Moments to Ponder - Feeling Grateful

What are you grateful for?

It has been a while I know and I miss posting for those of you who have been visiting my blog.  I think we have all been there where so many things come at us at the same time that you feel that something has to give.  You make choices, and changes and often the very things that you put a pause on you miss the most.

I have really missed blogging and intend to change things up and start my regular schedule again, and will be sharing in another post some of the things that you can expect each week.

For this weeks Moments to ponder which should have been posted on Monday the question is What are you grateful for?

In the past I have done a Gratitude's and Celebration Journal in which each week I posted a journal page and something that I felt grateful for, along with a word for that week.  It was a great way to remind yourself of what you have at your disposal, but what you can do to be a blessing for others.

I am grateful that I have a platform, many that I can share my writing, art and more and be a blessing to someone who may see my work.  I am also grateful to be able to work in beautiful surroundings and feel the sunshine and sea breeze.

Take some time each day to think about what you are grateful for whether you do it first thing in the morning or last thing at night, take 10 minutes out of your day and write something down, do a journal page, record your own video and post it so that others can share their heart as well. 

Let me know how you get on, if you start an art journal or depict your gratitude's in a creative way that is great!  

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Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Celebrating Your Achievements - Filling your Well

Picking up my Art Awards

How often do you celebrate your achievements or do you brush them under the carpet?

It is important to regularly celebrate the achievements and accomplishments that you make, it doesn't have to be anything big or lavish, but needs to be noted, so that in those times of doubt you have something to look back on, or you can as it were 'dip into the well' to remind yourself.

Do you quietly allow those momentous occasions to pass you by with other people getting more excited than you?  Do you hope your achievements will gain the approval of others, not valuing the importance of stepping out and knowing your worth?

When I talk about celebrating your achievements there are so many different ways in which you can do it, and the important thing is that you do celebrate in some way to mark the occasion acknowledging the work that you put in to get to where you got.

We can get in the mode of achieving things but not acknowledging them because other people feel insecure,  or are you the sort of person who waits for affirmation from others, and don't recognize what you have done as an achievement.  

Blow your own trumpet!

Not everyone grows up being told how great they are, how much talent they have or that the world is indeed their oyster which means they can have anything their hearts desire.
You can't wait for someone to see your value you have to see it first within yourself.  Why not make something of the hard work that you have put in there are others who would be happy to celebrate alongside you and would be inspired.


I shared some of the recent success I had with some of my work in Barbados.

Angles Walk Among Us - Silver Award 

I received 3 awards (2 Bronze and 1 Silver) in the The National Independence Festival Of Creative Arts (NIFCA) Barbados for 3 Sculptures I created. I shared my successes HERE.  It was great to be part of the exhibition and there were many beautiful pieces of work on display, both professional, and emerging. 

Mixed media art Sculpture - The Dancer - Bronze Award

The Dancer, which received the NIFCA Bronze award was snapped up and made its way to a home in the UK.  I shared my achievements, wrote down the date and how I felt about it in my journal.

The Dancer - in her new UK home

 My work is available for viewing and sale on my website - Realityarts.org  

So why not blow your own trumpet, even for a moment, look at what you have achieved, write it down and give thanks for a new day to achieve something else, and the fuel that keeps you going in those times of doubt when you look back and see how far you have come.  

What about you?  what have you done in your life that you have brushed under the carpet?  what can you celebrate be it big or small? And without knowing it you could be that spark and motivation that someone else needs to celebrate their achievements. 

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal - Week 85 - Hope

Hope is something that I can never tire of writing about as it makes it way through our existence.  We hope and wish for better things to come, we look at our day to day and are grateful for that which we receive, it gives us a new dimension to hope.

I can think of many times through my life where I have hoped for a different outcome, wanting so badly for things to go my way, and not understanding the eventual outcome.  My hope that my mum would make a miraculous recovery and the dementia to disappear, or that my brother would be healed from Cancer and live to see old age with his big sisters, while chasing around after his grandchildren, but I have had to reassess the hope that I had with the present I now see.

Hope caused me to look at things in a different light and perspective.  With a slightly different eye and as painful as it sometimes was, situations didn't always play out as you intended them to.  When I looked from an objective perspective it enabled me to see where there was room for change that would allow me flexibility and growth.

I have learnt so much through illness and death of those people around me that I love and thought would be here forever, and I now see the world with new eyes, still hopeful, not taking it for granted, but expectant.  As you reflect on aspects of your life what key things are you learning?

I am grateful for life's lessons, for the hope that we have within us that can change the course of our lives.  I celebrate the life that we need to make more of and those wishes I made as a child and the ones that have come to pass.

I am on a creative journey in my journal and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitude and Celebration Journal

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal - Week 82 - Hot, Hot, Hot!

Gratitude's and celebration Journal

Well, we are finally here, in sunny Barbados!  We have been here for 2 weeks so far and it feels like months already.  I have promised to keep another blog going with the transition, but I have been distracted, with all the newness of everything, and by the time I think about getting round to it another day has passed!

