I was given the opportunity to live impeccably today. Whether or not I do is my choice. As is my custom each morning, I wrote morning words. There have been the occaisonal groupings of these words that I’ve felt compelled to share here at GirlieOnTheEdge. This morning’s words were such a grouping and with a little addition of a pronoun or two, they are for you all too:) And so, a (partial) peek into the not yet fully caffeinated brain of a clark…
“…! I realize now that the saying “all that it is is what it is” is tricky indeed. While it is succinct in its meaning, the implication is there for an allowable disregard to responsibility. To self. How? Well, if the tonal has anything to do with the interpretation, you might insist that there is nothing to do about “it”. Whatever the “it” represents. Which is to say one’s immediate life (circumstances). True statement only in part. I wonder sometimes that life simply isn’t a matter of difficult choices and acceptance. That it consists of “making the best” of each and every day. Which on face value is the challenge we all face. To wake up another day is to accept the challenge of “doing it again”. What’s so difficult about that? Each successive day should be the only day (as we are promised no tomorrow). Such a gift. Who am I to squander? If this were my last day on earth, what, what in the world would I choose to do? Now the catch to asking this question is….I know, the tonal screaming, “well, you haven’t… you have to go to the grocery store…. Time filled with only the commercials. Where’s the movie, the TV program? Filler material has its purpose but it should never be the focus. So let’s focus. Let’s parse the advertisements and enjoy the feature presentation. If it’s not to your liking then re-write the script. It’s your script. It’s my script. Responsibilities? It boils down to being in the moment, being aware of the moment and where you are in the moment. Your place, your relationship to it and those who may be involved in it. It’s about enjoying each breath we take, appreciating what our 5 senses are gifting us. It’s about putting worry, panic and fear aside, if only for 1 minute at a time. You’d be surprised by how quickly time adds up.”
Yes, it is a recurrent theme with me. The challenge each day to make it a better day by being of the day, free from fear, doubt and the usual “suspects”.
While absent many months from the web stage, I’ve never forgotten the many individuals I’ve come to know, their words, their offering of friendship and encouragement. I search for the vehicle by which I may “pay it forward”, and by returning to those that which was offered me. If I ever doubt there is still goodness in the world I have only to look to these folks for reassurance. I am thankful 10x over for this.
I worry of climate change and global warming. I don’t know that the atypical warm temperatures this past week have anything to do with global warming, but I sure am enjoying 75 degrees in February!
I give thanks when I can be self aware of lessons being taught to me, shown me. About my own self. Often, seemingly, ordinary, mundane events occur that hold lessons. If only we are astute enough to recognize them. I am thankful for my senses this week, my self awareness. I recognize that analogous to this is the awareness that surely there was something I missed!
the Wakefield Doctrine. What in the world would I do without it!
Music.
Hearing birds singing way early in the mornings about the advent of spring and new life. It’s here people! It’s almost here:)
Clark’s book Almira because it is true. There is always more to the story.
The fact that daylight savings time is only 2 weeks away AND that it will be daylight savings time when my birthday arrives days later. Bonus!
Transition. It happens more than we like sometimes. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, it forces us to adapt and that, is ever opportunity. I’m thankful for Lizzi Lewis, her friendship, her writing and her creation of a bloghop that is perpetual. We have a new steward(ess) of Lizzi’s gift. Thank goodness! Did I list 10? Today, it’s not about the number, it’s about the thanks.
GirlieOnTheEdge's Blog 
Hello Denise! I was so pleased to see you linking up here! This post was profoundly beautiful, I’ve read it twice and will be saving it to read again as needed. So many of the thoughts you shared hit home with me, thank you for the message of hope and direction! To not only be aware of the lessons and transitions in life, but to also be thankful for them is a gift that will serve you well. Spring and more daylight coming soon… yes, it lifts our spirits in ways nothing else can do! All of your thankfuls are good ones, and no, it is never about the counting, it’s about the focus on gratitude. Blessings to you in the week to come.
