Sail On Silver Girl (or Guy)

My oldies station played Bridge Over Troubled Water this Morning. I love that song and always sing along at the top of my lungs. Perhaps it is because one of my beloved junior high teachers would frequently provide is index cards with lyrics from some of Paul Simon’s songs and have us discuss them for the poetry that they are.  Perhaps it is because the music itself is so wondrous. I am a sucker for a good lyric—ummm i happen to be in love with words. did you know that?  

But think about the lyrics. “Sail on silver girl, sail on by; your time has come to shine; all your dreams are on their way. If you need a friend, I’m sailing right behind….” I am in LOVE with that song and lyric today. 

Imagine that. All your dreams are on their way. Imagine if that was a quote straight from God (or for that matter from someone you dearly love)—your time has come to shine; all your dreams are on their way…I mean it is so reassuring in scary times or uncertain times or even sad times….

I am a faith-filled and optimistic woman. So when I hear that, indeed, all my dreams are on their way–somedays just hearing that is enough. Even if I know that financial struggles may never end. Even if I know that my Bell’s Palsy or my son’s Lupus may never end. What I believe is this: Yes, all my dreams are on their way. However, I may not be aware that some of the things that are on their way are my dreams. I may think my dreams are one thing, but the thing that is heading my way is even better.

I must keep trying, striving, dreaming. I must do so even if it looks like it will take 20 years to get something done. Mark Twain wrote: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do…Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, and discover”.

Now going back to not being aware that something is my dream because I have been wanting something else, here is a terrific perspective-example. When my son was 6  he had a good buddy that lived down the block who was 11. That guy was a great kid–and he had a very cool Bat-mobile toy. It was about a foot long and each side popped off, transforming it into a narrower, sleeker Bat-mobile.

My son wanted one of those for Christmas. We searched high and low. We called friends that lived all over the country. No luck–no stores had it in stock. We picked up a small metal one that had a string you pulled. You set it down, released the string, and that little metalic Bat-mobile would zoom across the floor. It was probably made by Hot Wheels and cost maybe $2. we picked it up just in case. We headed out of state for Christmas to stay with my parents (shipping the gifts ahead). My husband and I were worried that he would be heartbroken not to have that cool Bat-mobile. My dad wisely told us that we were nuts. Nuts.

Christmas morning my son opened that Bat-mobile and tried it out. He was beyond excited (he was never materialistic in the first place—why were we worried===yeh, nuts). Guess what he said—and oh it was perfect.

He said with total joy and excitement “WOW! I didn’t even know I wanted this kind of Bat-mobile!! THANKS Santa!”

And THAT is what I am TALKing about!! Yes, all our dreams are on their way, indeed. And it will be so very good. Set your sails to the wind and sail on straight onto midnight and straight on ’til morning. I am an Easter Woman and Alleluia is my song.

Yes!! My Comment Problem is Fixed!

Yesterday I posted about a problem with getting my dashboard set up right for discussions. http://believeanyway.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/help-are-you-able-to-post-comments-here/. Instantly so many of you sprang into action talking me through it. Boy do I appreciate that! The problem that I described is fixed and I actually understand how to do it. THANK you to every blogger who commented and emailed and talked me through it. When I tell people WP has the most amazing community of bloggers EVER….I can now also add how you saved me from drowning in techno-waters…thank you so much. I am SO glad I have a blog. I am honored to know each of you. WOW…thank you.

On My Sesame Street Today’s Letter is All of Them!

I handed out some Sunshine Awards today — but you know me. There is more happiness to spread around. How can that be? He-he-he…your perennial optimist has ways, oh yes she does!! Awhile back I received the ABC Award. It stands for Awesome Blog Content Award. Cool, right?  You can read about that here at this link if you didn’t know about that (go ahead, I will wait). http://believeanyway.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/now-you-know-my-abcs/

I posted the things about me there–you have to come up with an alphabetical list–it’s at the above link.

