Living Twice

Is it too late to wish you all a Merry Christmas? I think not. After all, the 12 Days of Christmas started yesterday and ends on January 6th! So, with that thought, I do hope you all have experienced some moments of joy and gratefulness in this Christmas season thus far. I plan to leave our tree up at least until the new year. How about you? 

With the end of the year approaching so quickly, it always brings with it questions: 

Should I quit blogging? 

Should I restart blogging? 

Should I change my blog name? 

Should I change my theme? 

Should I change my header? my font? my colors? .. and on, and on....

Truthfully, I ask myself these questions several times throughout the year. In response to those questions, the answers are as follows: 

no

yes

yes

not really

yes and no... some changes... I do like change! I used to rearrange my living room furniture all the time, but since we purchased a corner sectional several years ago, I've been quite limited. I can still rearrange my blog as often as I wish, though. I realize it's really a way of procrastinating, but we'll deal with that issue later. ;) 

I've thought often of changing my blog name The View From Here. I've tired of it and hunted more meaningful titles. But I simply could not decide. Until today.  I believe I may have found it. 

The idea of A Life Lived Twice comes from Natalie Goldberg's book Writing Down the Bones. 

Writers live twice. They go along with their regular life, are as fast as anyone in the grocery store, crossing the street, getting dressed for work in the morning. But there's another part of them that they have been training. The one that lives everything a second time. That sits down and sees their life again and goes over it. 

                                                                                   Natalie Goldberg 

I think that's why I can't help but think oh, I could write about that when I'm going about my business. I'm so addicted to that thought, that even though I may not blog for months at a time, I still THINK about it. Maybe it's just me. 

So, that's my plan for 2022-- continue to blog (often haphazardly). I think writing is a healthy pastime, whether it's journaling, blogging, or personal essays.  As well, I'm hoping that my writings may at times inspire, entertain, provoke, or simply make you feel that you are not alone. I so enjoy others' blogs for those reasons! 

Here's to continued writing, friends! 

Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash

 

An Epistolary Relationship

 As a child, we moved not only from house to house, but several times between provinces.  One of these transitions was at the age of fifteen.  New province. New neighborhood. New school. New church. That was hard. 

 I was leaving friends I had known for about seven years. We had all attended the same small Christian school, so our class didn't change much as we advanced grades. We were a close bunch. Thirteen of my  classmates agreed to become penpals with me. I took this letter writing very seriously, since it was my lifeline during a difficult time.  A few of my friends ended up writing for several years. One in particular is one of my best and dearest friends to this day, and we still communicate, but mostly through texting or phone calls (she lives in another province). 

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Some days I really miss handwritten letters. They are tangible and feel more personal, I guess partly because they are often written in someone's own handwriting (vs typed) . A letter or card feels more like a gift. Often the writer's personality is reflected through the stationary used. Sometimes a small gift is tucked inside. I still have a box of letters saved from my younger days. It is one of my prized possessions.

 I'm not naive enough to think that letter writing will make a comeback. Emails, texts, and messages are much too convenient, which makes them more likely to occur. I do love that! 

Do you regularly send letters or cards through the mail? If you could choose between a friend's multi page handwritten letter once every two months or random emails, which would you choose? 

A is for Acknowledge

I've decided to join the Blogging from A-Z Challenge this year. The last time I participated was in 2012!   I'm hoping to write for 26 days in April, completing this challenge, and checking out some other brave writers as well! :)

My theme this year is  The Little Things - Lessons on Living Well.  Both my little trusty canine companion Enzo (a chihuaha) and my adorable almost -2- year- old grandson C have reminded me that the little things in life ARE the big things. Hope you enjoy my brief and hopefully encouraging posts!

~A is for Acknowledge~

Whether I've been gone for five minutes or five hours, Enzo always acknowledges me when I step in through the front door. He doesn't simply look up from his bed, but he barks and, when released from his crate,  runs at me, then  past me like a crazy little beast, slides across the laminate floor, and heads back, circling me, looking for a pat and a playful push. Crazy dog is just overjoyed to see me! And that feels good. Every. single. time. And I never tire of it.

Showing our loved ones that we're happy to see them can make a big difference!

~Build~ (Five Minute Friday)

I’ve been thinking lately how to build a better life and realize that a lot of it has to do with habits.  It really is the little things, it seems.

I have started reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, all about how small changes can make a big difference in your life.  His life and his research shows that improving just 1 percent each day for one year will make you 37x better by the time you're done, and getting 1 percent worse each day will result in being at zero. 

"If you want to predict where you’ll end up in life, all you have to do is follow the curve of tiny gains or tiny losses, and see how your daily choices will compound ten or twenty years down the road.” 

James Clear believes we should be more concerned with where we're heading than our current results. This makes a lot of sense to me, when considering things we have control over (choices). For example, choosing to eat healthy food  today doesn’t really make much of a difference, but continue that habit tomorrow and the day after that, for one year, and your body will thank you - you’ll feel different than you do now! Speaking kindly to yourself today might not change your thought patterns, but if you did that everyday, what changes would you experience after a year? How might spending regular time in spiritual disciplines change your spiritual life?   Doing yoga three times this week might not make you feel calmer and flexible after 7 days, but continue that habit for 52 weeks, and you’ll see a difference. I know that I must apply this habit building concept to writing, because I tend to think about  and read about writing more than actually putting the pen to paper!

“Time magnifies the margin between success and failure. It will multiply whatever you feed it. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy.” 

I’ve been challenged to think about the habits I am making. Are they leading me to a better life? This book is motivating me to be intentional about my future. I look forward to learning how to design and build habits to set me up for the life I believe I was created for. It's never too late to start. 

