Z is for Zeal + WOYWW

Made it! Z is for Zeal - the end of the A to Z of Me challenge. 

Zeal is defined as having great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective. So what am I zealous about? Well, I love seeing people released into their gifting. People who are working in their 'sweet spot' just have something so appealing about them. You can listen to them talk about something that may not be at all in your area of interest, but they hold your interest anyway because of their passion.

I also love to see people released into their creativity. I remember one lady who came to a bookbinding evening that I was running. She told me that she didn't really know why she was there as she was not at all creative and everything she'd ever taken home from school her mother had put straight into the bin. At the end of the evening she went home with a finished hardbound book. Her face was shining. 

And that's the end of the challenge! It's been fun.

Now, what else is on my work-desk?

Let's see - here are the latest fabrics for shirts, a dress, a skirt, and some trousers. Also a pile of books I am looking through at the moment.

These are papers I'm making into a book for a friend.

This is my other desk at the end of the day. You can see the book block now sewn towards the right of the picture. On the left is a partially done journal page for the 'Colour This Quote' challenge on Artists in Blogland. 

I shall be linking this with WOYWW. Why not pop over and see what everyone else is up to?

Y is for Yes

So close to the end now on the A to Z of Me challenge! I'm glad I stayed the course even though some days it has been difficult to get a page done and I haven't liked what I produced very much. That's life.

Y is for yes.

I like this quote. It's one I've used in women's retreats to get across the point that there are many good things out there that we could give our time to, but are they the best thing? Time and energy are limited, and we need to spend them wisely. There are plenty of good things that it would be commendable to do, but we do them at the expense of doing the best thing, the thing we are made for.

What do you need to start saying 'no' to so that you can be the best you?

X marks the spot

Not my favourite page for this challenge, but that's the way it goes. I liked the first layer, which you can't really see in this photo. It was gesso applied to the paper you peel off the back of sticky-back plastic that had been sprayed with water. I made a print of this on to the page and when it was dry put blue ink over the top. The red layer was acrylic paint that went through the same process as the gesso. The page needs more work but that will have to wait for another day.

X marks the spot. What does the future hold for you? Where do you see yourself in five years? Is your life how you expected it to be?

I have blogged on this topic recently on the Fall Fearless and Fly challenge. You can find that post here.

Have a great day.

Vision and Words

Almost there! V is for vision and W is for words on the A to Z of Me challenge. Some days it's been hard to get the page done and has felt relentless. Other times the page has come together easily, like the one below where I had two images already that fit well with the quote. Personally I would have liked to have the list of words beforehand so that I could be organised, but I guess the pressure is also good for me :)

So, vision. Being able to see beyond the wall. Not being hampered by what appears to be a dead-end. Being able to see those things that are not yet. 

And words. Are we always aware of how powerful our words can be? Some off-hand comment made in all innocence can be devastating to the hearer. How often have you had your joy stolen by a single comment? You know what I mean - you're all enthusiastic about something, some comment is made, and suddenly it's as if something died within us. The joy is stolen. 

Our words are powerful. We can be joy-stealers or dream-growers. 

What are you going to plant in someone else's life today?

U is for unique

Well, we are into the last week of the A to Z of Me challenge. U is for unique.

I finally got around to buying some modelling paste yesterday, so the stars here are done by pushing the paste through a stencil. I have been learning a lot more about stencils recently. I signed up for Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's stencil 101 course and Carolyn Dube's Use Your Words workshop. (Both are fun, still open for sign up, and *free*!) I'll be posting more about Use Your Words when the A to Z of Me is finished. If you want a sneak peek before then, visit my flickr photostream.

You are unique, you are fearfully and wonderfully made, and there is no-one like you who will do the things you do in the way you do them. This is especially important for artists to remember. Your style is your own. Embrace it!

T is for Try

What or who encourages you to keep trying when things are difficult? What things stop you from trying?

I guess one of the biggest things that can stop you from trying is fear. What if I get it wrong? What if I can't do it? That's the point where Ray Bradbury's quote comes in. Don't think about trying something, just do it.  Tell yourself: 'I'm not going to try, I'm going to do.'

As to who encourages me - my husband is my biggest cheerleader. I have done so much more than I would have thought possible because he tells me I can do it.

