The Shore and the Ocean

"In order to discover new oceans you must have courage to lose sight of the shore."

~Anonymous

These words have been on my mind a lot lately, and so I share them with you in case they can serve as a catalyst for positive change in your own life.

Regardless of the shore you are on or trying to let go of -- whether it be a physical shoreline or a metaphorical one -- sometimes we need to reach out toward the ocean and let go of what has been in order to discover what is ahead. It seems to me that since we are human a lot of us would rather be more like a monkey and swing from one branch to another, rather than be in a boat and hoist anchor, looking to and moving toward the horizon beyond which we cannot see.

San Luis Obispo has been the comfortable, blessed shore and harbor home for David and I for most of our married life. Outside of the short months between getting married and moving to the SLO area for school, and the past couple of weeks, it has been our haven...our home. While we will forever cherish our home there -- and especially friends and loved ones we met there (many have also moved away) -- the ocean beckons us to a shore we have not yet found.

These thoughts bring to mind a story I heard in which a young boy really understands what 'home' means...

Some years ago a fire erupted in the middle of the night and completely destroyed a family’s home. A neighbor came by to console a seven-year-old, not knowing that he was about to be taught a great principle. “Johnny, it’s sure too bad your home burned down.” Johnny thought a moment and then said, “Oh, that’s where you’re mistaken, Mr. Brown. That was not our home; that was just our house. We still have our home, we just don’t have any place to put it right now.

...That last statement truly typifies how I feel right now. While we are immensely blessed to live where we are right now, and we love being here so much to boot, the ocean still beckons. So, I am counting our blessings daily and pray for the strength to be able to head out into the ocean once more when it is time to leave this safe and comfortable harbor.

May you have peace in your heart if your current shore is best, courage to leave a shore behind you to make a positive change in your life and definitely the wisdom to distinguish between the shores!

With love.

Happy Mothers' Day...

While I have not gotten into the habit of blogging, I do genuinely enjoy the opportunity to share thoughts with the few that read them concurrently, as well as recording them for future reference. Since today is mothers' day, I wish to dedicate this post to the mothers in my life (I have several-indeed a blessing to me!), especially one of whom is a faithful reader. You know who you are, and I hope you know how special you are to the children to whom you gave life and endless love and to those you have adopted into your heart throughout the years. It is for you specifically I make the /gallant/ effort to post some thoughts today...

Although I do not have children of my own I am gaining a greater appreciation for ALL the daughters of Eve, the mother of all of us living on Earth. Eve was designated as that mother prior to her having a child of her own, so that indicates to me that all of her daughters-at least potentially-have something of a mother within them before they (we) ever become mothers to their (our) own children. I have been blessed with opportunities to interact with many children in my life so far to whom I will always feel attached to in a special way even though they belong to another mother. They will always be *mine* in a special way.

Additionally, once a mother, always a mother...right? I hear a mother's job is never done, and I don't see any evidence to the contrary!

To all reading this...may your burdens be lightened with the knowledge and hope that the best is yet to come, and that you give life and love in so many, indeed countless ways.

So, in tribute to all the daughters of Eve I offer a warm and heartfelt HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY!!

On my mind today...

A thought that I try to embrace in my actions...

~ If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain as he is.
But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be,
he will become what he ought to be and could be. ~

Goethe

...and a thought to guide my thoughts on freedom...

~ No one is so enslaved as he who falsely thinks he is free. ~

Johanne Wolfgang von Goethe

Thanks for reading some of my thoughts today...

Hmm...Here's a Shock...

Your Easter Egg Says You Are Philosophical

Yipee for Yarn!!!

Yarn is one of my favorite mediums to craft with! Thanks at least in part to one of my sisters-in-law I am having fun KNITTING (thanks, Debi!)!!! It is also exciting to be moving on to learning things I wanted to, but did not make/have time for while working on my degree the last several years.

I started learning the beginning knit stitches when I was younger, about the same time I was learning the basics of crochet. For whatever reason crocheting felt more natural to me and I took off with it, leaving my knitting needles aside and unused for a very long time...until recently!

Here is my first knitting project...

...a small purse with a shoulder strap, about right for slinging on shoulder or across shoulder to hip. I put a box of dry chicken noodle soup mixes inside to fill it out for picutres, so it's just a little bigger than that.

I just purchased an awesome stitch pattern book at Barnes & Noble yesterday, but I learned the main stitch for this project on YouTube of all places! Actually, it is a great resource for refreshing and learning techniques! I'm working on some stitches from the Knit & Purl book, but it's not very far along yet...I think I will make a shopping bag, since I've wanted to do that for a while...for shopping at farmers' markets and at the regular stores.

Here are a couple more pictures of my completed project, with close-ups of the stitches making up the bag and the shoulder strap...

So long for now...from a knitting knut!