My journey into joyfulness

My first attempt at blogging:

I began thinking about blogging when I saw the movie 'Julie and Julia'. I envied how Julie could just sit down and click out her feelings and thoughts so clearly and openly! My thoughts are like b.b.'s rolling around in one of those little hand held games where you try and maneuver them into a hole. There's SO much noise in my head! I think the first thing I need to do is learn how to calm the playing field... get it level... and let the b.b.'s settle into their own little niches! Until I accomplish that feat, you will have to be patient with my ramblings.

I'm obsessed with joy. I love the word and the thought... I just wish I knew how to find it and hold on to it.

My office is a testament to my need to find joy. Bookshelves lined with wonderfully talented authors and motivational speakers; Joyce Meyer, Wayne Dyer, Steven Covey, the Olsteens, Eckhart Tolle, Tony Robbins... the list goes on and on.

My iPod is crammed with songs about joy, and love, and peace, and over-coming.

I have CDs and DVDs... all promising at least 90 minutes of J-O-Y! But where is it now?
Where - is - MY - joy?

*This is where I should type some deep and insightful thought... something that will cause you to want to come back every day to drink from my wealth of wisdom, and insight, and my ummmm... my joy-full-ness' ! Well dear reader, here's what I've got:

Joy won't come from reading someone's ideas about it. It won't come from listening to someone talk about it, or sing about it. Joy will come NOT as we put motion to our thoughts, but only when we put thought into our motions.

Come on this journey with me, if you too are looking for your 'joy rising'... let's test this theory together!

See you soon!

Finding contentment in what you've got

"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have."



We live very simply. Small home with furnishings that are a little tattered and worn.

Sometimes I look around and I wonder why I can't decorate like my sister. She has this knack of pulling things together. Her house looks like something out of Martha Stewart Living! I have been known to refer to her as Minnesota's Martha Stewart! But my home IS what it IS!

This winter I realized how muchI love the little corner gas stove that looks like it's burning wood. It's so warm and comforting to sit next too. Our girls (dogs) are sleeping peacefully on the sofa. It's covered with a sheet and a blanket to protect the upholstery, but it looks in disarray most of the time. Still, hearing Maxine snoring from beneath the cover brings a smile to my face as I type from my office here in the next room. Maxine and Harley love their lifes. They are content on the sofa with the wadded up blanket, next to the fake wood-burning stove. They are filled with contentment with what they have, resting assured that everything they need is just a nap away.

Joyce Meyers puts it this way: 'Those who want to enjoy life must learn to enjoy the journey, which is filled with waiting. Eventually we reach our destination only to begin again on a new journey to another place; therefore, to never enjoy the journey is to never enjoy life."

Today, I enjoyed the syrupy slowness of the hours ticking away, listening to the soft snoring of my beloved Boston Terrier... the warmth of the fire... and even the steely gray sky threatening yet another snow. All I have, or need... is just a nap away.