Thursday, December 30, 2010

A Michael Jackson Mural in the Kansas City Jazz District Vanishes


This is a bit uncanny. A few weeks ago I grabbed my camera when I decided to run a few errands. I don't usually do that, although I'd been promising myself I would since I so often see things I wish I had a better camera than the one on my phone to try to capture. So, since I did have it with me that day I decided to stop and take pictures of the murals on the Buck O'Neil Education and Research Center, but, I also thought I'd take a picture of another mural in the same area - one that had gone up as a tribute to Michael Jackson right after his untimely passing.

To my great surprise, as I was driving along 18th Street yesterday I glanced over at the wall where the Michael Jackson tribute mural was and it wasn't! It was gone! In it's place a wall of white paint!

I'm not sure why it was painted over. Perhaps there's new ownership of the building where it was or maybe something else is going to be painted in its place. I just know that for some reason that day I felt an urge to stop at the light and point my camera in that direction. It's not the greatest shot, it didn't get the full essence of the larger figure of Michael that I remembered having been there, but here it is.


Peggy




BTW, I believe this is at the corner of 18th and Troost Avenue. If anyone knows the name of the artist please let us know!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Negro League Murals - Kansas City 18th & Vine District



Photographs: Peggy T. Love, Copyright - All Rights Reserved

I recently photographed these murals that are being painted on the side of the new Buck O'Neil Education and Research Center in the 18th & Vine District in Kansas City, Missouri. The Negro League had a very rich and profound history in Kansas City and the 18th & Vine District also houses the internationally renown Negro League Baseball Museum.

Thought I'd share. They are enormous and breathtaking. Add them to your bucket list of must "sees"!

Monday, December 06, 2010

A New Cover for Loving Buddy



There has been some great feedback on the novella, Loving Buddy! As hoped, our main character, Kaye Hawkins, has managed to wiggle herself into the hearts of her new readers and where to and how and why from here has become a must! Look for more soon.

Thanks all!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Loving Buddy featured in KN-Observer Daily News


Nice feature on Loving Buddy in the KN-Observer Daily News entitled E-Love: Writes About World of 13-year-old Kaye!

Loving Buddy is available for Kindle through Amazon.com and for multiple other readers and computer ebook means through Smashwords.com.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Going Digital - eBook's Rock





Amazon just added "Loving Buddy" to it's eBook line up. There aren't too many people that I know that are avid readers that don't already have a Kindle, but just in case you don't have I thought you might like this information! Make "Loving Buddy" your first Kindle read! Click here to buy "Loving Buddy" (for $2.99 !) Click the link about to purchase your Kindle!

Enjoy!

Friday, October 29, 2010

New eBook for Young Adults - Loving Buddy


It's here!

LOVING BUDDY
a Young Adult Novella
by
Peggy Eldridge-Love
an eBook

Meet the Hawkins, a family steeped in religion generations deep. Through the eyes of 13-year-old Kaye Hawkins we get a bird's eye scoop on life inside the preacher's home, the stresses of being a PK, especially if you are her brother Buddy, the boy all the girls want to call their own! You'll fall in love with this great girl with her old soul and beautiful humor. We promise you'll want more!

Download now
!



Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Prayer for Her Man

Prayer for Her Man

He came home all bloody again Lord.
I could tell he'd been fightin',
could smell the stench of
unfairness and inequity oozing
from his pores,
but it wasn't him I was worried about,
it was them.
 
Them poor ignorant folk don't realize
how I pray for him, and
don't know how you always hear -
they think they can jest do him
any ole' kinda way
as if he jest somebody don't nobody
see or respect,
as if he ain't one of your peculiar
people who you love and protect,
as if they know you better than
he do and you favor them
over him jest cause they...
 
Lord I ain't even sure they really
know you at all,
how can they and not see
how bright 'a light you put
in my man's mind,
how strong you made his back
and hands,
how perfect and faithfully
you made the love inside him
that keeps right on flowing
and growing even when he
comes home
 
all bloody cause he been fightin'
unfairness and inequity until
it stinks and oozes from his pores, but
he falls down on his knees
with me to give thanks to you
for the opportunity.
 ©Peggy Eldridge-Love
You Beckon 2002
Page 4


Get "YOU BECKON" here!