I still do want to share for those who are interested in the journey and so will have to set aside time to start writing and it might be a daily post until I have caught up, so bear with me!

We have been in the throws of unpacking and putting things where we feel they should go, there has been some negotiation needed when we decide on the shared areas.

All my art supplies so far have turned up and I have been arranging my new studio, I have more space than I dreamed of and it will take a while for it to operate exactly how I want it to with all my supplies to hand.

My new studio taking shape

 I am grateful, so very grateful.  I take stock on the journey that we have made so far and have yet to make, one full of adventure, risks, uncertainty, new environments, tastes, smells, creepy crawlies every now and then, friendships, and hot sun to top up my vitamin D deficiency and a new flavor to my art and creativity.

I also think about my family and friends and celebrate the deeper connections that we can make even if we are a plane ride away:)

Gratitude and Celebration Journal - Mixed media art

I am on a creative journey in my journal and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitude and Celebration Journal

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal - Week 81 - Home

I am having to reassess my view of home.  Having been in my current one for the past 20 years we are in the process of moving and it has brought up a lot of emotions for me.  I have also been making changes to my mums home and the impact of that has also stirred up different emotions that I will share another time. 

They say one of the biggest stress factors to our lives is marriage, death, divorce and moving home.  Having to pack up my own home and my mothers has meant that I have at times had to go on automatic pilot to get through.  

I am not the first or last person to move home, I guess it's the feeling of familiarity that I will miss, as well as family and friends being so close - sometimes taken for granted that they will always be there.

Home is where the heart is....

and a new home calls..

Along with adventures anew we make ready, things packed waiting to be shipped, a thousand thoughts running through our minds, each of us with a different perspective.

I am grateful and celebrate the home that I am leaving and look forward to settling in and making the new home an environment that is full of Joy, Peace, Love and Creative outpouring....

I am on a creative journey in my journal and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitude and Celebration Journal

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal - Week 77 - Health

Every so often I get an urge to turn my health around, usually prompted by some ache or pain and it pushes me to take action.  This time round was no different, but it was also coupled by the desire for all round change.  I found a Groupon voucher recently that enables me to take 10 swims at a reduced price and that is what I've been doing, I have tried to go daily, having to be at the pool between 6.30 am and 9 am really has challenged me to make the effort to get to the pool.

I am always surprised at how much I take my health for granted and going swimming 3-4 times a week has really made me value the health I have.  There is always some weight to loose and a eating habit to either break or cultivate. It has meant that I am eating healthier as well.  I make a smoothie full of fruit, seeds and vegetables and this keeps me going until around 2pm.  I want to start adding more raw foods to my diet.

There are some illnesses which we are susceptible and also impact on family so where possible it is vital that you take steps to avoid mistreating your body and look after yourself.

I celebrate and I am grateful for another opportunity to do something about my health now, that will affect my health tomorrow.

Take a moment to think how you can impact your health in a positive way and see what steps you can take today.

I am on a creative journey in my journal and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitude and Celebration Journal

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal - Week 74 - The Ideal

There is no situation or circumstance that is ever going to be perfect, and often we wait until we perceive it is the right time, when things fall into place, when the planets align or someone says those words that we were longing to hear.

We can prevent ourselves from using our gifts and talents, and as an artist there has been many a time when I didn't want to share a piece of work, because I was worried about what people might think, how they would see me or who they would compare me to, but whether or not they want to compare me it doesn't matter. 

At the end of the day, you can't stop yourself from doing things purely because of what others might think or stay in the neat little box that they try and confine you to.  You are a unique individual and you have to value yourself where you are, stop playing small and appreciate yourself a bit more.

There is a world out there with your name on it waiting to be explored, ideas that are waiting to be birthed by you that others are praying to see, and experience.  You have to step out of that shell you have been hiding in and show all your colours - you are extremely beautiful, I hope you know that!

There will never be an ideal moment, so start now, there will never be the right time, so take that step,  You are beautifully and marvelously made - have faith that if you fall, you will get up, and take another step, embrace those difficult times as an essential part of your training that will allow you to look back and celebrate how far you really have come.   

I celebrate and am grateful for this moment that is right here, when I can tell someone somewhere in the world reading this post that you matter.  Don't wait for the ideal moment or time, step out of your comfort zone now and live life to the full!

I am on a journey and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitudes and Celebration Journal - Week 73 - Integrity

It has been a busy week of dealing with services that help with mum and it has not been an easy week.  I have found many people who work in healthcare that don't really care about the service user and the families that support them at all.  The very same people who need the care are the ones who worked every day of their lives and never took a day off sick, and these are the very men and women who are now the octogenarians who are being treated badly and seemingly thrown on the heap.  I have become frustrated at some of the actions and thoughts of the services that I have to deal with on mums behalf as their idea of care means leaving the elderly isolated and on their own.