S is for self-image

S is for self-image. The funny thing with this is that I was already working on the bottom page when the new word came through on the A to Z of Me challenge, so it's two for one today.

I find that now I am in my mid-forties I am much more confident in who I am. I am happy in my skin. I don't mind the white hairs and wrinkles - I've earned them! I am less concerned with what others think of me. I rely on what God thinks of me instead. When the day has been bad and I'm feeling down on myself, I can go to God and have my perspective put right. Yes, I'm a sinner and I fall down sometimes. But I'm also God's child and He loves me. He picks me up and dusts me off and sets me back on the right track. 

I'm not perfect yet, but I am in the process of being perfected. 

R is for responsibilities

Almost through with the A to Z of Me challenge. R is for responsibilities.

I take my responsibilities seriously. I always have, from early childhood. I remember being left in charge of my class whenever the teacher needed to leave the room. She would ask me to read to my classmates, knowing that I read well. I was about six at the time.

I see my main responsibilities as being the best wife and the best mother I can be. These are roles that only I can fulfil. I am the only wife my husband has and the only mother my daughter has. It is important that I take responsibility for those roles seriously.

I am responsible for my own growth. If I don't take responsibility for it, no-one else will.

I am responsible for my gifts and skills, to use them to build others up and encourage them.

So yes, I take responsibility seriously.

But hopefully I don't take myself too seriously.

Q is for qualities

An A to Z of Me challenge - Q is for qualities.

I recently blogged about something similar in the Fall Fearless and Fly challenge. You can read that here.

As a wife and mother, I would like to be like the Proverbs 31 woman - a woman whose husband can be proud of her; a caring, compassionate, and capable woman.

I'm working towards it.

Openness and Possibilities

Let's all share something about ourselves that no-one else knows. Who wants to go first?

No takers?

How surprising!

Openness is a keyhole we open that lets others see into our deepest self. An opening into the real you - the imperfect, fearful, embarrassed, vulnerable you. And allowing someone to put their eye to that keyhole and see in opens us to ridicule, embarrassment, being despised.

In the spirit of this post, let me share something with you. People usually appreciate openness. Not so long ago I was leading prayers at church. I was standing at the front, praying, and suddenly I was overcome with emotion. I broke down in tears and couldn't go on. I returned to my seat and passed the prayers off to my husband while I sat in my seat and sobbed. Now one of the things you need to understand is that I'm shy. I find it difficult to stand in front of crowds. I fear being ridiculed after being bullied at school. I was mortified that I had lost it in front of the congregation.

But you know something? Nobody laughed at me. In fact, everyone was kind and concerned for me. So I survived. Being vulnerable doesn't have to damage us.  But sometimes you have to open up first and show the way.

Possibilities...

the butterfly in the caterpillar

the plant in the seed

the dreams in my heart

N is for Nature

An A to Z of Me: N is for nature.

My nature is shy and introverted, sensitive, servant-hearted, and I cry easily. I am learning to live with who I am and understand myself. And I am working on those things that need to change. I don't think having a soft heart is a bad thing, but sometimes it gets in the way. Sometimes I need to squash my feelings and toughen up :) It doesn't mean I don't feel things, but to be able to control the emotion that goes with it so the tears don't get in the way.

But then sometimes the tears are necessary.

What's your nature?

M is for Mindfulness

Mindfulness. What does that mean? 

For me it means treasuring up all those little moments that make your heart sing. 

Not letting things pass by unremarked where you could give praise.

Appreciating the small things. 

And here are some of those small things that I appreciate and that make me happy. My three postcards from the Artists in Blogland postcard swap have arrived! I love them. So thanks go out to Penelope Harris, Dawn Maurice, and Cathy Wilson who spent time making something beautiful just for me :)

L is for laughter

Just about halfway through An A to Z of Me challenge now. I used some of the tips from Carolyn Dube's *free* workshop Use Your Words - different fonts, different sizes, print and cursive, capitals and lower case, different colours and orientations. 

So, L is for laughter. Laughter is healing and releasing. Don't you feel better when you've laughed so hard that you've cried? When life is so ridiculously hard or the stress is just so high a good laugh can put things back in perspective. 

WOYWW and K is for Kindness

First up, WOYWW. Here is one desk in all its messy glory :) There are materials at the back, journal page work for An A to Z of Me challenge on the left of the photo, and my daughter's page in progress at the bottom right. In the middle is a Chinese newspaper to be used for some background texture at a later date. 

