How Much is Enough?

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction. 
John F. Kennedy 
Read more at Brainy Quotes

Did you ever wonder where Inspiration comes from?

That Call to Create?

Today, mine came from my inbox. (It does that quite often…I think mine likes to leave me messages in hidden places.)

One email came from a fellow blogger who had recently made a major change in her life (Madam Barefoot Butterfly!)

One came from a jewel-crafter I follow (Beader Bubbe!)

How do we know what Enough is?

How much is Enough? (does it have a price-tag? can i get it on sale?)

How do we tell when we’ve had Enough of an unhappy situation?

How do we know how clean is “Clean Enough”?

How do we decide we’ve had Enough to eat… Enough rest… Enough exercise…?

How do we know we’ve been patient Enough… strong Enough… honest Enough…?

Enough. Even spelling that word is confusing. (one of many reasons I think English is a dead language.)

We can’t quantify Enough.

We can’t analyze Enough.

And we can’t leave Enough alone.

How many times have you thought or said: I’ve Had Enough! ? (do we really ever get Enough?)

Did you really mean it? What happened after that?

I’m old Enough to know

and young Enough to laugh about it.

What I have is Enough.

What you have is Enough.

If not, I have Enough to share.

Something is Enough.

And if it’s not, keep looking.

You’ll find it.

01272013

Crazy Annie, Queen of Reality

let freedom ring…

If You Build It…

It’s not always about trying to fix something that’s broken. Maybe it’s about starting over and creating something better. ~Author Unknown

Once upon a time there were three little pigs. Each was happy in his own little house until that wind-bag wolf came bopping along. (It’s always the BigBad who cause all the problems, isn’t it?)  Just when our porcine protagonists are settling in with a bowl of popcorn and the remote control… BADA-BOOM! Kindling.

When we’re children, we’re told that we haven’t yet begun to live. When we reach adulthood, we’re told we have our entire lives ahead of us. There’s no thought of starting over… we’re just starting.

Soon we’re filling our lives with people, places, and things that matter to us. Education, career, home, family, friends, pastimes, vacations, money, …we’re building Life.

If you build it… along comes the BigBad-Bada-Boom. Life is no longer a building. It’s a roller-coaster.

I hate starting over. There’s something doomy-gloomy about sweeping up the shattered pieces of your efforts… your pride… your hopes & dreams… and discarding them like last night’s pizza boxes. Admitting that “it ain’t happenin’”… wishing it wasn’t happening. The world seems upside-down.

And everyone you know has “wisdom” for you…

cheer up! it could be worse…

you must not have worked hard enough…

what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…

these things happen…

They mean well. Well-meaning folks know what it feels like. Well-meaning folks think they’re giving you roses in these sentiments, but forget how thorny they are to receive. Until they get a well-meant bunch from you.

I love starting over. Clean slate. Fresh perspective. New life. It clears away the cobwebs of habit and routine and …normality (ewww!). Boredom. Endless sameness.  There’s something gloomy-doomy about doing things the same way day after day after day…

Sometimes, a little death is just what the doctor ordered…so to speak.

Starting over is like life after death. Not the big “D” death that signals the end of this stage of your journey…but perhaps the death of a dream. The end of a road you’re traveling. The resounding voice telling you “None Shall Pass.”

Starting over means opportunity. It means beginning a new cycle, a new stage, a new way of being in the world. Starting over is facing the inevitable changes that come to you and affecting that change with your own intentions. That’s a mighty powerful place to be. You’re leading the parade.

Every living thing starts over. Birth-Life-Death, Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter, Sunrise-Noontide-Sunset-Midnight… each day, each moment, is a segment of the cycles of the universe, spinning out the web of Reality. In the words of Semisonic:

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

Grieve the loss of ‘What Was’…for a little while.

Starting over is a chance to celebrate What May Be… What Will Be…

…until next time.

Culture Vulture

 

While the spirit of neighborliness was important on the frontier because neighbors were so few, it is even more important now because our neighbors are so many.  ~Lady Bird Johnson

I see you there

standing in your doorway

self is righteous

better than

I see you see me

standing here

on naked streets

community

Belong

Longing to Be

I touch you

you touch me

American Dream

we’re closer than we seem

your dreams scratch me

my rules beat you

will it ever end?

I see you

I was where you are

you are where I will be

can’t you see?

This melting pot

can’t hold us both

and keep from boiling over.

You touch me

in places I didn’t know I had

please

remember your own heart

struggle

wish

Neighbor to Neighbor

we are not the Enemy.

Namaste

Shalom

Salaam

Peace.

Crazy Annie, Queen of Arts

11.23.12

Let Freedom Ring…