Touch Drawing Class

I tried another new ART THERAPY class this week

called Touch Drawing-it's an interesting process:

On a particle board you put several dabs of water based paint.

Next spread it out smoothly all over the board.

Then you place a piece of plain tissue paper on top.

Now you are ready to draw with your fingers and hands.

You can do designs or make faces and embellish afterwards.

It's amazing to draw a face even with your eyes closed.

Afterwards you can add color or lines-whatever.
This is one of the instructor's (Pat) faces. 

The same drawing but the opposite side of the paper.

Each face drawing that Pat did had a different emotion.

The next thing to do is journal about your drawings.
Becky Cox is the teacher who introduced this art form.
More classes available at AHA Artful Healing Academy.

Article #258 Improve Relationships

Images-www.clipart.com

            There are only two things you can take with you from this life: relationships and your experiences. So how much of a priority do you give to these two areas? Experiences will happen whether or not you want them, but the amount of time and energy you give to relationships can be neglected. You’ve heard this expression: How many of us on our deathbed will say I wish I’d spent more time at the office?

            Struggling as a single parent trying to raise my family on meager child support payments, I remember feeling guilty because I had to work and be away from my family daily. Luckily, I was able to change careers and become an elementary school teacher which enabled me to have holidays and summers off with my children. A job or career of any kind can take too much of your best energy while your family only gets what’s left over. I admire those young people today who can choose to be a stay at home parent because they have a spouse to support their family.

            While having a career can be exciting and financially rewarding, seeing your child’s first step or hearing their first word can not be equaled by work achievements as important as they may be. I’ve always felt whenever I left a job that my contributions were soon forgotten, while the time I invested in my children’s growth and activities is everlasting. You can’t do it all. Too many of us try to do that and only end up feeling guilty. If you must work because of being single or in debt, make the best of your situation. Try to figure out how to prevent work from interfering with your family’s welfare and the relationships you want to build with each child and your spouse, if you have one.

            Relationships take time and physical contact daily while your family is still at home. Later, you can reach out electronically, if you live at a distance from family you may have to rely on emails, phone calls, etc. to have a connection with grandchildren or even your adult children once you’re retired. Check in now and then in person, and inquire how they are doing. Express your love at the end of each contact. Take time for connecting and relating. It’s the most important work in your life whether you are male or female! NEXT TIME: Sending Value

Education Rules...

Congratulations to all my sons for graduating from college! My oldest son just finished his Doctorate in Physical Therapy––so he is now called Dr. Frank Vernon Hatch. Photo collage below. My next oldest son Daniel is working on his Masters in Graphic Design. Another son Brook graduated with a BS in Computers from Evergreen College in Washington, and my youngest son Jeff recently finished his MBA from Thunderbird International College in Arizona. I'm thrilled they all pursued their educations and are now employed successfully. I hope my grand children will follow their father's examples!

AGING poem

Photo from clipart.com

AGING 

by Lin Floyd

Oh––to be young again,

but not to struggle

as I once did.

Without experience,

the journey was difficult.

Full of ruts and false starts.

With age, I look back

seeing the detours

that led no where.

Experience came with

a heavy price––precious time

never to be recovered.

Now memories of those

side trips bring me wisdom,

though, there's limited time left to use it.

Will other younger family members

listen as I try to share my journey?

Soon, I won’t be here to speak my truths. 

Book GIVE AWAY...

Thoughts running through my mind

is MORE better or less appreciated?

Is the goal QUANTITY or QUALITY?

Maybe it's time to re-evaluate my efforts.

I love to teach, LESS students gives me

more opportunity to interact, touch lives

in a SIGNIFICANT way. Less is more effective

in this case, but SELLING is another endeavor.

Maybe it's the same, carefully placing

a book in someone's life even if its a GIFT

FULFILLS my purpose in writing the book.

Marketing is never easy, while gifting is.

What draws YOU to want to purchase

a book to read? I need some answers

in my search for SELLING my book.

Teaching a class about it works!

Any suggestions welcome!

I will GIFT the best suggestion made

by September 1st, a free copy of my book

Discover Your Voice After Divorce.

Leave your comments below

with a way to contact you or

email me lin at sunrivertoday dot com.

Thanks for your help!

Article #257 Lottery Chances

            Everyone dreams of winning the Publishers Clearing House prize or the lottery and a guaranteed income of 370 million dollars after taxes. This could be a responsibility and a trial. The latest winner was an 84 year old woman. Think of the problems she now faces with her relatives wanting a share of her good luck plus many in the general public eager to tell her their sad tales and needs for assistance. Her life will never be the same again, although she might want to return to simpler but poorer times of struggling to get by with just her social security check. She can’t live long enough to enjoy her good(?) luck at her age.

            Somehow money has become the goal or standard of how society judges if your life is successful. Comparing yourself with a neighbor who has more toys than you do: a swimming pool in their backyard, a race boat in the driveway not to mention snow mobiles or four wheelers and HUGE recreational vehicles that cost as much as a normal house is useless. Where does it all end? Perhaps in bankruptcy or depression as greediness never was happiness. Achieving and buying more and more is thought to bring momentary pleasure, but real happiness is based on something different: serving and loving others, helping those less fortunate, etc.

