Memorial Day

One of my earliest childhood memories was a trip to an air show....at a military base....somewhere....Columbus, Ohio....maybe.  We sat on a blanket on the ground surrounded by other families.  The planes flew overhead.  Young men jumped from them with parachutes.  It was all very exciting. 

I remember my father enthusiastically pointing to the planes overhead....calling out the names of friends who were dropping from the sky....dangling from sheets billowing in the wind. 

Most likely he was telling us what models they were....how fast they flew....and a myriad of other details that were important.  Of course, we didn't understand a word he said.

Afterall, we were all under 5 years old, my brothers and I.

Army.  That was my father's branch of service.  He was a paratrooper.

And on that day, he was sharing with his children his pride in his country....telling us stories of airplanes & brave men who jumped from them....to protect us & provide freedom to all.

I found a picture of him over the weekend....young Jerry....at the completion of basic training....in his uniform.

So young & brash....afraid of nothing....

Memorial Day was established to honor those who have died during war in service to our country.  Originally, May 30 was designated as the annual observance of Memorial Day.  In 1971, though,  Congress moved it to the last Monday of May in order to provide government workers with a 3 day "holiday" weekend.

Seriously.  I am not kidding.  Look it up.  National Holiday Act of 1971.

Today, Memorial Day is more about "vacation".....you know, getting away from it all for a 3 day weekend.... instead of honoring the lives & sacrifice of soldiers & their families....given to preserve the very freedom which allows us the luxury of "play".

And I am as guilty as the next person.  As a child, Memorial Day was the beginning of summer ...and we focused on "opening up" the lake house for the season.  Friends, food, sunburn, story-telling & laughter.

There's nothing wrong with any of that.....and honestly, those are great ways to celebrate the lives of our lost loved ones.  It helps, though, if the memory of them is somehow incorporated into our festivities.  Sadly, other than my dad flying an American flag from the front dock, there was never any family tradition established to commemorate Memorial Day.

As an adult, I remember Aunt Julia (my dad's sister) preparing the wreaths for her annual Memorial Day visit to the cemetaries.  Memorial Day & Veterans Day.....the visits were very important to her....and she went to a great amount of time, trouble & care in choosing her wreaths....each to be reverently laid on the grave of a loved one....in memory....in honor....of the individual life that had gone before us.

I don't think she was very discriminating in her remembrance.  It's my recollection that she placed wreaths and/or small American flags on all of the ancestral graves whose inhabitant had ever served in any branch of the military.

Nothing wrong with that in my book.   Each of them freely chose to dedicate themselves to military service.  And were willing to place their own lives in harms way to protect the freedoms we all enjoy today.

There has been some attempt in recent years to have Memorial Day returned to an annual observance on May 30....no matter what day it falls on.

I am thinking that might not be such a bad idea.  If it was set apart....separate....not a part of a 3 day holiday weekend....then maybe all of us would pause to remember why Memorial Day is observed in the first place.

It isn't about a big sale....or a chance to get away from it all....a party to end all parties....

It is a day of honor.  Of mourning.  Of remembering sacrifices....generation after generation....lives laid down on our behalf....

Yes, a celebration is in order.....so long as we remember what we are celebrating....who paid the price for the celebration....

Whereever you are today....whoever you are sharing your fun with....take time to tell a story or two about those you love who have given their all....about those who served bravely or are in service today....make it a tradition....to tell war stories....to remember the traditions & values of those who came before us....

It's Memorial Day.  Let's remember....even if it's only for today.....that it's not all about "ME"....it's all about 'THEM"....

If we, as Americans, continue to lose sight of the traditions....the values....the code of honor....the things which are the foundation of our country....the threads woven into the fabric of our freedom....then we will have no one to blame but ourselves....when we wake up one day to find that we are living as strangers in a strange land....right here at home.

Today, I am remembering my father....the young man who jumped out of airplanes.  His life was not taken in service to our country during war.  Still, he was willing to offer it.  And I honor all of those men & women...in generations past....& as recently as today....who are willing to offer their lives....& who have lost their lives protecting mine.

God bless America.

www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com
(C) Mary Jane Sawyer, May 2010

Courage

"Courage.

That's what I've always admired about you, Mary Jane.

Your courage."

Immediately an image popped in my head of Bert Lahr in THE WIZARD OF OZ  as the Cowardly Lion saying, "What have they got that I ain't got?!?!"

And his friends respond loudly...COURAGE!

