Too Sweet?

I am a simple girl (in some ways). When it comes to aesthetics, I like things clean and clear. I guess you could say I am a minimalist. That is why I have always had the Minima Dark blogger template. Minima Dark is easy to read, no frills, and, according to my digital photography professor, photos usually show up better on a black background. Practical and Simple. Clean and Clear.

I wasn't always this way, though. When I was a little girl I saved everything (even "special" gum wrappers), doodled on everything, hung all kinds of busyness all over my room. I even decorated my backpack and a pair of crutches that I kept in my closet (don't ask). When I saw this template from Izzy Grace Blog Backgrounds, that little girl took over. She told me, "Oh, you have to have that! Even just for a little bit. Just through Valentine's Day... Pretty please? It's fun and cheery and you need that in the middle of winter, just a little bit of color... and it makes you smile..." And she just kept talking and talking to me until she really started making sense.

So, I'm trying it. That little girl, she is only one opinion. I'd be interested in what you all think since you are the ones who look at this and who I would like to keep happy so you keep visiting. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section, even if it is just a "Yes, keep it." or "No, my eyes, my eyes; go back to the original immediately; do not pass go, do not collect $200."

Thanks in advance for the input!

Sunday Scribblings #144 - For Richer, For Poorer

"He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has." - Henry Ward Beecher

December 1991. I was ten years and six months old. I was living in the third house I'd known. My father was running his own construction company and building custom homes. My mother was at-home caring for me, my brother, my dad, the dog, and all the responsibilities running a household brings. Little did I know, before we welcomed January 1992, my world would change forever.

You see, much like now, in 1991 our country was in a recession. People weren't buying houses. Businesses were there one day, gone the next. The situation could best be described as tenuous. My parents were holding on by a thread and the thread broke. No house. No money. One car. Each other.

We moved forty-five minutes away from the life my parents had made and the community of people we knew and loved. We lived in my grandparents' basement. We went to church. My dad worked his way up in retail from sandwich man at the Texaco gas station to selling pools to pretty high up the totem pole at the local Home Depot before going back to running his own business again. My mom worked at Toys 'R' Us for 5 years before getting a teaching job. I watched my middle-aged parents work together to build a new life from nothing. Talk about setting an example.

April 21, 2007. I married a man who, among his other incredibly desirable attributes, is stable, steady, thinks ahead, and was born and bred by two accountants.

Today. I am a saver. I buy primarily based on need, not want. I am crafty, shaping items I already have into items I am desiring. I have a change jar and roll my coins and deposit them in the bank on a fairly regular basis. I rely on my creativity and imagination to entertain me. I borrow books from the library. I enjoy leisurely sifting through the bargain bins and going straight to the sale racks. I adore long walks in the woods or on the beach.

I may not be rich in paper money and coins, but I am rich in love and spirit and energy.

I most value the people in my life, my faith, creativity, dreams, memories, finding the good in the every day... the "little things" some might say.

As Benjamin Franklin once said, "Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor."

Changing the World

I just finished reading "Writing to Change the World" by Mary Pipher. It was very helpful to me and got me thinking about what I am trying to say and accomplish by writing my memoir which is tentatively titled "Just Boyfriends" and in my writing in general. She also sets out several clear ways in which to determine your reasons and goals and achieve what you are trying to achieve through writing.

Some thoughts popped out at me more then others. They include:

"I am not interested in weapons, whether words or guns. I want to be a part of the rescue team for our tired, over-crowded planet. The rescuers will be those people who help other people to think clearly, and to be honest and open-minded. They will be an antidote to those people who disconnect us. They will de-objectify, rehumanize, and make others more understandable and sympathetic."

"A writer's job is to tell stories that connect readers to all the people on earth, to show these people as the complicated human beings they really are, with histories, families, emotions, and legitimate needs. We can replace one-dimensional stereotypes with multidimensional individuals with whom our readers can identify."

"Therapy and writing have a great deal in common. Both are highly-disciplined endeavors, involving long hours in small rooms. Both require asking intelligent questions, excavating for emotional truths, and solving complex problems. Often, the work is ambiguous, and success elusive. Wise therapists help clients to think more clearly, feel more deeply, and behave more responsibly. Wise writers often want to do these same things."

"Cynicism is a form of resistance, a walling off of the possibilities for transformation. At its core, it is a response to learned helplessness, a defense strategy. Scratch every cynic and underneath you find a wounded idealist. For therapists and writers alike, the best treatment for cynicism is healing stories."

and finally...

"Many people have powerful stories but lack the skills to be powerful writers. Writers need to be skilled or, when the heart speaks, it is the language of sentimental schmaltz. Yet skill alone is not sufficient. We need authentic emotion to go with it. Powerful writing includes sparkling details, apt metaphors, surprises, and restraint. It has tones and rhythms that change like those of a symphony. The best writing causes readers' breathing to change."

So, that is just a little taste and hopefully gives you something to think about.

Writing to Change the World is very different from other books I have read about writing. I believe it spoke to me even more strongly because I have just begun attending therapy and part of the book compares writers and therapists as Mary Pipher is both.

There has been a lot of talk about change lately with the presidential election nearing. I also find that most people I talk to have something they want to change about themselves, the town they live in, the state they live in, the country, even the world. Writing is one way we can all make a difference or take a step towards change be it in writing a book, sending a letter to the editor of the newspaper or town board, writing an essay, blogging, etc. Pipher's book shows the writer different ways of going about this and brought me hope.

If you are interested in learning more about Mary Pipher and/or reading some of her books you may visit her website at http://www.marypipher.net/Home.html