To be happy, one must find one's bliss!-Gloria Vanderbilt

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During the month of December I have joined the Reverb 2011 Project.  Some of my posts will require much courage as I will be answering as truthfully as I can, brutally honest, reaching deep within my soul.  Something that I have been refusing to do for years.

17. Bliss

ImagineGolf

What are three things that make you feel the most blissed out? What can you do in 2012 to invite more of that into your life?

“Now a soft kiss - Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss.” 

― John Keats 

Relaxing on the ocean gives me great feelings of Bliss! The warm breeze, watching the seagulls and birds flying in the beautiful blue sky, hearing the waves hit the shore and the hot white sand between my toes are a few of the things that create peace within me. 

Where we currently reside there are no warm white sandy beaches!  The Pacific Northwest is beautiful but their beaches are lacking in that department! Therefore in 2012 there would need to be either more traveling to the Caribbean or maybe a move to a beautiful tropical island! Being loved and spending time with my family also creates feelings of Bliss and Joy in my soul. 

18. Ordinary Sparkling Moments

Image via Wikipedia

Reflect on the ordinary moments that bring you joy (e.g., the tea pot whistling, the sun setting). What moments would you like to relish in the coming year?

The first thing we do in the morning is have a couple of cups of coffee. Despite my Latin background, I never drank coffee before I married my husband.  The day just feels odd if we haven't done our java ritual!


When it is sunny and warm here in Seattle, we love to sit outside and drink our coffee. Sitting between the hummingbirds and butterflies fluttering around the flowers adds that perfect ambiance to our morning!


To be able to relish more of these moments it is looking as if maybe we should make that big move. As I write this, I am beginning to see a common thread! Will we actually make the move we are always talking about? Only time will tell...

19. Joy

Photo Credit Adriana Negron

What does a joyful life look like for you?

Overall a joyful life is one filled with gratitude.  I always love to say, "The best gift in life is when you recognize all the blessings that surround you!" 

When you are able to be grateful and recognize all these blessings as soon as you open your eyes in the morning, your day can only get better from that moment on!

For me to be surrounded by a husband that truly loves me, the blessings of my children and grandchildren help create a joyful life! Again with my theme, living near the ocean on the Caribbean, is the dream location I would love to be spending my joyful life!

20. Community

Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2011? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2012? (Author: Cali Harris)

These are a few online communities which I love.  My goal is to be more active in some in the upcoming year.

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A Caged Bird~Mistakes

SONGBIRD
© Bumidin Iberhim | Dreamstime.com

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

12. Mistakes
It’s easy to focus on our mistakes—to reflect with 20/20 hindsight and berate ourselves for what went wrong. Bring your awareness to a mistake you’ve made over the past year. Unveil one positive lesson from that mistake. How can you actively use this lesson moving forward?


I am positive I have made several mistakes this past year. However, the biggest and most currently painful mistake is expecting people to treat me like I treat them.  This is not just anyone that I am speaking about, it is someone that you would expect would want to treat me special. 


Each morning I wake up wanting to make this person feel loved, but day in and day out I am hit with the realization that they just do not feel the same or want to do the same for me. For years I kept on turning the other cheek so to speak, giving without expecting anything in return. Right now I am feeling that continuing to do that is just a load of crap and a waste of precious time! 


Due to my current situation I am like a bird in a cage. One of these days someone is going to open the door to this cage and I will fly away. Not to search for a new nest or a new bird, but to be free to be happy.  If that means alone so be it. 


The one positive lesson that I am  learning from this mistake is to not make the same mistake again, ever. I pray that I have learned this difficult and sad lesson. 


During December I am joining the Reverb 2011 Project.  Some of my posts will require much courage as I will be answering as truthfully as I can, brutally honest, reaching deep within my soul, something that I have been refusing to do for years. 

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• Reverb 2011 Project (abeautifulrippleeffect.com)

My Forgotten Passion

Ever since I was a little girl I loved to write.  I think it started back in the third grade.  Our teacher would have us pick pictures from magazines and we would have to write a story about the picture.  I remember the first day we did this assignment, I was so scared.  I didn't know if I would be able to write about anything.  I looked at the picture I chose and all of a sudden I started to write a story.  It was fun! I looked forward to those days that we would pick our picture from that old cardboard box. 

I wish I had kept all my stories, as it would be wonderful to read what I was thinking back then.  It was so much fun sitting at my desk in my room creating magical plays and writing so many stories.  One of my dreams was that I was going to write a novel. 

However, in just one quick moment all those dreams would be taken away.  Why would I allow that to happen?  I had now been writing for a few years, I was no longer in the third grade, I was sitting in my 9th grade classroom.  

