Arts and Wellness Café - Joyous

Come and join me for the Arts and Wellness Episode with the theme Joyous.  Where does your joy come from and how does it flow into your creativity?

You can also hear the Creating in Faith perspective on the podcast 

Poet of the Month - Gwendolyn Brooks - Sadie and Maud - Inspirational Shorts Podcast

Gwendolyn Brooks - Sadie and Maud, Inspirational Shorts

This week on the podcast I am sharing another poem by poet Gwendolyn Brooks.  In Episode 217 of my podcast you will here the poem Sadie and Maud.  

Listen to the podcast

Joyful

Art Journal Page - Amanda Trought

The word for the day is Joyful.  

Think about how the word can be incorporated into the things that you do and create an art journal page linking the word.

Let's look at the definition of the word joyful - 

• joyful feeling or causing great pleasure and happiness
•  with joy great pleasure and happiness,
•  a cause of great pleasure and happiness success or satisfaction.

Now how is it you feel about your creativity? 

Can you find those pockets of feeling joyful or joy and think about how you can find those little moments in your creativity because sometimes you just don't feel like creating.  

Sometimes you know you want to do something else but if you think about the creativity as a blanket so whether you going to your studio sear your table or wherever your space is and create something or write something or take a photograph it's all part creativity so it's all feeding you, feeding that 'well' that you can dip in-and-out of and grow.

Poet - Gwendolyn Brooks

“Poetry is life distilled.” ― Gwendolyn Brooks

Gwendolyn Brooks - Sadie and Maud

This week is the 2nd week of looking at the work of poet Gwendolyn Brooks, so today the poem that we are going to read is called Sadie and Maud. 

Sadie and Maud 

Maud went to college 

Sadie stayed at home 

Sadie scraped life 

with a fine-tooth-comb 

she didn't leave a tangle 

in her comb found every strand 

Sadie was one of the Livingest 

chit in all the land

Sadie bore two babies 

under her maiden name 

Maud and ma and papa 

nearly died of shame 

When Sadie said her last so long 

her girls struck out from home 

Sadie had left her heritage 

in her fine-tooth-comb 

Maud who went to college 

is a thin Brown mouse 

she is living all alone 

in this old house 

Gwendolyn Brooks - Sadie and Maud

You can find some of her book on Amazon

Find her books on Amazon

You can check out more about Gwendolyn Brooks, her life and other poetry on the Poetry Foundation Website - HERE

Join me each week on the podcast - HERE

Thank you for joining me, stay blessed and be a blessing!

Thanks for joining me - Amanda!!

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

Gratitudes and Celebrations - Week 52 - Celebrate how far you have come!

Gratitudes and Celebration - Celebrate how far you have come.

Approximately 52 weeks ago I decided to start a Gratitude's and Celebration journal, to capture and remind me of those things that I was grateful for within my life.  I shared with you how I made the journal and in the first week talked about 'letting the love in'.

The Gratitude's and Celebration Journal has served as a reminder to make the most of each and every opportunity.

It has been great working in a small way creating art on each page, and it has also made me focus on what was really important and what mattered in my life.  I have had my share of extremely sad times, as well as moments of joy, and all experiences there for a purpose and allow us to grow.The Journal has carried me through each and every week!

In everything, above all everything I choose to be joyful, and carry that joy with me everywhere I go.  While this is the 52nd week I have decided to continue with the journal, as I still have quite a few pages left to fill.

There is still so many things to be grateful for, I hope you continue to join me on the journey, and start your own Gratitude's and Celebration journal and spend time reflecting on where you are going.

Celebrating Joy

Word for the Week - Psalm 27:4

Dedicated to my wonderful, brave, encouraging, loving Brother Robert, who was also a husband, son, father, uncle, friend, supporter, who was  all the things you could ever want in a brother and then some! Who is truly in the House of the Lord, who sought him and is gazing upon his beauty......

Showing Sekani, Jorrell and Symphonie some moves!

Show your support HERE

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

Gratitudes and Celebration - Week 40 - Triumphs and Trials

Trials will come, but then so will triumphs...

Life has its ups and downs, we have problems they are fixed or sometimes not, we ask for help, we find a way, solutions present themselves and sometimes we experience the grief of loss.

After losing my brother to cancer last year and my best friend to a brain tumor three years ago, while continuing to look after my mother with dementia I sometimes felt numb.   I still do feel numb at times, on automatic pilot, not wanting to believe that they are gone.  With the mother I thought was invincible and who seems to be disappearing before me I find that I busy myself in practical activities that ensures her health and well-being are taken care of.  

I am still going through what seems like a trial I never thought I would have to face, I have to learn to navigate the territory that comes with grief and sadness and at unexpected times my thoughts are consumed with the loss and the continued loss that dementia brings. But laughter exists, mums playful spirit prevails and in the midst of it she can bring joy to the situation.

As I deal with each day at a time I find comfort in being grateful for the small things that can bring a smile, as do reminiscing and sharing childhood antics.  I celebrate the gift of healing of what can seem like a broken heart that will come with time. 