That observation was offered up by a friend over lunch earlier in the week.  We hadn't seen each other in months.  There had been lots of changes in both of our lives.  Our visit was positive, fun, and filled with a genuine shared excitement over the new directions we were both taking since last we met.  Lots of laughter & smiles!

Courage.  Whatever.  My face showed total astonishment & disbelief at her view of me.    And I was thinking, does she really think that sending my lunch back because I found a hair in my plate took courage?!?! 

Seriously, I am not brave.

 Yes, MJ, you are.  You face life with honesty & hope.  You don't let the bumps & scrapes slow you down....and when the bigger hurts come you embrace them....you live through the pain....and grow from the experiences....and then you share your stories with openess & genuineness....you are an encouragement & inspiration to many, many people....you touch lives you don't even know you are touching...

That's what she said....or something fairly close to that....and if I got it wrong, she promises to post a retraction!

It was very cool to hear that on that specific day.  It had been a tough morning. 

Sometimes when I post a blog....I get no real feedback.  Othertimes, I get some nice touches about how well I write or thanks for sharing that.  On occasion, though, I write about something that seems to hit targets all over the place....you know a scattershot.....with no aim.....finding a dozen or so bullseyes....

That seemed to be the case when I posted my last blog on Transition.

Several of my friends were SURE that it was them that I was referring to in the blog....and it was none of them...the friend I had the actual conversation with knew I was writing about it.  It was amazing to me how many said that it was one of the most hard-hitting, direct messages I had ever posted.....it seems that me and a great many of my friends share similar stories...

....actually, I already knew that....

Transition was about me....it wasn't about anyone else....yes,  one friend shared something from their own story with me that resonated deeply....and caused me to see myself more clearly.  And that the choices I had been making weren't really the best ones for me.  My friends had been telling me that very bluntly & directly for a long time....I just didn't want to hear them....or accept the truth.

There was something said in the conversation that validated the decision I had made a couple of weeks earlier based on a conversation with another friend about unresolved relationships....

And for the record....we all have unresolved relationships....every single one of us....so there's nothing too revealing about the fact that a friend told me so about themselves.  Unresolved relationships come in many, many forms....lost friends....co-workers who shared everyday together until one leaves and is simply not there anymore....family members who estrange themselves for years over things that no one really remembers later....important relationships that sort of fade out but are never properly ended....

There's a whole bevy of professional counselors preaching "closure" who make a very lucrative livelihood on the common sense knowledge that all of our lives are filled with unresolved relationships that impact every thing we do....every decision we make....until we acknowledge them....live through the pain....and let them go....

There's a new song out by Kris Allen, "The Truth" that says: 

"Honesty is honestly the hardest thing for me right now"

and

"Stop pretending it's not ending...let the end begin"

That's what I was writing about....me....being honest with myself....letting the end begin.... the way I had been fooling myself....holding myself back....putting my life on pause while I waited for the remote possibility that all of the planets would align....and I would finally get what I thought I wanted....

I was laying it out there for all to see....how silly I had been....how I was guilty of seeing only what I wanted to see instead of what was really real....it was actually a little scary to reveal that I was honestly so confused & mixed up when everyone thinks I have it all together so much of the time....

....and then no one thought I was talking about me....they thought I was talking about them....

ha ha....that isn't even funny....on any level....

That conversation...the one I referred to in the Transition post.... made me take a hard look at myself.... to admit that I had been shutting my eyes to the reality of a situation...and gave me the courage to do what I had known I needed to do....had been trying half-heartedly to do....for months & months.

I feel really, really dumb.  Humiliated.  And more than a little upset with myself for being such an idiot....when I know I am smarter than that....and that I deserve better.

So, yes, I finally found the courage....but it wasn't from within....that courage came from a friend.

God has blessed me with amazing friends.  When I mention "a friend" here....it is never to expose them...or hurt them....or provide commentary on their lives.  I write about MY life lessons....things I am learning as I wander around in my own story.  And when my friends say things or do things that encourage me, motivate me or provide clarity to things that have been confusing or troublesome to me....I share those things....not so much THEIR stories but how their interaction has changed ME.

It's really no surprise that me & so many of my friends share similar stories....it's really very simple....it's just life....each story unfolding at its own pace....characters are all different but the storylines are all the same....somehow I think the Author of the Universe planned it that way on purpose....

I do share openly about my life and my struggles and the lessons I am learning.  And sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing. 

