Swinging

I know there are a lot of you out there who love to swing.
The book Imagine a Day: by Sarah.L.Thomson with paintings by Rob Gonsalves are just inspiring.Press on his name and then go to print number 23 but be sure to look at the others along the way
They will inspire you to write.
Sarah's words about the swing picture.
"Imagine a day when you don't need wings to soar"
This is accompanied by the picture of a girl on a swing.
I wanted to download it but I think that would breech copyright?

My response to Imagine a day........... prompt

Imagine a day without pain
without sorrow
full of laughter
strawberries and cream
fluffy clouds
When the desires of my heart unfold before me
When I take time to smell fresh earth,fresh pastries.
I float ,I fly
At ease
No longer pacing,stiff,rigid
Loose flowing
At ease.


What do you imagine?
Oh there is also a book in the series Imagine a Night

Prayer is the glue

I wanted to share these beautiful images with you.Recently I came home with my mother's wedding dress that had been stored at the family farm and in the box were these two prints.Now they would have to be over 50 years old .I do not know the significance of them to my mother.I cannot ask her.I will have to ask dad if he knows.The little boy is labelled Evening prayer and the little girl Morning prayer.They are a good reminder to pray and keep God as our focus.I have since aired the dress and repacked it .I had to throw away the cardboard box as the mothball smell had permeated the whole thing.The dress still smells but at this point I do not want to dry clean or wash it.I repacked it with lavender ,cloves and some mild smelling soap.As I write this I can see the wedding photo above the computer on the shelf.

Memories are so important and I am keen to get mine down.There is so much I did not get to ask my mother and at times that makes me sad.I do know however that I was loved and cherished and she modelled a gentleness that I wish I had.I have it sometimes.She never raised her voice to me ever.

My daughter turns 21 soon and I am going to get a photo done of 3 generations to remind her of the strength of women and of the generations.I treasure the memory of my great grandmother and my mum's mother,my nana.In fact my blog name "Thora" is my nana's name as I was inspired by her creativity and wisdom. I am honouring her by using her name which is part of what is infused in me.We have our stories and our love that can cross time and place.Mum showed us how much she loved God and it was a privilege to know her and be by her side holding her hand as she was welcomed into heaven.If this was paper you would see the tear stains as I write.I felt tender this mother's day even though it has been 3 years.We talked everyday and to this day dad can never work out how we could talk for so long.Well must go ,the day beckons.I just wanted to say that it is important to learn from others especially our parents so we can hand on the wisdom and stories.When mum died I felt she handed over that mantle of responsibility to love, to care and to keep close to God as she had especially in prayer.

Composting my Failures

I was thinking about my failures and decided to make a collage in my journal to express this aspect of my life.My failures fall with love around me...to be broken down into rich new possibilities.
That's all today.

Motivation

Each morning is a new possiblility for connecting with the day.I got up today feeling a little ho- hum and right there were some words for me.I am constantly challenged by Ralph Marston
in his daily words at his website The Daily Motivator.Each one seems right for my situation.
I was thinking this morning what is one of the many things that motivates me?
Friends motivate me.
In my autograph book when I was young a friend wrote.......

Friends are like diamonds precious and rare.False friends are like autumn leaves found everywhere.

I wrote the following to describe my friends including all my friends here.

Friends
We can imagine together
Dream big dreams,explore........
Our hearts are connected
Our souls linked by a thread of experience.
We can dance our life together
Dance is rhythm,music
At times slow,at times fast
Other times mournful,sad.
Laughing together.
We care deeply about one another
And choose to gravitate together and hang out.
The simple things will do,
Play and fun is the key to a peaceful,fulfilled life.
Where friends are an important ingredient
In the recipe of life.
Nurturing one another like a gardener tends the plants.

What motivates you?

Nothing

I have a fascination with children's books .They also comment about our lives and our need to be playful.I have always liked the character of Pooh Bear in AA.Milne books.

Christopher Robin says 'but what I like doing best is nothing"
Pooh goes on to ask how you do this so Christopher explains.......
"It means just going along,listening to all the things you can't hear and not bothering"
Think about what this is truly saying.There is so much for us to see and hear.To me it is talking about going with the flow of life too and enjoying the present.
People are often so busy that they do not see and hear the deeper things that satisfy and nourish us.
We need to sharpen our observation skills.I was on the train the other day and watched what people did with their train tickets.So many variations-one person even cleaned their fingernails with the corner! I recommend the book Juicy writing by Brigid Lowry published by Allen and Unwin.It is a book written to inspire young writers 13-18 but in my opinion is great for all of us above that age bracket.It affirmed me about my need to write,the value and has many creative exercises to try.I am off to do nothing.Nothing is good.

Reflections on a cup.

Michelle tagged me so here goes in the next blog.

While I am here I will tell you about yesterday when I was with my journalling group.
We decided to write about our drinking cups.Initially it was to write why we chose the colour but I reflected on what a cup means to me.

A cup is more than a vessel to drink from.
It is a reminder that we all have a cup of life.
We need to look into our cups and see what is there
There is more than tea and coffee to ponder on......
Sometimes our cup is full
Sometimes our cup is empty
Sometimes it is ½ way
Sometimes too hot to touch
Sometimes to cold to touch.
All the happenings of our life
Reflect in there
Twirl and swirl for our attention
Enjoy and learn from what is there.

How do you feel about your cup of life?

About me

Tagged .A new experience for me.
Here goes.
1.I get all agitated when I lose things.
2.I buy hats and scarves and then rarely wear them and also handbags .I have heaps I have never used.
3.I love anything in miniature
4.Rainbows are my theme-leading me to always hope and be positive
5.I like to eat cheese and gherkins on fresh crusty bread.
6.I thrive on a diet of books and collect children's story books.I need more book shelves again.

Tagging rules
1.Link to the person who tagged you
2.Post rules on your blog
3.Write six randon things about yourself
4.Tag six random people at the end of your post by linkin got their blogs
5.Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
6.Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

I would like to tag the following bloggers if you want to play.I may not know you very well yet but is is fun to share.
Little miss magic
Roughly Speaking
Creative Ink
MacroMoments
Bump on the road
Loving the question