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Saturday, December 26, 2015

"Soar 2"

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas!  I always find this in-between week before New Year's contemplative.  It's dark outside and I don't have to work as many days.  There's time for looking back over the year and thinking about what the new year will bring.

Looking over my past year, painting my floor was the most obvious thing I did.  It certainly required the most time, June - October.  The less obvious element of it is that I used all that time to think about relationships.

It wasn't a happy year for me.  My brother-in-law died, which was very shortly after my friend died, and a co-worker's husband.  I was effected by the Paris shooting, which was only one of many shootings in 2015.  There were a lot of contentious meetings and reports at work.

I just wasn't happy, and didn't feel like I was getting the outside support I needed.  I pondered who was good for me and who wasn't when Danny's cancer recurred and almost killed him just when Gary killed himself, and that was followed by 2 more suicides.  I fell off my deck so hard that my body hurt as much as my heart and mind.

So the year started hard, but spending all that time painting the floor made me more flexible in more ways than one.  My general outlook on life improved, and the ladies at work went out of their way to feed me positive thoughts.  I helped avert another suicide, and feel pleased with myself that I set and maintained my boundaries in the process.  The year is ending with 2 new babies in my environment and I feel happiness to be in the afterglow of those families' happiness.

Against all of this, I repeatedly met ghosts from my past this year.  We stood on my floor and shared stories about the Glen.  I saw their positive memories of me reflected in their faces, and I was given a chance to redefine myself to myself.

I drank bourbon in Kentucky, which has turned into a lesser hobby.  So far I've enjoyed cherry-aged and honey bourbons the best.  I got a new neighbor and was assigned an extra hobby of staring out the kitchen window to look for her missing cat while I made a lot of applesauce.  My dog got skunked.  I took a painting retreat to Lake Chautauqua, NY and started illustrating things for a magazine.

Helen and her halo
This is life.  Sometimes we have challenges and grief to deal with.  Sometimes we get to smile at a baby.  This week I helped Helen, our cheerful, colorful, and kind volunteer with her Christmas cookies.  She knows all about life's ups and downs, and usually has an off-color quip and a hearty laugh to get through those peaks and valleys.  She made 17 kinds of cookies this year and gave them to people she appreciates including her doctors, church, friends, family, etc., etc.  Her spirit of gratitude and giving is inspiring (and her cookies are delicious!)

Helen supervising cookie trays

Josie helped package cookies too


Here's to hoping that all of us have a wonderful New Year filled with cookies!

14 comments:

  1. Well. It's good to know that things are moving in a more positive direction! I hope your 2016 has many more positive events than the other kind!

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  2. Well, you've had quite a year! The painting of your floor seems to have been a healthy balm. In all, this was a sweet recap, and I don't just mean the cookies. Best wishes for a great 2016!

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    1. The floor painting was a healthy balm, and I get to enjoy walking on it every day now too. Best wishes for your 2016 too!

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  3. It was a rough year emotionally. Making cookies was the most Christmassy thing I did,though I didn't make as much as Helen,I did enjoy sharing them with a few friends. Here's to a smoother 2016 and more art to get us over the humps....or more cookies. Xoxoxo...and more Linda Hensley blogs.

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  4. It was a rough year emotionally. Making cookies was the most Christmassy thing I did,though I didn't make as much as Helen,I did enjoy sharing them with a few friends. Here's to a smoother 2016 and more art to get us over the humps....or more cookies. Xoxoxo...and more Linda Hensley blogs.

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    1. Sometimes misery loves company, but I really hope that both of us have a better year in 2016. Nobody makes as many cookies as Helen. I'm sure your cookies are delicious too :)

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  5. I'll have to have a cookie today. Why not? I made fried chocolate wontons yesterday. So good. I like the Soar 2. Ha! No new I.F. theme yet. I just checked. Happy New Year! Emphasis on new and out with the old crumby year.

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    1. Somebody at IF gets lazy during holidays! Mmmm... fried chocolate wontons :) Happy New Year!

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  6. A year that ends with cookies can't be all bad.

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    1. You're so right! Cookies make everything better :)

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  7. Somehow in my blogging hiatus last summer and fall, I missed your floor. You did share pictures, right? I need to scroll through those months. God bless you this year. I hope it is a rich and beautiful one for you.

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  8. Thanks! I hope you have a rich and beautiful year too! Yes, I did post pics of the floor. Probably so many that people might've been getting tired of seeing them :)

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  9. you don't even remember me, that's okay, because I forgive you.

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