Then someone says to me....wow....you have no idea how much that meant to me....helped me....changed my view on things....gave me the encouragement I needed to do what I needed to do....

....and then there is a nudge....or a whisper....an AttaGirl, MJ....

....letting me know that it is a good thing....after all.

www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com

(c) mary jane sawyer, May 2010

Transitions

Sometimes things just happen....without warning....no rhyme or reason....next thing you know you are a little further down the road....knowing that once again you stumbled upon a detour....or maybe you just jiggged when you were thought you were gonna jog & found yourself on  an almost undiscovered path....

Keeps life interesting....if you're open to change....& adventure....

Being involved in the making of the movie, STEP AWAY FROM THE STONE, has been one of those excursions....it was not where I thought I was going last fall....heck, for once in my life I HAD a plan....with action steps....& a viable To Do List....

....then God said....nope, MJ....I have a different plan...

The movie industry has a lingo all its own....just like every other specialty....always wondered why that was....my guess is it's to keep insiders IN and outsiders OUT....a secret code....only for the accepted & initiated....

As the post-production editing process has been underway, one of the key words has been "transition".  Producer, Karen McCann, says when someone doesn't know a film term she refers them to wikipedia for a definition.  Wikipedia says that in film a "transition" refers to a "dissolve":  In film editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another.

As we discuss scenes....and sequence....and flow....she always tells me that it's important to leave a few seconds a the end of the clip for transition....

A few seconds....that's it....in film....in life....between right now....and what's coming next....

Transitions.  That's what keeps things moving forward.  Much like chapters in a book.  Scenes are created to capture a significant piece of the unfolding story.

There's always more to the story than what can be captured in an hour and a half of  film.  So it's important to only capture the highlights....the specific events that are the stepping stones from what-has-been to what-is-coming-next....too much information....and the pace bogs down....and interest is lost....

So the transitions become very important.  They are the bridges spanning the missing pieces....the lapses of time....the flashbacks....what's happening over here at the same time as what's happening over there....

It's the same in life.  Transitions.  Post partum blues.  The calm before the storm.  The low that follows every amazing high.  The valley respite after the mountaintop experience. 

The times when God simply says Be Still.  Take a few seconds.  Catch your breath.  Rest.  Recharge.  Get ready for what's coming next.....

During the still times....it's very easy to fall back into old habits that you are trying so hard to leave behind....and you wonder why it is that you're supposed to be still right now....when BUSY is what you need to keep you from taking out those memories....replaying those scenes....wandering back to the places that you just left in the hopes of recapturing something that no longer exists....or hoping to change the outcome of something that didn't go just the way you wanted it to....

....but the train's already left that station....so you lean back in your seat....wondering where the heck it's going....hoping you are on the right one....watching the landscape pass outside the window....

You rest....you reminisce....& more often than not, you kick yourself later for allowing yourself to be lured back to that place you just left....

Transitions.  Timing.  Pace.  Flow.  Life.

Recently, a friend shared with me that in a particular situation the problem was that this really good thing came along a few years too soon....that, of course, it WAS the right thing....exactly what was desired....it just came about "too soon".... in a couple of years all of the things that don't work right now will be ....resolved....and then it will be great....

Ok.  I guess that could happen.  Anything's possible. 

It's never worked out that way for me, though.  I just spent the better part of two years putting my life on hold....waiting on all those pesky things that were keeping the "right" thing from being the "right" thing to resolve themselves....

Lesson learned.  If it's the "right" thing.  It simply is.  Right now.

If there are a bunch of  "when this happens"...or "if only this happens"....then it probably isn't the "right" thing.  It just looks like what you think you want.

Another lesson learned.  What I THINK I want isn't necessarily the "right" thing after all.  God has to keep reminding me of that one.....that what He has written into my story is going to be far more amazing than anything I can dream up on my own....and if I'd just stop trying to prolong each chapter....each scene....

If I'd embrace the transitions....move forward....I'd get to the good stuff a whole lot quicker...

There's always a reason why things are the way they are....& why they happen when they do.  Each scene of the movie....each chapter of the story....builds upon the one before to prepare us for what's coming next....

And if something presents itself  "too soon" in the story....then it's really not what it seems....it's a detour not a destination....detours are the scenic routes of the stories....fun....interesting....sidebars to the journey...

It's an experience designed to help us have a clearer idea of where we are heading....what we are looking for when we get there....

