Turning Over a New Page

Last Christmas I spent a surprising amount of time and energy shopping for the perfect art journal to give my seven-year-old daughter, Madelyn. The girl has a natural talent for drawing. After finding just the right book, I brought it home and wrapped it excitedly. What a joyful moment it was to watch her rip away its wrapping paper on Christmas morning with a beaming snaggletoothed smile.

“Oh mom, I love it!” she exclaimed, carefully looking it over and flipping through its blank pages.

She ran her hand over the journal’s sparkly black cover, studying the embossed image of the Eiffel Tower. She sat down to draw in it right away, grabbing up a handful of carefully selected colored pencils. 

Only half an hour later, she brought it to me crying.

“What’s the matter?” I asked in shock.

With tears flowing, she handed me the book and whimpered, “I don’t like my picture, and I can’t tear it out."

Curious, I looked down and discovered that she had started drawing not on the book's first loose page, but rather the inside of the front cover. Seeing the predicament, I argued that the picture was quite good to be sure. I further explained that the point of an art journal was to show how you progress over time while experimenting with techniques and mediums. She wasn’t having it. Her crocodile tears became a heartfelt gushing fountain.

Finally, I gave in to my little lady in distress, cut out a piece of blank paper, and glued it over the adorable picture she disapproved of. Problem solved.

Or so I thought. The next day, I entered the kitchen to find a pile of torn out art rejects littering the area around Madelyn’s chair. And there she was, once again, sobbing over her journal. 

Madelyn's art rejects did not make the cut.

 

At that moment, her frustration resonated with me, and as I looked into her big hazel eyes, I understood where she was coming from. She only wanted to keep the best of the best.  By tearing out the pictures that she felt didn’t accurately reflect her finest work, she always had a clean canvas on which to start over. Recognizing her fear of displaying something less than perfect for others to see, my heart longed to impart to her the knowledge that all of her sincere efforts were valuable as guide-stones, and by no means were they cause for shame.

“I want to show you something,” I said gently, as I grabbed her hand and led her over to the bookshelf. I reached up high and pulled down an old journal covered in black velvet.

“This used to be mine,” I said, "and as you can see, I liked to draw and write in it, too. Some of my work looks silly now, but I like keeping it, so I can see how much I have changed over the years.”

Madelyn began intently analyzing the contents of my journal, and her tears faded away into distant memory. After inspecting, admiring, questioning and giggling at my handiwork, she agreed that she would try to keep the remaining pages of her own art journal intact. She was wise enough to even do a trial run of her next drawing on a piece of printer paper. It was a picture of the Eiffel Tower with colorful dragonflies buzzing all around. “I think this one should be the first picture in the journal,” she decided. So we cut it out and pasted it in.

               

Later that evening, as I was telling the kids about the impending New Year and putting up the new calendar with all of its pristine pages, Madelyn’s journal once again crossed my mind. There really is something exciting about a new year full of unspoiled opportunities, like an art book full of unblemished pages. But I had to remind myself to carry forward all that I had learned from past failures, so that the year at hand wasn’t spent repeating them.

As your turn through the chapters of your story this year, I pray you enjoy the blank slate each new day offers, build on the lessons learned from your journey thus far, and write yourself an ever-more brilliant future.

Here's to creating a masterpiece. Happy 2013!

Another keeper! Art by Madelyn Conn.

Blueberry Fever

This year has been one full of “firsts” Firsts, I find, are amazing at making you feel alive and vibrant, and when you fail, they often guarantee chuckles to keep you going. When you are faced with downsizing, or simply choosing to live a fuller, more conscious life, trying new things enhances personal growth and change.

  Late last summer I noticed a few lonely wild blueberries on a bush near our home. “Interesting,” I thought, “I’ve never seen these before.” They’d been there all along, but for years I had passed them by. As I inspected further, I found a rather large clearing full of blueberry bushes, and while the season seemed to have passed at that time, I was determined to keep an eye on them for the next harvest prospects.



This year, true to plan, I have been monitoring those blueberry plants like a hawk, watching them produce tiny beautiful flowers, and then amazingly, watching the flowers fade and close to form tiny green berries. Days turned into weeks, and the green berries gradually began to change color, from bright green to reddish purple, and finally to dark blue. 

