Nurturing Monday- Giving Myself A Look At The Facts

                             Just Give Me The Facts, Ma'm

With lights everywhere reflecting in windows and mirrors at Christmas time my thoughts move to reflecting back on my journey with the word 'nurture'. Today in this post I give you the facts.

• Nurture is an active word that invites connection.
• I nurture everyday in some way or another whether I am aware of not
• I turned my word around to explore the negative side. There are things I nurture which are not positive
• When I observed how I nurture I often discounted the action because it was easy
• To nurture a relationship, eye contact and time alone count 80% more than any other way of giving

• Nurturing good practices brings peace and contentment
• In April, I nurtured reality, or accepting things as they are, which proved to be challenging
• In March I nurtured the skill of giving a heartfelt apology. That changed my habit of saying, "I am so sorry, but......
• In November I nurtured the "wilderness" of doing scary things. I joined in with other writers and wrote everyday to try to write my first novel. I wrote 25,000 words and 19 chapters. Want to take a peek?

These are facts about how I have learned to use the word in 2017. 

To go to the overview of My Year of Nurturing click  here.

Near

                         Christmas Is Near

        Yesterday I took an unexpected trip to Target. The nearness of certain events caught my attention. My favorite celebration of the birth of my Savior invites me to bring more light into my life and the life of others.

  

   And then there is special birth coming of my 19th grandchild, a boy who has been desired for nine years. His two siblings asked for a brother or sister, with hope, countless times. It seemed like it was not to be. But, unexpectedly he made his presence known and he is due just before Christmas. The box of diapers and sweet pastel rompers sitting on my table make me feel a wee bit giddy. I'm so  grateful for births and new hope in a better tomorrow.


 

I have been writing with the Five Minute Friday group for more than three years and I really enjoy the talented writers who share themselves each week.

Nurturing Monday- The Gift That Lies Beneath The Surface

"If you have a good inner life, you don't get lonely. I've got a good imagination. I don't miss romance." 

Diana Rigg

This Nurturing Monday brings me to a new gratitude for the life within that is available to all who seek it. On the surface, the winds may be howling, creating turbulent movement that leaves us unsteady, but underneath our inner life can glow, beckoning us to return.

My life inside is made up of practices. I repeat them daily. There is prayer and meditation, in fact I came up with six habits that bring me happiness. Three of them fill my inner life. 

Pray, Study, and Create all furnish my cozy, inside nook. So how does my one little word fit in? Choosing one little word each year provides a focus and intention to use that word to move my inner life forward. When it is active and glowing that private life can grow up into my outward, public life. Turning outward toward others and serving is easier. Choosing self care of exercise and nutrition is easier. There are lulls, of, course. Some days I want to play hooky. All in all, my word nurture gently reminds me to return to practices that heal and rejuvenate. 

To go to the overview of My Year of Nurturing click  here.

Familiar

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar. 

Thich Nhat Hanh

I walked by a tree recently and looked up to see the barren branches. A familiar lonely feeling weaseled into my chest. 

Feeling lonely in the winter comes as if scheduled on my to do list. This is what rises in winter. 

But, these two leaves caught my eye and I saw the message clearly.

Holding on is sometimes a sacred battle. Holding on to hope and joy, and love can seem naive as familiar despair creeps in. Just because it's familiar doesn't mean it is real.

                                    

I have been writing with the Five Minute Friday group for more than three years and I really enjoy the talented writers who share themselves each week.

Nurturing Monday- Thankful For My Imagination

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. 

Albert Einstein

This morning I moved my writing corner from the couch to the kitchen table. I moved a lamp and flower pot within view so a could create a certain coziness. You see, the couch was giving me lower back pain. This is day 20 of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, and I am still firmly committed to writing everyday. 

When I opened my e-mails today I found a pep talk by a NaNoWriMo author. "In the middle of the month you might hit quicksand," he wrote. "You will be tempted to quit because your plot line is stuck. But if you quit, your story will call to you and it will plead for you to finish. Keep going."

My characters do call to me to finish their story. I am so thankful that I have a tiny bit more imagination to keep them moving forward. Today they will meet a professor of music performance form Budapest who might turn out to be the killer or might give them the information to direct their investigation elsewhere. Who writes a murder mystery? Can't say I have any first hand knowledge but I do love Deborah Crombie and Jacqueline Winspear. Their detectives are my inspiration. If I can find as much excitement in my own novel as I do in theirs, I will be over the moon.

As the end of the year approaches I am thinking of the word 'enough' as my 2018 word but lately I'm inclined to embrace the word 'more'.

To go to the overview of My Year of Nurturing click  here.

Excuse

Pride invites you to excuse yourself from doing the right thing.

While reading the scriptures this morning I came upon some passages explaining why a truly blessed people fell into contention and strife. Their lack of unity split them into factions and classes.

Pride invites you to set yourself apart. It allows you to excuse your actions. The story that pride promotes is that you are entitled to feel better than your neighbor. Pride creates false intimacy with others as it invites them into your story. I know about pride. It blinds. A clue that pride is rising up comes when I can't truly see others, when my story is running in my head  24/7. 
   I need to excuse myself from writing so passionately. The scriptures pricked my conscience.



                                      

 I have been writing with the Five Minute Friday group for more than three years and I really enjoy the talented writers who share themselves each week. 

Nurturing Monday- Loving Writing

The treasure I've discovered is a deeper love for writing.

Almost two weeks ago I made a quick decision to join National Novel Writing Month. A novel is a huge jump in my usual writing pursuits. I write for my blog but to try to write 50,000 words in one month is mind blowing. 
Fortunately, I have this One Little Word that is guiding me this year. The word is 'nurture'. Why not nurture this skill and jump in the deep?

When I reached 10,000 words, NaNoWriMo sent me an e-mail. You see, I log my words everyday on their internet site. The statement that somewhere in my words I've discovered treasure rang true. The treasure is the power of nurturing my intentions and following through. Even if my novel stinks, I will be pleased with the process of getting up each morning to write more about my own little world. 
    The main characters in my novel are two detectives who investigate the death of a piano teacher. Oh, you want to know more. Okay, just a peek.............Click here for a preview.

To go to the overview of My Year of Nurturing click  here.