New Obsessions

Porches Divine

One year since last post.
Wow.
That is incredible how fast time is going by.

Since I wrote last, I have a new job, a new outlook, a new obsession.
The job is one that has just begun, but so far, I'm LOVING it! The horizon looks a little more like a horizon should,...dotted with possibilities instead of just falling off to 'no-man's-land'. That is reassuring actually.

The new outlook is,...well,...in process. Change tends to be something I think about, talk about, dream about, write about, look at, poke around, circle, hover over, and do deep breathing exercises regarding. Then, one day, I realize it's been a year since I posted on my blog, quite some time since I wrote anything at all and that I am actually still  the same as I was before. Thus, the circling and hovering and poking around begins again.

At this point, the new outlook involves today. Making changes for today. No time for hovering. No time for talking. Only time today for doing.

My new obsession. Pinterest. I hate joining bandwagons, however, I find myself drawn back to my boards. My dreaming places. My inspirations. Pictures that provide some definition to my happy places.

Funny. I never realized how much I forgot.

I could sit here all day

I forgot how much I love music. Not just pianos, but playing and listening and hearing and dreaming and believing in all the music.

I forgot how much I miss being inspired. I have missed being moved by something my heart feels. Some picture that makes me think higher than myself. Some illustration that brings me to some ethereal place, makes me smile, takes my breath away.

It has become my scrapbook, if you will. Like everyone else who has fallen in love with it, it is like a thousand magazines that I get to rip a page out of and hold on to. The beauty is that I get to see everyone else's pages they have ripped out of their thousand magazines and borrow some of their inspiration too.



And that provides the landscape for my new horizons, dotted with all kinds of possibility.

Let the hovering begin.....

On Writing, Twitter & Connections

I have a friend.

His name is Kevin Pauls. (shameless plug for an amazing talent, but I digress...)

Said friend has always jumped on every new social networking avenue. He then posts that he has joined with these different venues. In order to see what he's posted, you have to create an account, or sign up, or whatever. So basically I have accounts and half-done profiles on all kinds of social networking sites, just so I can see what he's up to these days. (I should say a quick 'Thanks' to the artist formerly known as Kev...aka  @LiveProducer for dragging me along to keep up with what's current...obviously would never have gotten there myself!)

Twitter was one such animal.

I had an account. It was only because he had posted something on there a year ago, or something like that. I never visited again.

Then one of the coolest women I know @CountryDuncan (my sister) joined Twitter and my life has never been the same.

I have to say that I'm kind of happy that this was not around through my teenage years. I would have been lost in my room twittering like mad to every famous person I thought I could be best friends with.....like Lisa Welchel (I actually went so far to write her a letter saying that because we both played the piano I'm sure we could be the closest of friends!!! )

These days, I'm no less star-hungry to find out about people I enjoy, or am interested in from afar. However, I am a bit more realistic about everyone finding in me their new kindred spirit.

Over the years, I've also wanted to try my hand at writing. I dabble, scribble, rip up, shred, journal and outline ad nauseum. Afore-mentioned cool woman, Rebecca, listens patiently year after year as I whine and lament about how I should be writing, why am I not writing, here's my new writing-what do you think? It really is craziness.

So, this is the year. The writing happens. Whatever is clamoring for a voice inside must get out.

What pulls this all together for me is when I discovered that I can connect, be encouraged, and spurred on by other writers via Twitter. So in one day, I'm standing in the bookstore, pretty much overwhelmed at how EVERYONE is writing something or other...where would my voice fit in. Shaking my head, I go home to find writers and authors and publishers are still at it. Still writing. Still finding voices. Still grinding it out day after day. Even the frustrating, non-writing days. Amazing.

So...the voices are calling. The bookstore shelves are full...at least for today. Tomorrow is a different story, however. Tomorrow there will be room for my voice and then maybe I can be that voice of determination and endurance for some poor up-and-comer who laments how all the stories have been written already.

Whoever that might be, they'll find me as @misspamyla

....and I'll still be writing.

The Choice for Today

Today is a Gratitude Day......

Today there is a choice to be made.
No one can make it but me.
My choice may effect others, but it also may just effect me, doesn’t matter.
The choice for today is Gratitude.