            So, the next time you think of buying a lottery ticket or visiting the casinos in Las Vegas to gamble hoping to get RICH, stop and evaluate Is money really the object of your existence? If it isn’t, then why the fascination for so many? What should/could be the best use of a person’s time and efforts, perhaps other loftier goals than sudden riches? How about world peace or family harmony? All things that can’t be purchased with money.

            I knew an individual who was quite well off financially because he had carefully saved every extra penny. When he died, he couldn’t take any of his money with him, not a red penny. How much more fulfilling his life could have been, if he had invested his time and resources in connecting emotionally with his family. I do appreciate the good he did for many by loaning his money (with interest) to help others on major projects like down payments on cars or houses or education; but he missed the important point of life––family relationships. NEXT TIME: Improve Relationships.

A New Poem

Statue by Jerry Anderson

TOMORROW

What will tomorrow bring:

unknown challenges, moments

of joy to cling to, memories

to forget, forgiveness to give,

inner peace threatened by outer

chaos, voices in my mind shouting

destruction and discouragement?

Will I take time to quietly pray,

choose to fill my thoughts

with gratitude for blessings received,

challenges met and overcome today

or restlessness for change, progress?

Visiting Family

Thanks to my son Daniel, and his wife Tina for a great visit!

Just returned from a fun weekend with family in Utah Valley.

Were able to BBQ, do genealogy, play games, and party, it was fun

to just be together before school starts and interact once more.

The grandkids are growing up fast, the twins start high school.

Lorien is now three and loves to dance...

Edmund is one plus and loves to eat and play with his sister

Lorien-children of my son Jeff and his wife Rachel

Boat building update...

Almost a life long project, almost half way through with strakes.

Patience, Noah took longer to build the ark...lol!

Strakes are the strips along the side that have to be glued carefully

Need for MOMS

           There is quite a discussion going on about working moms. Well, all moms work, but some also work outside the home. It's called a CAREER. Dads face the same dilemma with balancing home and work responsibilities but somehow males don't seem to carry the brunt of the responsibility for the home. Though I know many dads help out at home with housework and parenting chores. It's quite a difficult thing to balance your responsibilities as a parent and the need or want for a career whether for financial survival or personal fulfillment as a woman.
         Having survived being a single parent because of divorce in my life, looking back I can appreciate the struggles that modern moms are facing. I found the best solution for me was to work  PART TIME. That wasn't always possible when I was the only wage earner and child support was minimal or non existent. Extended family members can help with child care and other support.
         It's still an emotional struggle for working mothers to return to the workforce after the birth of a new infant who is so dependent 24/7 for care. Not to mention the guilt involved in leaving a helpless newborn with a caregiver and returning to the responsibilities involved in any full time job. If there's any possibility of staying home to participate in the raising of this new little person, it's well worth the personal sacrifice of finding your most fulfilling career that can demand your best skills and awarenesses to use them at home.
         Children are not an option but a responsibility that is God-given for many purposes: for parents (mom's and dad's) refinement and for society's advancement and progress. If we stop having children or raising them, why are here?

Weeding Time

GARDEN of BALM

Forgiveness returns again,

quietly like a sensitive friend,

resurfacing in my untended garden

full of weeds of disappointment.

Her blooms bring relief,

soothing balm to old wounds,

gratitude in future days of growing

not focused on past hurts.

Time to pull those bitter weeds

and restore natural healing powers

with perennials of truth, beauty and hope.

reaping a harvest of peace.

Need Trimming or Adjustments?

Twice a year our association trims our yards

since we live in a senior retirement community.

It can be stressful IF our owner preferences are different

than management's ideas for trimming and cutting back.

That reminds me of LIFE and changes that come

despite our complaints and resistance to being fixed.

Our higher power perhaps UNDERSTANDS us better,

and what trims will help us GROW better than we do.

Despite what comes our way with a little FAITH

and lots of TRUST, there is always something to be

learned and gained as we ADJUST to circumstances

and FOCUS on growing always––despite TRIMS.

Article #256 Morality

          In some countries women cover their faces and heads in modesty, while in America revealing clothes seem to be the norm for many modern youth. Both extremes of dress are standards of conduct that are accepted as normal, but are exact opposites. In order to judge these different standards of morality, you can look at the outcomes to know if the results are good. Does it further a society’s structure, safeguard children and families, yet allow for individual differences? There is always a conflict between censorship vs. rebellion. This has gone on for millennia, because of changing society norms.

           In some societies, each rising generation wants to make a statement of being different, more modern than their parents and grandparents. I remember well the hippie generation with their tied dyed clothing, free love, drugs, communes, etc. wondering where it would lead. Nowadays, that seems so long ago and tame to some of today’s styles: piercings and tattoos that are popular with many youth. Dyed and extreme haircuts of punkers still amaze me especially when traveling in European countries where youth look to America as the example to follow to be in style with the latest fashions. Unknown future rebellions can only be imagined.

