Being Green...

Recently I read a book, "The Zen of Oz," by Joey Green, which ties aspects of zen philosophy to the story of Dorothy, The Scarecrow, The Tin Man, and The Cowardly Lion. Small parts of the book were rubbish but most of it was pretty amazing. I took many notes and did my own comparison, tying the Oz story to Christianity and life itself. This has been an enlightening exercise. Many things have grown out of my research, including, of course, a new collection of designs for rubber stamps and wall art! It's still in the works but I thought I'd share one of my new designs here today. And here are some thought from Joey Green and I regarding life and our travels down the Yellow Brick Road:

We are all Dorothy. We are Prodigal sons and daughters venturing out into the world on our own, only to find out that there is no place like home, that the Wizard can't really give us anything we don't already have, that there is an inner spark of the Divine within each of us, that the Yellow Brick Road is an inner path that leads to the great beyond and that each of us must make the journey for ourselves. To realize that no matter where we are we are already over the rainbow, because we make our own rainbows. That life is a great mystery and that we are the greatest mystery of all, and that life is full of wonder and joy, as well as pain and sorrow.   

Never Let Those Ruby Slippers Off Your Feet. We are all born with an inner spark, a divine potential with the ability to grow in intelligence and become like our creator. We are all endowed with infinite potential for goodness and greatness. We have the free will to discover and nurture our inner spark, and we also have the free will to extinguish it through our actions. The ruby slippers represent the inner spark within us all. When Glinda, the Good witch of the North, tells Dorothy, “Never let those slippers off your feet,” she is actually advising Dorothy to never give up her passion, her individuality, her uniqueness, her spirit, and her soul.  “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”  —Doctrine & Covenants 18:10

The ruby slippers are obviously of great power and worth. Look at the efforts of the Wicked Witch of the West in trying to obtain them from Dorothy! One thing is certain: The Wicked Witch of the West extinguished her inner spark long before Dorothy arrived in Oz, and desperately seeks the slippers for the power and security they provide. The Wicked Witch was bitterly jealous of Dorothy’s goodness, and she sought to make Dorothy miserable like she was. Sound familiar? “The devil seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.”  —2 Nephi 2:27

Embittered people who have extinguished their own inner spark justify their miserable existence by trying to extinguish the inner spark of others. Life is filled with people trying to get you down in the same hole that they’re in. Teachers, politicians, bosses, even family members and friends, may try to rob you of your integrity, your passion, your reputation, your spirit, and your divine purpose. They’re no better than the Wicked Witch of the West trying to steal Dorothy’s ruby slippers. But they can never get those ruby slippers off your feet — unless you let them. Follow the Yellow Brick Road, and never lose sight of your heart's desire. "Our progress on this journey is determined by recognizing the straight and narrow path, having an eternal perspective, and acting accordingly. Remember, our eternal progression is the very essence of our earthly existence. It is the Lord’s plan to get us all the way home to our Father in Heaven. This I know: Each of us can get there from here.” —Elaine L. Jack, April 1994 LDS General Conference

More from Oz later... the sun is shining here in NorCal and I have a date with my front lawn, my lawn mower, and a bag of fertilizer!

Hugs. 

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ… Behold, … this is the way” —2 Nephi 31:19-21

Burnt Biscuits.

Thank you to my dear friend Lori for sending this to me. It's a message we all can benefit from...

When I was a kid, my mom liked to make “breakfast for dinner” every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad.  I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that ugly burned biscuit. He ate every bite of that thing... never made a face nor uttered a word about it!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits.  And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits every now and then."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired.  And besides - a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"

As I've grown older, I've thought about that many times. Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each others faults - and choosing to celebrate each others differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that's my prayer for all of us today.... that we will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of our lives and lay them at the feet of God. We could extend this lesson to any relationship. In fact, understanding, patience and forgiveness are the keys to any successful relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!

So, please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burned one will do just fine.

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket — keep it in your own."  —unknown

For Claire.

