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“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” ~Anaïs Nin
“As far as the Moon is concerned, he is always full.” ~Terri Guillemets
We judge others by their behavior. We judge ourselves by our intentions. ~Ian Percy
“Is the glass half empty, half full, or twice as large as it needs to be?” ~Author Unknown
These are a few of my favorite quotations about perspective. Each person sees things differently – out of his or her own eyes. Our beliefs, our experiences and many other things can shape our perspective. I had a very practical reminder of this fact recently. One of my friends is launching a new business and she asked me to take a look at her web site before it went live. Since she lives in another state, we spoke by telephone as we walked through the website and tested each link together. Although the content and overall design was quite good, I raised a few questions about formatting. I mentioned that the he alignment on some of the pages was so far right that it overlapped the right border. But for some reason, she did not see it. I also noticed the color of the footer, black, seemed a little dark. But for some reason she did not see that either. She saw the footer as blue. How very odd! Even though we were looking at the same pages, we saw different things. We went around and around trying to figure out what the problem was. Eventually we realized that we were on different types of computers (she was on a PC & I was on a Mac) with different sized monitors (hers was 19” and mine was 15”), so the content was displaying differently. After our call she went back to her web designer and asked her to redesign the site so that it displayed the same way for all platforms and mobile devices. |
Archive for category My Blog
Do You See What I See?
Oct 7
Be Quiet!
Sep 12
There is a quiet place
Far from the rapid pace
Where God can soothe my troubled mind
Sheltered by tree and flow´r
There in my quiet hour
With Him my cares are left behind
Whether a garden small
Or on a mountain tall
New strength and courage there I find
Then from this quiet place
I go prepared to face
A new day with love for all mankind
These are the lyrics from a Christian song that was popular in the 1990’s. It paints a beautiful picture of spending time alone with God. In our busy world “quiet” is a seldom-found commodity. Sights, sounds and activity constantly surround us. While the technology boom has brought many improvements to our lives, it has also created a world where we are bombarded with alerts, ringtones and the sounds of other people’s conversations. Although it is difficult to find a quiet place, we need one now more than ever.
Why, oh Why Can’t I
Aug 22
“If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow why, oh why can’t I?”
These lyrics are from “Over the Rainbow”, one of many delightful songs from the movie “The Wizard of Oz”. In the song Dorothy sings of a magical land where “dreams really do come true.” Childhood is a time of vivid imagination when it is easy to believe that dreams can become reality. Santa Claus, Candyland and chocolate factories can seem quite real. As we move into adulthood we realize that they were just childhood imaginations. But even as adults we continue to have wishes, hopes and dreams. Those dreams provide hope and propel us toward great accomplishments. They can also be a source of frustration as long as they remain unfulfilled. Things that seem so easy for some people are like an impossible dream for others.
With so many human beings on the planet, the things they hope for can vary widely. If you asked 25 different people what their dreams were, you could get as many different answers. However, some of their dreams would be similar – good job, a nice home, healthy children. Having children can be one of life’s greatest joys. There is nothing quite like the feeling of seeing your baby’s first smile, or watching him take his first steps. While many people have experienced these joys, for others parenting seems like an impossible dream. These are people who struggle with the challenge of infertility, the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception.
Oh Baby!
Jul 30
Do you remember the first time you gave your baby a bath? I do, and it was a momentous occasion for my husband and I. As first time parents we were eager to do everything exactly right. We’d read lots of parenting books and armed with Apgar scores and a ton of advice from family and friends, we brought our baby home launched into the adventure of parenthood. We sterilized everything, and carefully controlled noise levels and temperature in our home; yes we were fanatics. If only we could have seen into the future we would have known just how “durable” the little fellow was; that he would survive stitches, broken bones and a eventually a dorm room that looked like a waste dump. But we were novices so we followed our pediatrician’s advice and gave him sponge baths for the first few days. Then the big day came. After I put a little lukewarm water into a tiny tub my husband carefully lowered our little miracle into the water. Much to our surprise, he drew his arms and legs up, let out an ear-piercing wail and let us know, in no uncertain terms that he did not like this new experience. I suppose it made sense. After all, in the course of a very few days he had been taken from the shelter of a warm, cozy womb and thrust into a bright noisy world. And now we’d immersed him into another totally new environment; water. We laugh when we think about it now, but at the time it was quite traumatic for all three of us.
No Strings Attached
Jul 18
“Adam and Eve ate the first vitamins, including the package.” ~E.R. Squibb
Imagine what it must have been like to eat the fruit and vegetables that grew in the Garden of Eden. There were no bugs, no worms, and no pesticides, just perfect produce. Eating healthy was not a struggle, it was the norm.
Unfortunately, in the 21st century we do not have access to that quality of produce. So eating healthy is a conscious choice, something that we have to work at. Since healthy eating is one of my goals, I make it a point to buy organic fruits and vegetables that are grown locally. My family enjoys broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, collard greens and their favorite vegetable is green beans (also known as snap beans, haricots verts, string beans).
