LUCKY CHARM #1: Make Something

SHE'S CRAFTY

My daughter is a creative genius.  Hmm, I wonder where she got it from?  LOL!!  She graduated from FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in NYC.  She has been designing her own line of jewelry for about a year and a half now.  She also wants to design her own denim line.  This past summer I started teaching myself how to crochet.  I have completed a few scarves for myself.  I made one for a client and her daughter - Johnny, a friend.  One night, while visiting a friend, another friend took the dusty green scarf I made for myself right off my neck, saying she loved it.  I said take it -- it's yours. I have been reading books on knitting and will also be teaching myself how to to that, too.  Soon after I will be teaching myself weaving and embroidering.  Who knows, perhaps pottery will be next.  Creating things with ones hands is a wonderful way to self-express. 

Recently I came across a fiber art form called freeform crochet and knitting (bka scrumbling).  My mouth dropped to the floor because of its sheer beauty.  There is no end to the designs you can make - from garments to jewelry.  You are only limited by your own imagination.  No rules.  No patterns -- just doing own thing.  I totally love that idea.  Although following a pattern is still a great way to creating something magnificent - a hat, sweater, scarf, coat, poncho, or shawl.  What a charming way to live.  Cheers!!

ANIMAL ODD COUPLES

About two weeks ago PBS began airing its annual pledge drive.  As usual the programs have been simply spectacular.  I could not help but smile from ear to ear as I sat watching one of my favorite shows - NATURE.  The topic was animals of different species who develop remarkable, lifetime friendships - and what interesting bonds these are.  A dog with a cheetah, deer, rabbit, monkey; a goat with a horse; an owl with a domesticated cat; a lion and a coyote - budding relationships that have turned conventional wisdom upside down.  

My favorite part of the documentary featured Charlie, a horse who was blind and who developed a 16 year-old friendship with a goat named Jack.  Jack would lead Charlie on a path to graze, spend time with him in the sunshine and then would guide him back home.  After Charlie died Jack was was never the same.  Other relationships depicted were of a great dane named Kate and a fawn named Pippin.  Pippin was orphaned and Kate took it upon herself to be her sorrogate mom.  They experienced fun together through their connection.  The owner of Kate did not want to interfere with Pippin being wild.  So she would not hold or pick up the fawn.  In this way Pippin was able to remain wild, going into the woods and sleeping at night and then eating and playing with Kate during the day.  Another startling relationship develped between a goose and a tortoise, who'd been together for four years. The goose would oppose anyone or anything that would dare come near the tortoise.  A curious aliance grew -  which, by the way, reminds me of the biblical scripture, "And the lion will lay down with the lamb" - between a lion and a coyote.  Both acquired when each was about 2 months old.  Obviously the lion outgrew the coyote.  The owner stated that if he thought for a second that the coyote's life would be in jeopardy he would remove the coyote. Odd?  You bet.  But the oddest couples can make the most devoted relationships.  

Gaining a new perspective as to how relationships develop, we need to reassess how we think friendships form.  Emotions such as happiness, sorrow, joy, anger, compassion are not exclusive to humans.  For example, research on brain scans show evidence of how the body reacts to grief - experiencing sadness which Jack clearly displayed when Charlie died.  It was as if he lost his best friend.  There's oodles of evidence that illustrates how elephants are affected when they come upon the dead bones of other elephants - whether they were directly related to them or not - and how they spend quite some time mourning.  Kicking and turning over the bones.  

All these relationships have developed with the hand of humans however, and live in secured, restricted areas.  Could/would animals living in the wild develop these close bonds?  I've learned to think, feel, believe that any thing is possible.  Just look at the different friendships that have developed not only between humans but humans and other animals.  What do you think?  Cheers!!

IN LIVING COLOR

Color is seductive, mesmerizing.  Life offers us a scintillating array of hues with which to play.  Pearly tones like taupe, cream or silver-gray go very well with my naturally graying locks.  I love the way these tones play up my skin, and, so I tend to lean more toward them, but I'm tremendously attracted to maroon, rust, magenta, crimson, black, cobalt, turquoise, deep green, navy, periwinkle. 

SOFT TONES:  This is the restrained end of the spectrum of the color palette.  These colors bring to mind spring blossoms, seashells, beach pebbles, all white, pale grays, natural weathered wood or stone, creamery ivory, honey yellows.  Easter-egg colors - the soft pinks, baby blues, cream.  I am totally taken with such delicate hues.

