In keeping up with the challenge at hand from the A to Z challenge - here we are today with the letter D. As explained in yesterdays letter, for the purposes of this campaign, while trees are not herbs per say I am including them as they contain both practical and spiritual uses.
I am hoping that I can get this letter to you and not have a gap between letters as this is information you will need and use over the decades.
At this point I know you already know what a dogwood tree is. Mom has one in the front yard with the 4 petaled flowers that start as white and fade to pink on the edges. I can't imagine anyone in the lower 48 don't know how to identify one on site. The Dogwood species (or Cornus) actually consists of up to 60 different variations of tree. They are usually only found in North America and Eurasia / Asia areas. Old English names vary but an interesting tid bit of information is that one of the earliest names for this tree is the "whippletree" as referred to in the Canterbury Tales. The berries from the tree used to be known as dog berries or hound berries. (keep that in your hat for later in this letter)
Practical Uses of Dogwood
The dogwood tree has highly resilient wood, it is known for being to absorb a lot of energy/force without breaking or miss-shaping. (Possibly one of the main reasons it is used for what it is on the metaphysical side but I'm getting ahead of myself.) For this reason, dogwood is often used to make handles for things that need to perform that function such as golf clubs and tool handles. In the old days it was even used to make wooden teeth as well as some of the first effective chewing sticks/toothbrushes.
The inner bark can be used brewed into a tea for treatment of headache and fever. The fruits of the tree are used to treat diarrhea and other conditions. The fruit of the Cornus Kosa variety known is the most widely consumed that I have seen so far. The leaves or bark can be made into a tincture to apply to skin for use in treatment of skin conditions like eczema. The petals of the tree are edible such as the redbud variety and are often used in jams and candied.
Metaphysical Uses of Dogwood
There is a story about the dogwood tree in Christianity as it relates to the crucifixion. Allegedly the dogwood lumber was used for the building of the cross. As a reminder of its part in the crucifixion, it was deemed that the tree would forever grow short so as not to ever be able to be used in such a way again. The flowers were tipped in red to resemble it's part in the blood and two petals would grow longer than the others so as to form a cross. Pink dogwoods are said to be such for their shame in the spilling of the blood A great rendition of the story can be found at Creation Tips
To
the Celtic, this wood is known as the hero's tree as it is associated
Cuchulain (the Dog of Chullain) who was known for his loyalty and hero
status. For this reasons the wood is used in times where heroism,
protection or super-human characteristics are needed.
By E. Wallcousins - Charles Squire, Celtic Myths and Legends, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3486105
The Dogwood was chosen by me today for its two most well known metaphysical properties. It is known for protection and wish granting. Dogwood leaves can be pressed into a protection amulet or wood carved into an amulet itself. It is also said that the sap of a dogwood placed on a cloth during Midsummer Eve (6/19/16 in the US) and carried with you constantly will grant any wish you may have.
Well, that is about it for me today. I have much to catch up on and it is already mid-afternoon. Until tomorrow and letter E!
Much love and hope for a wiser you from a not so wise me,
This will be a very short letter, however I felt I would be remiss if I neglected you at this moment. Every day in this hospital seems to go on and on with little bits of fun, little bits of crying, little bits of numbness and little bits of smiles. You are going to adapt to some what of a routine in this craziness of vitals, coffee, nurses, coffee, meals, walks, coffee.
One of the parts of your daily routine is going to be going for a walk twice a day. One time out to the healing garden to sit in quiet and one to the chapel for the same. Along the way to each there is a table set up with a bowl on it containing quotes to help you get through the day. I have been collecting these quotes to share with you because other peoples words are so much wiser than mine. This being Easter Sunday, I felt it the perfect timing. Enjoy and take courage.
I hope that anyone enjoying these quotes picks their favorite one and tweets it. Spread the love, spread the word, make someone laugh, make someone smile.
May you know the peace of Christmas every day of your life May good luck be your friend in whatever you do, and may trouble be always a stranger to you
May you have love that never ends, lots of money and lots of friends. Health be yours, what ever you do and may God send many blessings to you. May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each morning and night. The way we treat people who disagree with us is a good test of what we really believe May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.
May those who love us love us; and those who don't love us may God turn their hearts, and if he doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we will know them by their limp. (TOO LONG TO TWEET ;-)
Bless your little Irish heart, and every other Irish part.
May you always walk in sunshine. May you never want for more. May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door.