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Peggy Eldridge-Love


Peggy Eldridge-Love

Have you visited my web site recently? Click here for a deeper detailed look at art, music, crafts, thoughts, ideas, poetry, family, and more. Enjoy!

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Natural Sleep Supplement - Nature Made Sleep - "I Love When the Sun Goes Down" by Peggy


Natural Sleep Supplement - Nature Made Sleep - "I Love When the Sun Goes Down" by Peggy

Please check out my entry into this children bedtime story contest! Would love your vote!

The objective of the project is to create a short bedtime story that will encourage you little one to fall asleep. I'll admit, it was a lot of fun!

Thanks so much!

Peggy

(Wow! I forgot the link! Here you go: Click Here to Read and Vote!)

Monday, September 27, 2010

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Timothy Stelly Sr. Reviews Peach Seeds


Timothy Stelly Sr (Pittsburg, CA)'s review of Peach Seeds

Timothy Stelly, Sr. gives a great review of the chapbook Peach Seeds at Goodreads!

Thursday, September 09, 2010

A few readings ...



Click Here to listen to Peggy's readings of Pink Chanel, The Girl at the Bus Stop, Thespian Monte and You've Got Mail. They were recorded for Miporadio and continue to be some of her most favorite works.

If you would rather, you can cut and paste the link into your own browser:
http://miporadio.posterous.com/peggy-eldridge-love

Monday, August 30, 2010

Facebook | Love Wraps - Hats and Scarves


Facebook | Love Wraps - Hats and Scarves (click here)

Check out the new season of handmade scarves and hats, and other fiber goodies from Peggy Eldridge-Love.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Ribbon of Intonations: Peach Seeds

Ribbon of Intonations: Peach Seeds (Click to read the review.)

To say I am speechless after reading this review by Jim K. is an understatement beyond measure.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Linda Benninghoff Review of Peach Seeds by Peggy Eldridge-Love



Peach Seeds
By Peggy Eldridge Love
MiPoesias Chapbook Series

Reviewed by Linda Benninghoff

With an image, a phrase or an outline of a brief incident, Peggy Eldridge Love can capture so much about a person or place: as in “Peach Seeds,” her poem to her mother.

She didn’t like that I thought I was adopted.
She leaned her face into mine so that we
were eye to eye.
I was the worst pain she’d ever known;
Nine hours with complications…

She was no more amused when I decided
I was really the reincarnation of an English
] princess held captive
by a bevy of sixteenth century dysfunctional nuns.

The poem is rich with imagination, as when the poet imagines herself a princess, imprisoned by nuns. For the poet, imagination plays a part in forming identity, and she lets her imagination play, and it plays with words.

In “Induced Labor,” two diametrically opposed lovers are set off against each other, and the poet plays with language to sharpen and reveal this opposition.

I know you love me
and when he doesn’t I run

to your memory, my shelter

deep in the limestone covered

caves of my youth.

I know that you did

and when I remember

how callus I was with your

vulnerability I wonder of

karma’s weight.

And were I now to find y ou,

and love you, and woo you

would you no longer

love me, would I then need

to run to the cavern of

his memory, safe in knowing

he never did.


Some of the poems deal with love, either a mother’s love, or a lover’s love, but the brushstrokes are original and the imagination rich.


In “Circle of the Muse,” the poet imagines a muse hanging around to her right in Kansas City. Whose muse is it? It may be Hemingway’s: another imaginative jump in poems full of imagination.


In “Red Girl,” the poet picks a few details and subtly captures a young girl.


Red girl, we called her,

since the burst of curls, the

sprinkle of rusty highlights

that graced her cheeks

were the envy of all the shades in our

Crayola box.


Then Red Girl disappears at the end of the poem and her disappearance is unexplained, a mystery.


These poems capture mystery, the quest for identity and love, but do so in an original way, with imagery that leaps off the page and makes the chapbook “Peach Seeds” unforgettable.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Peggy Eldridge-Love


Peggy Eldridge-Love (click to listen)

Reading by Peggy of her poem "Gossip" from You Beckon (page 71).


Gossip

Flat land stretches
silent, pleased to keep its
secrets, protective of the
moonless sky that will labor
with the birth; pushing up,
pushing out through the earth.

