Cattitude and Gratitude

With thanks to Soraya Silvestri for providing the inspiration.  I took a photo of these stones during the Spring Choir Party at Soraya's house last May.  We look ahead as a new year starts Believing deep within our hearts, That the world is a good, despite its sorrow We must believe in a better tomorrow, We must have faith and we must have hope It’s really the only way to cope, Believe that good will overcome bad Believe that happy will overcome sad, Out with the old year and in with the new A Very Happy New Year to all of you!

I remember as a kid that I enjoyed getting up early on Saturday mornings to read or draw before the family woke up. It was a magical quiet time to enjoy being with my own thoughts and imagination before the day really began. Our society often seems to view being solitary as a negative thing. As children, we’re encouraged to join in with the group and get along with others. If we are a loner, we are seen as a misfit who needs help. After the busyness of Christmas with its focus on socializing with other people, I long for some solitary time. It’s not that I don’t enjoy people, but as an introvert, I find being with groups of people very tiring. I enjoy my solitude and crave downtime to recharge, reflect and tap into my creativity. I am a morning person and still enjoy that magical alone time when everyone else is asleep. It is so rejuvenating and soul nurturing. As Thoreau’s quote states, it can sometimes be even lonelier being with people than being alone. These d

This week I had to put our red Siberian Tanner to sleep as he was 16 and could barely walk or see. His quality of life had diminished so much this past year that I knew prolonging his life was only prolonging his suffering. I’ve had to put four animals down in the past four years, one for each year. You’d think I’d get hardened to it but I still find it just as difficult each time and cry over each one. There is nothing like having a pet with their brief life spans to appreciate time passing. And there's nothing like another birthday to make you stop and reflect on life so far. Reaching 55 years old today is hard for me to fathom. I still feel like a little girl deep down, even if I get a rude shock when I look in the mirror. Who is that old plump lady with the wrinkles around her eyes and the grey in her hair? Do I know that person? Stores are offering me seniors' discounts and retirement magazine samples are arriving in the mail. If that's not proof of

For years I thought I had a short attention span since I couldn't focus on just one interest area and I got easily bored if I had to do the same thing all the time. I have always felt pulled in a million directions at once and tend to flit from one thing to another   like a butterfly who has to sample all the different flowers in the garden .  As a result, I often have many unfinished projects cluttering up the house and my brain feels very scattered. Having deadlines and priorities seems to help but I still tend jump around from project to project. It's so refreshing and a relief to find the site  Puttylike  by Emilie Wapnick. I just love the whole idea of being a multipotentialite, a person who has many passions and interests and doesn't want to settle for just one.   Throughout my life, I have had various interests of creative writing, blogging, drawing and painting, playing flute, singing in a choir, acting and set design,desktop publishing, graphic/web d