Thank you all for your continued support and shares... With your assistance we can get him through this!
I have snuck out of the hospital room after my patients finally wore thin enough to make me want to be bristly. Promise me in the years ahead of you from your time to when you become me that you will do everything and take every class you can to learn to have patients. (The birth of your oldest will bring you a long way, haha) In his progress and healing, walking way from situations are the right course of action.
Here are the facts of where we are to today, since I think the last letter may have come off as a pity party moment. We have been fully immersed in a completely stacked daily schedule of therapy. Multiple sessions in turn of physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy.
The Physical Therapy is helping him to learn to stand again without falling over, learn how to walk again, learn how to coordinate his thought with motion. His left side is very weak unfortunately. That has been a struggle for him as he is a lefty. He has done exercises from learning to walk with a walker, throwing bean bags into a basketball net, using parallel bars to using a Wii to try to work on all of the issues misfiring in his "broken" head.
Wii was his favorite without doubt. You will learn what that is in many years but the best explanation is take your Atari, add full color picture (no more pixels) and motion control via a unit that looks like an exercise step (a "balance board" as a replacement for the joystick) and integrate that with the game via standing on the board. It has games like bowling, soccer, archery etc where the motions of your body will actually play the game through pressure points activated on the board. The guys of this time are all macho (no different than in your time) but they like the intense graphics of other game systems. The Wii will be your favorite because you actually feel like you are doing something with your whole body involved.
Speech Therapy has been focused around a couple of things as the stroke gave him trouble forming words. The location the stroke occurred usually takes away the ability to speak, however he has been lucky. He is only slurred as you have seen from previous posts. She is also working with him on cognitive reasoning. That one has been a struggle. Your husband, though usually quiet is a very intelligent man who can figure any puzzle, riddle or test. At the point of this letter, he is not that and it gets him frustrated. He is getting so much better though and will continue to improve with support, love and patience.
Another thing that his therapist is working on is appropriateness of speaking because unfortunately he seems to have lost the filter that is supposed to be in place between his brain and mouth to tell you "hey, maybe that wouldn't be a nice thing to say". He has been a little bit verbal with me and only a couple of the nurses at times in a way that the real Toby wouldn't.
He doesn't mean to be, but when he starts getting tired and confused he gets edgy. You will have to pay attention when you get to be me to notice those signs and walk away at those times so that he knows when he is being inappropriate or rude. ie. instead of being the old Toby saying "hey, could you get me a soda" or something like that he will say "It must be nice that you can walk down and get a soda, some people can't". That is his way of saying he wants one. It's not all like that but nights are rough. Sometimes I think he does it to be funny though like teaching our favorite little munchkin to say "chicken poop" where ever he goes - then he blames it on his broken brain.
"Sometimes You Just Have To Say Chicken Poop"
I have to admit you will have a soft spot in your heart for his speech therapist. The whole therapy team is going to be absolutely amazing, as well as the nurses - however she is sassy and spunky in the particular flavor that resonates with you.
The last piece of therapy is Occupational Therapy. This is where they will work on things like teaching him to shower and shave and all of the personal things he has to relearn. This has been the easiest of the challenges here in the hospital (maybe not the shaving) because they have all the tools like a seat in the shower and wand for water. They are also the ones helping him deal with his eyes and the double vision as he no longer has control over his one eye. (as you saw from the video in my last letter).
There have been other forms of therapy as well that come via the non-medical folk. There is a wonderful woman named Kathy who brings her dog to visit those here in the hospital. He is absolutely missing our baby, so this lights him up to no end.
A couple of angels in the form of blogging colleagues put together a GoFundMe site to try to keep our house which has been a constant worry for him as he is not able to work, nor will he be for a long time if ever. I love those girls so much! Heidi of WomanPulse & Miranda of JKLMNAdventures.
Aunt Sis made a quilt to bring down when Mom and Dad came to visit, and your oldest sister made a card and actually mailed it to the hospital.
Mom and Dad also came down from NY and that meant so much to him. His family is local but they are very different than our family. They are not close and as of yet have not visited. Try to keep him away from the subject if you can, it will be a hot button that messes with his b.p. Moving on in a Thumper moment...
Mom & Dad got Toby a hat to match Dads. He LOVED it so much! When he is very happy, his mind almost turns a switches on and he becomes almost childish giddy/happy. (like the video I shared with you in the Random Acts of Kindness letter)
I have to say dear young me, there are more good moments than there are bad. You can handle that even on a bad day, and you know it. You are strong and always find the sunny even in the darkest times. Most of your life you will wonder what that gift is that you have....
