The Real Voyage of Discovery

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes"
- Marcel Proust

Shall we search for a new and better landscape.....?

Shall we take a different look at the present landscape.....?

What is the real voyage of discovery?

We can certainly make many new and wonderful discoveries by seeking new landscapes. It depends though upon what kind of discoveries we seek, and whether we may just need a new pair of eyes.

I have many times thought I was totally fed up with looking at the same old place, day in and day out.......and perhaps I needed a change. Maybe I needed a change but just maybe, had I looked at the situation with different eyes (or through someone elce's eyes, maybe a small child) I would have made some interesting discoveries. Albert Einstein said "There are always two ways to live; one is as though nothing is a miracle; the other is as if everything is". If we look at our landscape as it is but choose to look differently, or even close our eyes and choose to feel it, we may discover wondrous things. We all know that some of life's most precious things cannot be touched or even seen; but are felt. If someone we love is in the room with us, they need not touch us; we need not see them; we can feel their presence and their love.

I believe though there are landscapes from which we need to depart; to remain for the voyage of discovery could actually prove detrimental; even dangerous for us. In this case we have to seek new lands or be destroyed while we stay.

My conclusion then must be, that the real voyage of discovery depends on the circumstance.

What's on Your To-Do List?

What is on your To-Do list today? Go to work, walk the dog, make cookies for the bridge club, write Aunt Martha, clean the windows, wash the floor, get groceries, get a car wash, pick up the mess in the laundry room, do the laundry, rake the leaves, return library book, vacuum..........blah blah blah and on and on it goes. I don't know about your To-Do list but mine sometimes looks almost as crazy as this list (If I have one at all). Sometimes my To-Do list is not on paper but rather a tape playing and looping around my brain all day long with each loop reminding me there is something still needs doing. On occasion the loops play so quickly and things become so overwhelming, I do nothing and fall down exhausted at the end of the day because I have expended so much energy wondering how I am going to get everything done and have indeed accomplished nothing or very little!

Sound familiar?

Well..........(not suggesting you become a lazy sod or a total couch potato) I think we all need to examine our To-Do lists very carefully because most of the time (whether written or taped) our lists are unrealistic. Life is too complicated and moving too quickly to be adding further obligations for ourselves (especially those we can't fulfill).

We could have a MASTER To-Do list from which we choose our daily tasks (maybe choosing one or two things each day depending on the size of the task) those couple things now becoming our Daily To-Do list. That would be less overwhelming and more easy to accomplish.

Also important is to have AT LEAST one item on your To-Do list that is fun and just for you ie: take a long hot bubble bath.......walk in the park.......work on your scrapbooking project.......sit in the sun.........watch the birds (something you enjoy doing and will bring a smile to your face).

..........Remember a precious moment missed is a moment gone so capture every single moment dear to your heart........let not one escape. The less important things (although they need doing) remain and can be done another day. The dirty laundry will not get up and walk away, the car needing a wash will be there to wash another day, the windows will be in no greater need tomorrow than they are today.........I think you get my drift.

What's on you To-Do list?

The Pieces Will All Fall Into Place

Sometimes we don't know what we are missing because we are content to stay in our comfortable little square. Sometimes we are forced out of our comfortable little square, then we find out what we have been missing. Sometimes Shelby, sometimes.........

I know you have ventured out on your own and it's a bit scarey but I also know you are a very strong young woman and will be able to handle anything life can place in your hands. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other, ask lots of questions of those who love and care for you, listen closely to what is said, weigh everything, make your choice...........and it will be the right one for you at the time. It's just that simple.

Sometimes we make what we think (or in hindsight what seems) is the wrong choice.....truth is there is no wrong choice; just a choice. Every experience serves a purpose, we can learn something from it and that is why we made that particular choice.

So.......fear not.......put on you beautiful smile and trudge onward and upward. The world is out there waiting for you. The pieces will all fall into place; I promise!

A Moving Family

We are here today and must be gone tomorrow, or at least the tomorrow that will come at the end of August.

Oh woe is we; they have sold the house from under us, so we must find another. Just finding another is a job all of its own; the moving quite another chore.

So..........I'm looking for all the energy you can send to help us out.......some for me to get through the days (I'm exhausted)........some for George (he also needs some too)........some just for the move. I have my basket held out ready to catch any you can spare to send me; all contributions gratefully accepted.

On a more positive note (I haven't written in ages) the weather has improved somewhat out here; it seems a bit warmer with a little less rain and with a tad bit of sunshine..........it's great!

Tammy, Bob and Benji have moved to the farm. Shelby has moved to her new place. Aaron will be moving soon to finish his summer at Bob's parent's place, then coming back out here early August.

It seems as if we are a 'moving' (literally) family; not sure what's up with that.