Category Archives: A to Z Challenge

Me in the Middle of #atozchallenge ~Letter W

W

My theme for the A to Z Blog Challenge @AprilA2Z during the month of April is ~ My Life Is My Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned
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“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
– Henry David Thoreau ~

Writing #4

Me in the Middle of Writing ~ Why Do I Write?

~ Click Here ~

 

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Writing #9

 Me in the Middle of Standing on My Own ~ A Few Poems I Wrote

(Click on Link Above)

Whenever I attempted to write poetry, it was usually at a more challenging time in my life.  When I was sorting through life’s paradoxes and finding my way through the complexities and seeking answers.  When I wasn’t able to find the words to express what was going on inside, writing poetry helped to define that struggle.

 

Writing #5

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Writing has been a path to my middle ground.  It’s there at the center of my thoughts that I’m able to find that thread of continuity of my own self.  It surprises me when, after procrastinating on getting started, I find a joy and freedom that begins to awaken and I wonder why I waited to begin.  It’s an awakening that points to the whole ‘me’.

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Write

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The 2016 A to Z Challenge #atozchallenge@aprila2z  is 26 Days in April (No Sundays) of blogging using each letter of the alphabet as a prompt for each blog.  My theme for this Challenge is My Life is a Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned  
A2Z-BADGE_[2016]

Blogger users can also follow me at atozchallenge2016.blogspot.com

* Note:  My letter sketches were made from ideas I found on Google Images. *

Me in the Middle of #atozchallenge ~Letter V

V

My theme for the A to Z Blog Challenge  @AprilA2Z during the month of April is ~ My Life Is My Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned

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“What makes you vulnerable, makes you beautiful.” – Brené Brown

THIS ^^^^^^ IS THE MOST IMPORTANT VIDEO IN MY A TO Z CHALLENGE!

I’m going to share, once again, my favorite quotes by Brene in this video.  Where did we pick up the message that we’re not worthy ~ that we’re not enough.  We each have to look at our own lives and find the answers to that.  I like how she extends this into our politics and our religions.

Whole-hearted people have a sense of courage… the courage to be imperfect…. the compassion to be kind to themselves first and then to others.  They had connection as a result of their authenticity.

Vulnerability is kind of the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, but it appears it’s also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging and of love.

We numb vulnerability…. You cannot selectively numb emotion.  You can’t say here’s the bad stuff… here’s the vulnerability, here’s grief, here’s shame, here’s fear, here’s disappointment.  I don’t want to feel these.  (You can’t numb those hard feelings without numbing the other affect or emotion. When we numb those, we numb joy, gratitude, we numb happiness.)

We make everything that is uncertain, certain.  Religion has gone from a belief in faith and mystery to certainty.  ‘I’m right, you’re wrong! Shut Up!’

This is what politics looks like today.  There’s no discourse.  There’s no conversation.  There’s just blame.

You’re imperfect . . . and you are wired for struggle but you are worthy of love and belonging.

♥

My way of dealing with pain and vulnerability was to stuff it down and leave it unexpressed until I had to take the time to bring it all into the open and talk about it and deal with the pain.  We need to tell our stories and to share them with others who will be inspired to do the same.

 “When you stand and share your story in an empowering way, your story will heal you and your story will heal someone else.”  ~ Iyana Vanzant

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The Heart and The Bottle ~ Oliver Jeffers

(Click on the link above)

A tender illustrated fable of what happens when we deny our difficult emotions.  A gentle reminder of what we stand to lose when we lock away loss.

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Vulnerability #3

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♥

The 2016 A to Z Challenge #atozchallenge@aprila2z  is 26 Days in April (No Sundays) of blogging using each letter of the alphabet as a prompt for each blog.  My theme for this Challenge is My Life is a Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned  
A2Z-BADGE_[2016]

Blogger users can also follow me at atozchallenge2016.blogspot.com

* Note:  My letter sketches were made from ideas I found on Google Images. *

Me in the Middle of #atozchallenge ~ Letter U

U

My theme for the A to Z Blog Challenge @AprilA2Z during the month of April is ~ My Life Is My Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned

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Dear Human

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Unconditional Live

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I believe the closest experience of ‘unconditional’ love comes with being a mother.  It doesn’t matter how old your child is or whether they live nearby or far away.  A mother carries her child in her heart forever.  With Mother’s Day coming up I wanted to share this beautiful song I discovered while putting together the AtoZChallenge.  

In My Arms ~ Plumb

♥

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The 2016 A to Z Challenge #atozchallenge@aprila2z  is 26 Days in April (No Sundays) of blogging using each letter of the alphabet as a prompt for each blog.  My theme for this Challenge is My Life is a Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned  
A2Z-BADGE_[2016]

Blogger users can also follow me at atozchallenge2016.blogspot.com

* Note:  My letter sketches were made from ideas I found on Google Images. *

Me in the Middle of #atozchallenge ~ Letter T

T

My theme for the A to Z Blog Challenge @AprilA2Z during the month of April is ~ My Life Is My Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned

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Lean heavily on God within you, however you might understand that life-giving force to be.  In life, you’re dealing with people ~ human beings ~ who can let you down. (The wise counsel of my mother over the years. ♥)  It seems like this is a lifetime lesson.  How to balance loving and trusting?  People who I thought had my back, didn’t.  People who I thought I could count on, I wasn’t able to.  And that’s OK.  I’ve learned lessons and became stronger along the way.  ♥

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Trust #3

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Forgive not Trust

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Why Working Towards Trust Is Worth It

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♥

The 2016 A to Z Challenge #atozchallenge@aprila2z  is 26 Days in April (No Sundays) of blogging using each letter of the alphabet as a prompt for each blog.  My theme for this Challenge is My Life is a Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned  
A2Z-BADGE_[2016]

Blogger users can also follow me at atozchallenge2016.blogspot.com

* Note:  My letter sketches were made from ideas I found on Google Images. *

Me in the Middle of #atozchallenge ~ Letter S

S

My theme for the A to Z Blog Challenge  @AprilA2Z during the month of April is ~ My Life Is My Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned

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COMES THE DAWN

After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child,
And you learn to build all your roads on today,
Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure…
That you really are strong,
And you really do have worth.
And you learn and learn.

by Veronica A. Shoffstall

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Self-Worth

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You Get to be You!

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“You have been worthy since you took your first breath and you will be worthy till you take your last.”

~ Gratitude for Grace ~

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Freedom

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The 2016 A to Z Challenge #atozchallenge@aprila2z  is 26 Days in April (No Sundays) of blogging using each letter of the alphabet as a prompt for each blog.  My theme for this Challenge is My Life is a Masterpiece ~ Lessons Learned  
A2Z-BADGE_[2016]

Blogger users can also follow me at atozchallenge2016.blogspot.com

* Note:  My letter sketches were made from ideas I found on Google Images. *