HeartWriting

Today I’m finishing up my journaling class for tomorrow night. I am still working on Journaling the Journey, teaching the classes before I offer them online. Every session we focus on spiritual practices, which have included connections, faith, gratitude, forgiveness, joy, and kindness, to name a few. We’ve already talked about kindness, but for our class in December I’ve decided to break with the routine and revisit kindness. We will be making Christmas cards and writing short messages that will be sent to our men and women in the service. The Red Cross, partnering with Pitney Bowes, is again asking for Christmas cards in their program, Holiday Mail for Heroes. However, you don’t have to make your cards. If you are interested in joining us in this act of kindness, check out Holiday Mail for Heroes at    http://www.redcross.org. 

This has been a busy summer. Meanwhile, there has been so much I could and want to write about, but haven’t had the time. By the time I sit down to write, I’m tired and really the words are gone. But this morning I decided I couldn’t let this day go by without sharing my first installment of Blueberry Wisdom!

Every other morning, since mid June, I’ve been picking blueberries. It’s amazing how all of those ideas for journaling prompts and articles come to me while I’m out there in nature, grabbing those blue buttons. I love this time of my day because it is usually pretty quiet. I may hear a distant lawnmower or the low hum of the neighbor’s air conditioner, but mainly I hear the quiet and the birds’ chatter. So while I’m picking, I say my words of gratitude for the day and then my mind goes wild.

So where is this wisdom coming from or what am I writing about? Picking those blueberries is like solving problems in life. I will pick in one spot and could bet the farm that I have picked every little jewel on that side of the bush. However, all I have to do is just step to the left or right and I see I’ve missed a bunch. Or I get on my trusty two-step ladder or walk to the opposite side of the bush, and there are many blues I’ve missed right in front of me. If I adjust my position, if I change my perspective, I seemed to be able to find more.

So this blueberry experience reminds me of life’s challenges. I know I’ve looked at a problem, large or small, in one limited way – almost tunnel vision. However, if like my blueberry picking, that if I look around, look up and look down – just change my perspective- I can find other solutions that might work.  

So it brings me to the writing exercise. Do you have a current situation that is troubling you? If so, let's look at it from my blueberry wisdom. Brainstorm a list of 100 ways to solve it. You can repeat, but just force yourself to make that list. Some of them may seem far fetched or way out, but you might just find that little jewel that will be what you need to solve that problem.

There is still time for a great summer read. My friend Barbara Stahura has just published a wonderful book of essays called "What I Thought I Knew." It is a very warm and wonderful insight into this woman I call my best bud. You can get more info on the book (and even download the Introduction) at http://www.barbarastahura.com/books.html.

What a great response I received for the free 10 Heartwriting Tips! As I mentioned earlier, they are just an introduction to journaling or what I call heartwriting. Just short exercises to get you started. Thank you so much for your feedback on that mini-workshop. If you haven’t emailed me your comments on the Tips, I’d still love to hear your suggestions and your two cents! Email me at heartwriting@wowway.com.

One of the exercises I like to write is called a character sketch. A character sketch is a written portrait of another person, yourself, or some part of you. It can be written about you, either as you see yourself or as you would like to be seen. You can also write a character sketch about yourself from the perspective of how someone else sees you. You can write one for your friend and stick it in his/her birthday card or write sketches about your children on their birthdays or on the first day of school each year.

The reason I bring character sketches up today is because Mother’s Day is just around the corner. If you are so lucky to have your Mom in your life, I hope you are planning some time with her next weekend. For those of us who don’t have her anymore, Mother’s Day is a great day to let another woman in our life know how we feel about her. What about writing a character sketch about your mom or another important woman in your life? Sending or giving that to her next weekend would not only be a surprise, but would make her day! 

Last but not least, here are a few prompts to get you started today. All you need is three minutes. Set your timer and write!

What does mother mean to you?

Three qualities I admire in my mom (grandma, aunt, or friend) are …

Spring makes me feel like…

What happened in my life in April 2008?

Happy April! What a wonderful Women’s Gathering I attended and presented at this past weekend. I facilitated three breakout sessions on Journaling The Journey. The women were awesome and we really had fun!  One of the women commented later that she never was interested in journaling, but that little mini class changed her mind. I always feel so blessed to be able to share this passion. We are planning a Journaling the Journey workshop at American Baptist East in Evansville, Indiana in the near future. I’m also still working on getting that class ready for online! 

Again, it has been great to have so many of you sign up for the Ten Heartwriting Tips free class. We had a few problems with delivery, but I think all is fixed now! I hope those who are taking the class are practicing the exercises that are just the start of keeping a journal.  If you still haven’t signed up, you can by signing up here on the website.

There is another study out that said writing could help ease the stress in cancer patients. I always get excited to see more and more studies reconfirming that writing feelings and thoughts can really help our health. Here’s a link to the story:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7304294.stm

You know that heartwriting is important to me. Well, in addition to writing, I love photos which leads me to scrapbooking. I am proud to be involved and have an article in a new scrapbooking magazine, Scrapbook News & Review. The first online issue will be available this Saturday. However, you can check out the website now. My article in this issue is “Scrapbooking the things you love.” It’s taking journaling one additional step. If you are at all interested in scrapbooking, take a look at the website: http://www.scrapbooknewsandreview.com.

The following is the writing exercise for this blog. Set your timer for five minutes and finish this sentence: Right now, I fear most of all…..

I know I mentioned this month about taking the time to list 10 things you’d like to do in this life, but I just had to mention it again because last week we were able to cross off one of my husband’s “Top Ten.” Dave he showed me his list shortly after we met. Even though I’ve kept a journal for years, I never really sat down and wrote my “Top Ten” list. Anyway, on his list was to see Van Morrison in concert. Of course, I have loved a lot of Van Morrison’s songs way before I met Dave three years ago. We played his song, “Someone Like You” in our wedding. Anyway, to get back to his list, Van Morrison was performing in Nashville, just a couple hours from here. Tickets for his concert are hard to come by since he doesn’t tour much and the Ryman doesn’t hold a large crowd. But anyway, to get to the point, we saw Van Morrison. Dave was so happy to be able to cross that entry off his list. 

In between bailing out water in the basement and dealing with the plumbers, I’ve been working on my Journaling the Journey for American Baptist East. One of the practices we will be talking and writing about is Play. We just don’t play enough.  In addition to experimenting with different art stuff, I like playing Sudoku on my Nintendo DS. I also found this game site, Pogo where you can play against others. Here is another interesting site. Enter here at your own risk!  When the weather gets warm and DRY, it will be nice to play out in the soil! These are just a few ways I play. What's on your play list? If you don't have a play list, take a couple minutes today and jot down those activities that can help refresh your soul.

I can’t believe it is finally March!! It’s been such a long, cold winter. I went and walked in our backyard today. All of this is new since we just moved here last May. The woods behind our house hid the neighbors this summer. Since the trees have shed their leaves, we can now see way past the end of our property. I like the privacy, but I also like I can now see what is actually back there. The majority of it is swampy, but I’ve always love walking the trees and these are my trees!! This all brings me to things I’ve always wanted to do or have before I die. I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii and we did that last month! A couple things on my list include going to Paris and sitting at one of those outside cafes and publishing a children’s book. One thing that I never thought I could have so just kind of let it go. But now with this land, I can build my labyrinth! So today, since the weather was finally nice to get out in the yard, I walked the area where I want to put this great place to walk. What a great exercise to do today. If you have ten minutes or so, make a list of ten things you’d like to do or accomplish before you leave this life. I’d love to see your list.