2024 is groaning under the weight of all the happenings of the year.
Too many happenings to list here.
Are you groaning as well?
Here’s the cure…
Slip into your snuggly warm jammies, or comfortable sweats, grab a warm cup of your favorite steamy brew, take your preferred throw or blanket and settle in-front of the fire.
A big roaring fire.
Listen to the crackles as little sparks pop from the blaze. Watch the flames of the fire rise, rise to the sky or up the firebox.
Give your thoughts of the year to those flames.
Let the flames take the weight of 2024 with them.
Rising into the heights of the heavens, then dissipating in the air.
Allow the smoke to fill your nostrils like incense, purifying your soul.
Watch the flames licking the logs slowly turning the surfaces into glowing, red searing heat sources. Soak in this heat. Sit quietly and let the weight of 2024 escape from your body.
Soak in enough of the heat that you need to toss the blanket aside.
Quiet your mind. Think about the flames making the logs smaller. Let your stressful thoughts shrink as well. Breathe deeply. A new morning is coming. 2025 will arrive like a new babe. Welcome it into your life– Uncorrupted, Renewed, Original.
From the ashes of 2024, let something new be created in you this coming year.
Embrace the possibility of new beginnings. Wrap them around yourself like the blanket you previously tossed.
I recently started a new project, as I felt my mindset had slipped out of some traditional thought patterns. I pulled a gratitude journal from the bookshelf as I decided I needed to get back into the habit of practicing gratitude.
Each writing offers a two-page spread, with the first page having some thoughts to ponder, some scripture reminders, and the subsequent page is for writing and a brief prayer for ending the session.
My writing will remain private, but I wanted to share the thoughts to ponder from one day. Day five, to be more precise.
Some of the truths I’ve known for years, yet somehow, allowed these truths to escape from personal practices. Sometimes we all need reminders.
Yet I was fascinated by the idea that one’s mind actually expands based upon our focus. I liked the examples they used and could see experiences from my past to support the statement.
The world we currently live in bombards us with information designed to grab our minds and cause us to be fearful or distrusting of others. Allowing such thoughts to occupy my mind creates the possibility for a stream of emotions and actions which I don’t want to be used to describe me. I can accomplish an alternative outcome with how I choose to think. When I ponder all I have to be grateful for, or the beauty surrounding me, I will become more optimistic and content. The prospect of becoming more optimistic and content is exciting; which should cause increased happiness, increased health and more fun for those I interact with.
So, I have started the “100 Days of Grace & Gratitude.”
During the day’s reflection, I pondered the completion of another trip around the sun and found myself standing on the threshold to another decade. It’s unfathomable I’ve moved through so many years. Yet, here I am.
Taking chances Isn’t that what life is about? Another journey around the sun. Out with the old, In with the new What does it mean to you?
The sun is shining, lighting up the land around me Blue sky intensifying the colors of the day A light breeze blows beckoning me outdoors Just as the new year beckons me to throw aside caution And enter with wild abandon into the unknown future
The future – …another year older …deeper understanding …new challenges and adventures await …refining or honing skills …giving up unrealistic expectations …savoring the gift of another day …tenderly holding precious memories …valuing relationships …acknowledging more, the power of God’s love …and learning how to walk more in this love
It is all a chance. A chance I take willingly.
Out with the old, In with the new What does it mean to you?
I write for freedom – freedom from expectations; to gain freedom or clarification about events that have happened. I write when I’m happy or overjoyed about some happening or circumstance. I write when I’m lonely and find comfort in visiting another place or time. Sometimes I write because the words are overflowing in my mind and I need to sort them out. Other times I write because something needs to be said to another that is too important to just say and then have it vanish into thin air. I write because words are important to me!
The following piece is something from 2009. Enjoy! And please share your reactions.
Closet Writer Breaks Out
The closet writer is on the loose. She could be anywhere! You may not recognize her for what she is. She appears as any woman you might pass on the street. She enjoys life and lives it to the fullest. She has a family, a day job and could be participating in any life experience. Yet, she’s the one who writes long descriptive letters to friends and family members. Sometimes it’s easier to put her thoughts down in words than to speak them.
