Let’s begin today with a smile
Let’s start the day with a positive outlook, looking forward to what we can discover.
The message is simple, try it all day… go around smiling … see how it brightens your day. does it/did it make a difference for you?
Oyashikiri
Rejoicing in an early spring day. Soon, only a few months away! Trees will be sprouting their greenery again, and the cold and snow will be but a memory. Meanwhile, if you live here .. you can put on your skates and skate on the longest skating rink supposedly in the world. (The Rideau Canal)
There is always an adventure waiting, it is up to us to decide which “Path” we will take.
You are the result of your daily efforts
Put your whole heart into everything you do in your daily life. Your true self will shine through.
Oyashikiri
Yoshiko soon after arriving from Japan (this is her first winter in Canada!)
PL2022.20
PL Precept #1 Life is Art
Take on any task with earnest enthusiasm and it will become interesting. Put your whole heart into whatever you are doing.
Oyashikiri
PL2015.15
I didn’t see her at first… she stood so still…
Once I caught the glimpse of her waiting patiently, I couldn’t “not” see her
My first intention was to just grab a picture … then I thought I’d clean it up, take away the tree she stood behind. In the spring when the tree begins to leaf out, she will be hidden from view again. I might still do that, meanwhile, I wanted to share her… She obviously has been there for some time. I wonder at the stories she could tell.
Awww … someday… I’ll stop and …. Another mystery to unravel when time and inclination strike again…
Today Monday the 30th. there is one day left in the year 2024. Are you ready for a new year, another 365 days of adventures, new opportunities, new friends…
Use your results to make the next time even better
Whether “things” turn out perfectly or not, the important thing is to take what you’ve learned and apply it the next time.
PL2018.30
NB* the Chinese new year (lunar calendar) this year will be January 29 2025, ending Feb. 16.2026 – it will bring with it, wisdom, agility and strategic foresight. If you know your sign already, this year it will be the wood snake. The wood snake year may bring some challenges in career and finances, stay positive and flexible to overcome setbacks.. Focus and health, avoid negativity and you will handle the year with confidence and success.
Oyashikiri
For all who have known me over the years… you know about my button ‘fetish’ for no rhyme or reason, I collected buttons.. and not a particular kind of button.. Just buttons, I had jars, bags, boxes of them everywhere. How many of you over the years, wondered where they all went. They got put away and stored…. for what? who knows? Finally after my husband passed away, and I began to downsize, I decided to pass some along.
One friend came over and we literally filled her trunk full of big jars, containers of all sizes with buttons. No that wasn’t all, another friend who was going to open a boutique of vintage clothes etc. came and took away another car load of buttons. No I never sorted through them, well… that is not true, one dear friend who I don’t see much these days, (part of the doll club) came over one day and ambitiously thought of sorting buttons into sizes, colour etc. It was like taking a pail of water from the ocean to count the drops.
Do I still have buttons, yes. the other day I looked down behind the bench in the living room and saw a couple of decorative bottles against the wall…yup… filled with buttons. the cleaner had dusted and put them back… to be found another day.
No. I no longer collect them when I see them bagged in thrift shops.. or in hobby shops, in fact I never even look for them, or see them except to notice they still have buttons in craft areas.. and since I no longer sew I don’t frequent material shops. Kind of reminds me of when FB sends me notices, do I want to see what I was doing 5 years ago. No. not really. I lived it. I don’t need to see it again.. there is NOW and I want to know what is around me NOW.
It is the journey that intrigues me, the adventure of NOW. I enjoyed my search and discovery of buttons, they were just fun to find and collect. I imagined at the time I would do ???? I had so many ideas.. but. in the end. that is what they were ideas. Over the years I have been full of them… and I loved every moment of “possibilities” The sharing of the spoils.. and … then… I was ready for the next adventure.