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Hello Wendy! May I call you Wendy? Hm…no, you are Josie to me 🙂
Thank you for stopping by. And thank you for seeing the hope and direction. There have been times when my words have been interpreted as dark and depressing (not today!) lol
Oh so right you are. There is nothing like warm weather and sunshine to energize one’s spirit!
Thank you and may you also share in blessings this week.
P.S. I am going to make an attempt to more of a “regular” at the TToT 😀
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You may call me Wendy or Josie, or J, or WJ, or anything else you like as long as it is nice. 🙂 I’ve actually got a few more aliases that I’ve gone by over the years. Josie is my favorite though, although it’s not my given legal name, Josie is the real me, the one who writes down what is inside her. If I could afford to, I would change my legal name to that.
I think that many of us come across as a bit dark in our writing sometimes, I know I certainly do, I also find my morning writing is much different in tone than my night writing. I typically don’t find dark writing depressing, just very real.
I love rainy days, but cold makes me grumpy. For that matter so does heat and triple digits comprise much of the summer here. A warm Spring day of sunshine is the best of the best!
I’ll look forward to getting to know you better in the weeks ahead! 🙂
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Josie it is then! It is how I long knew you without “knowing” you, seeing you at zoe’s place and her talking about Josie Two Shoes 🙂
Aliases can be fun, useful and at times…necessary. Weird, isn’t it that there are times when words can be expressed through the guise of an alias better than through the “original” you? Funny, Clark and Cyndi aka Cynthia aka Sageleaf and I were talking last night on the Doctrine Saturday Night Call In about aliases and their uses (among other topics).
So true. My best time to write was/is! always morning. What time of day do you prefer to write? And what is the difference between your morning writing and your night writing? Do the aliases come in to play? Excellent attitude about dark writing.
Ah, there are times when rainy days are a welcome thing for sure. For me, they’re best in the fall. Late fall. Gathering blankets, a book…and a big pillow!
Who wouldn’t be grumpy in triple digit temperatures lol.
Same here Josie 🙂 The self challenge is on!
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I love to write first thing in the morning when my mind is fresh and there is bright hope for a good new day. Yet when I have night time to myself without distraction I find I can write some of my deeper, more meaningful things then, I am more reflective. I am very dual-natured… positive and light/dark and intense/sacred and profane. My writing reflects all of that. In my mind, my point of reference, I am always Josie. The other names have been applied to me, but they are not mine, or were but no longer are. They are but labels that don’t fit well. My middle name is Jo, and Josie derived from that. Two Shoes was taken on at the time when I first left my third husband for finally standing on my own two feet, because “Josie Two Feet” wasn’t quite as fun as “Josie Two Shoes”! 😉
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I envy you the ability to write at both times of day. I’ve written very little at night. Compared to in the morning, I’m just not as creative overall once the day has been fully engaged. Maybe it’s an age thing 😀 Yeah. That’s it LOL
So “Josie” is not totally an alias! It’s certainly acceptable to take some creative license with our own names, right?! 😀
No, you’re right. “Josie Two Shoes” is much more fun sounding:) I often wondered the how and why of your name. It sounds as if it came from a signicant time period in your life. A time of strength.
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Whoa! It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. Love the new look. Going back to read.
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Hey, it’s been a long time since there’s been anything new here 😀 Glad you like it!
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I have mused about that very expression – “it is what it is”. I hate it. You have succinctly described why. Yes my mind wanders like that quite a bit. I do find your screenplay metaphor a wonderful, uplifting description of life, along with the commercials and the filler which we so often try to follow as a life’s path, but it isn’t. My life, my play, write it the way I want. A good reminder to stay focused. Anyway, let’s have coffee sometime – anytime.
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I know, right! I try to use the “all that it is as what it is” as the reminder that we are responsible for making it what we want. To remember “the world is a feeling and we are responsible for how we feel”.
“My life, my play, write it the way I want.” Couldn’t have said it better Val:)
Let’s. Coffee sounds great.
