Charcoal Picture

Recently I decided to pull out my charcoal kit from a couple years back when I took an online class. I looked at a picture I had on my desk, began with the general shape, and ended up with something completely different. You'd probably never guess that I started from this picture.

The picture doesn't really do the art justice, even though the art isn't perfect either.  But I wanted to share it anyway. Perhaps one day I will be better, but for now, I am satisfied with what I have. 

I am still trying to decide on what to call this picture. If you want to share your thoughts, on what this means to you, a good name perhaps, or anything else relating, please do.

Sometimes there just needs to be a filler post

So, I admit, sometimes there just needs to be a filler post. Does it have meaning? Not usually. Is it good? I would say normally not so great. Is it interesting to read? I'll leave that up to the reader to decide.
Sometimes though, we fake ourselves into thinking that a filler post is the best, easiest, thing to write. We may be good at it, make it funny and enjoyable, a nice way to pass the time. But we lose the valuable stuff if we never accept that we can do something better than just fill up the space.

"... it's easiest to just make some white rice and eat it plain."

Often times we do this with our life, we just accept that we need to fill up some time and then fill it up, with little thought of what its worth is. Instead of going on a walk, we plop down in front of the TV or computer. We feel relaxed, and tell ourselves it's just for a bit. All in all, everything goes well. Until we want to do it again the next day. We reason with ourselves that it isn't bad, and that it made us feel good yesterday. While this isn't bad, it begins to distract us from the great things in life. The more we tell ourselves fillers are okay, the less of the real things we get. It's like eating Hawaiian Haystack without the toppings, deciding that it's easiest to just make some white rice and eat it plain.

I would like to end with this quote. Echoing her words is the best I can do.

We live in a world where many people do not know where they would

desire to go. Many end up living years, not knowing where they are

going to end up. Some spend their lifetime going through the motions,

with no vision in mind. What a life void of meaning and purpose these

individuals live. How depressing it must be for these poor spirits who

have no drive or motivation.

--Summer Pulley

World of Shadows?

This world is a sad, sad world. Full of pain and suffering, death and struggle. People commit whores, tease, hurt others, and sometimes even kill. It's scary, knowing that good people who die, or are influenced by these horrendous acts don't plan on any of those bad things happening to them. It's another normal day, or even a special one, but how can they foresee how much their life is about to change?
We could dwell on these things everyday of our life, scared to go out and live it, afraid of what will happen, and not wanting to make a mistake. But that is a mistake, and our fear doesn't go away like, instead we feed it and allow it to thrive on us, slowly tearing us down. Somehow we must move on, but if these things aren't stopping, how are we supposed to stop being afraid of them? Dr J. R. Miller found a way to say this, which I now share with you now.

The Problem of Life

There are so many possibilities in life, in attainment and achievement, and so many opportunities of doing good, that it is a glorious thing to live. Surely, then, we ought to make the most of our life.

The ideal life is one of joy. The face ought to be shining--shining even in darkness. People say this is a sad world, yes, for those who have eyes only for shadows. He who has songs in his heart hears songs wherever he goes.

That is why, even though we are scared, frightened, and afraid. When we see only the shadows and our heart aches with pain. That is why, we must keep walking to the light. We must keep looking for the sunshine and allow it's warmth to fill our souls. 

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

I end with these words of hope, to brighten our shadowy world.  Remember there is sunshine, we just need to accustom our eyes to finding it.

Time

Often times we feel like the day drags on endlessly. Seconds feel like minutes and minutes feel like hours. The very thought of an hour for children can make them cry. It used to make me cry. We impatiently wait for the time to pass so that we can move on. However during our waiting we insist on doing nothing. As my old teachers would say: Being a lump of flesh. (It came from an Ulysses poem.)
Other days it feels like there is not enough time. It seems like the more you rush the faster time goes. The harder you try to beat it impatiently, the more time seems lost.
Sometimes we succumb to the time and decide that there is not enough of it to accomplish our goal. We then convert our energies to frivolous and wasteful things that don't really benefit. While willing the time to fly we often find that if we had actually tried we could have accomplish our goal.
The days of wasted time haunt us by presenting the same ordeal the next day, and the next, until we finally decide to do it. There are even times when we can't make it up, just because we did not seize the moment.


 We can never fully make up for the time we have wasted, because no matter what we do, it is gone.
I imagine if I were given back all of the time I wasted that I would gain quite a bit of my life I hadn't realized I'd wasted. It may even extend my life by weeks, months, possibly even years. I imagine a package, wrapped up neatly, arriving on someone's doorstep with a note: Here is all the time wasted given to you as a gift of a baby, who will live a full life with these many wasted seconds, minutes, hours, and days. Take care that this baby does not waste its time as well, because once it wastes its time, it loses time for their life to be given to a worthier baby. I know it sounds ridiculous, but yet I see the picture, and all the time being spent, carefully, and it ticking away like sand in a timer.


So many people say, when they are old or dying, that they wish they hadn't wasted so much time.
The regret of wasted time has already hit me profoundly at a young age. I can not begin to imagine my heartache when I am older when I realize once again the misuse and loss of my time.
I plead with myself, and with you, to realize what could be done with all time spent being "bored." I ask: Is it good, better or best? The next step is to follow through once it's figured out, even if the answer is undesirable. Will I ever be a master of time? Or will it always sift through my fingers, retaining only a few pebbles in my palm... Someday maybe I will be a master. Today, I am an infant. I continue my journey of growth, and I invite all whose hearts this has touched to join me as well, because with all of time going against us, a larger mass will stand stronger against the cascade than one poor soul. Please... time is ticking away.

Kiwi Banana Milkshakes

The other day my mom told us to use up some kiwis. My sister and I had a wonderful idea; Why not make a milkshake? We hastily asked my mom and then set to work. This is what we ended up with:

Recipe:
2 kiwis
1/2 banana
1 cup milk
Fill the rest of the Blendtec up with Breyers Natural Vanilla. ;)
Blend on milkshake setting. Divide into four glasses. Cut the remaining banana half into fourths, dice, put on top of the shake. Cut a third kiwi into fourths, dice, put on top of shake. Distribute to unsuspecting siblings. Enjoy!

We then got a lovely picture all together of our tasty creation distributed to our siblings. We had to take four pictures before we got one where my brother stopped looking skeptical, well mostly... Oh well. Maybe this helped boost his confidence in us.

Utterly, Irrevocably, Bored

Have you ever had the sensation that you have absolutely nothing to do? Even though your room is a disaster, you have piles of homework, and the list doesn't end there! Yet, for some strange reason, the only think that you can think to do is lie down on your bed, sit on a chair, and do nothing but breath.
Is that why you're reading this blog right now? Like the reason I'm writing this entry...
What should I be doing? Perhaps now would be a good time to do it. What do you think?

Update: I recently added a Document you can find to the right of here under "Favorite Website/Documents/Blahs" It is titled: "Bored List" Enjoy!