SINGING COLOR:  These colors demonstrate the wide-awake, exciting colors of childhood.  Carnivals and circuses revel in their palette.  You see these colors displayed in summer parks, fruit and vegetable markets which bring us a joyous abundance of color from the natural world.  When it comes to cheering up a room or celebrating a birthday, these colors come into their own.  Balloons and candy can often be found in these shades. 

MOODY HUES:  Here we find the colors of old tapestries or ethnic wraps that have seen a lot of wear and tear resulting in faded, stone-washed textures.  Smoldering earthy tones, dusky neutrals and silvered wood.

RICH SHADES:  In this category we have the dark purples, blues and maroons - there is an intensity about deep colors that I love and find very romantic.  Deeper tones are seductive and very flattering to use in home decorating. 

Although I frequently buy creams, grays, black, whites - neutral colors - for my clothes and home furnishings, I love all that nature offers, because living within one part of the spectrum can make life a little boring.   So try adding a splash of color, for example, red by way of a scarf, pillow, throw, or picture frame.  You will begin to live a charming life by enhancing it with color.  Cheers!!

P. S.  What are your favorite colors?

WARRIORS IN A PROLONGED BATTLE

Living a charmed life is not all about living a life of luxury filled with eating filet mignon and caviar.  There are times in life when truth tries to get your attention - when certain questions need to be answered.  For example, Where am I going?  Why am I here?  What is my real purpose in life?  How did I end up in this mess - again?  And many others.  But, truth be told, there are treasures - gems to be gleaned - buried in challenges, hurts, disappointments and obstacles in the form of inner peace, a balanced life, insights, healing. 

These questions come at the most inopportune times.  You are just going along living your life - planning, making and achieving goals, raising a family, working, involved in relationships - when BAM!  It happens.  And "it" could be anything, a divorce, children addicted to drugs, you get fired, people who you thought you were cool with don't really like you after all - whatever.  However, it is at these points in life - transitions, encounters with difficulties - that you begin to question what's it all for.  How the hell did I end up here?  You begin to question your self-worth, your self-value, even if you have enough courage to contiue in the battle - fighting.  It's mostly a battle with self, although there are external forces that you may or may not be aware of.  Inasmuch as we would like to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that life is good (at least on the outside to others), we must reflect, go deep within, do some introspection to find the answers.  Answers that will then determine our course of actions or inactions and growth. 

This is not a path that can be rushed.  Finding the answers, coming to conclusions may take months, even years to figure out.  From personal experience there is no time limit to this process.  However it is within this learning process - an "in the meantime," an "in the valley," so to speak that you gain greater self-awareness, you get to know who you really are, how much courage you truly possess.  You learn what you can live with and live without.  Trust me it ain't all pretty.  It's a time for crying, so have plenty of tissue on hand.  It's a time for high anxiety, uptightness, agitation - stress.  You will feel as if your nerves are literally unraveling.  But you develop mental and emotional fortitude. 

No matter how long the course takes I am convinced that you gain quantum benefits.  You then realize that you can handle it.  That there is no sense in "sweating the small stuff."  Not that your learning, growing, develping is small stuff.  You realize that life is a joy.  You masterfully deal with "life on life's terms."  And that my friends is one aspect of LIVING A CHARMED LIFE.  Cheers!!

Name Change

I want to extend a special hello to all my blogbuddies in blogsphere.  As you can see I have re-named my blog.  I believe that everyone can live/have a charmed life.  First, we must show gratitude for even small wonders like having air, shelter, food.  Sounds trite, but so very true.  My deepest desire is that all who visit this blog will leave encouraged, uplifted and happy.  Cheers!!

IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE

I know change is good, but that doesn't mean I like it under ALL conditions.  However, for the past few months I have been thinking about changing my blog title, and now I am in the process of coming up with a new name for my blog.  I have a few good ones.  I'm still a great fan of Vincent D'Onofrio (his name is part of my blog), but I think my life is suited for a different path now and I want my blog to reflect my true self.  So, in the words of Sam Cook, "A change gonna come."  Cheers!!

FEATHERS: WHAT DO THEY SYMOBLIZE

For the past month or so I have been seeing feathers.  I think it strange because I just finished reading The Secret (can't remember the author).  

A man in one of the stories told of how he focused his mind on finding a feather.  Not just any feather, but to his specifications.  This was to indicate how powerful the mind is in detetermining expectations and how thinking happy, positive thoughts can bring into your life what you dream.  For a while now, I too, have been seeing feathers.  Not with any exactness on my part, though.  Hmmm, what could it all mean?  Cheers!!