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You’ve made excellent points, and if i wasn’t at the end of a day of travel i’d probably have more to discuss about it!
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Thanks Mimi! No worries, I’m glad you stopped by. I’ll catch you on the next one 😀
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I do so like your thoughts…except mine deviate on one thing: it’s never your script. You can try to scrub things out and add things in pencil, but it is what it is what it is, and what we have control over is our attitude to it. Our determination to make the best of each day, right where we are, embettering what we can, is all we can do about it, and all we can hold to.
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It is all about our attitude towards “it” most certainly. It remains our choice. Imo, finding the ability/capacity to make that choice is the perpetual challenge for clarks. But as with learning anything new, it gets a little easier the more we practice, the more we do until the day we find we did it without “thinking” about it!
OK, I don’t go on the FB, let alone get around to everyone’s house lately, so forgive me if this is old news….you going to write a book as a result of your Kenya experience? 😀
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I shouldn’t think so but I’m selling stories to raise money for the eye unit.
AND…you’ll be pleased to know I think I’ve come out of the Clark Dark with a new perspective, and also decided that I DO do disappointment well (in the end) because I bounce back (ish) with another plan.
How are you?
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Excellent! May you raise tons of money!
I’m very heartened by that news. You are among those who will always, always have an alternative plan. Always. It speaks to your creativity, your open mindedness and ironically to your positive insistence about the future 🙂
Tonight, I am sad. I am cynical. It is a long story (of sorts) involving someone’s dad, someone I’ve known for over 22 years. His life was changed today forever. And not in his best interest.
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Ugh. That sounds really awful. I’m sorry. That’s the kind of news that’s never any good and requires a lot of thinking to get around *HUGS*
I hope you’re doing ok.
And yeah. I think we’re like water in that leaky dyke – try to plug us up in one hole and we spring out of another. Or something.
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Beyond horrible, beyond awful. And it was an experience that instantly makes one cynical to such a degree you can’t even stand it. Thank you for the hugs 🙂
I know what you mean. And actually, I’m seeing the positive in your statement. I choose to see the strength, the resilience not the inadequacy that implies there will always be a hole because everyone has those holes whether they realize it or not. We have the capacity to imagine a picture larger than most people. We are able to look at it like a map with thousands of those dots connecting to each and every dot in all imaginable configurations. It can be a positive or it can be a negative. The choice. It’s always the choice.
Thank you for checking in Lizzie. I’ve been away from the computer these last 4 days while timelines have been extinguished. It feels good to come back to words of encouragement. xo
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I’m glad about that. Very glad.
I’m glad for the capacity to imagine. And the capacity to choose.
I wonder if the people who have gone through really horrendous things – Terry Waite, Nelson Mandela, Brother Yun – whether they were clarks.
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Well, you are versed sufficiently in the Doctrine. Go check out some vids of these people, comb through pictures. Tell me what you “see” 🙂
So good to talk to you again 😀
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Clarks 🙂
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The blog post I wrote for tomorrow actually circles around the issues you wrote about. Now THAT is synchronicity! Yes…you matter. And everything you do matters. No pressure but you’re living moment by moment and day by day and YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE. To so many. You can’t know the ways in which you are, but you are. Every. Single. Day. 🙂 So GLAD to know you. And love the song.
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That is synchronistic! And yet, it doesn’t surprise me 🙂 I look forward to reading your post.
Your words to me of encouragement are huge. I appreciate them immensely. And they help. Immensely. You hold a special place in my heart.
(now look! you’ve gone and made me all damn sappy!)
Isn’t it a catchy darned song? (weird, but catchy!) LOL How can you not like it 😀 😀
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That 75 degree weather in February is such a conundrum! Spring-like weather – good. Global warming – bad. Then I feel guilty for enjoying the beautiful, unseasonable weather, because it’s just wrong, yet oh, so right. Sigh. Good to see you, Denise!
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Yes, but a pleasant conundrum 😀 Except I’m scared for all the daffodils that have bloomed already!
