I have rocks in my head. They are on my mind because I just did a rock painting demo for one of my support groups. It’s amazing that I actually volunteered to teach rock painting because I am not very good at it. Although I usually love artsy-craftsy projects, painting rocks is not one of my favorites; but it’s growing on me. My friend Bobbi taught me how to do the delicate dotting technique that many people use to paint rocks. She is a master at it. Her rocks glow with color and texture, mine not so much. What I do appreciate is the process. When I am not in a state of frustration over the fact that my rocks don’t begin to approach the beauty of Bobbi’s rocks, the dotting technique can be meditative and centering. It is good for me to practice getting out of the self-critical voice in my head that tells me I’m not very good at this, and just go with the flow of slowly placing little dots of color on a rock. Eventually something magical happens and I am actually enjoying it. That’s what I really wanted to pass on to my support group, the healing power of immersing yourself in something creative. I inherited a love of rocks from my parents. It’s in my DNA. We spent many hours as a family walking along the shore of Lake Superior, or rummaging through gravel pits, with our eyes on the ground, looking for agates. Finding them was like discovering buried treasure. Mom and Dad were what is known as Rock Hounds. They collected rocks, some that they found and some that they bought. Dad, in particular, knew a lot about rocks. He had special equipment for polishing rocks and cutting them into shapes that could be used to make jewelry. Mom just liked to glue random rocks onto wooden wishing wells, that Dad made, to sell at craft shows. I can see myself in both of them. It has occurred to me that Mom and Dad immersed themselves in rocks in the same way that I do when I am lost in any crafty project. When I was younger, I didn’t realize the extent to which they passed on the joy of doing something creative. For some reason I only saw that they liked rocks. Now I understand how important that process is. It allows me to of let go of negative thoughts and struggles and find peace. The rest of the world just falls away. I know many people find healing in rock crystals, or having hot rocks arranged on their back at a spa, but for me the real healing power of rocks is in the freedom they bring to my mind and heart, as I step away from fear and anxiety, and do something creative.
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Somewhere along the way in my formal education, I learned how to use punctuation, or at least I thought I did. I felt pretty confident in my ability to write a sentence, throw in a few commas here and there, and end with a period. Yes, there was the possibility of needing an occasional question mark or exclamation point, but how hard could this really be? Like the hundreds of junior high students I taught over the years, I thought I “knew it all.” HA! Little did I realize that there are giant holes in my understanding of punctuation. Did you notice how I just used quotation marks around the words “knew it all?” That is wrong, wrong, wrong. However, the same phrase used in the first sentence in THIS paragraph is correct. How could that BE??? What is going on here? According to the rules of punctuation, quotation marks should NEVER be used to emphasize words, which is what I did in the first paragraph. However, if you are referring to words in general, you can put them in quotation marks. At least I think that’s how it works. I could be wrong. I am totally confused. Why am I even in this state of confusion? I have decided to put together a book of some of my blogs. I want to be professional about this, so I am now in the process of editing, with the help of friends who know more about writing than I do. It involves a thorough search for mistakes. The search revealed that I have made what feels like a billion mistakes, especially when it comes to quotation marks. I am now on a quest to clean up as many of these errors as possible so that I can publish my book, confident that even an English teacher would be proud of my effort. I am proud of MYSELF too, for actually putting this book together. Before I started my blog I did not consider myself a writer. Now, after many years of composing blog posts, I think I can finally identify myself as one. A writer is someone who finds joy in writing, which I do. I don’t have to be perfect at it to claim the title. Making mistakes is good. It is part of the learning process and means that I am human. It keeps my brain healthy and functioning as I navigate the rocky road of life. Apparently any time we challenge ourselves to learn something new, we are growing more brain synapses. Learning how to properly use quotation marks is like climbing Mount Everest for me. I am building mental muscle. It’s not easy and can be very frustrating, but I am willing to keep climbing. There is also something healing in the creative process, whether it’s writing, art, music, cooking, home repair, gardening, anything that requires thinking out of the box. It feeds my soul and opens my heart. Some quotations that inspire creativity: “Art enables us to find ourselves and loose ourselves at the same time.” —Thomas Merton “Do one thing every day that scares you” —Eleanor Roosevelt “I skate to where the puck will be, not to where it has been.” —Wayne Gretzky |
Leslie Masona woman in search of her post-retirement future Guess what! By subscribing, you get notices about the latest Little Old Lady with Cats posts sent to your mailbox!
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