In the morning, new stones,
still damp with afterbirth,
will cry for the breast
of Mother Earth.

They are bastards,
the sun will whisper;
no mountain has spewed them,
no hills loosed them,
no accounting for their being
here where
horizon and sun
are one.

Fatherless,
the wind will echo.
Shameless,
the stars will bellow.
Silent,
the moon will stay,
knowing why it disappeared.

You Beckon 2002 Write On Writers Peggy Eldridge-Love

MiPOesias Magazine 2008 Best of cafe' cafe....

MiPOesias Magazine 2008 Best of cafe' cafe....

Saturday, August 21, 2010

MiPOesia-Chapbook Series

Two of the chapbooks of poems published in the 2010 MiPOesia-Chapbook Series. Peach Seeds by Peggy Eldridge-Love and Delicious Dangerous by Michelle McEwen


**********************

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

A New Work in Clay


Photo: Clay Sculpture by Peggy Eldridge-Love

A new work I recently finished in Cernit clay, but I'm really torn as to the title I want to use for this work. Sometime the "The Crooner's Last Song" seems to fit him best, while other times it seems "Our Family Griot" feels more right! Who knows, it might even turn out to be something different.

Regardless of his name he seems at one with his world. His sense of peace and personal well-being I've come to believe is to be envied!

Peggy

Saturday, July 24, 2010

GOSS 183: new chapbook: Peach Seeds by Peggy Eldridge-Love


GOSS 183: new chapbook: Peach Seeds by Peggy Eldridge-Love

"Peach Seeds" is a part of the Mipoesias Chapbook Series. A dozen Eldridge-Love poems from a dozen different angles that promise to make a whole!

Click here to preview.

It is also available for download for free to the iPad.


Sunday, July 11, 2010

You Beckon Poetry Run


Wow!

Not sure what's up, but there's a sudden 'run' on You Beckon! Now I'm definitely not complaining, but not sure what has triggered it.

If you by chance know could you leave me a comment please and provide me with the link, point me to the new (I assume) review or article if you've run across it, or if you know of anything else that might have lit this fire.

Thanks!

Peggy

Autographed copy link below.







Enter Your Autograph Request




From Old System 086

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Short Story in Mipoesias Magazine OCHO #30


I have a short story titled "War Paint" in Mipoesias Magazine OCHO #30. Sometimes we find that the reason why is heavier than the what and knowing is more painful than ignorance.

Lots of other great poetry and fiction included too from the likes of Bob Hicok, Grace Cavalieri, Eileen R. Tabios, Letitia Trent, Flavia Tamayo, Sam Rasnake, Nick Carbo, Christine Klocek-Lim, David Krump, Andrei Guruianu, and Cheryl Townsend. Check out the online issue below!

Oil Painting from American Poets Series: Peggy Eldridge-Love
by Didi Menendez



Tuesday, June 01, 2010

A Breeze in May


Spent Memorial Day with a most extraordinary young person. Someone who so has the world by its tail it is spellbinding to watch. She has the gift of focus and concentration, self-discipline doesn't seem to be a chore to her, but rather it exhilarates, she admits to having an idea of what she wants, but isn't closed to it changing or expanding, and she's grounded in her spiritual beliefs, her own set of morals and joy of living.

She's nineteen.

I've had the pleasure of watching this young woman's life unfold since she was a day or two old. Who she is today is who she was at one, at six, at eleven and sixteen. Life was not always kind. She had some major heartbreaks and devastating set-backs that could easily have embittered her. They did hurt her, she is still singed by the pain of those disappointments, but even the little girl in her understood that she had a choice of whether or not to allow them to empower her or stifle her. She appeared to understand the power of choice and to exercise it to her better good even as a toddler.

Her personal fortitude and the sacrifices of those who love her, especially a single mother who moved too many mountains to count into the sea with her unrelenting faith and hard work, has garnered her an opportunity that is stamped in 24-karat gold with the words across it "American Dream". But it was listening to the wisdom of this young lady, witnessing the humble knowledge of what she held in her hands and her commitment to herself and to a world of other responsible people not to squander it, that was mesmerizing.