Who Cares

I was told that it is alright for me to leave a 91 year old woman with severe dementia on her own at night, despite the fact that she cannot do anything for herself or discern when she is in danger.  I know that there are many elderly people who live on their own, but for the ones who are ill or frail appropriate measures need to be considered and put in place so that they can still feel like valued members of the community.  My mums borough has never recognize the need for support for night time care, I asked what would happen if she felt out of bed, which has happened as she wouldn't be found until the morning and I was told I should use the crash mat - which is supposed to be placed beside her bed, or what would happen if she got out of the flat and fell down the stairs - would she have to wait until morning to get help for that as well?

Regardless of how I feel about the role of carer, leaving my mum on her own was something we stopped doing since around 2004.  It has not been easy having to go backwards and forwards and the times that I had to console my son because he was missing me broke my heart.  But knowing that mum could walk out of the house and no one knows where she had gone is something we never want to relive again and my heart goes out to anyone who has been in this situation.

Creating problems and not finding solutions

The fact is regardless of the strides some councils have made it isn't enough.  The way that the elderly are treated and regarded is appalling especially if you happen to be frail or have an illness or disability.  Carers who shoulder a lot of the financial, physical and emotional burdens are not appreciated and those who work in the healthcare field are undervalued.  It would seem that they are brushed under the carpet until someone exposes mistreatment or someone dies then you have the politicians running around saying how shocking it all is and that their party will turn things around.

With millions of pounds of cuts being made in around the country the first services that were affected were the elderly and those with disabilities.  The staff at the center that my mum attends many of whom knew the service users were told they had to leave or face a pay cut, new staff were brought in either fresh out of University so they could pay them peanuts and felt undervalued to those who just didn't have a heart for the role in health care anymore, and didn't seem to like interacting.

The caring role over the years has taken a toll on my health and well-being, but I do it, not because I have to but because I want to.  There are times when exhausted I cry out that I don't want to do it any more, and I know that at some point I am going to have to make a decision about where mum is cared for, but knowing and doing the right thing for mum out weighs anything that I am going through myself. 

I am grateful and celebrate the creative tools that are available to me that enable me to express how I feel, to have a voice and can find a place of peace and comfort.

Share one thing that you are grateful for, stay blessed and be a blessing.

I am on a journey and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitudes and Celebration Journal - Week 72 - Joy

Welcome to the word for today's Gratitude's and Celebration Journal.  The word is Joy and I guess that it has different meanings for any..... the Joy of the Lord is my strength, and I have found that my faith and belief in God has been the thing that I have found to keep me going.

I have found that in the midst of the turmoil we must search for joy, and holding on to those little moments actually enables us to make our way out of what can seem on the outside as a never ending night mare.  

In my times where I have been lost, seeking an answer to a problem, trying to negotiate doors closing at what seems like every turn, I can take comfort in the simple things which reminds me that this isn't all there is, there is more.

When we stop rushing around and take stock of our lives and those of our loved ones we see more, we can breath a little more and our surroundings hold pockets of joy depending on your perspective. 

Sometimes looking in on the details is all that it takes to turn something around, noticing how precious life is, or the breath that you take.  The laughter of a child to the simple meal shared by friends.....

Whatever circumstances or situations you are in, hold on to the joy, seek it out, share it and watch the changes that can be the turnaround in a situation, just because you allowed joy some room.

I look forward to the journey and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitude and Celebration Journal

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal - Week 70 - Kindness

Welcome to this weeks journal page, we arrive at the word kindness.  Thinking back over the 70 weeks of post and the journal itself I think I have come quite a long way from its beginning in week one nearly a year and a half ago.

As the months have progressed I have just got stuck in and it has become a routine now that I make sure that I do.  There have been some weeks when I haven't got my act together and just moved it to the next week.  I have had to remind myself that the only pressure I will be under is the one that I set for myself, and so I have tried to remain flexible, preparing where possible the background pages, but trying to think about that week and where and what I need to be thinking about.

Kindness

I am not always kind to myself and have at times been quite harsh, and I ask myself would I treat a friend the way that I treat myself.  We talk about treating others the way we treat ourselves, and sometimes even the dog or cat is treated better and we put ourselves down or devalue our self-worth.

You have to treat yourself the way you want others to treat you, that means to respect and value your worth.  You were brought into this world for a purpose (yes I will continue to say it if I have to in each post), you might not know that or feel that, and I can say that there are times I wonder if I have got anywhere near my purpose cause everything just hit the fan!

At the end of the day you have to be able to nurture yourself the way you would nurture a child, be gentle to your dreams and treat yourself with kindness being patient and loving to your heart.  Do something nice just for you, find some encouraging and inspiring words that you can say to yourself on waking up and going to bed.  If you are stuck check out my Word for the week and Quote Wednesday for inspiration, but do something positive.  

As I go and take my own advice, I am grateful and celebrate today, a day that I have the opportunity to do something kind to myself and extend that to someone else.

Gratitude and Celebration - Kindness

What act of kindness will you do for yourself?, share, comment and let me know how you get on.

I look forward to the journey and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitude and Celebration Journal