Today I am grateful for women who surround me each day.
I learn from them. I watch them to see if the chinks in their armour are in any way similar to mine. Some days they are, and some days they aren’t, doesn’t matter.
Today I am grateful for my women.

Today I am grateful for finally being able to know my limits.
I am getting to the place where I’ve given myself permission to say that I am not going to do this or that. This is a work in progress, not always figured out until too late, doesn’t matter.
Today I am grateful for knowing myself better.

Today I am grateful that I am loved.
Those who surround me, who haven’t been pushed away, still love me.
I don’t always feel it, don’t always place the proper value on it, doesn’t matter.
Today I am very grateful to be loved.

Today there are many choices to be made
No one can make these choices but me
My choice will effect others, and also effect me, it completely matters.
The choice for today is Gratitude.

Last blog date......August, 2009
Today's date......November, 2010

Clearly it's time to sit, have a coffee and visit the Parlour again.

So much life happens in between postings that sometimes the words are incomplete, awkward, .... sometimes just not enough.

Sometimes though, pondering is necessary, vital even, in order that seasons of life do not go by unnoticed, undocumented or unobserved.

So, gonna run now, grab a pumpkin spice latte and be back later.
Observations galore......

Be Brave Buckeroo!!-

Lately, I just can't seem to shake this thing in my head!! Perhaps it's just me, but does anyone else ever wonder just how much imagination it takes to come up with Yoda? I mean, really. Just dream him up, out of thin air. With no prototype, just sort of have some sort of story that is so fantastic, so creative, so imaginitive....something no one else every thought of before.

I've been thinking about that a lot lately. What kind of person does it take to create something new? How brave do you need to be to let your imagination guide you, and put that to paper? Or to research that thing that no one else really believes in, but you know in your heart it's there...just not quite yet.

I think that way about many things. Music, for example. Back in the day, it was just live. Some records, some tours, a bus or two. Fast forward to today...artists can't even release a cd anymore before four or five songs are already downloaded and people have moved on to something else. That kind of evolution takes vision......I remember when music videos first came out (including that forward thinking ditty...'Video killed the radio star...'), transitioning from casettes to cds...and now mp3 format. Who thought of making music fit onto cd's?

What are those kinds of people like? Like the person who designed hot air balloons. I guess that's the nature of inventive mind. My brother-in-law is an inventor. I can't tell you how impressed I am with that. Someone who saw a problem and came up with a solution to solve that problem. Then passed it on. When I think about it, it blows my mind.

Another example is when someone writes a book about things such as Hobbits, and Rings and Kings who need to return to their thrones. Middle Earth was something created in someone's mind and put to paper, then shared with the world. Amazing.

I sense I'm rambling. Not really making a point, but I guess my real thought is that courage and bravery and strength are all strong character traits, not usually given to the creative souls of our world. But lately, I have been impressed with how strong and brave and courageous one has to be to believe in oneself enough to let the world see your passion. It has to be put out there.

To all the George Lucas's and Tolkien's out there.........be brave and strong and courgeous. I, for one, can't wait to see what you have to offer.

My new little corner

I have a new little corner of the world.

It's a pretty amazing place really. Lots of people, but nobody in particular.

I race out of the office to take my lunch break as if my life depended on it. The actual timing changes every day, but it's still as important as ever. I have a new little corner where I can see everybody. Parents with children, children with parents, those who use wheels, those who are ambulatory. All shapes and sizes on the their way here, and there, and nowhere in particular.

There is one woman who comes every day. Even though she's there over the lunch hour, she never eats anything, just buys her coffee and sits in the same chair. Every day.

You can tell she loves it there. She's in my corner of the world. She sees all those people. She just watches them. Listens to the snippets of conversations that pass her by. It's amazing all those people with all those plans, all heading somewhere in particular.....while she sits.

She doesn't talk to anyone but the coffee barrista. She always smiles, pays her money and then finds her chair by the window. One day there was someone in her usual chair. It seemed to throw her off, but after standing for a moment, she rebounded and found another spot, a different vantage point for a different kind of day.

Sometimes I wonder about it. I wonder about her and I wonder about all those people who are walking to and fro.

