Good morning! May all be well with you! May love and laughter find you! Rize mushroom coffee at the ready! I think it makes a nice change. I am reminded of Postum for some reason. That was years ago now.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

I am reminded of walking in the woods. I do not recall seeing yellow lady slippers. They seem rather novel and I would love seeing them in person. There is something about plants, I think it is a sense of feeling they sense back! That is how I felt as a child and I don’t seem to have changed with that thought. How about you?

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~Thoughts~

Today I am thinking about what makes life worthwhile. I think for starters it is finding one’s happiness. Happiness seems to accompany feeling life has balance. And it is making those connections with others. It is also when we do certain things like curling up with a good book, doing art or poetry. All kinds of things bring happiness into our lives. Good friends are the best form of happiness as they bring love and laughter into ones daily life.

Other thoughts? As I meet new friends I am thinking of love and friendship. I recall first learning there was more than one kind of love. Such distinctions had not occurred to me before. This happened in Jr High or High School I believe. This is when your introduced to such thoughts with discussions about the Gods in the Greek Myths. That is likely when it happened.

It was also at this time that I began to think about what it meant to be a good friend. Having friends meant acceptance withing companionship, it was finding like-minded people. It is a time to learn how to carry oneself to be accepted. A relief to be who we believed we were at that present time and then as we all changed more acceptance. I think I felt grateful to find like-minded people. In early days it is at school and activities we do where we find others. The world opens as we move into adulthood. Love? I think of my twelve-year-old granddaughter as she is at the age of making friends. I think of me now and my making new friends. My approach has not changed as I learn about people and come to love who they are. The one’s we love we develop bonds with a loyalty forms. A kindred spirit cements a bond.

Love? When love is spontaneous it becomes special. There is an ease and flow where you can just be with one another. You let the other person in, a risk that feels good. It does not work well if we make demands of another and see this as love. It’s not. Love is not a duty. Demanding attention is forceful, and from what I have seen it does not feel good to have someone do this behavior. Lovingness “is an invitation not a command, a leading and not a pushing” Joyce Hilfer wrote. I thought about this. We do not love because we should. If we think that way we end up in poor relationships it seems. Whatever the reason for choosing someone to love is it needs to be about loving that person for who they are and letting them be their selves.

Thomas died and now I turn to making friendships. a different kind of love. I am ready to embrace new friends and old friends, family and build stronger connections.

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~In The Studio~

I am halfway of the Shibui foundation I am working. I need to step back and think on it now. I will do something else for a bit while doing this thinking. I am going to turn to printmaking by beginning a new drawing for a Lino. Printmaking has been tugging at me.

I send out the very best wishes! Have a great day! Pejj Nunes