                                   

This is a cool award. I received it again today from my friend Jean over at moonlightened shelves (isn’t that a gorgeous name for an award?). http://moonlightenedshelves.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/the-abc-award-and-a-big-thank-you/. When you get the award you can pass it on to whomever you want as often as you want. Also cool. Part of its purpose is for the recipient to share things about him/herself so people can know him/her better. It originated at this site: http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/abc-award/. She created it as a lovely gesture to reach out to bloggers and build community. Please go to her link to read all about it. It stands for the Awesome Blog Content Award. I thank her for creating such a lovely award. Here are the pictures. The badge with the URL is in my sidebar (for the small badge). The URL for the big badge is at the site where the award was created

The think about the ABC is there is no limit to how many I can pass it out to. So today, I am passing it out to 10 more. Those who receive it will need to come to this link and go to the other one to see the rules etc. You can pick up the badge on either page or my sidebar. When you accept the award, put your comments on this page. Ok? Here are the rules:

List things about yourself on a list of A through Z (see my link at the beginning of this post for an example).

Here are the 10 I am giving it to today!

http://beegraziani.wordpress.com/

http://ceeslifephotographyblog.wordpress.com/

http://chrisdonnermysterywriter.wordpress.com/

Maria Tathum at http://christianfantasyforwomen.com/

http://jessiejeanine.com/

http://kiwsparks.wordpress.com

http://livingtheseasons.com/

http://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/

http://transitioningmom.com/

How Someone Spread Technicolor Day Dream Sunshine Into My Life

I told you in yesterday’s post how I got the nickname Sunshine in college. If you didn’t see it, the link is here.http://believeanyway.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/my-friend-created-sunshine-in-my-life/ I wrote then that I had a further surprise. Here it is. Knowing that story, imagine my  true delight when Dor, my fellow blogger and all-around wonderful lady  at Technicolor Day Dreams http://notesfromtheblogusfear.com/2012/02/17/sunshine-coming-my-way/ recently gave me the Sunshine Award. I was delighted. Sunshine Award The Sunshine Award is supposed to be given to “bloggers who are inspirational, and who have impacted your blogging or your life.”  That makes me feel GREAT Dor! Thank you so very much. Life is so full of surprises.

The Sunshine Award has some rules:

• Include the award’s logo in a post or on your blog (let me know if you need help getting the little old badge on your blog!
• Answer 10 questions about yourself
• Nominate 10-12 other fabulous bloggers
• Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated (post something on their blog giving the award to them)
• Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

TEN QUESTIONS

Favorite color:  Yellow

Favorite animal:  Dog

Favorite number:  Four

Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Coffee or Milk. [c'mon you knew I couldn't pick just one!].

Prefer Facebook or Twitter?  Facebook—never have used Twitter. If you asked me blog or Facebook, I’d have said Blog.

My passion:  prayer, family, friends, writing, sunsets/sunrises on the beach

Prefer getting or giving presents:  Definitely giving. I have a hard time providing people with a gift list when asked to provide one.

Favorite pattern:  Waves on the shore (of any body of water–top choice would be ocean).

Favorite day of the week: Thursday–just before the finish of the weekdays and just before the start of the weekends—creates a feeling of possibilities for both parts of the week.

Favorite flower:  Rubrim Lily. such a gorgeous flower. My sentimental favorite—it was in a bouquet of flowers at our little infant daughter’s funeral. Warmed my heart and filled me with love.

PASSING IT ON:

Here are the bloggers I am passing the award on to—and please understand I in no way want to leave anyone out. this particular award requires me to limit it to 12:

1. Katharine Traauger of Home’s Cool was one of the first people to follow my blog. She spreads Sunshine and Sonshine everywhere. http://katharinetrauger.wordpress.com/
2. tbnranch Amy Elizabeth is terrific. She is one of those women that has boundless abilities and a terrific blog.http://tbnranch.com/
3. sons of thunder http://sonsothunder.wordpress.com/ . He is a wonderful fellow-blogger; encouraging as all get-out.
4. http://diggingher.wordpress.com/. She appropriately calls her lovely blog Authentic Me. That truly says it all. She is a light in the world.
5. http://tonij.wordpress.com/ my pal at Barefoot Baroness (aka Lady Barefoot Baroness will warm your heart and will be like cinnamon toast and cocoa on a sleety day).
6. hugmammapbus.wordpress.com (paulette)
7. http://livingtheseasons.com/ Now–when I say she spreads Sunshine—well she is the epitome of sunshine. to us techno-newbies she is a handholder and reassurer. To her blog followers she is kind, inspiring and so fun to follow.
8. http://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/, you can definitely count on this fine, loving, optimistic blog and blogger. Let’s just say I know that is so
9. Claudia at http://motherwifestudentworker.wordpress.com/ is a blogger I have recently started following; she is so interesting and inspiring.
10. Cee at http://ceeslifephotographyblog.wordpress.com. Not only are her photographs phenomenal, but she is an innovator and encouraging woman to boot. She is the originator of the Share Your World Project. Check her blog out!
11. Chris at http://chrisdonnermysterywriter.wordpress.com/-yeah–you should read her writing. I do, and I say–boy oh boy I wish I could do that! I love mysteries to begin with–and she is great.
12. http://suedreamwalker.wordpress.com/. She is always insightful and unifying. Besides that she knows all kinds of other bloggers like that. Way to go, Sue!