She's already contributed a lifetime of selfless service; community volunteer, educational mentor to children and adults, mayor of an urban branch of the Boys and Girls Club, diplomat for an organization that was instrumental in giving bright, talented young people like her "keys" to a better life, and it's ingrained in her to continue to give back whatever, whenever she can. She loves life, she lives life everyday to its fullest possible extent. And when you spend a beautiful, breezy late May afternoon on a porch with her you cannot help but be inspired to try to do the same.

Friday, May 21, 2010

From the Mouths of Babes

Lesson 101 : Thoughts Are ...

Monday, May 17, 2010

Peterson and Eldridge, Associates LLC Welcomes Hense Powell

The principals of Peterson and Eldridge, Associates LLC take special pride in announcing the addition of Hense Powell, one of the most celebrated musical directors in the industry, to their team of professionals.

Hense’s incomparable fingerprint as composer, arranger, producer, band leader, song writer and teacher has been solidly affixed on the musical landscape for more than thirty-five years. He has worked with Bloodstone, Bobby Womack, La’mont Dozier, Brook Benton, Charles Wright, Brenton Wood, Nina Simone, Edwin Starr, Richard Dimples Field, L L Cool J, Johnny Bristol, Junior Walker, Solomon Burke, Dorothy Moore, Brenda Halloway, B.B. King, Junior Walker, Tyrone Davis, Little Milton, Robert Guillaume, Margie Joseph and many more. He is himself an accomplished jazz musician; a noted trumpeter and piano player.

Powell’s added presence to the team brings exhilarating opportunities and enhanced potential for Peterson and Eldridge, Associates, LLC artists and clients.

Friday, May 07, 2010

New Poem in Poets and Artists (O&S) June 2010 Issue



One of my poems has been included in this issue of Poets and Artists (O&S)! This one is entitled Free Wrapping with Purchase (After Christmas Sale) and can be found on page 82. As with all my poetry, I hope it provokes an 'ah ha' or a nod or a tear or a laugh, or whatever emotion it stirs. If so, I've been true to my art, true to the craft.

It is always a thrill to be included with such extraordinary artistic talents, and this time is no exception. Thumb through the issue now and please, enjoy!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Bloodstone Has New Management Team


Bloodstone


Peggy Eldridge-Love of Peterson and Eldridge, Associates LLC is pleased to announce that Peterson and Eldridge, Associates has recently been named manager of the soul group Bloodstone. Management duties for Bloodstone will be shared by Peggy and Pete.




Peterson and Eldridge, Associates, LLC

Peggy Eldridge-Love
P.O. Box 410554
Kansas City, Missouri 64141
(229)809-3069
plovewriter@gmail.com

Pete Peterson
1214 W. 4th Avenue
Albany, Georgia 31707
(229)431-0906
pretty_pete1@yahoo.com

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The 'Hollywood Deception' Red Carpet Online Tour





Poetry in Motion Part Deaux

By Guest Blogger Shelia M Goss

The Hollywood Deception Red Carpet tour makes a stop on Peggy Eldridge-Love's blog. If you've been following me on the tour, you learned last week that although I have nine novels, I started out writing poetry. Peggy is one of my favorite modern day poets so since I'm making a stop here, I would like to share one of my earlier pieces of poetry. My main character Hailey Barnes from my new novel, Hollywood Deception loves poetry just like her creator.

If I Could

by Shelia M. Goss

If I could be anyone else in the world,

Guess who would it be?

I would be just like me,

but Better.

If I could love as deep as the ocean depths,

I would love deeper than any sea could be.

If I could be a star in the sky,

I would be the Sun.

Because the sun brightens up the day

when darkness passes away.

If I could be loved by someone,

I would be loved by you.

If I’m loved by you, then who would I want to be.

I would be just like me,

Why do you ask?

Because I’ve finally found you.

Shelia M Goss is the national best-selling author of six women's fiction novels: Hollywood Deception (2010), His Invisible Wife, My Invisible Husband, Roses are thorns, Paige’s Web, Double Platinum and three young adult books: The Lip Gloss Chronicles series: The Ultimate Test, Splitsville, and Paper Thin. For more information, visit her website: www.sheliagoss.com or www.thelipglosschronicles.com.

