Flashback Friday: The Smallest of The Small

It's that time again folks....FLASHBACK FRIDAY...albeit a day late!

Yesterday wasn't a day that was filled with anything over the top exciting. Sketching didn't take place like I planned and phone calls that I was scheduled to make fell by the wayside. However, there was still a sense of gratitude for the smallest of things. So I decided to take you all back to a post that was written in 2010 about just that...gratitude for the small things.

Here goes:

What a great day! There was noting in particular that happened, but it has just been a great day! To be alive is great! To have great health is great! To be in right mind is great! To have a phenomenal family (including biological, friends, and spiritual) is great! To be able to see, hear, smell, taste, love, laugh, cry, and feel (among other things) is GREAT!!!! I think we often bypass the simple things in life and look for the complicated luxuries. The truth is, simple things become beautiful luxuries when you remain grateful for them!

So in my gratefulness, today I was thankful that I am still in my creative niche. Thank YOU DAD that you continue to give me a plethora of ideas daily. Thanks for my grind and that I always strive to give back to YOU!!!

Corner of Gratitude:
The smallest of the small

Pearls of Wisdom:
A mind set on gratitude for the small things is a mind that is ready and available to receive large things!
~Me

Your Thoughts:
What tiny blessings are your mind set on today?

Until next time...

Flashback Friday: My Plan B, His Plan A

It's Flashback...Flashback...Flashback FRIDAY!!!

This 2009 memory is about plans. Sometimes the best laid out plans are meant to be changed!

Here goes:

As I sat and spoke to a friend a while ago about some of my insecurities and woes of life, it became clear to me that my plan B may have been God's plan A all along. It's funny sometimes how we plan, set up shop, re-vamp the plan, re-vamp the shop that we set up, and the cycles go on and on, only to find out that plan B is so much simpler an conducive to who we are than plan A in the first place. The plan that made us sweat and toil day and night, cry hours on end, and sometimes compromise our identity was never meant to be so.

His plan A has been here all along. My ticket to freedom. However, although that free ticket is available for me to take a hassle free ride, I have been hesitant about getting on. One foot on the train, the other foot on the platform. 

The foot on the train realizes that I must make a move. I have been created for a time such as this. To carry out that which GOD has gifted me with. If I don't jump on board, I will be left behind trying to find ways to pick up the pieces. 

The foot on the platform questions the moves that I am making. "Are you thinking in an orderly fashion?" "Have you thought about consulting this one and that one before taking this leap?" "Do you really think that you are equipped to make this journey?" "Is this the right time? Maybe you should wait to make sure." If I jump on board, I may have left the station before the cargo has been loaded. 

So with that being said, I am vowing to put all anxieties aside and hop on the train. I am ready to take the lead of my Master and go with His plan B, which ultimately becomes my plan A.

Corner of Gratitude:
Flexibility

Pearls of Wisdom:
"Beethoven, Wagner, Bach, and Mozart settled down day after day to the job at hand. They didn't waste time waiting for inspiration. The great composers did not set to work because they were inspired, but became inspired because they were working."
~Earnest Newman

Your Thoughts:
What makes you afraid to make the leap to your destiny?

Until next time...

Flashback Friday: Chance Encounters

You all know what time it is...you got it...Flashback Friday! 

Today's memory is circa 2010. I met a pretty cool individual that changed my perspective on some things. What I wrote back then holds true for today. In a lot of ways I am still in that place, although this time I am actually carrying out the actions that I speak of.  My process...my journey! A good process and a good journey no matter what comes. 

Here goes:

Yesterday an encounter that almost failed to occur because of my sometimes (which I use loosely, as most times I am fancy free) planned ways. A short note that consisted of five or six words sparked a light yet deep, joyous yet intellectual, insightful and truly inspiring conversation. It was just what I needed to thrust me into the realm of getting back on track with some things that I had put on the back burner. 

He was an artist (visual), lover of music, and avid reader, and a family man. Although I had known him only a short while, his character exuded integrity that is rare these days. There were no sexual overtones that so often occur with friendly banter that is exchanged between females and their male counterparts. It was truly conversation that really made me ponder more things than a few. 

As I laid my head on my pillow to catch up on much needed beauty rest this morning, I thought about my work and its progress. And based upon our conversation, here are a few reminders and revelations that came forth:

• Continual education is paramount. There should never be a point in life where I think that I have become the 'creme de la creme' when it comes to my craft. It's okay to be confident, but pride comes before the fall, and it is the lack of further educating myself that could point to the demise of that which I have been gifted to do.

• It is my responsibility to get my work out there...to tell my story. I have a moral and social responsibility of finding that happy medium of being vulnerable enough to allow my audience to see the real me without taking them to a place of misunderstanding my point. 

• I create how I feel! I grow attached to my work, but am (and have been for some time) in the space where I am able to let it go. I have to be open for my audience to interpret my work as they may. I must allow them to have their own experience apart from what my connection has been with the piece. 

• I am a product of my environment, but I am also someone who creates the environment in which I choose to live. My parents genes were definitely passed down as they both were/are creative individuals. They gave/give me the space to be unique, and fostered/foster that uniqueness. My mother is my biggest advocate to this day! However, I am so wonderfully happy to be me apart from others. I make my own rules sometimes and often view life slightly skewed...chock full of optimism!

• Last, but certainly not least, there are others that share my experiences with sometimes having a love/hate relationship with their craft. There are others that struggle daily to make room for their passion to create in the midst of their daily grind to make a living.

So there you have it my good people...the story behind  a new beginning. A new beginning that is going to be marked by excellency and greatness! Not only because it is new, but because this time I welcome the journey instead of an expected end. 

I named this post "Chance Encounters", but in fact I don't believe encounters are at all chance, but rather divine. They happen for reasons sometimes that are unable to be explained. Their purpose perhaps never to be understood fully (or at all), but making an impact far beyond our understanding.

To that gentleman, I pray that I continue to meet individuals that further ignite my passion for my craft, the arts, and life in general. Our divine encounter meant more than words could express. Thank you!

Corner of Gratitude:

Those who force me to think deeper

Pearls of Wisdom:

Let us make a conscious decision to make beautiful waves where the crest connects with the trough to envelope and nurture others throughout this journey called life!

~Me

Your Thoughts:

When was the last time you met someone new that gave you a different outlook on your life or purpose?

Until next time...