Just a few thoughts, such as weather

Hi Everyone!

How are you doing lately in this changing world? I’m not even going to mention the social and political upheaval, how about the climate?

Here in Canada, we had an abnormally dry spring which opened the way for fires that quickly got out of hand. Even here in Nova Scotia, starting in late May, there was a record loss due to forest fires. Canadians in several provinces were battling forest fires, and many people had to evacuate their homes – some losing everything. So tragic.

Now it is rain. So much rain. Not every day, but it sometimes seems like it. We went from too dry to too wet, so you can imagine what that is like for growers. Hot, humid, thunderstorms, rain; this is summer 2023.

On another note … I am still plodding along with building a website for my paintings. I’m sure it is simple for some, but not for me. I’d hoped to have it ready by now. If I don’t give up in exasperation I will let you know when you can visit it – if you are interested or curious.

Last topic: I found a couple of things that I enjoyed and thought you might, too.

DON’T LET ANYONE WHO HASN’T BEEN IN YOUR SHOES TELL YOU HOW TO TIE YOUR LACES.

And this African proverb for the writers among us …

UNTIL THE LION LEARNS TO WRITE, EVERY STORY WILL GLORIFY THE HUNTER.

What has the weather been like for you?

and, Can you relate to either of the above quotes?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Change – the one consistent thing

Hello my readers!

Finally I’m back, making another attempt at blogging again. It’s been nine months since my dad passed away, ending 11.5 years of caregiving. The total change has been very difficult, but I am feeling better as time goes on while I’m figuring out and adjusting to my new normal. Grief takes its time.

Do you find it interesting how we go through phases and seasons in our life? By that I mean, for myself anyway, interests come along to explore and spend time in, then they morph into something else to learn from and grow in, and on it goes through life. Or we find ourselves in a pleasant working relationship, which eventually has to come to an end. That is difficult to deal with and what I’ve found is that change is the one consistent thing. It will happen, like it or not, so I can adapt and hold onto what I’ve learned or I can make myself miserable. The first choice is the better one to live with, don’t you agree?

As you know, I’ve loved books all my life, reading them, accumulating them, even learning to write them for children. When I got burned out on the ‘write them’ part I was directed into learning to paint. I am still reading a lot, but now I am finding joy in oil painting. I haven’t given up on the writing goal, but it is set aside for the time being.

Creating through painting seems to be the something that was missing for me, the something that was locked up inside me in great need of expression. It is challenging, frustrating at times, rewarding, tiring in a good way, confidence building, fun, healing, and surprising. Surprising when what I’m trying to do turns out the way I want it to or even better than I’d hoped. It’s a growing experience, and I do enjoy the challenge, as I am a creative and have to be working at something.

I’m telling you this because I am going to try to set up a place where you can view my paintings. So, please, bear with me. You may come here and find things are all messed up, while in the meantime I am probably consulting a WordPress Happiness Engineer to help me undo and fix my mistakes.

Most of my paintings are from photographs taken by my instructor, or myself, or my daughters. I will talk more about that later. Below is the very first painting I did, chosen for me to learn how to colour match. What you see is my copy of the original by Lawren S. Harris who was a member of the Group of Seven. My apologies that my photo is a little dark.

This is Lawren Harris’ painting:

Now, I hope to be able to set things up correctly and quickly. Until then, please be patient!

Have you had creative and/or challenging changes occur in your life lately?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! – Lynn

Quiz: What is your colour personality?

As promised, here is the quiz I think you will enjoy. It’s a very short one. When you do this one it will reveal to you what colour best represents your personality.

When I did this quiz a few months ago this was my result: BROWN: Your personality sometimes keeps you from making friends. Try to have a more positive outlook on life.

When I did it again this week this was my result: BLUE: Although you can sometimes have an introverted personality, you do enjoy being around other people once in a while.

What I find interesting about that is each can be accurate at different times. More than that, I think I’m a blue more than a brown this year. Change. It continues. 🙂

GO HERE TO FIND OUT YOUR COLOUR PERSONALITY.

After trying this quiz, how about letting me know what your colour personality is? You know I love hearing from you and reading your comments. 🙂

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

More change; Valley Sunshine

Starting near the end of last year and continuing in January of this year I shared with you my thoughts and other people’s quotes regarding CHANGE. I felt there was marked change going to occur – specifically, but not only, in my own life.

2016 is definitely shaping up to be my year of change.

A long chapter of my life ended this week. It was so hard to let it go.

When I was in my early 30’s, and the mother of three young children (a fourth born later), I started a friendship newsletter – called Valley Sunshine – that quickly turned into a Christian one which developed into a type of ministry. I started with about three dozen ‘members’, a number that rapidly increased to over 500 worldwide! It was phenomenal to me. That’s with no advertising except word-of-mouth, except for a few mentions in others’ newsletters. (Once there was a half page article in the provincial newspaper about me/Valley Sunshine!) For over ten years that continued – run on donations – no subscription fee, with mail coming to me almost daily from all over the world, occasional phone calls, and a surprise package now and again. It was like a huge family of friends who encouraged one another. I know the Lord touched lives through that little homegrown publication; it was my joy to be part of it, and I look forward to one day knowing all He did through that humble publication. With the passing of my mother (my greatest “fan”), I took a long break from VS publishing. A few years ago I started it up again on a much smaller scale by subscription as requested. (It remained non-profit.) Finally, this week, I sent the final issue out. It was a hard decision to come to, but a necessary one. Trying to compile that last issue I mourned the loss of this connection with people I’d grown to love, this change of calling on my life, the hard choices; however, eventually I sensed the relief of admitting it’s done – it’s run its course. I still feel the loss, and I will for a long time. But …

It’s time to allow change in my life to have its own space.

