Tag: good things take time

The Good Life

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I stopped by the Water Gardens and saw three of them sitting on the edge of a wood table. Two were in bloom and I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed such delicate beauty making this loud of a statement.

Similar to the pillow mentioned in Feel the Music, there was no need for another plant, but if it could be happy in my yard, I’d literally stare in wonder at it while it bloomed. Three days later, I went back to the Water Gardens and made my way over to where they’d been sitting previously. It blended in with all the other plants on the table, but there was one left. It wasn’t in bloom, but I recognized the foliage and not being in bloom is how it was overlooked.

Curcuma-Siam-Sparkling-Tulip

Last year the yard was all about the bloom, but this year it’s about watching and waiting for that one spectacular moment. There’s nurturing in between every bloom, but the rewards far outweigh the attention given. In the book, Simple Abundance, the author has been talking quite a bit about gardening. This reading is titled The Good Life, and she shares an excerpt from the book, Loving and Leaving the Good Life, by Helen Nearing.

  • Do the best you can, whatever arises.
  • Be at peace with yourself.
  • Find a job you enjoy.
  • Live in simple conditions; housing, food, clothing; get rid of clutter.
  • Contact nature every day; feel the earth under your feet.
  • Take physical exercise through hard work; through gardening or walking.
  • Don’t worry; live one day at a time.
  • Share something every day with someone else; if you live alone, write someone; give something away; help someone else somehow.
  • Take time to wonder at life and the world; see humor in life where you can.
  • Observe the one life in all things.
  • Be kind to creatures.

I’ve been helping a woman water the flower beds at church once a week and noticed she didn’t have a sprayer on the end of the water hose, so I brought her my rain head to use. I attached it to the hose, turned it on and handed it to her. Just the sound of the water the rain head gives and watching it shower over the plants was such a peaceful moment she didn’t want it to end. It’s moments like that you know you’re standing in the good life.

The Plant Stand

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I watched my actions, and they all seemed normal until I caught the stick on fire. Sitting on my zafu meditation cushion, I grabbed the lighter and lit a stick of Palo Santo and thought, “What would a man think seeing me light a stick on fire inside the house, with music for plants playing in the background?” Just another reason why the doorway is still empty! 😂

I mentioned here about having house plants, so now I’m really into plant stands. Just like everything else, I’m particular about them, so the one that gets my attention has to speak to my heart. World Market has become my favorite store. It’s inspiring to walk through, and it’s close by which makes for a refreshing, afternoon break from the laptop.

The first plant stand was for this smallish fiddle leaf fig. This guy was my test subject, purchased at a local nursery for less than $20. I left him sitting in his plastic pot for almost a month, just to make sure he was happy before any further investment. Since placing him in the plant stand, he’s doubled in size, so he’s happy.

Sunshine pillow and plant stand ~ World Market.

This may be the first stand for this plant, but he was sitting in a woven basket before this stand. I did some research on plant stands to see what was available in stores before driving around. I hadn’t purchased a plant stand for an indoor plant in years, and I’ve learned it’s best to see something in person if possible before buying. Nowadays, the picture seems to outdo the actual product.

I saw a stand on the WM website, which showed it available in store, so off I went. When I got there, they were closing the doors, but let me in with a warning, “We close in 10 minutes.” Quickly, I walked over to the plant stand area, but didn’t see it, so I walked through the store thinking it might be part of a display, and it was. It had a large, artificial version of my plant sitting in it, which was a good sign.

I wanted more time to ponder the stand, but felt pressured by the store closing and couldn’t decide. It was pretty, but it looked better in the photo than on the store floor. As far as I could tell it was the only one in the store, so I was taking a chance leaving it. There was a less expensive woven basket sitting nearby that would work, so I took it up to the cash register to pay. The cashier told me if it didn’t work, to bring it back.

Stepping outside, I heard the click of the double doors locking behind me. Holding the receipt, I already knew I’d be bringing it back, because I’d listened to my head instead of my heart. A few days later, I returned to the store, but this time came home with the plant stand.

Cover photo by Spacejoy on Unsplash

It’s Own Time

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I bought a flat of impatient’s for the flower cart. It surprised the cashier when I sat the entire tray on the counter, and it surprised me too. I didn’t plan on planting many flowers this year, but plans change. The flower cart can hold a flat, or full tray, and they’re beautiful to see, but now I have 48 little impatient’s, patiently waiting to be planted. 😍

My God is sneaky. He knew I wouldn’t be able to look at an empty flower cart for long.

This week, I rearranged my bedroom, and moving the bed is always an adventure. It was pretty dusty under there, and I’ve written about it here. My daughter and I each have a long, rolling storage container for off season clothing under the bed. They had sat side by side with a small gap in between and captured all of the cat’s jingle balls. That’s a score!

Once the bed was moved, I had a semi empty wall. The artwork looked scattered, so I moved two pieces to fill the empty spaces. It all lined up perfectly, so I could see that was not my doing. On my best day I couldn’t do that, without scattering holes over the wall. This was seamless and took no effort. It’s like they’re resting on an invisible wall length shelf.