What readers are saying about Hollywood Deception:

"With Hollywood Deception Shelia Goss has done it again. Love, lies and delicious drama! Pick this book up and you won't be able to put it down. Be ready though - this fun novel is not a passive read. You'll be yelling at Hailey, relating to her, wanting to slap her and cry with her all at the same time. Hollywood Deception is an all around good read full of scandal, just the way we like it. Well done, Ms. Goss!" ~Abiola Abrams is an Author & Media Personality. Viewers also know Abiola as the host of BET's short film show and Miss Picky of VH1's Tough Love. www.abiolatv.com

“Glitz, Glamour & LOADS of Drama…Ms. Goss once AGAIN keeps me turning the pages with another ENTERTAINING, yet fictional glimpse into the fast-paced lifestyle of a celebrity.” ~ Sweet N Sassy, Book Reviewer

Hollywood Deception is Shelia Goss' ninth book. It's available in hardcover and paperback and is available in stores or online from any of the online outlets such as Amazon.com, BlackExpressions.com, Borders, Barnes and Noble, etc.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

George B. Luttrell II 1969

Note: This item is now available on Etsy.








What an interesting find! I found these two prints (silk screen ?) mounted on wooden blocks today in a thrift store. They are by the noted New Orleans artist George B. Luttrell II and are dated 1969, signed boldly on the back of each. One is named in the lower left corner "Balcony 639 St. Peter". Reminds me of a similar find I made not so long ago of a Jorge Dumas "Mother and Child" - a truly awesome piece that dated from 1964 that was signed and numbered.

I've recently acquired several numbered and/or signed pieces that I am researching. A couple of signatures I can't make out, a couple of others I've found limited information on. Then there is one entitled Gotzens by Rietmeyer 1984, a Martin Tang of the Golden Gate Bridge, Pacific Edge by Walton Butts, Rough N' Tumble by Allen F. Brewer, Jr. 1960, something by C.C. Prysioc and another very nice watercolor by an artist named Eunice K. Gavan from 1988.

There are a number of "road less traveled" I like to call them thrifts where I've been finding quite interesting art. One of these days who knows what I'll dig up!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Of this one thing you can be sure!




There is NOTHING too hard for the Lord! Run with it!

Monday, April 05, 2010

Southern Journeys - Papa Jim


I just saw this excellent news clipping about the opening of the African-American fine arts exhibition "Southern Journeys" at the Appleton Museum in Ocala, Florida. A wonderful mention of Sonny's (aka Leroy Allen) portrait of our grandfather "Papa Jim"by the museum director, Ruth Grim, on the second page of the article.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20100401/articles/4011008?p=2&tc=pg

It also brings back all my own memories of that awesome giant of a man. I captured him myself, actually at Sonny's suggestion, in my poem "Papa Jim" from my book You Beckon. He etched him in pencil and I tried to etch him on the tip of my poetic pen.

Here is that poem:


Papa Jim

He came into view, a giant of a man,
as red as the Mississippi dirt he farmed,
as liquid as the artisan springs that flow
unbidden from craggy cliffs and hills
that dot his land.

We poured from the whale-shaped chevy,
road weary but bright-eyed, seeing
for the first time to remember, our dear
Papa Jim.

I think I wrapped myself around a knee, my
brother somehow landed in his arms, while
mother, his daughter, beamed that this
one man's family was, for a moment at least,
all home. Our own father, arms draped about
my sister's neck, waited for his turn.

We were Kansas hicks, not quite city, but
completely dumb to the nature of chickens,
goats and pigs. He led us into hen houses,
rode us through pastures, taught us to swim
in his muddy pond. He was oblivious to the
scent of Magnolias but they became his smell

and when my mind conjures it the box of colors
in my memory come to life.

We must have driven back across
that wooden bridge that had no rails,
surely there were hugs and waves
goodbye, and at some point his image there
standing in the middle of the road shrunk into
the distance,

surely,

but though decades have mounted
and the earth has claimed him I have
never left those sun hours spent in
the radiance of his wholeness.

Through him I am.


