"Many people, especially ignorant people, want to punish you for speaking the truth, for being correct, for being you. Never apologize for being correct, or for being years ahead of your time. If your right and you know it, speak your mind. Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth." ~Gandhi

Winter

Winter finds people snowed in and sitting at the kitchen table, fondly looking at the seed catalogs, dreaming of the coming spring and the future garden.

New stuff

Received a delivery yesterday. New queen sized mattress. Check. New couch. Check. Removal of old, broken down mattress; done. A good nights sleep on new mattress. Priceless. I have been, throughout my life, dealing with second hand, hand me down furniture. Except for the waterbed in California (with a mirrored canopy) and the dining table I currently have, everything has been second hand. It was very satisfying to remove the labels which say "Not to be removed except by the consumer." That consumer would be me. So you may ask, how did I know I had a good nights sleep? Well, I usually sleep through the night, except for trying to keep the covers on. I usually toss and turn. Sometimes I wake up and wonder what kind of acrobatics I was doing during the night. I would be also tired during the day. This morning, a few flips of the sheets and blankets, and I was back to having a made bed. The jury is still out on whether this refreshed feeling will continue during the day.

Before today,

before tweeting, before texting, before facebook, before email, before internet, before telephones, before newspapers, before letters, before all the "instant" communication There was quiet and stillness, allowing communication between ourselves and nature. In that stillness is when there is a connection. Today is so filled with the noise which means nothing, that we cannot listen to the mountain, or the rock, or the cloud. Today I heard the word "18." In my stillness, I tried to get more, but the noise kept me from hearing more. Maybe "18" is for me to discover, and not for me to be handed.

January

The snow may be flying in January, but most are thinking about the green grass and gardens in May.

There are no mistakes. No accidents. Only happenings, which can lead to happiness. Happiness is not guaranteed with happenings. Happiness is where you find it.

A little profound thinking.

This statement came to me, this morning. "If I don't believe in myself, who will." I did a quick online search, to see if I had read it somewhere else. Although there were some similar quotes, and with the thinking that others will see you as you see yourself, none seemed to be exactly the same. The closest, and expanded version was one I liked. "I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me." Anna Quindlen Journalist, Novelist As we go through our day to day lives, we must present ourselves to the world. If our presentation is that of walking with our chin down, looking at the ground, then others will see us as shy, and not worth noticing. If walking with the head held high, eyes level with the world, with confidence, then we will be seen as confident and able. The trick, now, is to tell yourself that you are capable, and able to figure things out. Believe in yourself.