And here are some close-ups:

journal page in progress - see the photo below for the finished page

Postcards received in the Artists in Blogland postcard swap. One more to come

And the journal page for K is for kindness. I love the quote for this - kindness truly is a universal language. I am trying to grow in it. 

As for being kind to myself, well, I think I manage it most of the time. Occasionally I'm hard on myself and have to learn to be realistic in my expectations. I guess that's coming with age :)

J is for Journey

What fortuitous timing! An A to Z of Me has reached J is for journey, and Carolyn Dube's *free* workshop - Use Your Words - started with the word 'journey' as well. So this post is a twofer.

Journey. What does that conjure up?

For me there was the journey from one side of the world to the other with all the uprooting that that entailed. I'm not really one for travelling so that was a biggie for me.

There is also the journey of faith. I like the map fragment on this page because it shows two paths going the same way and intertwining. There are people we journey with like that. We are both going in the same direction but the path is slightly different. Of course, there are also people who start out in the same place as us, end up in the same place, but took a completely different route. And that is the fun of journeying. In faith we journey together with the whole Church, our paths crossing and relationships being built. Journeying together is important. When one falls, there is someone there to help them up. When one is in need there is someone there to supply what is lacking. We can advise from our own experience and learn from the journey of another.

Who are you journeying with?

I is for Interests

An A to Z of Me: I is for Interests.

There were two options for this one: the interests I have in terms of hobbies, and the interests as in the Scripture verse. I chose the latter.

I think when you marry and when you become a parent you immediately have to start looking to the interests of others rather than your own. It comes through love. When you love someone you want the best for them even if it means giving up something. When children are small and money is tight there are times where you have to pay for new shoes so that book/new dress/meat for dinner has to wait. Choices have to be made that are sometimes costly to our own desires.

G and H

OK, 2 for 1 today - G for goals and H for humour.

It's important to set goals otherwise how would we know how we are doing along the journey? It gives you a sense of achievement when you can tick the box or see the finishing line coming into sight. I set goals for 2013, one of which was to take more photographs. I'm definitely doing that and building up a stock of texture and colour photos for use in Photoshop and my foray into digital journalling. I'm having fun with it.

And humour. Well, I don't think I'd survive without a sense of humour. Where would we be if we couldn't laugh at life and all it throws at us? It's a safety valve, helping us to release tension, anxiety, worry, stress, and all those negative things that we might otherwise bottle up. Laugh every day - it's good for you :)

F is for Fitness

An A to Z of Me has reached F for fitness.

Fitness is important to me. I make sure to have five sessions of at least half an hour a week where I use a mixture of weights, trampolining, and strength training. Added to that I walk, garden, and do housework :) If I miss a session I feel it and miss it.

I also feel that keeping my mind fit is important. What is the point of a fit body if my mind is atrophying? I read a lot, discuss, and teach to keep my mind fit.

But more than this I need a fit heart. Not just in the physical sense but spiritually as well. What comes out of the mouth flows from the heart, so if my heart is right then how I interact with the people around me will be healthy.

E is for Emotions

We've reached E in the An A to Z of Me challenge. E is for emotions.

Well, I have some of those :)

I find it easy to laugh and easy to cry.

Sometimes I get angry.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmingly sad.

Or homesick.

Or confused.

Through it all I endeavour to not let my emotions rule me.

Sometimes I fail.

But not quite so often as I used to.

D is for Decisions

D is for Decisions.

Prompt: How do you make decisions?  Are you ruled by your head or your heart?  Do you have trusted people you can go to for advice?  Do you take  any notice of them?

Some decisions are easy to make and don't require much thought or effort - what will I have for lunch? What should I wear today? For those that are trickier, or will have a more lasting effect, I pray. And ask trusted others. I make a decision and then sleep on it. I have found that I will then either wake up feeling peaceful, having made the right choice, or I will feel very uneasy and know that further prayer and probably a change in my decision are needed. 

I find that making a decision - whether it's right or wrong - is the important step. Decide and then sleep on it rather than dithering and making no decision at all. 

The quote, in case you can't read it, is: Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.    Robert H. Schuller

Linking with An A to Z of Me.