Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
To make living itself an art, that is the goal. Henry Miller
Last night we had our second zoom call for the 10:25:22 Book In A Year Challenge. I’m not as tech-savvy as I should be, but one way to get more tech-savvy is to force myself to use the technology and learn. By leveraging the knowledge of our group we can all grow and develop.
Yesterday I received bookmarks I created in Canva and printed through Vista Print. My son looked at them and thought they looked pretty good but I made a mistake (this is why I only got 100 printed). The mistake is I didn’t put www in front of my web address. I’ll fix it next time. I should have had bookmarks made when I published the first book but we were locked down. Who was I meeting? Yet, I’m sure if I had my bookmarks with me in my purse I would have given out quite a lot over that time.
Next month one of our members will tutor us on how to grow our presence on Instagram. A toastmaster I met years ago has invited me to speak at his club and I will practice reading my children’s book “When Can We Get A Puppy.” Being part of groups widens our lives, helps us meet new people, and encourages us to do things and keep going when things get rough. Someone has probably experienced what we are experiencing, and there is a group out there for us to join to share our story and learn from others.
Isolation is not good for us, we are social animals. We need to interact with others. I have found at times in my life that the less I interacted with others the less I wanted to interact with them. This is not good, we must fight this.
Of course, we can get too involved outside of our family, we need to find balance, and finding balance in our lives can be one of the most difficult parts of our life. Some of us may be thinking how different our lives would be if… If something didn’t happen that changed the course we were on, a course we dreamed would lead to better more wonderful things.
We may be nostalgic for a future that never happened and will never happen. We are attached to a future that will never be, this is not positive. We have to let go of dreams of where we’d go when we were working for a company we no longer work for, a relationship we are no longer in, a world that is different than what we dreamed it would be.
The people who do well are those who look at what they have and make the most of it. They see the reality of the situation, the opportunities, the changes that should be made, the technology that should be mastered, and the future that can be built.
Wherever you are, be there. Lifestyle is not something we do; it is something we experience. And until we learn to be there, we will never master the art of living well. Jim Rohn
We may lament that we are no longer young, but if we are still here we have opportunities to make the best of the stage of life we are in. We may have to give up hope we’ve had for things to be different, so we can adjust, and embrace where we are.
One question we can ask ourselves is. If only… When we ask, “If only” we have no excuse left, only the obligation. I could see the situation correctly, if only… I could be happy, if only… I could be brave and put my art out into the world, if only… I’m using art very loosely, in the way Seth Godin uses it. We live in an artful way when we bring the very best of ourselves to any part of our life. If we bring the best of ourselves to every part of our life what a life that will be!
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. Edgar Degas
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. Aristotle
Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to take great pleasure from small offerings and assurance that the world owes you nothing and that every gift is exactly that, a gift. Maya Angelou
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
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