What small thing can you find to be grateful for in the midst of whatever situation you are in right now? 

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal

Have a blessed weekend! If you want to see how I made the journal (click here) Blessings!

Laughter - Memories of Home

Memories of Home...

Welcome to Memories of Home, if you would like to find out more information about the series, Click here

Being in a supportive environment is important to our growth as individuals, not everyone has had that opportunity and as adults we try and create an environment that will nurture and bless our children and indeed ourselves.

Laughter

Laughter is an important part of life, and being able to see the funny side and find humor in aspects of life is crucial, otherwise you would just want to curl up in a ball and cry all the time. They say that you use more muscles to frown - nearly 150, than if you where to smile - it uses under 10 facial muscles, (I heard the figure was 2), so imagine next time you walk down the street, all those who who have a smile on their faces will develop less wrinkles than those you see with frowns. Laughter has also been likened to an internal massage, so you can give yourself some a little bit of TLC on the outside and on the inside as well!

My dad had a good sense of humor and loved a good laugh - the type that would get you clutching your belly and bring tears to your eyes. Cartoons would be something that set him off, Tom and Jerry to be exact! He would find the cat and mouse antics hilarious - his laughter roaring through the house.

Charlie, our pet was a Minah bird. Dad was the only one that could handle him to get him out of the cage to clean it and then catch him as he flew around the house to put him back in. Minah birds mimic sounds, and somehow Charlie learnt to mimic my dads laughter, along with a few words. You would hear Charlie all hours of the day until it was time for bed. Dad would be watching something funny on the TV and then set Charlie off with laughter, it was definitely a sound to hear! 

Dads laughter showed me that it was important to look for the joy that we all have in our lives - and I think I have developed his loud laughter, much to my sons embarrassment! We can all find out what makes us laugh - seeing the lighter side of things especially in our complicated lives.  We have to sure we take time out on a daily basis, for we don't know what tomorrow will bring.

What role does laughter play for you and what one thing can you do today to encourage yourself to look at the humor in your own life? I hope you continue to join me on my journey over the weeks, as I share my mixed media houses and look back to the memories of home. I look forward to hearing about some some of your own memories. Blessings and peace to you!

Joy - Creating in Faith

After all that we have been through, I still have joy.....

I have been reflecting back over my life as another year slowly comes to an end.  As I look to the year to come and wonder if the decisions I made this year will bear fruit in the coming year.  Not one for making New Year’s resolutions I plan from around November the things I want to do or changes that I want to make, that way I am not setting myself up for a fall when you hit the second week in January and all your promises to yourself have been swept to the wayside.

Back to joy... there are many scriptures and references that talk about 'shouts of joy', 'singing songs of joy', 'being joyful', and it would seem as if it were a state of being.  When you look at the glass with water in it, is it half full or half empty?  I have always been a half full type of girl and tried to go into every situation trying to look at the positives that can be seen, and this I guess calls for a particular state of mind, but I think you also have to make a decision with the way you choose to see things.

My mother had a mini stroke twice this year, and after we came back from holiday and she had been in respite care she was in a really bad way and couldn't stand up straight and had difficulty walking, she also couldn't feed herself and wasn't really eating.  It was suggested by some that she go into a permanent home, but this is something that I have always fought against, for whatever reason the ‘residential home’ environment doesn't seem to extend life but I could guarantee that within 6 months she would have passed.  What was important for me in getting her back to some form of health, thee one to one interaction, the encouragement to walk even if she said she didn’t want to and for me the creativity, the laughter and joy would be the thing that would facilitate improvement.  I knew that if I was sitting down all day in a circular formation with other people who didn’t really speak and other people making you do things at set times then I would find it difficult and wouldn’t want to get up or function.  We know that if you have ever suffered from any form of depression, the last thing you want to do is mix with other people and you don’t want to get up and walk but cover your head under the covers, even though the walk will do you mood some good.  It would seem that there is no joy in this situation.  

What we had to look at was not what mum couldn’t do, but what she could, how could we support her where she was but to also retain and build on the strength that she had.  We had to encourage her to see that there was still something worth fighting for – to try and straighten her back, lift up her head, hold the spoon, walk up those stairs with encouragement all the way - to find those pockets of joy, sing a song, dance even though there is no music and as I found joy in the simple things she was able to find the joy within what she had, see the sun shining and get excited.

When we choose to be joyful it lifts or spirits, and brings about a sense of contentment and peace, opening up new insight and views to life.  Wherever you are in the world when you look at your current situation where can you see the pockets of joy?  Sometimes it is in the least expected places, but it is worth taking the time to discover.  Blessings

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you... and I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes... Ezekiel 36:26-27

  

 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. John 16:20

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

52 Weeks of Colour - Joy

Reflection 

It's your time to let love in for you

Quote 

All the way to heaven is heaven. ...St. Catherine of Sienna 

Scripture

"And has He not given you rest on every side?" 1 Chronicles 22:18.