Quiet Reflection Sunday- Listen

Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.


Anne Sexton

Hope you all have enjoyed the holidays.
I spend the time between Christmas and New
Year in reflection. I briefly look back and then move on to the coming year.


This year my focus is on joy. What brings joy
to my life and how can I, in my own small way, 
share that joy.

I thought it would be fun to hear from you about
joy. What brings joy to your life?

Have a wonderful, safe New Year.

Susan Hemann

QUIET REFLECTION SUNDAY-Holden Arboretum

 Life isn't about finding yourself.

Life is about creating yourself.

George Bernard Shaw

I choose this quote because creating myself is about my connection with nature. When I was a young, single mother, I knew I would not get the chance to be in my studio 24/7. At that point, I realized that being an artist was much more than studio time. It is a way of life.

My family and I went to Holden Arboretum in Kirtland Ohio to celebrate my birthday. It is a marvelous place. They have a canopy walk which was wide enough for my wheelchair. 

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Thanks for stopping by,

Susan Hemann

QUIET REFLECTION SUNDAY

If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for
it is not to dream less, but to dream more,
to dream all the time.

Marcel Proust




Today I'm dreaming of Spring!
Hope your dreams are as wonderful.

QUIET REFLECTION SUNDAY

Life isn't about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.

George Bernard Shaw


Hello everyone! There are so many books and people out 
there willing to help you find yourself. I say, let's look inside 
first. Find the special things already present. Try and build on 
those qualities. Be satisfied with what you have accomplished.

QUIET REFLECTION SUNDAY

Winter is the time for comfort,
for good food and warmth,
for the touch of a friendly hand
and for a talk beside the fire:
it is a time for home.

Edith Sitwell

QUIET REFLECTION SUNDAY

Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you
because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most 
unlikely places.

Roald Dahl

Quiet Reflection Sunday

     Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
     and sings the tunes without words
     and never stops at all.


      Emily Dickinson
      

Quiet Reflection Sunday

Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.


E.B.White

Quiet Reflection Sunday- remember when....

Life isn't a matter of milestone's, but of moments.

Rose Kennedy


Sometimes I get so wrapped up in finishing,
without paying attention to the process.

It isn't about how many, but of quality.

Sue Hemann

have a great week!

Quiet Reflection Sunday- gracious words

Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing 
to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24


First I want to say, the photos above
were not taken looking out my window. Bummer. Oh well I like the snow.

I used this quote today because sometimes it is very hard to be
gracious. I tend to be cynical.
Lately there have been a few people
in my life who have challenged my
ability to be gracious. Nicely put
right? You know what I mean, people
you want to tell off.

It is truly hard to be nice, especially
lately. Especially when people , say something, do something and even omit doing something. I don't say
mean things in response to someone
else's action, but I go away thinking
about them. Well at least for this week, I'm going to try and wish them the best. Ugh. 

Hope you all have a pleasant week 
and that you are treated graciously.

Quiet Reflection Sunday

Let every dawn be to you as the beginning of life,
and every setting sun be to you as its close.

John Ruskin

Quiet Reflection Sunday-Sandy Ridge Wetlands

I go to nature to be soothed and healed,
and to have my senses put in order.

John Burroughs


Did you see the bald eagle?

These photos were taken at Sandy Ridge Reservation, Part of the Lorain County Metro Parks

Quiet Reflection Sunday

Live the full life of the mind,
exhilarated by new ideas,
intoxicated by the romance of the unusual.

Ernest Hemingway



In this world of constant stimuli, it is nature that slows my pace.  I practice the art of seeing when I'm outside. It is easy to
have life pass by in a flash. Do you every stop and wonder what 
you did yesterday, last week etc...? Doesn't it seem that this year
has flown by? Well, for me, nature slows life down. It gives me 
time to reflect, to stop whatever bullet train I've been on and 
examine whether I truly want all that constant motion. Being 
outdoors allows me to see the small things that matter the most.
To ask questions. Perhaps to quietly be with those I love.

Quiet Reflection Sunday

So, what if, instead of thinking about solving your whole life,
you just think about adding additional good things. One at a
time. Just let your pile of good things grow.

unknown

Well I cannot believe it is the end of June already!! This month
has flown by. Goodness, I want to say wait a minute, put the brake
on, let me get caught up, so I can enjoy the summer.

This past month I have been busy in my garden. Prepping the soil, planting seeds and moving existing plants around. I planted my garden ten years ago, so plants need to be moved to new locations.

Pretty soon it will be time for dyeing. I like to dye fabric using the
plants in my garden and vegetables
from the farmers close to my house. I consider dyeing my experiments. Sometimes they work, sometimes nothing happens, but I love it just the same. I'm known for throwing many things from nature in the pot. One day my daughter stopped over, she saw the pot on the stove and asked if I was making soup because it smelled so good. When I told her it was my dye pot she just groaned.

Well I hope you all are enjoying the summer so far and have fun plans ahead. 

Quiet Reflection Sunday

Normally I start out my Sunday posts with a photo I had taken and a quote. Well this Sunday I decided to do something different.
My blog has always been about the happier side of life, well things are not always that way. I have decided to come clean, to be honest.

I have been an artist all of my life, from the time I could hold a 
crayon my parents paid for lessons. They encouraged my work to a point. I was told art is a hobby and not a career. Well, along the way I have found that art is a way of life, whether I was folding 
baby clothes or cooking. 

I just never felt I had enough time to work. Do you feel that way?
To be honest, I thought, if I were a man and art was my career,
I could go to my studio every day and come home in the evening.
Everyone would accept that, right? As a woman, my career as an artist came second to being a mother and working outside the home.

To get to the point, here I sit, my children are grown up, I have
all the time in the world to produce and yet I do nothing, or
very little. It's not for lack of ideas, they seem to come day and 
night. I haven't a clue why I am not working. Any suggestions?

So back to Quiet Reflection Sunday. I love taking pictures and I love encouraging quotes. I generally select a quote that inspires 
me at the time. So I have one for today, hoping it will encourage 
me to work, and maybe you too.

10 Rules for Being Creative

1. Stop reading lists about being creative and go and do something.

saw this pinterest, made me laugh

Quiet Reflection Sunday

May your choices reflect your hopes...

Nelson Mandela

Quiet Reflection Sunday

Teach us delight in simple things.

Rudyard Kipling

Quiet Reflection Sunday

You've been criticizing yourself  for years and it hasn't worked.

Try approving of yourself and see what happens.

Louise Hay

Quiet Reflection Sunday

We gain strength and courage and confidence by each experience
in which we really stop to look fear in the face.
We must do that which we think we cannot.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Quiet Reflection Sunday

Hold the vision, trust the process

          Author Unknown