You Beckon - 2002 - Write On Writers, Publisher - Peggy Eldridge-Love

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Putting My Hand to It


"My First Bird" Work in Satin, Peggy Love 2010"

"The Cook's Last Meal" Mixed-Media, Peggy Love 2010




It has been a month since I took the plunge. A month of seeking a sense of direction and exploring creative impulses. In truth, it has mostly been a month of just plain fun. At this point I'm not taking anything I turn out too serious. It is more giving head to whatever comes.

A couple of works-in-progress that have "come" include a mixed-media work tentatively titled "The Cook's Last Meal". It's a quasi-needle sculpted doll, stuffed, but not wired, no painted face as yet - not sure if it is calling for one. At first I was building it around a doll head I'd created sometime ago from Cernet clay, but it took on another feel; a need to be mounted on canvas with a story to tell. The dear old cook, after one too many hot days in the kitchen has keeled over on the kitchen floor. I think she'll be able to get up ... at least the hope is that she will, but she, along with her faithful old trivet, are at the moment down for the count.

"My First Bird", on the other hand, is ready for flight. The inspiration came from a thrift store find - a thick book of vintage satin fabric swatches - that were just begging for some special use. Thus, my first attempt at creating a stuffed bird. I drew and cut out a patten, rattled through my boxes of sewing notions, and let the imagination fly. What fun!

Otherwise, I am writing. Actually I'm taking a few creative writing courses to bolster my confidence and expand my skills (I hope). The triggers and the cracking of the shell of new ideas is fabulous. The words are starting to just pour forth. I'm so grateful.

That's my update. I can only hope next month is as productive and holds as much fun!

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Leroy W. Allen; The Man, The Artist, The Brother

Partial image of 'Papa Jim', Leroy W. Allen, on cover of Studio Museum of Harlem Spring 2002 program


First Anniversary of 9/11 issue of Kansas City Star with watercolor by Leroy W. Allen titled 'Closer Still'

'Jessica' watercolor, Leroy W. Allen (Private Collection, Copyright J.Clark and L. Allen)

Leroy W. Allen





The Man
Coming upon this third anniversary of the death of my brother, Leroy Allen, it is the bittersweet savor of the depths of his gift as an artist, the strength of his character as a man, the love he exuded as a father, son, brother and uncle that has taken on a radiant new light for all the world to see which touches me, his sister, most.

He was a quiet, private man, who loved with the force of an ocean, was unashamed to show his gentleness, was fiercely loyal and who lived by the code that his word was his bond.

That is the Leroy we knew, and is slowly becoming the one so many others now see through the pictures he created and the words he left behind.

The Artist

There were many facets to his art. He had award winning works in oils, watercolors, pastels and pencil and charcoal. He became a noted figurative artist, but also created a body of works in still life and landscapes. His art can be found in the collections of major corporations such as Sprint, in galleries such as The Nerman Gallery of Contemporary Art, and in national fine art tours. The Kansas City Star's first anniversary of 9/11 issue was a full page watercolor of Leroy's titled Closer Still.

In several instances though, his figurative characters were members of the family. His celebrated piece, Papa Jim, is a nearly life sized charcoal drawing of our maternal grandfather, a Mississippi farmer. Another watercolor, titled By Faith, is of an elderly aunt who was blind whom he asked if she would trust him and remove her dark glasses so he could capture her essence on canvas.

Yet another extremely poignant watercolor work titled Jessica is of a beautiful little girl about to participate in a wedding, but the story behind the painting is that he poured his love and grief for our mother, following her death, into every single stroke, down to and including the shining light reflected off her tiny patten leather shoes.

Brother, Father, Son and Uncle

It is the love of this man and for this man that we, his family, celebrate his living now. He was truly our blessing.


Papa Jim is included in the fine art tour Southern Journeys (click on the second gallery image) which is just being launched by ExhibitsUSA. I had the inexpressible pleasure of seeing the drawing of Papa Jim for the first time again in December 2009 since approximately a year before Leroy's death in 2007. It was that bittersweet savor of the love of this man, this profoundly special human being, that radiated out to me as I connected with this extraordinary work and him once again. It left me with a warm, and undeniable sense of well-being.

