Acceptance

Acceptance

"A true man never frets about his place in the world, but just slides into it by the gravitation of his nature, and swings there as easily as a star."

Edwin Hubbel Chapin

"But there isn't any second half of myself waiting to plug in and make me whole. It's there. I'm already whole."

Sally Field

"Some people confuse acceptance with apathy, but there's all the difference in the world. Apathy fails to distinguish between what can and what cannot be helped; acceptance makes that distinction. Apathy paralyzes the will-to-action; acceptance frees it by relieving it of impossible burdens."

Arthur Gordon

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections."

Unknown

It is time to begin again, anew. The alien that has been living in my chest seems to have moved on. Grieving is giving way to acceptance. Journaling has been my best friend. Living simply and removing excess stress from my day-to-day is allowing my soul to heal. Suddenly, this week, I feel hopeful and am thinking forward. It's taken a lot of time and meditation to get to this point. My blog has suffered as has my writing and photography. However, internalizing and honest reflection has been good for me. Thank you all for visiting regardless in hopes that I'll share something useful. I'm coming back and I'm glad. I've missed me!

Enjoy these flowers - the poor, misshapen viburnum in our sad, boggy backyard is struggling to bloom and become beautiful this spring. I know how it feels therefore I celebrate it.

Honey, I'm home!

I know what you're thinking. What IS that, and why on earth is that my photo today? Well, okay, I was in Arizona, true. However, besides my early morning walks I only got out of the house once or twice, and only then to gently stroll to a little park down the road with Linda where she insisted I'd see wildlife. Once, we saw swans sleeping far across the little lake but not close enough or interesting enough with which to bother, and any other reported wildlife was elsewhere. Therefore, we sat on a pier watching the water and I shot whatever floated by, which in this case is a beat up orange. Strangely, I like this photo. Maybe it's just the colors.

My sister-in-law is doing great and I thank each and every one of you for your nice comments and caring e-mails. Being with her through the initial stages of healing following her mastectomy meant a great deal to me and to her. As with such things she had some very low moments, but her optimistic nature has kicked in and she's just doing fantastic.

I arrived home just in time for the inauguration of our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the Vice President, Joe Biden. Our joy was shared with a handful of good friends in our home, complete with champagne to toast the President and First Lady.

Today finds me filled with joy and optimism as our country begins its own healing. It's a Brand New Day.