I'm guessing that what makes this tiny corner of the world so special is that it's a cross-section. It's a place where common and uncommon meet. A place where lives are changed, made better, muddled through, and where some are gainfully employed. I'm guessing why she likes her spot so much is because she has a chance to watch all of that movement, all of that universal energy and engagement come together in one place. She can watch other people's lives, even just for ten seconds and imagine their world. Their comings and goings. Their passions and their bitterness. All picked up from snippets of ten second conversations. Their burdens walk by her, and their celebrations as strollers hurry through. Busses drop off and pick up. Husbands help wives from their walkers into their cars. Tender smiles, kind touches abound.

She sees it all.

And she wonders.

And then, just as quickly, she snaps out of it, and wanders quickly back to work, ...patients and co-workers alike, waiting for her to return......

.......from my little corner of the world.

More about characters....you know who you are!

You know what kind of people I really love? I love characters. People who are different....they think differently, dress differently, act true to themselves....characters. Usually I find people are either manipulated by their own genius, or simply just manipulated. Those would be the 'cookie-cutter' people who you find along the way who are just like everyone else. The ones who leave an impression are those who capture my interest and my imagination.

To me, genius is not measured by the status of a person, or the perceived worth of their possessions, or where they are on the societal food chain. In my mind, true geniuses are those who do not live in fear to be their own person. They are the characters. Their sphere of influence may be small or large, but they have one and they know it,...and are true to it.

Most of the people I have gravitated towards are those kinds of people. My closest friends are characters in that way. In all honesty, they all teach me something powerful. I watch them, how they handle their lives, how they interact in challenging circumstances, how they allow their true heart to lead them instead of outside forces.

Out of all the gifts that God has blessed me with, I think that in the bigger picture, it's the exposure He has allowed to all those 'characters' who have freely given a piece of themselves to me. My heart feels like one huge cement sidewalk piece where others have stepped in the wet cement and left their footprints as a reminder of things that are important.

Some characters have passed away. Some live very close to me. Some I haven't connected with for a long time, while others I talk to every day. I am a sponge to those who would pour something good into my life, I just can't seem to get enough.

To all of those characters who might end up reading about yourselves here.........thank you......from the bottom of my cement, foot-print covered heart. What you have shown me and given me will be guarded and treasured and hopefully passed on as I learn the art of giving myself away from each of you.

Thank you.

The Important Players

Remember that old Elvis song about life being a stage and all of us are playing our parts? I was thinking about that last night. The important players in my world.

There are lots of people of influence over the years. People who have left HUGE impressions, who have been there just at the exact hour of need, those who manage somehow to come along side for a time.

The two pictures in the prevous post are two of my important players. I had written a big huge thing to accompany the pics but it got erased when I tried to post. I didn't retry to put those thoughts back into words.

Now though, I can't get out of my head how life changes so fast. Years come and go. These two women bring my life into balance in a way I could never do on my own. God knew what he was doing when our little trio was created. Even though they represent greater things to me than just one word each but if I was to try to explain it, Wendy represents all that is safety to me, while Becky is all things freedom. One gives me wings and the other gives me roots. How unbelievable is that! The really amazing thing is that you never know when you're going to need your roots or your wings. There is a time for everything.......roots and wings. Today I need them both.

Life is changing quickly.

Meet 2 other amazing players.

You know how you have 2 sides to your brain - and there are people who tend towards one side or the other - left-brain people and right-brain people?

Somehow I have a heart like that. It has developed into my left-side heart and my right-side heart. One side is named Mike, the other side Sam.

Good solid strong names for good solid strong boys.

It's unbelievable how God made us with the capacity to totally envelope another human being, sometimes more, in that unconditional love. That love that allows us the freedom to give roots and wings, which we all need at one time or another.

In all honesty, I have no idea what kind of parent I am. All I really do know is that if one of those sides of my heart didn't exist, my whole world would be out of balance. I didn't know that 16 years ago. I didn't know it 11 years ago. I know it now.

What I am most thankful for is that no matter where life takes them, they carry a piece of my heart with them forever. Their own half!!

I am an incredibly fortunate woman.