Leroy was our blessing. He always will be.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

One

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Organizing the Venture




So, finally, I've done it! I've taken my leap of faith and the venture begins in earnest. The first two orders of business will be mentally relaxing and transitioning from heading to work everyday to giving myself permission to follow my creative instincts where they lead instead. The second will be organizing the various areas in my house where I can focus and concentrate on a specific "discipline" with some reasonable sanity! That is the true challenge.

The easy one I'm tackling first. Where to store and organize the wonderful collection of yarns that I've both purchased and been gifted from friends. I don't want them in the area where I sew and create dolls because the tools, the materials, the mind-set and the commitment are totally different. I find that I really tend to knit wherever I go around the house, so it is more the storage and the ability to have colors, textures, needles and hooks where they ought to be when I want or need them that this space needs to provide.

I'm also improvising with the storage, using empty copy paper boxes for now to house some of the yarns until I can acquire something more aesthetic ... which may be never! The other bins are great for storing the knitting tools, purse handles, snaps and the like, receipts and instruction books, and my more expensive or unusual yarns.

So this is step one in organizing my venture. Once I have my creative studio spaces in order my mind will be much more at ease and the primary venture -- my writing -- will flow much better as well. I'm excited!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Roles Not Rules

Copyright Nudgies Greeting Card - See: I Can Bend


Roles change. The issue is that we sometime don’t recognize, acknowledge, and move into those changes in a timely fashion. When we don’t our lives start to sputter and stall much like a car with worn out spark plugs. We keep emotionally turning the key, putting our foot on the gas, and sometimes our engines will turn over and we’ll start to move, but we know things aren’t as they should be, and know absolutely that it is time for a tune-up if we want to continue to travel forward.

Recognizing, understanding, and accepting role changes can be one of life’s most rewarding opportunities. It isn’t easy necessarily, but it doesn’t need to be horrifically difficult either. We just have to be willing…to grow.

If you are a Christian, as I am, you know that throughout the Bible no one who was used of the Lord remained the same. They were in constant movement, constant challenge, constant growth, and constant need of His guidance and direction. David, for example, started out as a shepherd boy and ended up as a King. Mary began as a quiet young virgin and became the mother of God. Paul was the enemy of Christ and became His most ardent proponent.

Their roles changed. They had to let go of something in order to take hold of something more, something greater than themselves and their own limited image of just what they wanted or just how they thought it should be. And, they had to sacrifice their grip on pride and fear in order to move into the realm of the unknown will of God.

My roles have changed. My roles are changing. I am learning and I have begun to reach up and out so that I can crawl into the open arms of the Lord’s will for me. I’m growing.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Gratefulness


Gratefulness is so powerful. It really is. It is also an event, an occurrence, a type of other world experience when it hits you with all its undeniable evidence.

Yesterday it slammed into me with such force it was almost more than I could comprehend. I was driving, out much earlier in the morning than normal, headed to take care of a task that has become somewhat arduous, and with lots of other nagging little things on my mind. My route though was taking me past parts of the city that were a part of my childhood, adolescence and early adulthood and the memories began to flow.

One by one I thought of what had been a part of my life as opposed to what might have been. I was so keenly aware of the love, of the favor, of the opportunities, of the kindness, of the grace, of the support, and so very much more. And as those thoughts cascaded the floodgates of gratefulness were thrust open and I saw how much I had truly to be thankful for from the moment I was born.

That journey to gratefulness was priceless. My pulse raced, the tears fell, and the praise arose. The more I thought, the more clear the minute details of my every little blessing became to me. How they all were as opposed to how they all might have been.

Having taken that powerful journey once I know I'll never take my life's blessings for granted again, and I pray I'll be able to retrace my travel to gratefulness time and time and time again. It changes things.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Who You Gonna Call...


After a particularly trying day last week I was driving and whining aloud "I'm so tired, Lord. So tired!". It felt like my soul was breaking and my voice rose to a higher octave as I really got into my anguish mantra when, to my surprise, I heard myself saying, "I am so blessed, Lord. So blessed!" The praise took over from there. Even though the cheerleader of the enemy tried to yell louder about my anguish, it was drown out, no match, for the victor who had taken its place! By the time I arrived at my destination I knew I was blessed, knew I had renewed energy to spare, knew that I, in fact, could do all thing through Him who strengthened me! And, I did.