            What has happened to innocence, modesty, and MORALITY? Finding your own style isn’t easy in these days of instant Internet coverage where extremism entices many into duplicating misbehavior and activities under the guise of progress, freedom, and self expression. One student’s suicide or gun violence in a school or movie theatre leads other adolescents into copy-cat activities. Tatooing is popular as a way of preserving one’s rebellion permanently. Until later as an adult, you realize that you want this artistic decoration removed by painful laser treatments. What became of thinking for yourself? This positive activity seldom makes the nightly news or Facebook pages. Too many infants are being born into the lives of irresponsible youths who don’t take responsibility for the results of their promiscuous lifestyle.

            I fear for the future that my grandchildren are inheriting. Though, I do have faith that many of our youth, brought up in homes with strong moral values, have the ability to make sense of the modern changing world. Just as we made our way through the beatniks, hippies and punks to grow up and become responsible adults of modern day with the example of our parents and grandparents to guide us. NEXT TIME: Lottery Chances. 

JUGGLING

Sometimes LIFE feels like juggling

keeping all the balls in the air

at the same time...it is IMPOSSIBLE

but expected to be productive.

Maybe it's time to STOP,

take one ball, look at it carefully.

Enjoy the solitary experience

of just examining ONE priority.

FILLING MY WELL comes at the top

of my TO DO list. If I focus there,

the rest of my responsibilities are okay.

I am happier. Today I will look for JOY.

Real pleasure comes from LITTLE things:

a quiet morning walk with birds singing,

writing in my journal to release emotions,

praying in a sacred temple for PEACE.

What FILLS YOUR WELL?

Understanding Disappointment

Somehow disappointment is tied to dreams,

goals that seem achievable but aren't if they

are dependent on others. Expectations can

be controlled if understood as possibilities.

Elusive yet important as one progresses:

what could be, not should or must be.

Freedom allows variation, while force

compels compliance or else disaster occurs.

Fairness gets stirred in to add confusion.

If only, regrets cloud aspirations, stop progress.

Serendipity arrives with relief, sudden solutions

give surprise and unexpected answers bring hope. 

SoulCollage Class Again

Making more SoulCollage cards-it's fun and creative!

It's a collection of  magazine images that you organize!

Images that appeal to you in some way. 

Next comes the creative writing part. 

What is this card saying to you? I am one who...

thinks deeply and contemplates life's meaning

Cutting or tearing images, words are optional.

Now it's time to journal about each card
and see what I can learn about me!

Article #255 Standards of Behavior

          It’s amazing how society’s standards change overtime gradually. I remember while in my teens a movie BLUE MOON  was rated R because it used the word seduced. That is so mild compared to the blatant sexuality in today PG-13 movies or even news reports on TV that are broadcasted into our homes. Should there be standards or rules?  I guess it all depends on what your goal is in raising children to be responsible citizens or wild reckless rebels with no standards. I know which society I’d rather live in.

            What is a standard? The Encarta Encyclopedia says…A level of quality or excellence attained by somebody or something that is accepted as the norm. Then the question comes…what is the NORM? It probably depends on the community or country where you reside as what is acceptable or not plus the family standards you accept and teach.

            Then there is the issue of acceptable language in public, especially with the name of deity. Some individuals relish profanity in language as freedom of expression. I have had several conversations with people whose verbal communication has offended me. I’ve tried to point out how their use of certain words affected me. All that I’ve spoken to were respectful and after my explanation have modified their expressions while in my presence. I certainly appreciate that sensitivity. At first, I thought others would be offended, but for most people swearing is just an automatic habit they’ve picked up from friends or family.

            The current equal rights battle is a PUZZLEMENT. Even our Supreme Court isn’t clear on what is true or fair. Yes, no one should be judged by their choice of life style, but do we want to teach that alternate partnerships are acceptable and normal for our society? At the current time it is causing a huge divide among those advocating an alternative life style, and those wanting to preserve traditional marriage. I can see both sides’ views, but it seems to me what is missing is the child’s viewpoint. The confusion in his/her mind depending on their family background: being raised within a traditional marriage or in a same sex partnership.

            I feel for the children as they try to make their way in a confused society WITHOUT standards to guide them. There needs to be more understanding and respect between diverse groups and unconditional acceptance for each other’s differences without imposing one’s own particular life style to society as being the only way. NEXT TIME: Morality.
 

Welcome AUGUST

A new steeple on an LDS Church is installed in our retirement area 

as our flock increases. How fun to watch this exciting event 

and capture it in photos. Enjoy:

A new cooler month

as some schools begin classes

Vacation times are almost over

preparing for new routines.

More classes to teach locally,

writing conferences to attend

family to visit and enjoy.

Life to be lived fully.

Less sunlight as days shorten,

relief from summer's insistence,

Remembering wearing jackets.

Goodbye soon to outdoor pools.

On with new projects and goals.

Refreshing, renewing autumn.

My favorite season is coming

after August as summer ends.