This post is part of the Five Minute Friday freewrite. Write for 5 minutes, no editing required! Please join in! 

~Influence~ (Five Minute Friday)

Influence

My parents’ love and care for animals when I was growing up, has influenced me to value them and see them as an important part of creation. My dad was a gentle man who was always kind to animals. He never kicked a dog or was rough with any animals (or people). My mom has the softest spot for animals. I’m sure she gives them human qualities without even thinking about it!

This past week my husband and I were away for a week, visiting my elderly mother and other family and friends in Alberta, about an 8 hour drive from where we live. I had asked a good friend in my semi-rural neighbourhood if she would watch our little chihuahua Enzo. She happily agreed. She is a kind and caring person, so I had no qualms. In fact, this isn't the first time she’s helped me out in this way. As everyone in my family knows, Enzo is a big part of our family. He was a rescue dog at one point. It’s a long story, but let’s just say, we love him to bits and he’s a little coddled, haha!

Midweek, my girlfriend called me on my cell.  I knew something was up. “Enzo is lost!”, she said, obviously quite upset. Enzo is not an outdoor dog by any stretch. He wouldn’t survive long in our Canadian winter. “He bolted when my son let him outside, after I left to go to yoga”. She had scoured the neighbourhood.

Now, Enzo has never bolted before. He was obviously distressed at my friend leaving without him, I surmised.  I gave her the name of our vet clinic (which was on the dog tag), and asked her to call them.

My mom was with me when I heard the news. “Oh no!” she gasped. I felt sick.  My first response was to quietly pray and then text other family members as well, via WhatsApp (they all know Enzo). Her first response was to pray audibly, right then.

Happy Ending! Within minutes, my friend texted me back and said that she had called my vet. A kind soul in our neighbourhood had found Enzo and taken him to the clinic, where he was waiting to be picked up.

My mom and I hugged (and I may have shed a few tears).

My mom’s influence in my formative years has given me a firm foundation that God is interested in all that goes on in our lives, including the ‘little things’ like little lost pets, lost keys, or an available parking spot.

a loved dog

a tiny dog! 

This post is part of the Five Minute Friday community.   (I'm a day late, I know!) You are welcome to join in, too!

~Start~

Day 21 Start

Twice in my life I’ve written 50,000 words in one month, as part of National Novel Writing Month. How did I do that?  I simply started writing. 

Pretty well every single day of those two consecutive Novembers, I put my butt in my chair, put on some inspiring music, and began typing. I knew that I had to write at least 1600 words every day in order to meet my goal. I put off doing other evening activities during that time because I seriously had to write! 

Every day was a new day to start writing. It didn’t matter that my writing wasn’t the best.  I just wanted to accomplish my goal. And it worked. By the end of the month, I had a sense of satisfaction knowing that my book was completed.  And I was amazed at the ideas that flowed once I got into the writing groove. At times I didn't know in which direction my story would go or what would happen to a character. The writing wasn’t necessarily great, I know that. BUT I was amazed that it was coherent and made sense, and I was really enjoying myself. The first book was called Goodbye to Yesterday and the second was titled One Thousand Words  (as in ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, but you’d have to read the story… ). Riveting titles, eh? ;)

Nothing really gets done if we don’t decide to just start, putting our feelings aside. I guess that’s called discipline. 

Does this reminiscing inspire me to start a new NaNoWriMo Challenge come November? I'm starting to think about it. 

~Believe~

Day 3 Believe

Some words are easier to believe than others.  

This won’t hurt a bit!

 I’ll be right back!

This will just take a minute!

I’ll pay you back as soon as possible!

You don’t look a day over forty!

This will be good for you!

This will change your life! 

I suppose it matters who is telling us these things. We tend to believe those we trust, those who have a track record of being true to their word.  

But not always.

I wonder why Adam and Eve believed what the serpent said to them even though they had already experienced the goodness of God in the garden? God had told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then God created Eve. Adam must have shared this information with Eve. Did she not believe him? What made the serpent so attractive that Eve would lean in, listen, tell Adam about it and and both would eat the fruit? What did they believe about themselves? Why did they believe the lie?

“You will not certainly die” the serpent said to the woman, “for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Perhaps we all want to believe that there is something better out there than what we already have, and that it will increase our happiness and contentment if we obtain it. We forget to consider the source.  

Have you ever believed that receiving a hoped-for gift would change your life, but then you were really disappointed?

Photo by Miguel Maldonado on Unsplash

I've joined the 31 Days of Five Minute Freewrites. Read more about it here.

~setting intentions~

Yes, it seems my blogging has been put on the back burner of my life lately. Funny, it's something that is really hard to give up. Even when I'm not blogging, my mind files experiences into the blogging category for future reference! Does that happen to you? But I know that most times I forget about it and nothing gets written down. 

Hoping to be a little more regular in updating this blog in the next while. That doesn't sound very intentional, does it? 

The Moving Pen

Henri Nouwen wrote his devotional book Bread For the Journey by simply writing one reflection a day, not really knowing what was going to emerge. Two things were needed: free time and quiet, peaceful space.  As he allowed his pen to move, the words came.

"I sat down each morning, whether I had any ideas or not, and waited until my pen started to move and pull words out of my mind and heart. I didn't plan to write about Jesus..but my pen told me differently.." 

I suppose it really matters what the writer has been reading, watching, and pondering. That's what's going to spill out.

Speaking of writing, do you have any big plans for your blog this year?  Changes? What keeps you blogging into 2016?