You know, some people have the gift of voice, sports etc. You will always look for that one thing that you are good at, I think I have finally found it. You can find the good in any situation. Not that that will make as much money for you as Michael Jordan earns but it will make you a more pleasant person to be around most of the time, and you will become friends with some of the most amazing people because of it. I don't regret a single moment, so neither will you.
What kept my ears and vocal chords busy during this letter
It has been days since my last letter but in a flimsy attempt to merge current life with the real world outside of this hospital. After so many weeks I thought I would address a missing challenge that was put to me in the guise of trying to deal with current events. I was asked to write a top 10 list so, here it is in my experience. The top 10 reasons strokes suck when it happens to the man you love.
There may be more, and better ones dear littler me but these are some of the ones that I have compiled over the last 3 weeks since they began. Unfortunately my dear younger self, there is truly no one of these that are of more or less impact so the order of the list is irrelevant.
1. I don't know who he is
I
think I put this one up here because it is one of the more scary
aspects of this all. You will deal with Grumpy Gus when he is sick over
the years, but never argumentative. Never has he been harsh to you. When
I say you found Prince Charming when you found Toby, it is the truth.
You
are smart enough to know that he is scared, angry, frustrated and
confused in turns. He doesn't mean to take any of it out on you but what he
does know that you love him enough to be the one to absorb it and get
over it in ways you need to in an appropriate fashion than he can at
this time. The thing that sucks the most about this is that with a
stroke, it is unknown if the personality change is permanent due to the
location of the stroke.
One day at a time baby girl. Screw that, one hour at a time.
Every
once in awhile he is himself. The other day the OT was working on
increasing his ocular muscles to help him while she was doing visual
acuity exercises to help reduce double vision and he decided he wanted
to me video it to show everyone his eyes are better than Steve Buscemi as
Crazy Eyes in Mr. Deeds.
2. The body betrays
When you get to be me dear one, your spine will have been operated on several times and needs to be several more.
You are not leaving him. That is that. Every day you will spend in the hospital next to his side. He would do the same for you. People just don't understand how it is with us. We don't part. Since the day we met we don't leave each other for any extended period of time. Now onto the explanation here of the body betrayal.
There will be times when you will sleep not at all, there will be times when you will sleep sitting up, there will be times when you will be sleeping on a cot that is an inch thick. It will hurt at times so bad that you can't breathe. Never let them see you sweat it through this if you can. There is nothing you can do about it and that is just one of those things that will keep you awake through this.
"This too shall pass - though I know not when"
3. Hurry up and slow down
Just when you think you are making progress, you're thrown back. There are a lot of things to handle now that there is only going to be one of you. You have to take it all on not let him think about it. At the same time you need to force him to slow down because he is trying to hurry through everything just to get out of the hospital and back in the driver seat of life. He is very far from that and he will refuse to realize how far. You have to be strong when he gets angry for being there as the soundboard when he gets yelled at to put the breaks on by you, nurses, doctors and therapists of all flavors.
4. Spinning Plates
This is the one that I'm struggling with especially during the writing of this letter. Today has been a bad day for keeping the plates spinning. I know you know that reference where you are in the late 80s being able to still watch Johnny Carson (oops, spoiler again).
After making it home for the first time in several weeks (unfortunately they have a very strict 3 day pay or quit policy at Chariot Pointe Apts) there was a note on the door about the beginning of eviction. That is to be expected with as long as you will be in the hospital for this.
Hold on to your sanity dear younger me, that in combination with the electricity not working will shake what little backbone you cling to. If we are able to come up with the money we can save our home. Toby losing his job over this and his being our only income at this time (Spoiler - you are going to be downsized again) - the plates have started dropping. Not sure today how to get them going again - that will have to be a post for another time.
Some amazing colleagues of mine put together a GOFUNDME site, but what stranger wants to give even a dollar to someone they don't know in this day and age?
5. Uncontrolled emotions You are the strong one dear littler me. You are the one who handles all of the affairs at home and keeps things running. You are the motivator. Usually, you are the income as well. You keep your cool in public. You are the go to guy for so very many people.
Until now
Heads up, you will cry a lot for no reason at all in the most bizarre places. Just roll with it. I'll let you know if there is a solution if anyone ever lets me know.