Claire was such a sweet little girl. Before she was born she was given the challenge of coming to a body with a less than perfect heart. Claire's short life has been difficult to say the least. Her mom is one of the bravest people I know, as is her dad. Well, last night Claire was called back to heaven. Her short life is over and she has returned to the arms of our Savior. While Claire's loved ones on the other side are rejoicing at the reunion, here it is a sad time. My heart is broken for Chrissy, Brandon, and their family. Life sometimes seems so unfair, and sometimes it's hard to remember that this life is meant to be temporary, and it's meant to be challenging. So we carry on, one day at a time, doing the best we can. And Claire is now free, unburdened by her failing heart, free to run and play and laugh and wait for the day when her family can be together again. I love you, Claire!

"I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says: 'There, she is gone!

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: 'There, she is gone!' there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: 'Here she comes!'

And that is dying."    —Henry Van Dyke

Treat Yo' Self.

If you're like me (and I'm afraid you may be, just a little), it's easy to get so deeply into the mode of self-sacrifice and serving others and just generally busy with life to the point of sometimes neglecting ourselves, or maybe just being too hard on ourselves because we have faults and aren't perfect, or are simply depressed and sad. It happens. It can happen a lot. So the purpose of this little post is to remind all of us to treat ourselves! Not to go crazy and be irresponsible, of course, but to show ourselves a little love and appreciation now and then for the many things we do for others every day. And we don't necessarily need to treat ourselves with something that costs money. It could just be some time, some peace and quiet, a heart-to-heart talk with a good friend, a long walk, curling up with a good book, making popcorn and watching a dvd, etc. Or we could simply look deeply into those eyes we see in the mirror and say, "hello, I love you!" once in a while.

This video excerpt is a funny reminder of just that... so go and treat yo' self today!

Hugs.

"You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."  —Buddha

Re-post: Hey Girl

So busy lately, on top of being sick last week. Life gets ugly sometimes, am I right? I am so blessed to have a nice patient hubby who is always there cheering for me when things get rough. Rich, you are the best and I LOVE YOU!

OK, so Beki over at The Rusted Chain is awesome. She's someone I hope to meet someday because she's amazingly talented, cute and funny as heck! I couldn't resist re-posting some of her recent "Hey Girls." Here they are. Enjoy! OK - I am off to watch The Bachelor (yes, I know........ it's awful, but if you ask me I think Ben DESERVES Courtney! He's a flippin' genius, as are all contestants on this show, and she is 99.44% pure evil. And will they live happily ever after? Of course not!!!!!!) PS: Kimmie, this Hugh is for you! 

"Life is simple; it's just not easy." —unknown

The Word Is: Happiness

Sometimes happiness comes and goes, and sometimes it eludes us for a while. Life can be extra challenging, and it seems this week is one of those times for me. Just not feeling well. It will get better, I know it. So to help in the process I made some art, and I found a sweet photo to re-post. Hope it cheers you.

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections."  —unknown

"Happiness is not the absence of problems; rather it is the ability to deal with them."  —unknown

"It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about."  —Dale Carnegie

Thanking God for the Flowers

Goodness gracious... it looks like Spring! There are trees blossoming all over the place around these parts, and I've also seen many daffodils blooming, which I have to say are one of the happiest flowers I know of. While we really do need more (some?) rain here in NorCal, the weather has been stunningly gorgeous and I've really been loving it. The nights are still quite cold but the days... just lovely! In fact I plan to spend several hours this coming week doing some weeding and general sprucing up in my front yard. 

Anyway, I am loving the early Spring, and also loving doing lots of new designing these days! Here is another sneak peek of a couple new designs that should be coming out either this summer or early in 2013. So much fun new stuff!

All right - I'm off to spend some quiet quality time with Rich in front of the TV... movie night! And somebody I know has a big birthday tomorrow... happy 52 to my hubs! Love you forever.

"It takes a long time to grow young."  —Pablo Picasso

"A birthday is the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip."  —unknown