Read the rest of this entry »
Cover Girls
Jul 8
Images of beautiful women have been depicted in art since the beginning of time. They can be seen in paintings, sculptures, and photographs. Glamor girls of ancient history include Nefertiti, Helen of Troy, Bathsheba, and Salome. The practice has continued into modern times with the addition of other types of print media and even billboards. Newsstands are filled with women’s magazines that feature beautiful women on the covers. A glance inside the magazines will show pages and pages of makeup and clothing ads featuring beautiful models. These ladies are often referred to as cover girls.
A recently published list of the 30 most beautiful women in the world included Tyra Banks, Scarlett Johansson, Aishwarya Rai, Gabrielle Union, and Claudia Lynx. Bar Refaeli, Pippa Middleton, Leona Lewis, and Selita Ebanks top the list of 2011 cover girls.
When I think of the most beautiful women of my lifetime I think about another less-publicized group; the “church ladies” of the 50’s and 60’s. They were the glamour girls of my childhood. My mother and her friends stepped out every Sunday, dressed in finery from head to toe. They wore dresses or suits, hats, gloves, beautiful jewelry, silk stockings and high-heeled shoes that always matched their purses. And depending on the weather, these ensembles were often topped with a mink stole, jacket or full-length coat. These ladies adorned the church pews like so many flowers in bloom. Honey, those “dignified divas” had it going on! As little girls we looked up to them with admiration, anticipating the day when we could dress up like that. As a matter of fact, playing “dress up” was one of our favorite games. Our mothers would give us some of their older pieces to play with and we were quite a spectacle stumbling around on high heels that were much too big, necklaces that hung to our knees and of course, hats.
In 1998, North Carolina photographer Michael Cunningham began taking pictures of women in their hats. His friend, journalist Craig Marberry, thought they should put together a book of the photos and the stories behind them. Marberry was curious why so many African-American women wear flamboyant hats to church. “I think it’s because it’s rooted in the African tradition that says that when one presents oneself before God… that you should be at your best –- that you should present excellence before the Almighty,” Marberry says. “And that tradition of adorning the head for worship is a very African tradition.” Their book, “Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats” was adapted into a musical stage play by Regina Taylor. The characters use the hats to tell stories concerning everything from the etiquette of hats to their historical and contemporary social functioning.
In many churches the tradition of dressing up continues to this day. And although styles have changed, those “dignified divas” are still resplendent in their Sunday finery. Does it really matter what you wear to church? Of course not, God loves each one of us the same no matter how we’re dressed. It is all a matter of personal preference. However, I prefer to dress up and yes, I’ve been known to wear a hat from time to time. I proudly wear my “crown” as I join the dignified divas of the 21st century.
Package Deal
Jun 23
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there…
No doubt, you are familiar with this Christmas poem by Clement Moore. I remember my mother reading it to me when I was quite small. I must admit, not every detail of the poem made sense to me. My mother did not sleep in a kerchief, my father did not sleep in a cap and I had no clue what sugarplums were. But it did paint a nice picture of Christmas morning, which for us children was all about the gifts. We would tip into the living room early on Christmas morning and find that it had been transformed into a wonderland of beautifully wrapped packages of all shapes and sizes. We could hardly wait to tear into them to find what was inside. Read the rest of this entry »
Truth Decay
Jun 13
In recent weeks I’ve paid several visits to my dentist for treatment of a tooth with a deep cavity that had to be crowned and may still need a root canal – not my idea of a good time. This experience caused me to do quite a bit of research about tooth decay.
What is tooth decay and when does it occur? It occurs when your teeth are frequently exposed to foods containing carbohydrates such as starches and sugars like soda pop, candy, cake and even sticky fruits. The primary options for treating tooth decay are filling, crown, root canal or extraction. The goal of treatment is to preserve tooth structures and prevent further destruction of the tooth.
Let It Go
May 31
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” ~Lewis B. Smedes
Have you ever been hurt, offended, cheated or misused? What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you? Unfortunately, life can be rough and anyone who has lived more than a few months has experienced hurt of some kind or another – physical, mental, emotional, racial, religious, sexual, relational… the list goes on and on. If we were seated in a room together we could share stories that would have us all in tears.
So what is the solution? How do we survive life’s inevitable injustices? There is no easy answer, no magic pill to make the hurt go away. Each of us must find the path toward healing in our own way. Here are excerpts from stories of people who have suffered greatly and found ways to begin their healing journeys.
Mother’s Day
May 5
I was driving down the street recently when the traffic came to a screeching halt. As I tried to figure out what was going on I noticed a man standing in the middle of the road waving his arms. When I looked down I could see why the traffic had stopped. There was a mother duck and 6 little ducklings waddling nonchantly across the street. The mother appeared to be oblivious to the danger that they were in she was just taking her babies out for a walk. The ducklings felt completely safe just following their mom. The mother-child bond is amazing to observe.
As we celebrate Mother’s Day, I am reminded of the great lengths that mothers go to in order to nurture and protect their young. This applies to human mothers, but animals also make extraordinary sacrifices for their offspring. Here are a few examples:
