enCouraging Bliss: List!

This week’s Encouraging Bliss project from Christine is:

Think back over your last week. Where, what, when, and how did you find moments of bliss? Were there times or activities during which you felt completely on this path of bliss?

Were there any moments when you were able to transcend the ordinary, the difficult, and see the bigger picture — the bliss that encompasses all of it?

Were you aware of the giant blissful response of Yes! to even that which was, perhaps, uncomfortable?

Here’s my list! For a lot of the past week, I was off – just not relaxing and enjoying the things I usually do. But I think every day and week has some blissful moments…

• It was so, so hot last weekend and at the start of this week. When the weather broke and cool, more spring-y air rushed in…ahhhh! That was wonderful!
• Before the aforementioned heat became too much for me, I did enjoy sitting outside in it – in the shade of course! While the warmth helped relax my muscles, I read and read some more.
• I had a few tiny flashes of insight this week. I try to hang on to the little flashes until I have enough to clump together into something that shines a noticeable light.
• And the Grand Finale: I got to watch a fox trotting along! It was beautiful and fluffy. And of course, WILD. Wonderful!

Would you care to share a moment or two from the past week?

 

Happy Place Collage

This week’s enCouraging Bliss project is creating a Happy Place collage. Read more about it (and maybe join in!) here.

I could probably create a dozen Happy Place collages. There was so much I wanted to include

Here’s what I made:

 

100 Days

This week Christine is encouraging us (not just encouraging, daring us!) to choose something and stick with it for the next 100 days! Something that helps us follow/live/be our bliss! Read more about it here.

I’m taking the challenge and I started yesterday. I won’t be posting about this every day, but here I am to announce the start of my 100 days.

Well, it is!

I am choosing to do two things for my 100 days, actually.

1. I will spend at least a few minutes every morning sitting in my special red chair by the window. I’ll do this before going on the computer and getting caught up in all that busy stuff. This is just a little quiet time to sit, breathe, read, etc. I’ve been doing this on and on and it’s awesome. Now, I will do it for 100 days straight!

2. The other thing is I will be making some sort of visual art (drawing, painting, collage, etc.) each day for 100 days. Above you see what I did on Day 1. I wanted to start the 100 days, but felt totally uninspired. So, I wrote those words and then ended up drawing some leaves and…other mysterious things.

I’m excited about my 100 days!

 

enCouragingBliss: When We Were Six

Tell us what you were like when you were about six.

Would that little girl be happy with your life now?

That’s this week’s enCouraging Bliss prompt. Read more about it here.

Like Christine wrote, “by the time I was six years old, I had already been altered by fear.” This is certainly true for me, as well.

But I’m trying to reach back to the things that I loved to do and signs of being just me.

Isn’t it strange to look at photos of yourself as a child? I find it strange, anyway. I try to identify with that image – to say, that’s me. But I really can’t believe it.

a stickerbook from my childhood

I know I loved:

• art – drawing, painting, gluing, etc.
• cats
• pretend play – making a “potion” out of crumbled leaves and water, etc.
• everything silly and weird
• stickers
• music

Look at this list! Everything on this could be said about me now!

In many ways, I have worked to reclaim the joyful parts of being a kid. I had a lot of fun as a kid, but also way too much worry, fear, and sorrow. As an adult, I’ve worked on both – tending to the fear and also feeding the joy.

And as I’ve written about a few times here lately, I’m moving toward some projects that bring joy, peace, and courage to little kids. I do this in honor of that little girl that I can’t quite recognize in the pictures.