Her secret dream is to be a writer. She won’t tell you she’s a writer even though she spends many hours of her day writing. She harbors some fear associated with sharing this, thinking others may judge her. Yet, you will find her busy at night scribbling in her journals, or sneaking away for a few minutes here and there with pen in hand or laptop in tow. The words quickly fill the page and the journals are tucked away.
The lock has broken. Her time has arrived. She has come out of the closet. Her words are no longer a secret – nor are they hers alone anymore. Be aware! She’s out there. She’s watching and she’s writing. She may innocently cross your path and her words may cause you to pause and rethink your position on something, or make you remember some forgotten memory. She may create the opportunity for you think beyond what you formerly held as truth. Or the story she wrote may sound like it’s yours. She could be anywhere. You have been warned. Should you have the opportunity to ask her why she writes, she would tell you, “I write because it sets me free. I have words overflowing in my mind and I need to sort them out. Other times I write because I have something to say to another that is too important to just say the words and have them vanish into thin air. I write because words are important to me.”
remembrances of days past some sweet, some mundane holiday songs, gone from the public square trees once adorned with lights and baubles now tossed by the curb crumpled wrapping paper fills the garbage bins
December marks the end of the calendar year the new year has arrived like a unblemished babe awaiting impact of what the world will lay on the babe or the impact the babe has on others
so for us, the new year comes it can be a clean slate a time for new beginnings or a holding place for the past’s baggage
baggage from the past you can chose to toss gone is the looking backwards and lingering regrets
with a clean slate and heartful of gratitude i have a new start
Nothing else matters more than sharing kind thoughts with friends and those you care about. Let me tell you a few reasons why. Friends carry one another burdens. Friends make friends laugh. And friends make life fun. I have friends scattered around the globe and they enrich my life. I’m the connection point in this story that spans three countries. I hope the story stretches even farther.
It all began as the result of a writing prompt from an Irish group I’m part of. They gave us about 10 minutes to answer the following question.
If you were one of the seven dwarfs, which one would you be?
My initial reaction. Ugh. What am I going to write?
Then the words flowed. I read, and to my amazement, the group laughed.
The next day, I was chatting with an overseas friend, suffering from the effects of COVID, and she stated she knew she was grumpy, and hated feeling so. I offered to share what I written, hoping she’d find humor in the piece.
What I received back was totally unexpected. It was delightful and left me laughing. My husband, not wanting to be left out of the humor, read both pieces and joined me in the laughter.
Words are so powerful. If you can share something which will lighten another person’s burden—I encourage you to do so.
Here are the two pieces. If you have a response to either, please leave a comment.
Who knows what type of dialog we may get going here…
The prompt:
If you were one of the seven dwarfs, which one would you be?
Today, I would be GRUMPY. You know how they say one gets up on the wrong side of the bed? How can that be? I share my bed, which means I only have ONE side to get up from. If I’m GRUMPY today, and only have one side to get up from, does that mean I’ll be GRUMPY again tomorrow, and the day after?
I can’t bear the thought of having the name GRUMPY hung around my neck. It feels like a two ton weight. Carrying this burden around continues to wear me down.
“Get outa my way! Can’t you see? I’ve got a load to carry and you’re making my work harder than it needs to be.”
“Don’t you smile at me! There’s nothing to be happy about today.”
“You. You, over there… Stop talking about me. You’d be GRUMPY too if you had to lug this rock around with no one to help you.”
“Don’t go telling me what to do. I’ve gotta mind of my own.”
“When will this terrible day end? …and who else is going to show up thinking they can tell me what to do.”
“What’s wrong with this porridge? It isn’t sweet, and it has lumps in it?”
“Time for bed again already?”
“Hey you. Shut off the lights and shut up your mouth. I wanta get some sleep.”
The response:
Hi, I am GRUMPY this week and I am told Covid is responsible for that bad feeling. I have been SNEEZY, SLEEPY, DOPEY and DOC too. I was so HAPPY to talk to you again today, but when I am better, I think I will be my old self BASHFUL again xx
All the dwarfs loved your poem and amazed you got that out in a few minutes. Thank you for sharing it with me, love from BASHFUL xx
Journey to the Heights 