I struggle with that a lot.  The holding on to the familiar....even after it has become totally obvious that the chapter has been closed....begging me to turn the page....reading....rereading....rewinding....replaying....

Hoping that somehow I missed something....that the it really didn't turn out that way....that somehow if I linger it will miraculously turn into a different story....the one that moves along the way I want it to....instead of the way it really is....

Transitions....just a few seconds....that's all you get....a pause to catch your breath....before the story moves on....with or without you....

If you linger too long the transition turns into a roadblock....and by the time you begin to move forward again....it's possible that you've missed an important part of the story....something good....that you now have to fastforward through in order to get to where you were supposed to be all along...

Funny.  I have been putting off writing about "transition" for a few days.  It first occured to me on Saturday...and I have thought about it a lot over the weekend....

Pretty sure where I got to here isn't where I originally intended to go with this train of thought.....

Then I remembered today's message: 

On this day, God wants you to know...


... that there are times when a change of direction is for your highest good. It takes courage to change direction. Choose the path your heart agrees with and walk with your head high and your eyes open. Don't be afraid
 
....and somehow, I am sure that whatever it was that I thought I should say wasn't important.
 

www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com
(c) mary jane sawyer, May 2010

Pruning....

I live on a cul-de-sac.  Everytime I reach the corner....coming or going....I look to the left....then to the right....and as I make the turn, I experience a moment or two of discontent....sometimes it's more like anger.

Those of you who know me....know why.  Time has lessened the anger....these days it tends to be more of a twinge of lousy....and if the sun's shining it vanishes fairly quick.

Yesterday....out-of-the-blue....or maybe it was in response to my "make my day" status....who knows?!?!

Anyway, yesterday I had the chance to visit with two of my favorite people....ever.  Haven't seen either one of them in way too long.  It was great to catch up.

We traded stories about those years....and the projects....that were once the focal point of our lives....and the foundation of our friendship.   Now, several years later, it makes me wonder why it all seemed so important then....but it was....and, yes, it still is.....it's just that I have moved on....

Catching up....not much has changed for them....everything has changed for me....

As we talked about the whereabouts of this person....or that person....mostly the people who were a part of the lynch mob who were determined to destroy me....I couldn't help myself ....instinctively saying....well, what did they really gain from all of that....today I am happy....and tthose people...they are....not....

Happy. 

I said it outloud.  To two people who have paid a huge price personally for doing the right thing....for being my friend....for patiently supporting & encouraging me through all of the disruptive changes that have led me to today.  And honestly, there will never be a way to thank them enough for being my friend through the hardest chapter of my life....thus far....

I AM happy.  I am HAPPY. 

I said it outloud.  Unconciously....to these two friends....so it must be true. 

A more recent friend told me once that he knew that no one else could do that for him....make him happy.

Only he can make him happy....only I can make me happy.

His strategy has been....and continues....to be "fake it until he makes it"....he's told me that many, many times.

My strategy has been "deal with the real stuff"....to struggle through it....to take out & deal with all the stuff....even if it hurts....a little bit at times....especially if the hurt was very great....at other times overwhelming myself with the junk in the closets of my heart in my impatient rush to get to what's coming next....

Along with the two friends I caught up with yesterday, he is one of the most important person to come into my life in the last ten years. 

Hindsight is a cool thing.  Sometimes.  At the very least, it provides clarity & meaning to tumultuous times that made no sense at all while we were living through them. 

Moving back to Arkansas was inevitable....a God-thing.  There was never any doubt that it was exactly what I was supposed to do....that I was exactly where I was supposed to be....and that everything that has happened here was necessary....was important....

Pruning....cutting me back....to prepare me for growth.  Did I say pruning?!?!  Heck, the last five years have been more like a major bush-hog of my life.....

People come into our lives during each chapter of our story for very specific reasons.  Sometimes they are heros....other times villains....and there is always a crowd of spectators....Gotta love crowd dynamics...

After I got home from dinner with my old friend last nite, I couldn't help but think about the contrast between friends who make the cut....and friends who don't....during the pruning....

An old acquaintance who is becoming a friend shared with me on a recent visit his surprise in discovering that he had unresolved relationships....you know....ones that you think that you have left behind due to time or distance....but you really haven't....because there's just stuff still dangling....easier that way....at the time...to not tie up the loose ends....to simply walk away....

And you think that you are ready for whatever is coming next....because those unresolved things have become hidden or buried....momentarily forgotten....and then you discover that you're not....not prepared....not ready....not really.... when you come face-to-face with something that has the potential to be special....