As a caregiver one’s time is used very differently, it’s taxed in a way one does not expect. The things that used to be easily addressed cannot be handled the same way. I had to accept it was time to let change happen and allow the Lord to redirect my life.

Writing in other ways has floated to the top of my life. As you may know, I’ve been interested in writing for MANY years, have taken courses and participated in various online writer’s groups. Now I’m working on children’s stories again. I have a writing coach/buddy. I’m a member of an online critique group, and recently joined an in-person writer’s group (mixed writing genres) that meets once a week. I’m a member of 12×12 and participate in PiBoIdMo and ReFoReMo. All these things are intended to help me learn and improve. Life is still busy. Writing is a huge part of that for me.

Now I’ve told you much more than I had intended to when I started this post. I was going to give you a fun quiz to do, and the above was going to be the lead-in. It just grew and grew! Next post will be the quiz. 🙂

Much love to you.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve had to let go because it’s time so that you can move on to other things in your creative life?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Baby steps toward CHANGE

2016, my year of change.

I’ve stated it publicly. I am determined to achieve it. I am committed to accepting it. (Thanks, Darlene, for that last point.)

For me, change means stepping beyond myself, my comfort zone, my place of safety. Even if that step is only a baby step, it is a step forward to my goal.

I am not saying I want to change everything about myself, or that I want to make drastic changes in my life. What I mean is I am working on my attitude and beliefs about my God-given abilities, talents, gifts, creativity. And fear – I am making baby steps away from the fear and toward the reality of who I am as a creative and what I am capable of doing.

“The key to change … is to let go of fear.” – Rosanne Cash

My goal, which I’m sure you all know by now, is to write children’s books for publication. The changes have begun for me to achieve this:

I have my own writing coach as of September 2015;
I’m ending my publishing of a newsletter I (very sadly) haven’t had the focus and leading to do anymore; after many years it’s hard to let go. I have the final issue to complete and loose ends to tidy up;
my publishing room will become my writing room, my creative space, which I’m excited to prepare;
I’ve continued with Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo each November, keeping the ideas coming. To take those ideas further, Friday I signed on for a year of *12×12, making that huge (for me) leap in commitment when I’m not sure how I’m going to manage the challenge. Having said that, I signed on because I need what is being offered through it in order to reach my goal. (I did 12×12 in 2012, Julie Hedlund’s first year offering 12×12; now it’s much advanced from those beginnings.)

The biggest change for me is my private outlook, my self-talk, what I believe about myself. Change in those will bring about the most change in me and how I approach my writing.

“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” – Steve Maraboli

Yes, 2016 is my year of CHANGE, the follow-up to and continuation of POSITIVITY – my word in 2015.

I am determined. I will need reminders. And energy. And focus and refocus. (That’s not a negative already, I know how it’s been and I’m needing to not go there.)

My life as caregiver will continue as it has been, with the change being in me, in how I use my other time. There’s no progress in wishing things were different.

“Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.” – Thegoodvibe.co

This could be an exciting year, a challenging year, a surprising year.

2016.

My year of change.

* If YOU are interested in writing children’s books, it is not too late to sign up for 12×12. Just follow the link I provided above in my point #4.

Can you relate to the struggle of staying the course? What are your goals and determinations that you know will make a remarkable change for you? (Or put that in past tense, what were your goals … and how did you manage to meet them?)

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

My word for 2016

If you could choose any word at all to fit YOU in 2016, what would it be?

I’ve thought about this a lot, and waited, and listened, and waited, and thought some more. The result of all that is a word I’ve been feeling is for the year of 2016. It may be for my own life as well as extending far beyond me. Although other words came to mind, this one always rose to the top. That word is CHANGE.

Therefore, my word for 2016 is CHANGE.

What I foresee in my limited vision and understanding is the following, as applies to me:

letting go of some longstanding commitments, thereby allowing space for other things
seeing myself as the writer I am, thereby freeing myself to create
pushing forward, thereby completing and preparing stories and manuscripts for submission
still applying my last year’s word .. POSITIVITY .. thereby disallowing negativity and discouragement to pull me down or stop me
allowing God to affect change within me in those places that can not remain the same if I am to grow and move on

Change may seem a simple thing for you. For me it is a little unnerving, a little off-putting, while at the same time it is exciting, hopeful, and alluring.

Change is my word and also my goal for 2016. What is yours?

Thank you for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

PS: Giveaway Reminder: tonight at 9:00 EST I’m drawing for the planner. Did you enter for yourself, or maybe for a friend?