Wild blueberries flowering in April.

Wild blueberry bushes do not produce nearly as many berries as cultivated varieties, and the berries are generally hidden under their branches. The berries also do not ripen at the same time, so I found myself spending quite a bit of time searching for ripe berries day after day, practically hugging the forest floor on my quest. I had it in my mind that I would make my first ever batch of jam, but two days into picking, I had only a quarter of a cup, while I had enough mosquito bites to form constellations.
               
 Before I could get discouraged, though, my children caught the blueberry fever and would follow me out each morning to inspect our patch. “Oooh, I found a juicy one,” I’d hear as we hunkered down and searched the low branches. “Don’t eat that!” I would respond, “Every berry is for the jam!”  “OK, mom,” they would always respond, smiling and popping the berries into their mouths.
               
Finally, a week later, we had collected enough to make a small batch of spreadable goodness. As I was preparing it, I thought back to all of the fun we had working hard for our booty of berries. We spent time together, found a baby praying mantis and a woodpecker, got an education in how to properly apply insect repellent, and saw nature at work. When the moment finally came to sample the jam, I spread it on some toast. It was phenomenal. Holding the tiny jar in my hand, I reminded myself to savor every hard-earned bite.

 

The final product: SCRUMPTIOUS!

During our blueberry fever days, while on a search for more of the shrubs, we found three rather large huckleberry bushes positively loaded with bright green berries, so now we are watching them like a hawk and discussing our first ever wild huckleberry pie. Next it will be an inaugural blackberry cobbler and finally, a maiden voyage into making Muscadine juice, as we watch and wait for summer’s native harvest to come to fruition.
               

I am constantly amazed at how much I have grown and changed over the past several months. Trying new things has opened my eyes to activities I thought I would never try, much less enjoy. I have grown my first tomatoes, planted my first cherry tree, and even shot my first pistol.         
        



It was Albert Einstein who said: “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” I hope this post inspires you to open yourself up and give something different a go this summer. Happy experimenting!

Score 4 free tickets to Zoo Atlanta...by visiting the library!

Madelyn is chosen to participate in a magic trick at the library.

For a couple of years now I have been itching to revisit the Gilmer County Library, part of the Sequoyah Regional Library System, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I tried it once and had to deal with a wild toddler tantrum and a lively, albeit unwanted, game of hide and seek amongst the stacks. I do have red-heads after all. Now that the girls are a bit older, we are enjoying the library in all of its glory, and I am discovering that the institution is remarkably more modernized than I expected.

So just what has changed? Well, for starters, their website, SequoyahRegionalLibary.org, is a goldmine. From the homepage, you can search for and reserve materials, view regional monthly activity schedules, check out eBooks and research your heart out with an enormous array of online reference materials. Just last week, I was browsing the site and discovered that you can check out a copy of the Zoo Atlanta Family Pass DVD and score four free tickets, good for two adults and two children) to Zoo Atlanta. Using the online tools, you are even able to see if the DVD is checked out or available at several different locations. Amazing! Our summer just got a little bit more exciting.


You might be interested to know that local public libraries also:

1. Offer a Summer Reading Program for kids, giving children the opportunity to read towards prizes like free ice cream, kid’s meals, certificates and the chance to win a giant gift basket.
2. Host events all summer long that are free, entertaining and educational. We really enjoyed the free magic show featuring Ken Scott, magician extraordinaire who has performed at the White House. He was wonderful with the children, and I imagine I would have paid big bucks to see a show of this caliber outside of the library.
3. Offer many children's activities including the LEGO Club, puppet shows and craft activities, and of course the weekly story times. Bilingual classes and activities are offered each month.
4. Offer free activities and classes for teens and adults. Specialized teen events are scheduled each month, and adults can enjoy classes ranging from karate to cross-stitching. For those interested in continued learning, the library offers free open college courses online, from the likes of MIT and Johns Hopkins.

These incentives are designed to draw families back to one of the greatest public resources available– the library itself. How long has it been since you last used your library card, and do your children have one? Visiting the library and getting the family involved in exploring and reading books truly encourages learning and development, with many studies citing the benefits.

I hope this article inspires you to stop by the Gilmer County Library (or your local public library) and rediscover the magic. Happy reading!