It was that conversation with him that made me realize that I had some of those unresolved relationships lingering on the fringes of my life....and that it was important to take care of them....right away....that they were roadblocks along the way to the life I want to be living....

Letting go of that friend....the one who had become too important....has proven to be harder than I imagined....at the same time it has been the most liberating thing I have done in quite some time....  

It's time to move forward....to leave behind the people and things that suck the life out of me....causing me to feel lousy more often than not. 

Truth is, this friendship---or whatever it was--- was never real to begin with.....after all, this is a man who fakes it until he makes it....in all things.  So really I shouldn't have been terribly surprised to discover that it....wasn't really real....after all.

But I was.  And it hurts.  Probably always will.

All in all, though, the fact remains....I am choosing happy....& I am willing to do whatever it takes to get there.  It's not possible to be happy if you are busy "faking" your way through life.

So that's where I am at....today....at the end of the road that leads to nowhere....it's been a long time coming....and an interesting trip to say the least....

I am determined to not let the regular pauses at the corner....or the fingerprints that still linger on the windshield of my life....to get in the way of what I see ahead....& where I want to go....

And now that I am here I am relieved to discover that it isn't a DEADend....after all....

So I am tying up those loose ends....pruning for growth....resolving those unresolved things that may be holding me back....taking down walls....

Maybe it's time to simply throw that door open.....

....and hopefully today's not-so-good feeling is temporary....

I have been liking the good feeling....and the smiles...I have really been enjoying the smiles....

Happy. I am happy. It's a new feeling for me. And I am not sure that I am totally comfortable with it.

www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com
(c) mary jane sawyer, May 2010

Chasing Rabbits....

It was mid-morning....this morning.  The rain that came in the middle of the nite had stopped.  The sun wasn't really shining.....cloudy....overcast....a great day for overthinking....

I had been struggling with that all morning.  The overthinking thing.  I knew if I stayed busy I could stay one step ahead of that place I really didn't want to go....the one that was beckoning me....teasing me....

The voices.  C'mon, MJ.  Sit down in the mud....let's make some mudpies....you KNOW you like it here....

NOT!

My TO DO list is long....lots of good stuff happening this week....lots of activity to be found there....get moving....that's what I told myself....

Still...it was easy to sit .....staring mindlessly out the window....just one more cup of coffee....then I will get with it....get busy....

A beautiful bird was moseying around the edge of the patio.  And then I saw it....poised in anticipation....ears up in an alert position....smack dab in the center of the backyard.....

A brown rabbit with a perfect white tail.

After a few minutes of total stillness....he hopped around as if he had a purpose....but honestly, I couldn't see any rhyme or reason to his frolic.  And I thought....

Hmmm.....I have NEVER seen a rabbit in our back yard....not here.....

I sipped my coffee....I smiled.....then I chuckled a bit at what Pete the Mighty Dog would have thought of that....he would have been all over it....no doubt....

And then I thought....wonder if Pete was friends with that rabbit?  What if that's what all of the pausing....hopping to & fro....looking around expectantly....was all about? 

To lure Pete out to play.....hide-n-seek....this morning....

Yep. Chasing rabbits.  He would have loved that.

So there I was imagining Pete....chasing the rabbit.....& all the while the rabbit was playing gayly in the wet grass....

I began to think about all the changes in my life over the last few months.....it's funny how life goes.....you reach a level place where you feel safe & comfortable....and you rest there for awhile...

Sometimes I think, ok, this isn't so bad.....it will really be alright if this all there is....but deep inside I know it's not....not really ok....that there is so much more....and I really hope that I find my way back to me.....

And then I started replaying the week....it's been a very good week....things are starting to make sense...to fall into place....& for the first time in a long time, it's becoming easy to believe that the life I want to be living might even be within my reach.....

So why did I wake up this morning....overwhelmed with those thoughts.....the need to take apart & look at those things that are confusing to me....heck, I know that every single time I do that....I get the pieces all jumbled up & then I never get it put back together exactly right....then it's all messed up....in my head....

Seriously, if it ain't broke, MJ....

I asked myself....what is so important that you have to turn it inside out this morning?

Nothing is ever as it seems....& I was reminded of a friend who tells me often that at least 96% of the time I have no clue what they are really thinking....

And I realized....chasing a rabbit....or a C-130....through the yard was a great pastime for Pete....