6. To help or not to help, that is the question
See the last item first paragraph. (only kidding) There is a lot that you are trying to deal with to try to make the outside world stay functioning when the world inside the hospital is not functioning. Toby wants to do everything on his own except if you are not paying attention to him. By nature you are the help everyone type and this is one situation where you can not go on overload. Even though you want to and will. There will be times when he doesn't need help but wants it and times he truly needs help and you won't realize it. He needs to do things himself unless he can't. Do these statements confuse you? Good, they do me as well. There are times he needs help and won't ask for it. Instead he will point or say things like "it would be nice if someone would handle this since I can't. You have tried the "you know how to do this" and the "you have to try". Tough love? Doesn't work. Sweet love? Doesn't work. Yet they all work when used in the right point in time. Unfortunately to date I have not figured out when those points in time are and just when I do they change. Hoping this will ease. I sound like a broken record but I will have to let you know on that one as well.
7. Fear of the unknown
With everything happening, we have a new normal every day. The mystical "They" have said when we reach somewhere around the 6 month point, what is going to get better will have. Hearing gone because of the severe tinnitus, lip drop, ocular mischief, double vision, strength, balance, ATTITUDE. In the potpourri of misfires going on in his brain/body connection, what are we going to end up with and am I strong enough to help him through it? I pray every day, it's a good thing you paid attention to that where you are in the time stream.
Without our home, where will we go? How will I support a man who very well may no longer be able to take care of himself? I was denied unemployment hilariously enough because I was a no-call no-show when they say they offered me an assignment. Voicemail that my husband is in critical care (which you don't know about yet, its the digital version of answering machines) is not enough . Food stamps? Denied. His job? Lost.
8. TMI baby but never TMI
The staff at the hospital has been absolutely amazing. I can not say that enough. The nursing staff, the doctors, the valets (who even walked a guitar up to the 6th floor to his room because not having hands enough). They all have sources to call and information to read and websites to research that information overload has been reached. Unfortunately none of them are able to lead to anyplace that doesn't lead to / say need to try something else.
One brain (ours not his) is just not big enough to comprehend this whole thing. The case worker here even assigned to assist said "I'm sorry I have no suggestions for you". I have always considered myself an educated and level headed person. You will work very hard to get to that, however right now I'm clueless. What do I do now?
"Life didn't prepare me for this."
9. Loneliness
Toby and I have always said that there is nothing that he and I can't get through together. The problem is physically a man who resembles Toby is here but dear Slim Shady can you change the lyrics to your song? I'm waiting for the real Toby Martin to please stand up. I'm not sure I can be me and him until he is him again. I'm going to do my best dear little one because he is worth that.
10. When is the next one?
The first one I watched was 3 days after our honeymoon but never was it to this extent. 3 strokes into this, all I can think is when is the next one and will it be the one to take him for good from us?
Don't fear littler me, some how we will see the other side of this one way or another.
Exhausted-ly yours,
Challenge with my girls. Thanks http://www.womanpulse.com for keeping me moving forward.
Please don't be upset but I need to take some time away from the regular letters to address a situation happening here and now. I promise I will get back to my regular format soon.
Today I want to share huge thanks to a Mr. Mike Bell. I don't know where he is or anything about him other than the act of kindness he performed for my husband today while we are in the hospital. Please see below for the video.
Today I am going to take a step outside of my normal format (in a way) to address you dear reader as opposed to the typical letter to myself. I decided because it is Leap Day, it was a chance to shake it up and deviate for a day.
I want to talk to you all about a subject that is very near and dear to my heart, Communication.
1. the act or process of communicating; fact of being communicated.
2. the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing or signs.
3. Something imparted, interchanged, or transmitted.
4. a document or message imparting news, views, information, etc
5. passage, or an opportunity or means of passage between places.
In the day and age that we are in, so many people send a multitude messages and post so many comments on this site or that, but hardly say anything of meaning. The personal aspect of communication has been stripped away from our day to day life. We are able to drop a message to anyone and have it delivered to their intended recipient within seconds no matter where in the world that person is.
We have become a society that attempts to get our thoughts and purpose out in 140 characters or less. As a result we are often quick to the point and lack feeling and substance in what we say. The art of language has been butchered into quick one-liners and acronyms.
