Friday, November 1, 2013

Heart and Mind

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The mind is a beautiful thing…

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It can be full of music or full of dreams…

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…and dreams can lead to bigger things.  Things our heart sings--joins in with our mind and reaches for and aspires to.

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Sometimes our mind and heart must do harder things.

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Being brave is a funny thing.  We may think we are, or we may think we’re not so very…

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But, when we’re put to the test—when our backs are against the wall, when we need to stand up for something—

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--especially when we need to protect someone we love--that’s when we really find out what we’re made of.  Our inner strength.

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We all have it.  We just have to open ourselves up—heart and mind—and find it within.

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And then, I think, we all can be very, very brave.

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How big is your brave?

Julie

{For you, my sister.  You can do this.}

{Thanks, once again, to the inspiring work of Hope Wallace Karney, and for her generous sharing of graphic pieces}

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Haunted

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My home houses many things belonging to the past…

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…things that belonged to the people that lived and died long before my birth-- 

John and Lois Barnes Pratt Hunt with daughter Ida

Things they loved~

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Things they touched~

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Things they made~

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Words they wrote…

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Pictures they took--shadows of the lives they led…

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As I walk through the hallways and rooms of my house, they flit in and out of my mind. 

Images.  Names and quiet voices…

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Haunted?  No, not really…Not in the Halloween-kind of way.

Ida Francis Hunt and daughter Pauline

But, I do believe that when we turn our minds & hearts to those we love that we can no longer see,

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…that their thoughts & hearts are turned to us.

Jesse Nathaniel Smith

Images. Names. Quiet voices…

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Haunted?  No, not really…

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Just a home & a heart filled with beautiful memories and lots and lots of love…

Wishing you a home full of sweet memories…

Julie

{For you, Mom.  Happy Birthday!}

{All images are mine--taken in my home.  The photos of all those beautiful people are my people.  I love them all.}

Monday, October 28, 2013

Matters of the Heart

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Even when life is wonderful, it can be a bit hectic, can’t it? 

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I’m finding, lately, that as the world gets crazier and life gets busier, I’m needing to be a bit quieter…

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…to feel peace.  Center myself, if you will.

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To listen to my heart.

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That’s not always an easy thing to do when the world around us is oh, so very loud…but it can be done.

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Having peace in my home and in my heart is a very important thing—and I’m so grateful when I have them both together…

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…it’s definitely worth working for.  Praying for.  And appreciating.

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Wishing you a beautiful day full of peace today…

Julie

{grateful to Hope Wallace Karney for her journal inspiration and the bits and bobs she makes available on her blog—so much to inspire}