But not for me. 

And mudpies don't look anything like italian cream cake....or angel food cake....seiously....no one would smile if I stopped by with a mudpie that I made especially for them....I don't think so....

The sun peeked out....

I focused on my To Do list for a bit....checked off a thing or two....

Out of nowhere a validation arrived that one of those things I was totally prepared to overthink was....well, it wasn't what I was thinking...at all....

Imagine that.

The rabbit has played all day in the yard.  Pete has spent the day with me....in spirit....

And I am looking ahead....to next week....and the next week.....with confidence....with hope....and, yes, with anticipation.....

Life is good.

www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com
(c) mary jane sawyer, May 2010

Ordinary Days....

Ordinary days are full of stories.  Truth is, that's where the REAL stories of life are found....ordinary days.

I have had a really good week. A string of days with good things happening....simply.  Friends keep asking me, "so what happened to make it such a good day?"

And the answer is nothing really....just everything.

It's been a long time coming for me....and I am wondering if this is a glimpse of what HAPPY feels like....

Early in the week two of my friends weighed in on my restlessness.

One is a fairly new friend....that wandered into my life accidently several months ago....& continues to surprise me when he says things so casually that tell me he really & truly "gets" me....

Yep.  That's where the whole plate spinning dialogue started.  He pointed out that plate spinning was somewhat of a lost art....and possibly a not-so-productive use of my time & talents. 

Okay, that's not exactly what he said....he is actually very careful with his words....and I am learning that it's always worth the wait to hear what's on his mind.

And it was his comment about "breaking plates" that caused me to step back and look at things from a different perspective.

A few more walls came down....the door was opened a little wider....

And I was able to see the possibilities that have been unfolding all around me for quite some time...instead of the taunting empty poles waiting for plates to start spinning....

Later that same day I got to spend some time with a friend who has probably been a part of my life longer than anyone....except for my family.

Who am I kidding?!?!  He IS family!  He knows personally almost every skeleton in my closet....and he knows where most of the bodies are buried. 

He met me accidently in a school hallway back in my "invisible" days of high school....I was certain that I was unnoticeable & insignificant....

Yet he recognized me instantly from a picture that his buddy had carried around in his wallet for close to two years of the "most beautiful girl in the world"...

He has been there for most every important moment....disappointment....setback..,.victory.... & accomplishment....since I was fifteen....and he has never, ever failed to make me feel special....worthy....significant....

(Of course, I don't believe anyone ever shows up in my life "accidently"....not a big believer in coincidences...ever.)

So on this day earlier in the week, we met to discuss possibilities & life.  Much like the fine cigars he loves so much, he took his time....savoring the experience....& we talked about all of the nuances of spinning plates.

He is quite an accomplished plate spinner in his own right.  Stories were swapped of very fine plates we had known along the way....nostalgic, it was....a little wistfulness was shared over the plates that shattered due to our lack of timing or imperfect technique at times....we laughed over the pieces we had picked up or left on the floor... along the way of our lifes...

Then he, too, cut to the chase.  Because there is really no one who knows me better....my strengths....what motivates me...how I am wired....and where my uncertainties & hesitations come from at times....

Pick out a few plates, MJ, and focus on them.  Plate spinning has become obsolete.  Take a look at the patterns & choose a few that compliment each other....just like you do with your friends....and then set a nice table....leave the plate spinning to the young & inexperienced....that's what he said.

Okay, that isn't exactly what he said....but it's very close, I think.  He really liked the plate spinning analogy...maybe because we have a long history of sharing plates & stories & life.

Between the two of them....the confidence & vision I had been seeking was uncovered....allowing me to shift gears....change my focus....see things that I was overlooking....to chart a course that will carry me forward to what's coming next.

Those things had been hiding underneath the table, I guess....waiting to see what I am going to do with the plates...this time...

Just ordinary conversations....on ordinary days....touching lives in extraordinary ways....

Life is good!

www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com
(c) mary jane sawyer, May 2010

Changeful....

A pretty cool word...changeful.

It's not a word that I have ever used before....found it last week when I was looking up a definition of  "restless" after a friend commented that my status was "vague"....heck, nothing vague about restless...

And there it was...one of the definitions of "restless" was "changeful"....

I liked it...a lot.  It summed up perfectly the restlessness in me.

Life is good right now....maybe even verging on very good....& that is a little scary for me....it's been a very long time coming....don't want to jinx it somehow...