Way to go to my list of 12. You keep us all optimistic and fill our lives with Sunshine.

Help! Are You Able to Post Comments Here??

**** Update: the problem that I described below on 2/20/2012 is fixed and I actually understand how to do it. THANK you to every blogger who commented and emailed and talked me through it. When I tell people WP has the most amazing community of bloggers EVER….I can now also add how you saved me from drowning in techno-waters…thank you so much.

Ok I have been messing around with my dashboard. I changed it to accepting comments without moderation. But then I lost track of who had commented where and had to search multiple pages in the event there were comments. I would reply on the comments page, but they were no longer landing on the post page. So I replied on the comment page and then also had to comment on the post page.

So I changed it again. Now I have it back at moderation status. so here is my question…if you try to comment on this is that what is happening? Will it at least accept your comment but tell you it is held for moderation? Seeking advice as to how to be sure not to overlook comments and yet make it hassle free for you to comment…Of course if it won’t let you comment I am hoping it will let you go to my gravatar and email me….. Advice?

My Friend Created Sunshine in My Life

When I was in college, I had a good friend. Her name was Carolyn Peter Evans. But she always went and still goes by the nickname Pete. She was a wondrous friend. She graduated a year ahead of me. We met when I was a freshman, she a sophomore. The next year she spent in Austria on an exchange program. My junior year I spent second semester in Rome, and she was a senior. We have seen each other rarely ever since. But I think of her fondly. My freshman year was pretty lousy much of the time. I was seriously bullied. But Pete was one of the first at that college who befriended me for the long haul. She always called me Sunshine. She didn’t call me Kate, she called me Sunshine. John Denver’s song Sunshine was popular at the time. That song, then, always had special meaning to me. The song, and Pete’s nickname for me made me feel special; they made me feel as though someone could see my loving, optimistic, giving heart.

I have seldom spoken or written about that lovely time and connection. But I had been thinking about it, because the song Sunshine has been on my radio a few times lately. I thought about how God puts just the right people in my path at just the right time. They are provided to veer our hearts in the best direction for us. Pete was that kind of girl. We could talk about all kinds of things. We’d eat lunch and dinner together. Second semester I was on academic probation. Nope I hadn’t partied and skipped class first semester. I had done poorly due to my need to adapt and change my studying methods for the college arena. so second semester I was at the library until really late in the evening every night. I’d make my way back to the dorms. If I was up to it I would swing by Pete’s room and she would listen to me talk about my day. She’d talk about hers….and then I’d head back to my room.

It wasn’t complicated. She’d open her door and say with a smile “Hi Sunshine! How are you? You look wonderful” or words to that effect. I tell you this, it was a balm. It made a difference. It let me know….things are going to be just fine. So when I hear John Denver sing “Sunshine” I think of her. Isn’t that funny? I don’t think of myself, I think of her. I think about the kind nicknames that people make up for each other. I think of the amazing serendipity that God uses to delight and enthrall and even enchant us.  She drew a picture of a sunshine and wrote in my yearbook and said many times “Those who spread sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves”. It reassured me so much at the end of that tumultuous year. The truth is: the more you love, the more sunshine you spread. The truth also is: the more deeply you are loved, the less the rejection by others even registered on your radar. It mutes the noise, it heals the wounds, and sets your sails smoothly in the wind. Sail on folks—stay in the Sunshine—or should I say Sonshine?  I will write more about Sunshine tomorrow. Stay tuned—there will be a surprise.

