It's time for the first Giveaway of the new year.Holy Smokes 2010!! I made this little felt book a while back.Inspired by the lovely Mary Oliver poem"One".This little felt book measures 9" x 3" and it was created using felt,premium paper,stickers,Dresden trim,ribbon and more....So what you have to do for this little giveaway is really quite simple...Just share with me you "motto" for this upcoming year.Last year my motto was the first line in my favorite poem "The Journey" By Mary Oliver...The line reads..."One day you finally knew,what you had to do,and began".I think I must have said that to myself a thousand times.More of a confirmation,that I was doing what I new all along was the right path to follow.And so here I am today, on my creative journey,at last.I have arrived.

And now 2010,my motto arrived a couple of weeks ago when a lovely new friend named Renee from http://circlingmyhead.blogspot.com/ said to me

"Fear is not a good place to live darling. You can't live there, because fear will steal some piece of you everyday.

Don't let it."

Love Renee xoxoxo

December 16, 2009 10:17 AM

When my husband became sick, my attitude towards many things changed...I began to appreciate things more deeply,every breathe,every hug,every laugh,every taste,every ounce of love.For this change I am ever so grateful....But "Fear" also carefully placed itself at my side,it stuck to me like glue.I now fear loss,I fear for my children,I fear missed opportunities,I fear the collapse of my mind and body,I fear pain,
I fear the words,"If I had only..." and so many more.
So thank you Renee..this year I choose to put "Fear" where it belongs...not at my side,but behind me.







"One" by Mary Oliver
The mosquito is so small it takes almost nothing to ruin it.Each leaf, the same.
And the black ant, hurrying.So many lives, so many fortunes!
Every morning, I walk softly and with forward glances
down to the ponds and through the pinewoods.
Mushrooms, even, have but a brief hour before
the slug creeps to the feast,before the pine needles hustle down under
the bundles of harsh, beneficent rain.How many, how many, how many
make up a world! And then I think of that old idea: the singular and the eternal.
One cup, in which everything is swirled back to the color of the
sea and sky. Imagine it! A shining cup, surely! In the moment in
which there is no wind over your shoulder, you stare down into it,
and there you are, your own darling face, your own eyes.And then the
wind, not thinking of you, just passes by, touching the ant, the mosquito,
the leaf, and you know what else! How blue is the sea, how blue is the
sky, how blue and tiny and redeemable everything is, even you,even your
eyes, even your imagination.

As always,thank you so much for stopping by




Comments

Nancy said…
What an insightful post! Thanks for sharing your heart and your fears. I, too am sometimes paralyzed by fear, but it's one of the things I am leaving behind as I focus on what is before me.
Blessings to you in this new year!
Nancy
Emme Toaye said…
For 2010 I have chosen a quote by Napoleon Hill:
Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blue prints of your ultimate achievements.

I WILL remember this year to "cherish my visions and dreams" and as a way to remind me of my vision each and every day I have chosen a little ring to wear. When I look at my hands, and I do that a lot being a crafter, I will see the ring. When I see the ring I will say this quote to myself as a mantra, and with this mantra in my mind so many times each day I will at the end of the year have much to cherish and be grateful for.
CarlaKH said…
Happy New Year!

I am using this as my Motto for the year:

Contradictions have always existed in the soul of man. But it is only when we prefer analysis to silence that they become a constant and insoluble problem. We are not meant to resolve all contradictions but to live with them and rise above them and see them in the light of exterior and objective values which make them trivial by comparison." -


from "Thoughts in Solitude" by Thomas Merton

peace,

Carla at simply saying
After so may years of fear, my motto for this year is "What the heck, let's take a chance."

So we will see what taking a chance will do for us. Beautiful post BTW. Glad I have found your sight. The little book is adorable.
Debrina said…
Hi Cat - great sentiments here. I hope you have a fulfilling New Year. Fear is a hard one and at the same time an easy thing to control...I find that an acceptance of the process of life (where a fair bit is out of our control anyway)has helped cure me of fear (and I have lost a few loved ones).
Caterina Giglio said…
Just found you thru Nancy, I love Mary Oliver and this piece is fabulous!
and nice to meet another Cat!
cat
What beautiful thoughts. I need to sit down and write my thoughts for the new year. I like a bit of a mission statement than a list of resolutions. Blessings for the new year!
Sophia said…
Dear Cat, this is just wonderful. I really had to think a lot about my quote for the new year. I chose one from a poem by Cha-Haisheng, found in my favourite novel, "20 fragments of a ravenous youth" by xiaolu guo: "May you find real happiness in this dusty world, I will face the ocean, waiting for spring to warm the air and flowers to blossom"
Best wishes and blessings for the new year, with love from Sophia
Chez vous, ça doit être la caverne d'Ali Baba !
Si je devais vous dire à chacune de vos publications, ah cette création est sublime, je ne ferais que ça ! lol !
Bonne année à vous, plein d'amour, de bonheur, de sérénité, de santé, de prospérité et de création !
Je vous embrasse.
Lisa said…
So beautiful Cat, I got goosebumps as I read. I've always had one motto, I try very hard to follow it daily. "To thine own self be true", I have many wants, to achieve, and I do let fear hold me down, which leads to another...break these chains that bind. One can bull...., pretend, make others believe how great things are, but if you can not look at yourself in the mirror, really look, then your very self knows you are not true. We are the cause, what happens in our lives, is the effect.
Thanks, Cat, from the bottom of my heart!
Renee said…
Oh dear Cat that was a beautiful post and I am so happy that you are putting fear away from you. Remember it does not deserve you, it will try to eat you up.

My motto this year is:

Live to fight another day and you don't know what may come on the market.

In other words I am going to have to do what ever I need to do to try to survive.

Love the wallet, you are mad talented.

Love Renee xoxo
Unknown said…
I woke up this morning with fear in my heart. I can't describe it but I guess I fear of the unknown future in general. Life becomes very hard to live on when you fear of something.
But I will try to leave it behind as you do. :-)

My motto is : This too shall pass.

but today I'm having a new one: Enjoy this moment.

Thank you for your insightful post.
Wish you all the happiness in this world.

Cheers!

Pavinee
Hello Sweet Cat
Happy New Year to you! I see you have a "Scottish" last name (you have your own tartan too)....just something my Dad taught me about my heritage...always to recognize a fellow Scot!
Love your recent pieces...so beautiful and full of yummy vintage details! Happy 2010! :)
Jackie Mohring said…
Hi Cat,

My motto for 2010 is to "create more, clutter less". Just doing these two things will make my life much easier and me a happy camper. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful artwork with us.

Peace, Jackie
suzanne said…
Hi Catt, I really like the idea of adopting a motto instead of resolutions for a new year and a new begining in general. After giving this a lot of thought I have chosen a motto regarding mistakes; which I think we all forget are ok because we can learn so much from them. Mistakes- THEY'RE REALLY NOT THAT UGLY AFTER ALL. Hiding from them in an attempt to make them go away. Well, they don't go away. They're relentless and they search for you until you stare them in the eye and see they're really not that ugly after all. The time comes when you have to face your decisions, the life you chose, to make amends and reach some peace with how you lived it. Forgiveness of yourself is like of others. It takes distance and growth and time.
Kath' said…
I love your story. The felt book is very neat. What a treasure. I am getting my blog updated with things of the past and future as my first one of the new year. I am having a blog contest next week. I was going to ask people what their favorite quote is but Motto is a nice way to say it. Mine is.. "If I have learned one thing in this life, it is that God will not tie my shoes without me." Kath' at dublshot@comcast.net and www.lilbitoldlilbitnew.blogspot.com

Popular Posts