The calm spot

There's a calm spot on this page. In the middle of the storm of pattern and colour which seem to provide a lot of noise, there is a quiet place.

I love the colour and energy in this page, but I'm glad for the quiet spot. It draws the eye. It provides focus. There are no words on this journal page - maybe I'll add some later - but I love it just as it is.

Landslide

You may think that you can't make any difference.

You may think it's not worth doing your little bit.

But the smallest movement can cause a landslide.

Embrace the peace

Embrace the peace.

We are entering the silly season. On Saturday there were so many things that I could have attended in preparation for Christmas, all happening at overlapping times. And it will only get worse as we get closer to December 25th.

Yet Advent is supposed to be a time of waiting, a time of preparation, a time of contemplation. When life is busy, it is important to embrace the moments of peace when they occur, or even to carve them out for ourselves. After all, Christmas is all about the arrival of the Prince of Peace.

Weathering storms

You can weather the storms.

This page looked stormy to me. There is light, but it's behind some rain and dark clouds. It made me think about how we weather storms and push on through to the light again. Mostly we do it by travelling with God, with friends, with fellow travellers. No-one should have to weather storms on their own. Stomping through the rain on your own is very different to stamping in puddles and laughing at the ridiculousness of how wet you are with someone else.

Who can walk with you through the storms you're facing today?

Is your heart in it?

Is your heart in it?

This page has a heart way off to the side. Most of the pattern is happening on the other side of the page. The heart isn't really in the 'interesting' part of the page.

There are some things that I do that I love. My heart is truly in them.

There are other things that I do because I must. Some of those are neutral and some, my heart really isn't in them, but they are necessary. I still do them to the best of my ability, but they are not the things I most look forward to in my day.

Work out where your heart longs to be and plan your day to have some of those things in it.

Tethered?

Tethered, anchored, or held?

When I stepped back to look at this page, I noticed that all the elements were 'attached' to the edge of the page in one way or another. It made me think about being tethered, anchored, or held. They hold different connotations for me.

Tethered - being tied in a way that hampers movement.
Anchored - being tied in a way that stops you from drifting; holding you fast
Held - supported; kept in place

Different people in the same situation might feel any of these three. What feels supportive for one person might feel restrictive for another.

So the thing to ask yourself for different situations is: do you feel tethered, anchored, or held?

Reflection and connection

Reflect and connect.

This page reminded me of reflections in the water and also veins. Reflections and connections. It brought to mind how we need to think about (reflect on) how to connect with others.  Yes, we can just launch into a conversation, but once we know a few things about someone, we can start to see where our lives intersect.

I was chatting with someone the other day and I felt like I had nothing in common - different ages, different interests, moving in completely different circles - but then I remembered: we are both women, we are both mothers. It's broad, but it's a start.

Said and heard

Said. Heard. There may be a gulf in between.

I've been thinking a lot about communication lately. How what is said is not necessarily the same as what is heard. We all bring our own filters, our own experience, habits, hang-ups. Knowing the person you are talking to well can help you to spot when something has been misheard/misunderstood. And to know when a subject might be touchy so you can be careful how things are worded.

But even knowing them well is not a guarantee of understanding.

So how much more careful do we need to be with people we don't know well.

If there is something you need to communicate, get the person to repeat back to you what they understood from your conversation, just to make sure you're both on the same page.

Timing

Timing.

I had a very tense conversation recently. It was awful - I said something that was taken completely the wrong way, causing upset and tension.

The next time I saw that person, I was expecting it to be really tough. I wasn't looking forward to it at all, especially as this was going to be a longer time together.

But it was fine. We cleared the air, the point I was making was taken on board, and behaviour changed.

Though the first conversation was awful, if it had happened on the second occasion, it would have been much worse. The timing was perfect, because God knows what He is doing.

I'm still going with making books. I love these vintage-style hardback notebooks. Let's hope other people do, too!

From where I'm standing

From where I'm standing, the view is different from the one you can see.

Conversations can look very different to the people who are taking part in them, too. You may say something quite innocently that is received as a rebuke, even though it wasn't meant that way. We will offend people, even if it's unintentional.  We can't control how other people receive our words, but we can carefully measure them before we speak.