Legacy Lives On

 My favorite author, Beth Kempton, is always doing cool daily writing challenges.  Her Winter Writing Retreat always fills my soul around Christmas.  In February, she always hosts a poem writing extravaganza called #tinywinterpoem, where she gives a daily word and invites writers to take ten minutes and create a poem without editing.  I will share them here for the next little while:

Legacy Lives On

My grandfather

    through sweat and tears

        sacrifice and perserverence

built the barn

    cleared the land

        planted the crops

                raised the animals

From Nothing

                    into Something

A Dream

                    into Reality

Doubts

                    into Belief

Pitfalls were plenty

Legacies are blind to each one...

Now just a memory

        as family morphed into corporate

And only a few lucky enough to make the transition

Just as he

                the creator of his kingdom

                        the farm and all its fruits

                                have withered and fallen

                                        returning back to dust...

Remembered in stories

told by his kin

and in the ghosts

who echo within the wind...

Legacy lives on!

You Can Take the Catholic Out of the Girl but...

 Happy Fat Tuesday.  Some people refer to this as Mardi Gras...Guess what?  Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday!"  Some may even go as far as saying Carnival...that is just another part of the world celebrating for a whole week.  What are they celebrating?  Basically, it is a period of gluttony before a fast.  This fast is the 40 day period just before Easter.  This fast has been around for centuries. Fasting has always been used in religious devotion to purify the individual fasting. The number 40 has always been used to symbolize purification: Jesus in the desert, the Israelites in the wilderness, Moses on Mount Sinai, and Noah on the Ark.

I have continued to revisit my Catholic roots each year as Lent comes around. I have fasted from various things.  My favorites are chocolate, soda and swearing.

This year I am doing a trifecta of give ups.  

1. Social Media*-I scroll way too much.  It gets in the way of lots of things like reading, hanging with my kids, and being mentally healthy and less anxious.

2. Soda-I have started to crave soda around 3:30 every single day.  This shows me that I am relying on caffeine a bit too much.  Some may even say that this is an addiction.

3. Sugar-This has also been a favorite way to self soothe of late.  I have been in the thick of things as my life has been turned upside down.  Chocolate, cookies, and Nerd Clusters have become my security blanket.  I also feel that this blanket has been screwing up my skin and my gut.  So, bye bye sugary treats. Hello Salad...we meet again!

Do any of you practice Lent?  If so, what are you refraining from this year?

May the force be with us!

Donuts earlier this week.

Shamrock Shake: Part of Fat Tuesday

Not pictured from my gluttonous Fat Tuesday: Pretzel Flipz, Cadbury Mini Eggs, Cadbury Creme Egg, Nerd Clusters that I didn't get to eating. 

*I may come onto socials on occasion to update my peeps on new blog posts.  Here's to less scrolling and more writing!

Letters

 I have always been a letter writer and I love when somebody responds.  There is something special about getting a piece of mail. Opening the mailbox is a bit boring of late.  On occasion I will get really nice mail from my sister or friend, Marla.  

The most recent letter I received was this card:

I am pretty sure Andi, my sister, was responding to the picture I posted on my last post of my new tagline: "Always find time for the things that make you feel happy to be alive."

Her card now lives on that same poster:

I read a book recently that made me think more and more about letters.  The whole story is told through the correspondence a woman has through letters. It isn't surprising that the book, written by Virginia Evans is entitled The Correspondent. If you like books, this one definitely has my recommendation. Within its pages, Evans makes one think about our short life span here on this planet and about what really matters.

I have a box full of many letters I have received through the years.  The ones from my mom and my grandma are of utmost importance.  See, the written word can make us immortal, and remembered.  Pieces of paper that we write on can become tangible evidence that we were here.  I love re-reading those old letters.  I think I may just have to pull that box out again one of these days.

I love writing, I love writing letters.  Do you like getting mail? If so, comment here or on my posts on social media about this blog and I will reach out to you about getting your address.  I am on a letter writing kick since reading that life changing book, and I would love to write you!  Also, write in your journal today...the future will thank you.