Enough

I was recently at a Fred Eaglesmith concert at our renovated train station.   At one point in his dialogue, Fred told the audience that he was the "richest man alive, probably richer than anyone in the audience".    He could make this claim because he was someone who had "enough".   Enough.....a word that has personal meaning to me.    On one hand I struggle with being "good enough" all the time....talented enough, a good enough artist, friend, daughter, sister.   On the other hand, I feel just like Fred Eaglesmith in that I feel gratitude for having "enough".   I love this post from a blog called Brave Girls Club and think it relates so well.   Believe me, it's worth reading!  

What is it about me and birds?

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 Okay I just had to share......Last Sunday I set out on my morning run.   I run the same route because I find that the regularity of it allows me time to think and meditate somehow.   Anyway, I run on the main street of our city and as I was trotting down the sidewalk, I noticed a little bird lying on its tummy.   I proceeded a few paces and then (yes, you guessed) I turned around to have a look at the situation.   What I saw was a sweet little fellow with a brown grey back and the most beautiful golden breast.   I gently pushed him with my hand to see if he would move but nothing happened.   He looked alert enough but he wasn't budging.    The options were playing in my mind....leave him and have him trampled, pick him up and run him home, pick him up and finish my run.   I chose the last option making a bargain with myself that I would let him go if he rallied before the end.   Well, he didn't.  Instead he settled into my hand, even going to sleep at one point.   He decidedly complained, however,  when the wind was directly hitting him.  Once home, we set up the "hospital" cage and tried to figure out his species.   We finally did and were surprise to discover that our little house guest is a Canadian Warbler.

       
   We Googled his favourite foods and discovered that he liked bugs and worms.   My DH dutifully traipsed to the pet store to purchase some meal worms which were met with delight.   He slurped them down as though they were spaghetti!!   Since Sunday he's managed to tuck away 100 meal worms a day!!    He promptly hops to his dish when I get home from work and he's not disappointed.   Another cup of mealworms....today it was 500!   The pet store clerk asked me to call ahead next time.  Yes, birds just seem to be woven into my life....like it or not.   And like it I do.

Celebrating Differences

I recently attended a full-day workshop on balancing multiple projects and time management.   As part of the course, we were asked to complete a personality test.   Who hasn't, in the course of their life, completed one of these?   Perhaps it was Myers-Briggs or True Colours.   Maybe you found out that you were an introvert or an extrovert, analytical or empathetic.     I find the results of these test comforting somehow.    They seem to explain why situations and relationships with others can be difficult at times.   They also emphasize what can be accomplished if everyone's skills and strengths are used together.

Just stumbled across a quotation on Facebook yesterday that really moved me.....

"If you knew who you really are, you would always treat yourself with respect.   You would be in awe of yourself."   

Crystal Andrus

The View Through Branches

Okay, I have to know.....how are you enjoying your summer?   It started off drippy and wet, spent a little time being dry and drought-like and now it's settled somewhere in between.   I just was looking at some of the photographs from the tornado that touched down in Goderich, Ontario on Sunday.  This is a place that is very dear to my heart having spent so much of my childhood there on visits to my grandparents' house.   My thoughts are with those who have been affected by it.

Even though I haven't been posting on my blog, I have been creating though not with the fervor I experience in the winter months.   I am grateful to be part of a round robin journal project on a Yahoogroup called PaperTraders.   Round robins really excite me.   I love the variety of themes that challenge me and the opportunity to watch the books develop.  One of the journals in this exchange was blessed with the theme of trees.  I've always felt that trees were one of my personal symbols.   I used to lie underneath one in our backyard when I was a child and watch the patterns created by sunlight, the way the leaves danced with the breeze and the activity of birds that often goes unnoticed.