Local artist Rachel Brown. 💖

The wall of art gives an immediate feeling of calm and centered. I could add more art above this row, but that’s how it is with me. God lays it out perfectly, and I want to tweak it, but this time there’s nothing to tweak. And Dawn, when you read this you’ll know, the wall of art we spoke about in our letters, fell into place all in it’s own time.

From the post, ‘Just Say Yes.‘ Artist ~ Mrs. M

The Right Time

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I’ve not found the right time exists to do anything worthwhile. Sometimes we get caught up waiting for the right time, but that’s a long, unproductive wait. My quality of writing can reflect my mood, so I like to ensure I’m in a good headspace before clicking the publish button.

God, I will take care of the quantity. You take care of the quality.

Julia Cameron ~ The Sound of Paper

My friend and I continue to Marco Polo every week. She’s a writer as well, but we have different styles. We share this one secret to sitting down and enjoying what we write, and I’m here to share it with you. Write before work.

It sounds easy, but I’m dedicated to my work, so it doesn’t take long for the inner critic to start in on me not to write. I’ll have nonsense thoughts similar to, “You’ve got so much work on your plate today, and need to do that first”, or “You have people looking for you that need your help.” The inner critic will make any daily activity seem more pertinent than writing.

My friend and I’ve found if we dive into our work/job before writing, we won’t write that day. I can force myself to write after work, but it’s not fun, and it usually gets trashed. Writing should be fun, so I write before work.

Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash

If you go to work early, try getting up a bit earlier to write. There’s no need to agree with our thoughts that we don’t have the time when we can make the time. Plan on it and create some space to write. By taking time, you’re inviting it to be the right time.

Here’s more tips from Barb on how she writes:

The Right to Write, The Blank Page, The Bottom of the Page, and Watch Your Time

Watch Your Time

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There’s only one post published about this and you are welcome to read it here. I haven’t written about this nearly enough. The sand timer is considered a valuable asset in my daily life. It’s helps me watch the time.

My Mama receives the credit for teaching me the value of time. There wasn’t an idle moment in our home. She always had us doing something and the two words you never let Mama hear you say were, “I’m bored.” On rainy days if she couldn’t find enough for us to do inside she would say, “Read a book.” When we’d run outside to play, or over to a friends house, her parting words were, “Watch your time.” We had to be home in time for dinner.

In March of 2020, I was walking through a large home store, just browsing the shelves when I spotted this sand timer. It was sitting on a shelf like it was out of place, or the only one left. It didn’t have a tag of description, only a sticker with a bar code. I pulled out my phone, opened the timer app and started the timer. I carried the sand timer through the store letting it run and watching the timer. The sand ran out at 30 minutes.

When sitting in front of the blank page, I flip it over, and keep an eye on my time. Whether it’s morning pages, a Blogpost, or a project, I sit and work on it for 30 minutes at a time. Do you ever get to the end of the day and wonder where the time went? With the sand timer you can watch your time.

The Blank Page

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It was 2019 when I first tried implementing the Morning Pages into my life, and it was a struggle. I tried and failed many times, but never stopped completely. In 2021 it finally clicked, and today, the page feels like mine.

Looking back I see it as playing with pages. You have to find the page that’s right for you. I kept bending the rules, but in reality there’s not many rules with the Morning Pages. It’s pen to paper, first thing in the morning, therein lies the name. One thing I always came back to was a standard size piece of paper, but today the page looks totally different than where I began.

It’s blank with no lines and it’s not in a notebook.

The blank page

I’d continually try different forms of paper and encourage you to as well. I’ve used journals and spiralbound notebooks. Notebook paper worked for months, but then I purchased some paper for a project at work. I only needed 25 pieces of paper to print out some letters, but the smallest sized box held 100 pieces. This paper is pale gold parchment, and if you’ve never held a piece of parchment paper in your hands, you need to.

Each morning I sit down at my desk, pick up a pen and let it glide across the blank page.

Do It Twice

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It’s ridiculous how many times I’ve written, “I’m tired but…”, this year. Penzu sent me a journaling memory that was written a year ago and it started with those words. I’m trying to pause pushing myself through tired.

In my 20’s I acquired an over achiever mindset, so by the time I hit my 30’s I had a successful business and did speaking engagements to teach others the secret to success. In my 40’s life changed, or maybe I did. What looked like a successful life was a very large house empty of the most important thing to me. Happiness. At the age of 49, I blew up my life and hit restart.

I still tend to push myself to over achieve at everything I do, but I’m well into my 50’s now. I have a friend who is younger than me and we Marco Polo almost everyday. She get’s so excited about a new idea or venture she wants to partake in, and I smile and Marco Polo her back with encouragement and an experience from my past of something similar. She’s tells me, “I think you’ve done everything at least twice.”

Ah, but lovely, there’s so much more I’m still willing to do. Our maturity is our ticket to spend less time with job/work, and more time in meaningful work, or simply choose to take on everything in a more meaningful way.

My friend sent a Marco Polo recently with an idea that reflects her heart of gold. I need to Marco Polo her in response because it’s obvious God had a hand in lining everything up. That’s what success looks like for me today. When our preparedness meets His timing, and that will entail laying our heart and hand to something a whole lot more than twice.