Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Blossoms

                Yesterday I looked at my list of to do’s and my blog flashed out at me.  Hum, what was I going to write about this week?  I have been very busy preparing the house for a retirement party for a friend.  This has entailed doing all those summer projects I put off for having fun instead: cleaning the garage, painting outside trim and porch, and cleaning out some gardens.  I am far from done, but with all the smoke and the impending inside of my house, the outside is now resting.  I marvel at my ability to put off until tomorrow.  I have to get an A+ in this.  But, writing about fixing cupboard doors, cleaning out the craft room, and washing windows makes for a pretty boring read.  I have also been working on editing, but alas not great blog material.  As always, I found inspiration in my studies.
                Artists need a ton of encouragement.  Being a writer I can well attest to this statement.  The critic that lives in our head constantly rattles off all the reasons we suck at our passions.  With three rejections, a messy novel, unfinished projects, criticisms from old English teachers, and never publishing a word of my work, I love encouragement.  Because of this, I try to read books of inspiration in the realm of writing, faith, and hero conquers all stories.  Lately, I have been comparing my writing life with my faith life.  They have become so intertwined that many times I can’t tell one from the other. 
                Christians need a ton of encouragement.  The world tries to sell us riches, parties, self pleasure, and powerful careers as our road to success.  Yes, as Christians we can have some of this, but it shouldn’t rule our lives as it seems to do with many people.  Family member can add to the critic by ridiculing our faith choices.  I know with all the negativity, I need encouragement.  Fortunately, I have church, Bible study, and like minded friends to help me along the way as well as my readings.
                “Like the fruit trees, we are intended to blossom.  The trees put forth their froth whether there will be admiring eyes or not” page 107, Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance by Julia Cameron.  Maybe I should wait to post this in the spring, but I think not.  We have all blossomed.  Some of the flowers may have blown away in the wind, but most of them remained and have produced fruit.  Now is the time to harvest the fruit.  What fruit have your produced?  I have the fruit of a novel that I am consistently editing which has been rejected twice, but with each new word I add, I hope for acceptance.  I have the fruit of my faith in action by volunteering as Eucharistic Minister and helper of our next retreat weekend.  With the help of my husband and community, I have not only produced strong faithful children but artists as well.  My oldest son carves and paints, my younger son plays amazing music with his sax, and my baby girl paints and makes all types of creations.  The icing on the cake is two of them like to write.
                We may never be famous from our journey to holiness or artistic endeavors, but we can produce fruit whether our blossoms are seen or not.  We can also encourage each others along the way.  Go out and produce!
                Blessings to you all.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Work

           First, I wanted to chat a little bit about my last post with Saint Joan of Arc’s quote before going on to the next quote.  I have...