We were reading OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck.  Our assignment was to take the book home and finish reading the story and stop right before the last chapter.  We were not to read it, just close the book and write the last chapter ourselves.  I wasn't even intimidated about finishing John Steinbeck's story, it didn't even occur to me until now that I am writing this post!  I just remember being so excited to get started!

I did what I was told.  I sat and wrote what I thought should be the ending of this amazing book and the next day handed it in to my teacher. 

A few days later the teacher handed out the books to all of us and we were to read the last chapter silently.  As I was reading the ending my stomach began to knot up, I know I must have changed several shades of red.  I had written an ending almost word for word, identical to Mr. Steinbeck!  Instead of being proud and excited, I was sick as I knew I was now in trouble.  

To this day I remember that old desk that I sat at, the American Flag to the right of the chalkboard, the posters on the wall and even the aromas coming from the cafeteria, as it was soon going to be lunch.  My heart was pounding out of my chest.  I didn't know how I was going to explain this, no one was going to believe that I hadn't cheated.  

The teacher then said those dreaded and expected words, "Someone here decided not to follow directions and copied the last chapter of the book."  She also continued on with a long discussion about plagiarism.  

Inside my head I was screaming, "No, I didn't cheat, I swear, those were my words, I didn't read the last chapter!"  I knew no one would believe me, I just sat there speechless, sickened and sad.  I had never cheated or lied in my life and to be accused of something that I hadn't done was devastating.  

My dreams were stolen that day.  I never wrote again until now, almost 40 years later, as I write on this blog. Would I have written that novel by now if that hadn't happened?  I will never know. 

I chose this writer's prompt from Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop, "If you had made a career out of whatever you were passionate about when you were ten...what would you be doing?"

Disclosure:  This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.  This post includes "Affiliate Links", of which the blogger will receive a small commission if the links are clicked.  The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.  This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. 

Another Sunday Full of Questions, Answers and a Whole Lot of Stealing!

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing. Sunday Stealing originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme. Let's go!

Today we ripped this meme of a blogger known as Wayfarer at Wayfarer's Journal. Wayfarer doesn't explain if he wrote it or stole it. But if he did, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all of us thieves!


Sunday Stealing: The Presuppose You're Living in New England Meme

1. Have you turned the heat on in your house yet this fall?

Yes

2. Do you allow your pets on the furniture?

Need I say more?!

 

3. What were your final words for September?

I can't believe summer is over

4. What are your first words for October?

5. Do you think you’ve ever seen a ghost?

No

6. What is the one color that represents this time of year?

Deep Red Orange

7. Which of your senses do you think is most sensitive this time of year?

Smell

8. What is your favorite thing to do at the county fair?

Eat

9. What do you like when you have a cold?

10. Are you willing to spend over $100 for a piece of winter clothing, like boots or a coat?

Sure, are you paying?

12. What do you have too much of in your kitchen?

13. What gripes do you have about this time of year?

That it rains all the time here in Seattle

14. Other than yourself, are you responsible for getting anyone ready in the morning?

No

15. When was the last time you cleaned your gutters?

Just put new ones up

16. So, it’s after Labor Day. Will you still be wearing white?

No

17. What shows are you most looking forward to this Fall?

The Talk and Dexter

18. What three things have you just not gotten around to from the summer, but probably should do before snow flies?

Put away all my summer clothes and bring down the winter ones

Clean and organize our empty rooms, which have become storage units

Organize my photos 

Am I the Monkey in the Middle?

The Monkey in the Middle

I love stopping by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop a few times a month, preferably weekly.  Her writing prompts stir up all sorts of memories to write about!  This week I chose, number 1, In what way were you labeled as a child and how did it affect you?

I am the oldest in my family, I have a younger sister and brother.  My mom was a Social Worker, and bless her heart she did not want my sister to become the "middle child"!  

So with all the attention thrown at my sister to make sure she did not have any of those "pesky" little traits and of course while raising my baby brother, guess who became the middle child by default?  You guessed it, me the first born!

I even remember friends of the family doting on my sister and comparing her to me, usually always putting me down at the same time.  

My personality is typical of the middle child and my sister although younger has most of the traits of the first born!  So Mom, you got one anyway!  

I did miss out on some of the typical first born traits, which may have made my life a little easier, but I can't complain, I am who I am. 

When I was raising my sons, I tried to give the same amount of attention to all three.  I am sure I failed many times, as life with three children and working gets pretty hectic, but I was aware of my participation with all of them.

All three are independent and have a great future ahead of them. They did not follow in their Mommy's shy and insecure footsteps!

So was I labeled as a child and did it affect me?  Oh yes to both!

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