God Bless the Friend Who Gave Me the Kreative!

At least a week ago Amy Elizabeth of tbnranch gave me the Kreative Blogger Award. It has taken me way to long to publicly thank her for the gracious gift. Thank you so much, Amy Elizabeth. If you haven’t been to her blog (or even if you have) you should high-tail it over there! Here is her link.  http://tbnranch.com/ Back to my point, now. {Note: At the end of the post there is a backstory that tells an interesting coincidence about the title of this award and my own life}

I think this is a terrific idea for an award and name for an award. Everyone in the blogging community is creative, aren’t they? We create little worlds for each other with our words and photographs. It is a wondrous and lovely world. Amy Elizabeth creates a world with her poetry, and with everything else she writes. I create worlds, too. Optimistic worlds. For the award I am supposed to do a few things. The first was to thank Amy Elizabeth. Besides that, I have to post a link on her blog when I publish this post. The next task is to list 7 interesting things about myself:

1. When I was a kid I walked to and from the library reading as I walked. I never once fell down or ran into anything.
2. When we went to a family friend’s house when I was a kid, the family had a pony. They had to walk the pony from the barn, through the kitchen, and out the side door, in order to reach the fenced in riding area.
3. I didn’t learn to walk until I was 17 months old, but spoke in full paragraphs by the time I was 9 months old. Yeh—wordy then, wordy now.
4. My favorite vegetable is asparagus.
5. I met George McGovern when he campaigned for President the 2nd time. I swooned like a love-struck teenager. It made the Secret Service guys laugh.
6. I love to make potato and leek soup.
7. Someday I plan to live in a land called Hon-a-lee.

Now on to the 7 bloggers that I think are so creative! Remember—follow the same rules I did (publish your post, put the badge on your side bar, name your 7 things and list your 7 bloggers–and let them know–and let me know too). I love these blogs. Of course as always, I want to give it to all the blogs I read. But for my 7 this time –and each of these blogs is a wonderful place to visit:

1. Terri at http://dailysweetpeas.com/. She loves to read, she loves life, she is joy, joy, joy.
2. Wendell Brown at http://foreverpoetic.wordpress.com/. He always has splendid poetry, heartfelt comments and words. I just recently began following his blog. 
3. Mlissabeth at http://mlissabeth.wordpress.com/. She is a true wordsmith, crochet-er and lover of life. She is a life-affirmer, for sure.
4. Then there is the dear, dear Lady Barefoot Baroness Blog at http://tonij.wordpress.com/. Boy oh boy are you in for a treat. Go see her. She is the epitome of deep and real.
5. For a breath of fresh air and the joy she brings, visit http://breathelighter.wordpress.com/. You will be glad you did .
6. Now Carl at http://carldagostino.wordpress.com/about/ is so creative that if you looked up creative in your dictionary, i bet you would find a picture of him!
7. And then there is Madeline at http://madalund.wordpress.com/. She is creative in her approach to life and bogging. She is taking care of all kinds of things these days and is a treasure.
8. I know I said 7–but I am exercising my creativity. My list of creative bloggers cannot be complete without including dear Uta at http://auntyuta.wordpress.com. To follow her blog is a walk through an incredible, fascinating wonderful history and fabulous outlook on life. She lived through WWII, came out on the other side of it….is now in Australia—and is just terrific. 

Now. I promised you a back-story about Kreativ and my name. When I was in college, the summer between freshman and sophomore year I went on a retreat that was also a camping trip. We gathered around the campfire the first night to try to get acquainted and learn each others names. We played a game that involved clapping and reciting each name one at a time (we introduced ourselves). You said your first name, followed by a word that started with the first letter of your name.  So—the first person introduced himself: John—jodphurs. We all said ‘john-jodphurs. Then it was the next person’s name—Lisa; she said Lisa–literature; we said lisa, literature; john, jodphurs…..the game continued in that fashion. Of course we had to say it all very quickly….it came to be my turn and I said —Kate—Kreative—And the game stopped for a second as they hilariously protested that it started with a C! I responded laughingly—I told you I was creative! They responded Kate, Kreativ, and went on with the game.