A Year of Kindness - Challenge Week 5

So what Kindness did you do last week? My list included simple things like putting away a chair for an elderly student at my Tai Chi class, making an appointment for Rachel's hair, washing an entire hamper of dirty clothes that Becca brought home from college, rescuing a shopping cart that was left abandoned on a grassy median in the grocery store parking lot, and directing a young couple who was staring forlornly at the empty shelf where the Tostitos chips should have been to the floor display in the next aisle over.  I found that when I was being more observant of my life and my surroundings, the opportunity to be of service, both at home and in my community presented itself over and over. None of those acts of kindness cost me anything more than a moment or two of my time (okay, well, except the laundry which took all day on Saturday!). How about you?

It was a week ago today that my friend and neighbor Chris Witte was tragically killed in a hit and run accident in front of her mother's home. I went to her service on Friday evening, along with my husband and two youngest daughters. According to the obituary, the family was accepting condolences from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. with the service beginning at 6:00 p.m.  We arrived at the funeral home around 5:20 p.m. And what we saw was a line of people waiting outside, in the cold, stretched around three sides of the building, just to pay their respects. We waited patiently, with numb toes, for an hour and a half just to get inside the building. And then another half hour + snaking in and out of the space inside the building until we reached the family. In deference to all the other people still waiting, we kept our condolences short. And then we waited for the service which finally started around 8:15 p.m.

I thought about how quick the media was to cover the tragedy of Chris' death, but how sad it was that no media was there to cover the outpouring of love to this family in the wake of their loss. I listened to Chris' daughters speak about  what a great mother they had, of how they just didn't know how they would go on without her. I listened to the minister (also a neighbor) speak about what kind of friend and neighbor Chris had been. And I took the example to heart. Chris was outgoing, extroverted, the first person on the block to knock on your door and introduce herself and welcome you to the neighborhood. She asked, and was genuinely interested, about what was going on in your life. And the next time she saw you, she'd ask for details about something you had long since forgotten you even mentioned to her. She greeted everyone with a smile and wave. She knew most of her customers at the local grocery store by first name. That's just who she was.

I am not Chris. I am a born introvert. I hang on the fringes at parties, waiting to be introduced, rather than taking the initiative of introducing myself.  I express my thoughts and feelings far better with the written word than I ever could hope to do in person. It is not in my nature to be like Chris. But I can take some lessons from her about being a good neighbor.

So this week, my challenge to myself, and to you, is to do a kindness for a neighbor. Someone on your own block or in your own neighborhood. It can be as simple as a bright smile or a wave hello. Maybe you could make a batch of your famous chocolate chip cookies and deliver them in person. Or maybe, if you happen to live anywhere like where I do, you could shovel a bit of their sidewalk when you are done with your own. Or return their fly-away recycling bin to their front porch. Whatever it might be, just reach out, and make your own neighborhood a better place.

One Little Word - January

My One Little Word for this year is KIND. I'm in Ali's class again which is now hosted via her website rather than on Big Picture Classes. It is a very active group. Ali had a LOT of work for us for the month of January - Here are my pages:

The quote on my photo says "You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give." ~ Kahlil Gibran.  Very literal since I'd just donated 9" of hair!  And all my regular visitors will recognize the photo I'm using to represent my Year of Kindness project.  If you are new to my blog, check out the link and consider joining in with us!

I'm doing my One Little Word assignments this year in a Smash album, so I've had to modify a bit from the handouts Ali has provided, but I'm finding that easy enough and really enjoying the ease of the pre-made album.

The quote in this spread says "In a time lacking truth and certainty and filled with anguish and despair, no woman should be shamefaced in attempting to give back to the world, through her work, a portion of its lost heart." Louise Bogan.  Bogan was an American poet and these lines were probably written during the Great Depression of the 1930's, but they are still just as true today. And the cornerstone on which I'm basing my work with my word KIND{ness} for this year. I want to give back to the world a piece of its lost heart.

My final page is my Intentions for 2014.  My Year of Kindness blog project didn't even make it into my writing because I felt that intention was already well-enough expressed on my blog and well underway! But I have big plans for this year and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Hug A Little Tighter Today

On Monday morning my neighbor and friend, Christine Witte, was killed in an apparent hit and run in front of her mother's home. And just like that she is gone. She was 51. Her husband Ron died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2009.

Chris had been our neighbor for twenty six  years. Our kids played together when they were young. Chris was the kind of person who knew everyone in the neighborhood.  She genuinely cared about everyone in her circle of influence and was the catalyst for bringing this neighborhood together. The news kind of shook me to my core. I feel off balance.

But what has me the most upset is how sad I feel for her children. To have lost both of their parents in the span of five years when they are so young. It really breaks my heart. You can read more about Chris and her family HERE.