In the day before we all took to our "inbox" to search for that couple line message answering a question or sending the most recent photo we went to our mailboxes to wait for a letter to arrive, old fashioned hand written letters. They would come to us in beautiful script (which most children today can not even read as it is not taught in a large number of schools), depending on who they were directed to they might have drawings in the margins or the light scent of perfume. Often times they would be multiple pages with thought out sentiment that people today don't necessarily take the time to include.
"I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead" ~ Mark Twain
I stumbled upon a site recently that supports the importance of letters as they used to be. The organization is called Letters Live. Unfortunately for me they are based out of England, but fortunate for me it seems one of my absolute favorite actors takes part in the organization so I have gotten to watch him read several letters like this one:
I urge you - oh dedicated social media user, visit this website and look around. Go to YouTube and search for Letters Live. Listen to the thoughtfulness and beauty that is in a single letter. Let it inspire you to take up a pen and a piece of paper. Take up multiple pieces of paper if the spirit hits you and write a letter from the heart. You will not have the backspace button at hand so the thoughts you put down will be provoking and real.
Now comes the twist that you knew I would put on it. As you prepare to put your ink to paper I want you to envision the recipient of your letter. I want you to see the person as if they were right there with you, sitting just across the table from you. Imagine that person in the flesh, solid, listening, curious as to what you have to say.
Now, I want you to imagine the face of that person is yours at the age of 16 years old.
"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart" ~ Wordsworth
So many of you have expressed the feeling that you had thought of doing something like this. Today, I encourage you to write that letter.
Sincerely,
Bidy
I would love to hear from you, my readers. I would love you to share your letter with me and if inspired and are interested in writing a guest post, allow me to share your letters with my readers.
It is finally Friday here in a random February week in 2016. My third cup of coffee is brewing and annoyingly on the tv "Oscar Mania" has taken over regularly scheduled programming. You are somewhere in 1989, I imagine in the band room reading your newest installment in the letters that have made it through the funnel of time and into your hands.
It struck me the other day that these letters would have been so much easier if you take notes along the road of you becoming me so that I know what fears, questions and memories would be the important things to tell you about. At the time you are in though I know you won't realize the cyclical nature of time.
Your dreams are so big yet lack any definition. You want to do such big things and change the world but don't have any idea how you are going to do them. This is going to frustrate you along the path you walk in the journey of leaving who you are behind and becoming me.
"I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison
I'm here to give you one big pointer today about that frustration. DON'T let it stop you from achieving the things you want to realize in your world. Some people along your way will believe in you. Some people will laugh. Some people will walk away. Don't let outside noise distract you dear younger me, don't allow the doubt others have to cause doubt to come into your heart and mind.
If Mr. Edison had listened to the nay-sayers around him do you think we would be sitting in the light today?
As I sit here today I am trying to reach for a dream that I've carried with me long before I was you. Supporters have come into my life from areas I never expected. If I never tried to actively go for my goal, I never would have realized how many people actually believed in me. Until you try, you will never know how wonderful and surprising that feels. Doubters will come but it is easier to shake them off (as a pop artists popular right know is known to say) knowing you have those who will help hold you up when you need them until the time when you can hold yourself up.
Don't be afraid to try, don't be lazy and don't surround yourself with what-ifs. It's you that has the dream so it is you that has to go out there and make it happen. Giving up is not an option.
Shoot for the moon baby girl, you just might land in the stars.
Sincerely hoping you never let them hold you down,
Soundtrack to my day
A Great Big World - Say Something
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
Wiz Khalifa / Charlie Puth - See You Again
Maroon 5 - Sugar
Passenger - Let Her Go
Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
Megan Trainor - All About That Base
Pink - Just Give Me A Reason
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Pitbull - Timber
Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop
John Legend - All Of Me
Imagine Dragons - Deamons
Rhianna - Stay
Mark Ronson / Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Good afternoon from a very frazzled frustrated you sitting in 2016. So much to learn and never enough time to do it. I have been put to a "Blog Challenge" which will require me to tailor 4 letters of yours to certain topics. This should be creative and fun.
Your first letter is a bit of a cheat though, for you/me. The letter today is supposed to be about what advice I would give a child about adulthood. While I know that has got your bristly hair on your shaved head up, no I don't mean you are a "child" per se, but when you become me in your mid-forties you will realize that 16-18 is so incredibly new.
Every letter I have written to you thus far has been about advice. The things that are coming for you to prepare for. These things (for the most part) are not only things you will experience but things that many at large will go through in the journey of growing up. So, while all of my letters to you are advice I will sum up some of the big hitters.
