously noticed.  We are such creatures of habit that everything that we do again and again does seem ‘normal’.  Wait a second, I remember hearing one definition of insanity was “doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results”.  Hhhmmmmm.

I guess what I want to really say is this.  If you decide to take a few moments to yourself during this winter to let your thoughts and feelings come into your consciousness, remember that you have a choice in the matter.  This can go really deep, which I don’t want to go into right now, but if you want to chat more, you can always email me.  You do have a choice though in your circumstances, your thoughts, your feelings…it’s not easy to make that step into empowerment, but once you do you’ll be glad you did.  It gets easier each time you make that conscious choice.

Willingly prepared and ready for comments,

Susie

Many folks don’t take the time to acknowledge the stress, but it is definitely there.  A lot of unfinished business, unresolved issues and memories of past, appear during the holidays, on top of the extra tasks and lists of “to do’s”.  We may be “left to the wolves” in some ways as far as our emotions go.

This may sound ridiculous during this busy time, but still, I share my outrageous thoughts.  During this stressful time we need increased stillness in our minds and bodies.  Sitting in meditation or prayer are typical ways of practicing stillness, but calm may take whatever shape for you that works.  A few other examples might be going out in nature for a walk, sitting outside (with your warm clothes!) listening to nature, walking a labyrinth.  Stillness may be succeeded by singing (or listening to) an inspiring song or reading something that moves you, AND allowing yourself to be quiet for a few moments afterwards.  Taking a bath, spending time with your pet, creating something just for creating-sake, may help bring you to stillness.  I’m sure you have a few ideas of your own right now.  Basically, anything that slows your mind down and allows for an opening of quiet is a conduit towards stillness.

Being in stillness requires allowance…permission.  Luckily, we are moving into the winter when we are naturally inclined to move more inward into our own reflections.  This naturally brings to us more opportunity for silence.

Moments prior to the stillness can be rather challenging however.  Being still also involves patience, patience of ourselves, and mostly, patience for our minds to quiet down.  We may have to consciously interject our mind’s thoughts to allow the quiet to take precedence.

Stillness brings non-judgment, acceptance, unconditional love, beauty.  Decide to allow stillness to exercise authority over at least a small part of your day.  Give yourself permission to stop for a brief time and breath in the quiet…

Blessings of Silence,

Susie

In a recent concert (yes, me up on stage singing, with our ‘ole-time music’ band ‘Chicken Biscuit’), I sang, danced, smiled and felt as though I was singing out into the cosmos.  I was on a ‘high’ from the experience for a week.  As my partner said, “this high is better than any drug could ever be”.  I think it’s the closest to addicted I’ve been.  Shining so fully out into the world, with self-love and acceptance and showing the world (the audience there that night) me, was a fulfilling experience.  Singing from my heart, looking into the eyes of my partner and my other friends on stage, knowing that we all shared this time in life together, co-creating, sharing with others…WOW!  Words cannot really express the magnitude of this recent event.  I think I understand how famous performers feel.

Being the analyst that I am of human nature, I can also see how performing for others can become addictive in an unhelpful way, the high that you get, the low’s, the cycle of up’s and down’s, then along comes the other substances to keep you on the high (be it sex, drugs, rock and roll, whatever). There is a great deal to navigate in our world, through the light and darkness.

Another thing I discovered in this experience is how much attention you receive for being out in the world like this, both positive and negative.

With this recent experience, I am feeling more comfortable ‘in the light’ and I’m deciding that this is where I want to be rather than ‘in the dark’. I do not fully know what that means yet, but I am open to receiving whatever comes next for me in my walk of life.

Just as everyone reading this blog, I continue to ‘plug away’ with all of life’s daily interactions, activities and tasks.  As I do this I also look for those opportunities where I can shine my light more out into the world.

My wish for us all in these important days is that we each find our light, accept it, and discover the creativity, love, joy and passion that comes with shining that light.

With love and light,

Susie

Laughing in fun with myself is a lesson I have recently been taught through my own actions.  My frame of reference has been for such a long time, being the ‘good girl’, saying and doing the ‘right thing’.  With all of my recent transitions I’m seeing that I’m not always that ‘angel in white’, nor do I want to be.  My life has been filled with dramas, emotions, darkness, anger, fear…just like everyone else, despite my not liking or wanting this.

Juxtapose ‘clarity’ and ‘distance’ for a moment, as antonyms. Clarity brings clearness, lucidity, precision, transparency, while distance conveys coldness, detachment, reserve, and remoteness.  My practice recently has been one of giving things up, releasing, letting go of my identity as it has been for many years.  With that, the distance from myself is being renovated into more warmth, acceptance and laughter.  This is something I have been ‘working on’ for years, and now that I listen more with my heart rather than my ego, clarity is showing up.

Last week, I harvested onions from the garden. I felt a deep connection as I cleaned the soil from the nutrition rounds of deep purples, whites and yellows.  As I lay them in the sun to cure, I remembered a dream that I had several months ago about onions and a quiet sage-like man wearing a sunhat. “Onions are very complex, much like their many layers. You must really notice them to appreciate their beauty”, he shared.  Today I am peeling back my layers; what I’m learning is that I really like myself.  Hmmm!  All of those years of ‘trying to be a good person’ has taken me into a regime of mismanagement of myself, in some ways.  I’m not being hard on myself here…I’m just telling the truth, without judgment.  While on the outside I have seemed calm, cool, collective and grounded, on the inside I’ve gotten myself “into a real ‘mell of a hess’”, as my mom used to say.

The other thing that happened to me last week was that I found myself only wanting to clean, to clean my home, clean out my clothes, my closest, deeply dust, vacuum and wash the windows.  I couldn’t think of anything else.  Luckily, I gave myself permission to do these time-consuming tasks without fear of ‘not being productive’.

I cannot say that these last few weeks have been like a picnic on the beach.  The time has felt surreal.  What I have found in my noticing and following my urges, is that I am doing the ‘right’ thing.  My process has been comical when I think about it.

Letting go more and laughing with myself is becoming more comfortable.  I am only human and I do make mistakes. Now, I can say with a smile on my face that I do find it hard sometimes to admit my own slip-ups, but that gives me another opportunity to notice my ego at play against my heart.

Today, for the first time in awhile, I feel clearer, like I am beginning anew.  As I let go, clean, and laugh, I’m accepting myself more fully and I’ve decided to no longer ‘hide’ from the world.  Invisibility has taken me to this point in life and now, it is time to be visible!  The time is here for all of us…to…wake up…smell the coffee…feel the warmness of the sun on your back…let go of the theatre performance…and see the majestic mountain in yourself!

“High on the mountain, standing all alone, wondering where the years of my life have gone”…   Susie

“We’re moving to Palm Springs in two weeks.  You’re doing us a favor”, Annie said with brightness in her voice.  “We feel relieved knowing that you and Nick will be taking this on for us”.  In a flash we were the adopted parents of a reputable garden metal art/glass business.  The passing of the wand from one to another in a relay race is what this instant seemed to be.  The importance of this event seemed to me to be like an elder leaving his legacy with one who would continue its tradition.

Within the matter of days, we had rented a storage unit, loaded and unloaded several trailers full and vanload trips of supplies, materials and tools to continue this craft.

Another day later, we got yet another phone call, “This is your new best friends.  We have some more things for you”.  As we went there to pick up the last of things (we thought), I saw the gentleness in both of their hearts.  Nick walked around with Jimmy, hearing his stories and passing on all of the nuts and bolts details about each trick that he had discovered over his time doing his craft.

Just a few days earlier as I walked with Jim to set up the metal sunflowers for the Art Studio Tour, I had a glimpse into the future as I saw the results of his ‘engineer mind’ at work.  “You and Nick are so much alike in the way you create things.  You’ve thought it all through to the last detail”.  I smiled at Nick and he knew what I was talking about, and so did Jimmy.

I walked inside with Annie and she humbly, yet proudly, showed me where her new focus was, her quilting.  The bright blues, greens, purples, reds, yellows…all of the colors of the rainbow and then some.  The designs seemed to just come to her, like in a dream somehow.  This is another chapter in her magic for sure.  As she shared stories about each lovely creation, my heart filled more for this warm couple.

My only thought now as I write about this memory is that I wish that we had known this munificent couple prior to two weeks ago.  Yet, somehow I know that if we’d known them this dreamlike moment in time may not have had the same impact on us all.  I only hope that we can pass it forward to another someday as Jimmy and Annie have graciously done for Nick and me.