Wordy Wednesday

This week I watched "Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind" on OWN.  The episode I watched was on James Cameron.  Thinking it was going to be just a little interesting I didn't have high expectations.  But Mr. Cameron had some pretty neat things to say.  So today, on this busy Wednesday, as I finish up my day teaching here are some of those more interesting comments he made:


There's a moment when the fantastic becomes possible. Just barely possible and that's where the fun is.

Doors don't just open for you. Every once in awhile one will open a crack and you have to recognize that that's the moment. The door will open just a crack, for a split second and you have to push it the rest of the way open. And you have to know that's the moment to step through.

I always think of the universe as like a giant bank vault lock. And the tumblers are constantly moving. And every once in awhile the tumblers line up and you've gotta listen for the click.

It's not enough to just bear witness. You have to also bring that back for everyone else.

Fortune favors the prepared.

You must always be prepared to fail. Because  only by being prepared to fail will you take the kind of risks to do something new. Now having said that you do the very very best you can to hedge every possible bet. Do every bit of planning, do every bit of research so that you don't in fact fail. 

Wordy Wednesday

Wednesdays are busy.  And on this Thanksgiving Eve it seems like the day seems a little busier.  So here are some quotes all about Thanksgiving:


Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.  ~E.P. Powell

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.  ~Edward Sandford Martin

Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
Patient of labour when the end was rest,
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
With feasts, and off'rings, and a thankful strain.
~Alexander Pope

What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets.  I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?  ~Erma Bombeck, "No One Diets on Thanksgiving," 26 November 1981

Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.  ~Robert Caspar Lintner


There is one day that is ours.  There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to.  Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.  ~O. Henry

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.  ~Theodore Roosevelt



HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

An Interesting Observation

When I started blogging January of 2010 I immediately found some blogs that I liked and followed them.  As a blogger I know that it can be really nice to know that someone out there is reading what you write.  Not because you want to get famous or have legions of followers (although let's not lie, it would be cool to have a ton of people following your blog).  But I'm realistic.  That's not going to happen.  And that's okay. I'm just excited that this blog has made it this long.

I've hit some dry spells here and there.  I've gotten extremely busy and The Sunset Won't has taken a back seat.  I'm proud that I've made it to 241 posts.  241!  That's incredible.

Because today, I took some time to really look through the list of blogs that I follow.  Because I've noticed that many of the blogs I followed when I first started aren't blogging anymore.  One my my favorites, My Masonic Apron, stopped 2 months ago.  Others haven't written a post in almost 7 months.

An interesting trend I thought.  But, let's be real.  Thinking of something to write about a few times a week, and then writing something with any sort of quality is hard.  It's challenging.  And when you don't know if people are actually reading what you write, sometimes it can feel like a waste.  But for me, that's my choice.  It's my choice that virtually everyone in my life has no idea this blog exists.

But I don't really write for them.  I write for me.  To help me keep track of what I'm learning.  What I'm experiencing.  How I am challenging myself to grow.  There are other things here too of course.  But mostly it's for me.  And if someone else learns something from it.  Gets inspired.  Or encouraged.  Comforted.  Challenged.  Well that's just a really big bonus.

If you are a blogger, keep writing.  Because whether you know it or not someone may be following.  Someone may be inspired by what you write.

Remember, life is short.  So make mistakes.  

Learn lessons.  Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest. 

 Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Remembering to be Thankful

When life started to get overwhelming, and I felt like I was surrounded by darkness I took a break.  I took 15 minutes and created a notebook from some online company who's name I can't recall.

The point of this notebook, in my mind, was to have a space where I kept a record of what I'm thankful for.  The good things.  The great things.  The things that weren't so great, but something good came out of it.  The people and relationships I'm grateful for.  The events that happened that made me smile.

The second piece of the notebook was a place for me to write my concerns.  My worries.  What's frustrating me.  My hope was that I write those things down and get them out of my mind.  Of course, the worries and concerns don't disappear just like that.  They don't magically go 'poof!' just because I write it in a pretty pen in a notebook.  But the act of identifying those concerns, giving them a name, seems important.  I started this over a week ago and only have a couple entries.  But that's okay.  Eventually it's something I hope to do every other day or so.

Then on those darker days I can go back and look at all I have to be thankful for.  And a place to remember that even though I've written those concerns down, I'm not facing them alone.  That God already knows my concerns.  And He's with me all the way.

Remember, life is short.  So make mistakes.  

Learn lessons.  Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest. 

 Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Wordy Wednesday

Wednesdays are busy.  This post is short.

It's a quote a colleague recently shared with me.  Enjoy.

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

-John Lennon

Happy Wednesday!

Remember, life is short.  So make mistakes.  

Learn lessons.  Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest. 

 Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Grief Can Be Transformed, Joy Does Exist in Unexpected Places

There have been a few times I have come across this saying in book reviews:

Grief can be transformed, and joy does exist in unexpected places.

As I mentioned in an earlier post a student of mine passed away.  In that same week three colleagues lost their fathers, the company one of my parent's works at is slowing going under, and my depression seemed to be slowly suffocating me.

Grief and sadness were ruling my life.  And I just felt like letting them.  I was tired.  Tired of fighting them.  Tired of acting happy, in the hopes that it would make me feel happy.  It wasn't working.  I shared with a  couple trusted people that my depression was feeling a little worse.  But I didn't share how bad.  Some of them read this blog, so they knew, but I didn't tell them.

Someone shared Psalm 30:5 (the second half) with me.

Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

So while my heart, my mind, my soul and my spirit were weeping... joy was to come in the morning.  

One night at my house it was just my dad and I; mom was out of town, my brother was at work.  And for some reason I decided not to retreat to my mini-apartment in the basement.  But to sit by the fire and watch a movie.  We watched "The Count of Monte Cristo."  A movie I own, but hadn't seen since it came out years ago.  But I am really enjoying the new TV show "Revenge" which is based off that book.  So I thought it would be fun to see the movie and compare.  For two hours I was not sad.  

The next day, I told myself that I could do this.  I could overcome the pain, the loneliness.  Then I heard the song "Used to the Pain."  While much of the song does not apply, I could relate to the majority of the chorus:

No I won't go so far as to say that I'm fine... 

I'd like to believe in the healing hands of time.  

But the truth is I really can't say, 

if I'm getting better or just used to the pain.

So while I'm not sure if I really am feeling better, or am just getting used to the pain.  Feelings and insecurities that have been there for so long.  But I need to find the happy.  I took the time to look back through my happy list the other day (something on my 101 in 1001 list was to make a list of things that make me happy).  And I remembered how many things in this world can make us happy.  And even if that happiness lasts only a moment, we can look around and find it somewhere else.  

Because it's there just waiting for us.  In unexpected places, joy can be found.  

Where have you found joy lately?

Wordy Wednesday

Today is Wednesday.  Middle of the week.  And let's face it, life gets busy.  Lately life has been especially busy for me.  So on Wednesdays I share a short quote, lyric or passage with you.  To offer a break in your day.  If only for a minute or two.

Here is a prayer I got from an email chain years ago.  I thought it was a good reminder that I needed to hear again.  And one I thought I would share with you:

Heavenly Father, 

Help us to remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love.  It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.  Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity.  Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Working for God on Earth doesn’t pay much,

But His retirement plan is out of this world!

Happy Wednesday!