And it reminds me just how precious and fleeting this life can be. How you never know how long you truly have and what moment might be your last. You have no guarantee of tomorrow. But each day that you wake up you do have TODAY. Make the most of it. Live it fully. Love and be Kind. Give. Play and have Fun. Breathe deeply. Sing and Dance. Paint and Create. Do the things that bring you joy and worry less about all the "shoulds".

And hug your loved ones a little tighter today.

Zoom In Zoom Out #5

My choice for this week is a simple everyday photo:

Kira sleeping in the rocking chair

But it always makes me smile when she sleeps with a paw covering her eyes. She snores too!

And I took a bit of advice that Carola left in the comments on last week's photo.  I found the manual focus button on my lens. Voila! I can still have that pretty paisley pillow but with a softer focus in the background, and my diffuser sticks in sharper focus. Thanks for the lesson Carola!

I am  linking up with  Helena's Zoom In Zoom Out meme.  Click on the link to see what other people are photographing this week!

A Year of Kindness - Challenge Week Four

So how did smiling go for you? I caught myself rushing through my errands a few times and slowed down enough to smile at the clerks at the grocery store and the pharmacy. I had a great day at the office smiling at EVERYONE - I suppose they were wondering what I'd been smoking before work. ;) But it's true, smiling is contagious and it does make your day lighter and happier. I even found myself smiling when I was alone!

For week four's challenge, I thought we would bring kindness back home. And I'm simply calling it "do a kindness at home."  This can take so many forms. For me, our division of labor at home is I cook, Jay does the dishes. But on days when he has had a particularly difficult day at work or has had a miserable commute home, I will often do the dishes for him. This costs me nothing more than a few minutes of my time and allows him an extra few minutes to unwind and relax. Sometimes it is just what he needs to get out of his work funk.  When the girls are home, I try to make sure that their work uniforms (both waitress at different places and have required dress shirts) are always clean on the days they go in to work. This isn't my "job" or "chore" - they are adults and perfectly capable of washing their own clothes. It is just one more way I choose to show kindness at home.

The day I caught Rachel and Becca out shoveling before their Dad came home from work.
Without being asked.   And the pride in my motherly heart swelled.

Please come back when you have a chance and tell me what kindness you did at home this week!

Zoom In Zoom Out #4 and Frugal Still Life #3

This week Cheryl had a guest instructor for our Frugal Still Life class and we were tasked to do a set up similar to that of the instructor. I didn't happen to have any dry flowers handy, but I did have a set of old oil diffuser sticks in a pretty little vase.

 So I started with this little set-up. We had a lot of snow which was bouncing extra sunlight into the room. And I used the white foam core board to the left to also bounce light back.

Here's my first shot. I really like the paisley pillow as a backdrop, but at the same time was frustrated that the camera insisted on focusing on the pillow when I was trying to focus on the little green balls. I'm not at the point of using manual yet, so I guess that will come eventually.

Same subject matter using a top down approach. And I got those little green balls in focus! This one also begged for a square crop.

And finally, same shot as above with some texture added just for fun.  The textures included:

Alexa's Honey Grunge on overlay at 38%

Kim Klassen's Cinnamon on soft light at 64%, Cherish on soft light at 100% and Annabelle on linear burn at 54%

Which is your favorite?

I am also linking up with  Helena's Zoom In Zoom Out meme.  Click on the link to see what other people are photographing today!

A Year of Kindness - Challenge Week Three

I apologize for being a day late with this post.  I pretty much lost the last two days of my life to being functionally blind, thanks to an eye infection in my right eye that caused my eye to be painful, swollen, blood shot, and extremely light sensitive. I couldn't wear my contact lenses and wearing my back-up glasses just made my eye water even more. So I was being as KIND as I could to myself and left my computer OFF for two whole days! I know, unheard of, right? I can't even say I suffered withdrawal. I slept most of Sunday... 4 hours in the middle of the day and then went to bed at 7:30 and slept another 12 hours. And Monday I did things that I didn't really need clear vision for - like laundry. Thankfully today the pain, swelling, and light sensitivity is gone and I am back in action! Now if the redness would just go away...  But as luck would have it, we are having another massive snow storm and our Board of Director's meeting for tomorrow is cancelled. So I don't have to drive into work and I don't have to worry about greeting directors with an ugly eye. I consider that to be the Universe's way of being KIND to me.  Which just makes me smile.

And that is this week's challenge - SMILE at everyone you meet.

It is a gift to the person you smile at - and you never know when your smile and friendly greeting could turn an otherwise bad day for someone. And it is a gift to yourself - because when you are smiling, you can't help but feel happy! :)

Are you smiling this week?