Always Find a Reason to Smile
Life when you are an adult dear little me is full of responsibility. It is not a bad thing. You get to work (which you might not like) but it allows you to have money to buy the things you like. You will be pulled in all different directions to be able to juggle your responsibilities so make sure you find at least one thing to reflect on from your day that will make you smile.
Always Find a Reason to Make Others Smile
Remember, young one. While you are going to be a busy grown up - others will be as well. Do you know how good it feels to have someone compliment you or just be nice to you for no reason at all? It is just as important to give that feeling to other people. Commit a random act of kindness every day, even if it is just a little one. It may be just the thing that someone else needs to completely turn their day around.
Don't Be Afraid to Try Something New
You have so much time ahead of you and so many experiences you will have the opportunity to take part in. Don't be afraid to try something new, it will be what creates the amazing grown up that you will become. It will introduce you to new people. It will teach you things you like and things you don't.
Things I Like
Things I Don't
Take a Mental Picture
Every chance you get, take a moment to take a mental picture of the things around you and file it in your brain-album. As your pages get filled up and you look back through them you will be amazed by the beautiful moments you have been blessed to take part in.
Don't Be Afraid to Be Yourself
There are so many people who will put expectations on you about who you should be, what you should look like, what you should believe, what you should think. At the end of the day, one of the wonderful things about being a grown up is that YOU are the one who has to live your life. Make it yours!
I have so much more I can tell you, but this letter is getting rather long. Luckily, I get the opportunity to share these and so many more ideas on an almost daily basis.
Here's looking at you kid,
Background Sound
John Mayer - No Such Thing
John Mellencamp - Jack and Diane
Ben Folds - Still Fighting It
Ataris - In This Diary
Miranda Lambert - The House That Built Me
Carrie Underwood - Whenever You Remember
Kenny Chesney - Young
Taylor Swift - Fifteen
Blink 182 - Dammit
Five for Fighting - 100 Years
I am sitting here writing your letter today and feeling guilty that written to you in a couple days. I know I have been (for the most part) productive in the way of education in the world I've gotten us into - however I have been not so productive in content to provide you insight to what life is like when you become me.
Today's wisdom is coming to you across the decades not from me, but from those I have met through (what you will learn about in time) social media.
At times through your life you are going to be intrigued or inspired to try something new. It doesn't matter if it is the time you decide to branch off into an unknown religion, learn how to cook, become a programmer, become a mother. All of these things carry the same levels of initiation, insecurity, ignorance, education and enlightenment. Nothing comes to the average - non-savant Joe like you/I without a great big huge learning curve.
Sometimes along the way you are going to get lucky. You will find yourself in the middle of the village as the idiot who everyone is nice enough to help take care of or encourage and educate. A tribe of people who all have been through the same process and are on various levels of
enlightenment and are willing to share their experiences with you.
Be those experiences good or bad, soak them in dear little me. Every story is a learning experience if you look at it correctly. Learn from those around you what to do, what not to do, what to laugh at, when to work and when to play. Every person is the wisest person. Wisest in how they have experienced their journey and how they experience this joyful and adventurous carnival ride called Life.
Along that learning process you will (when you are not even looking) become the proverbial butterfly from the creepy crawly caterpillar. Sometimes you will be the student, sometimes the teacher. In time you will go from being the village idiot that you always feel yourself to be into being the wise person that someone will look to for knowledge and inspiration. I can't promise you will have gotten there yet when you become me, but I can tell you we are somewhere on the journey a little less idiot - a little more wise.
Encouraging you to embrace your village, be one with the tribe,
A big PS. Thank you FB Tribe for being my inspiration today.
Dancing & Frivolity Today Provided by:
Phillip Phillips - Home
Lorde - Royals
Rhianna - Stay
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
Phillip Phillips - Raging Fire
Anna Kendrick - Cups
Ed Sheeran - The A Team
John Legend - All of Me
Christina Perri - A Thousand Years
There is a story about the dogwood tree in Christianity as it relates to the crucifixion. Allegedly the dogwood lumber was used for the building of the cross. As a reminder of its part in the crucifixion, it was deemed that the tree would forever grow short so as not to ever be able to be used in such a way again. The flowers were tipped in red to resemble it's part in the blood and two petals would grow longer than the others so as to form a cross. Pink dogwoods are said to be such for their shame in the spilling of the blood A great rendition of the story can be found at Creation Tips