Good to see you too, Dyanne 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
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I love the music video!
http://www.carinsgratitude.com/2017/02/id-like-to-thank.html
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I don’t know how I stumbled across it but glad you like it too!
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I love love love your new look here. Absolutely breathtaking! I skimmed and now I’m going back to read again…back later to comment more.
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Thanks Lisa! Unlike times past, I flipped through a page of themes, saw this one and there ya go lol
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I love your thoughts here. I’m thinking about that “is what it is” idea – or whatever version of it people use. Some folks are bothered by it and maybe that’s because people in general use it so flippantly, to suggest some element of “hey, not my fault.” When I’ve used it – and I definitely have – it’s more from the perspective of “this is what’s happening and while I can’t control IT (such as husband losing his job some years ago), I can choose to face it head on and accept that IT simply IS and then choose how I will respond to said IT.” Make sense? God I hope so because I’m too wiped out to explain myself. 😀
Anyway, it’s really good to see you here and I love your layout and colors. Stunning and uplifting and a reminder that my own space needs a visual update. I’ve been quite unsatisfied with it.
Writing in the early morning…this is not something I have ever done because I am not an early riser and I do not enjoy morning. But. I’ve done some reading recently about how and why it can be beneficial to one’s writing habits overall and I might just be thinking about giving it a whirl.
Looking forward to seeing you more often here!
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Yeah, you nailed it. Makes perfect sense. It’s all about how we choose to respond. Not to say choice is easy. Very often it’s a struggle.
It feels good to be here, I’ve been away so long! And it’s really nice to see all the familiar “faces” 🙂 And some new faces too!
I’m glad you like the new look. The banner is stock so I was thinking of uploading one of my own after a short time. I think the theme only offers 2 or 3. Now that spring is almost here I’m not sure if snow capped mountains will quite be appropriate 😀
I’ve always loved your site and it’s various new looks. When I go there I get a sense of…calm, it’s always so peaceful.
Let me know if how it works out, the morning writing thing, especially if it helps with writing habits. Mine are awful. Well, lately, they’ve been non existent!!
See you soon! 🙂
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I agree that little, mundane, ordinary events are full of lessons to be learned–and often the same event can hold multiple meanings.
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Absolutely. One of my prayers is that my eyes are open to the lessons 🙂
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Climate change is bothering me too. It was so warm the day of my niece’s birth last week, but I had a bad feeling, even though I was so happy.
Transitions and acceptance. Yes. Clark is so right, about the always more to the story line. Always.
Who am I to squander? – Love this line especially. Excellent question in deed.
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An issue that everyone should take seriously. I believe it. So many areas have been experiencing a warmer than normal winter.
I saw some pics on FB of your niece. She is so cute!
It is kind of freaky. This weekend we’ve been having temps we should have had in December and January. I think it was 21 degrees when I got up this morning.
Thank you, Kerry. I do believe the questions are just as, if not more, important than the answers.
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Hi! I just dropped by to check in on you. It sounds like your month started out pretty rough. Sometimes the horrible things that happen to people we care about just take our breath away, at times life can seem so cruel and unfair and it’s easy to lose faith and hope. I know that place well. Sadly, we were never promised anywhere that life would be fair, or that only good things would happen to good people. That’s why it is all the more important that we hold tightly to those we love and make this life journey together, holding each other up when necessary. Even when there is truly no way to make things “all better”, just the act of caring helps transform negative energy and bring healing to the world. I hope that despite all, you were able to identify some blessings in your week, there’s still a couple days to link up a TToT post if you choose to! 🙂
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Thank you Josie. You are very kind. I appreciate your words of comfort and encouragement. No. No promises.
You speak eloquently, as only those whose life experience has brought “hard” lessons can. It is amazing that the caring actions of a single person can often (not always) lighten the load for those burdened with the weight of having to watch helplessly as injustice and wrongdoing is done to those they care about.
I feel blessed that even while entrenched in a tar pit of cynicism, I can find blessings. Thank you for the invite but I don’t think I’ll make it this week.
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