Life is what we make of it.. and I have ONE goal, and that is to be happy. When I worked I loved what I did, I experimented… if I didn’t like what I was doing, I moved on. When I found something I liked I enjoyed it to the fullest, and did my best to see how much I could achieve or do. I loved getting up each day to discover what lay ahead. I still do!
Don’t let circumstances sway your decision
It does not help to overthink things. Sometimes we just need to make up our minds and move forward..
Oyashikiri
There was a time, a button saved the day.
PL2022.6
I saw there was a bend in the road ahead, should I go straight or take the turn and see where I land? Ever wonder what is around the bend? Driving along the long dusty road, I was enjoying the view, but there was a temptation to see something new.
Life can be overwhelming at times. Not everyday is a holiday, and not everyday, can friends come out and play.
“Now” is always the start of something new. Leave the past in the past. What is important is “what you are going to do now.” Using the present as a starting point, move forward on a path towards improvement and progress (PL2014.24)
Till soon…
Oyashikiri
ogenki desu ka
Don’t give up!
Keep at it until you accomplish what you’ve started
The key to achieving something is to stick to it, If you are able to continue something from start to finish, you will be sure to accomplish it no matter how difficult the task is. (PL2014.5)
I drove to Toronto yesterday. I have never in all my years driven to Toronto on my own, NEVER. I have been there many times, even lived there years ago. But either I was with someone, or I took a bus, train, even plane, but never have I driven there.. it is a 5 plus hour drive, and Toronto is a BIG action packed city. Cars everywhere and going at amazing speeds… highways beside highways, criss-crossing , man, I was to overcome with the magnitude of my situation to even think about it, I just had to live it.
Sometimes we just need to live it. My trips to Japan, and my memories of the Chinatowns I’ve been in over the years had me wanting to be in a milieu that was “Asian”… In Toronto there are huge communities, marketplaces, shops, restaurants that have that “familiar” vibe. My “draw back” was I didn’t take into consideration the time change factor, the month, days are shorter, etc. I had rendez-vos at the start of the day so didn’t leave Ottawa till almost 9 and Toronto is a good 5 hour drive.
AND I had a place to be (which required me to be back home) for 8 pm. Let me tell you, I got to have many little chats with myself yesterday…. and to examin my need to do things as they pop up in my gray cells. Then the jewel on the crown, when I got home, the road was closed right in front of my house, I had no access! (well I did, but I had to be coming from the other direction, and it was a very small opening!!) and I have mentioned it was pitch black out, and had been since about 4:58 pm. ok maybe 5:15…
It is pretty scary when the guardian angel is the big white truck in front of you that has lights not only along the bottom of his truck, but at each corner of his truck at the top. I offered up a silent prayer to his guardian angel in thanks and to keep him safe. Those super highways are D A R K !!!
A big thank you to my nephew who came along as I was staring in disbelief at the big road closure fences barring my way home… He ran over and saw that by going around and coming down the street from the other direction, I could squeeze the car through and into my laneway.
I was blessed with friends who checked in on me along the way…. in spirit I was never alone, and I did have a sense of accomplishment when I finally threw myself on the bed to end the evening with a well deserved “sleep”… (Bedtime stories are heaven sent)
Oh and.. onStar (service in my car) guided me every mile along the way, I even learned a new way to leave the conservation area, to the Queensway (super highway here in Ottawa)….
Oyashikiri
would I go back.. yes that was a tease.. but I would time it better.
Let’s set higher goals and work to improve ourselves.
Let’s work towards our goals while keeping a clear vision of what we hope to achieve. Your strong conviction and Makoto (sincere effort) will help drive you toward accomplishing what you set out to do. (PL2014.2)
Enjoy your Saturday everyone!
Oyashikiri
Let’s take a moment to be silent together.
Let’s simply share being on the same page at the same time… take a deep breath in… CLOSE YOUR EYES. hold it … and slowly let it out.
enjoy the moment – SMILE
Life is art. (PL Precept #1)
Thank you for sharing this moment with me.
Oyashikiri…
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