I am currently in a really great state of mind.

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers with originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

Telling the truth—about our feelings, about our lives, about our triumphs and tragedies, about our singular view of the world—allows us the ability to truly be unique. Because no one has lived your life but you. There is no story that is exactly the same as your own. In other words, Lewis is implying that for artists of faith, the opposite of plagiarism isn’t originality. The opposite of plagiarism is truth.

see article here

The End

  

That picture was from Rohk's birthday.   We had fun that night.

I like starting entries with pictures.  I just do.  

Now, onto thoughts totally unrelated to this picture.

I ponder to much.  I get stuck in my head.  In college the school therapist told me that I didn't need counselling, I just needed to talk out the thoughts in my head.

So, I have gotten better at talking about the swirling mass of things I think about.  If I don't, they build up and I explode or I get really depressed.   

Recently I was quoted a Proverb that says it is better to be quiet than talk a lot so that you don't appear a fool.  ( see here )

It's true.  I probably speak to freely what I am thinking.  And I have had to deal with the fallout of a wild tongue.

But.

I would rather appear a fool and be apologizing for stupid things I say or words that have not been stupid but have caused un-intentional hurt than be quiet in the corner for the sake of appearances.  

   Because what other's might perceive as me being loud and foolish is actually me 

being my authentic self.  

I do bite my tongue.  A lot.  You have no idea.

But for those that keep so much of themselves hidden, they might think that I have no restraint. 

If you have known me for any amount of time, you have noticed a shift in who I am.  And you know that I do not speak as freely as I once did.  I don't pick battles as often as I used to.

So it is interesting to me when I am all of a sudden put in proximity to very "religious" people that equate keeping their lives hidden with being holy.

I don't buy it.

So, when I was told that singing was for boys, I kept my mouth shut.  (ARE YOU SERIOUS!!??   REALLY!!??  Think about that person.  Think really really hard.)

When, in all seriousness, I was informed that math is for boys and art is for girls, frankly I was gobsmacked into silence.  Now I would challenge that one straight up.

Some people in my life think I agree with their life choices because of my silence, and they are wrong.  What does me saying anything do?  It harms our relationship and nothing I say or do will change what they are doing.  So, I keep quiet. 

Thank you for walking me through what I think about Proverbs 17: 27-28.

Apparently I needed to sort out some swirling thoughts. 

I have these friendship that have been forged in fire.

We have been through years of trials, crisis and hardship.

Our lives were in turmoil and our friendships emerged from the flames, stronger and formed into something all together different then when we first entered the fire.

And these women are good.  

They embody friendship to me and my life would be less if they were to ever go away.

I find myself in a strange season of life these days.  So much of who I was before the bankruptcy has been stripped away and I have been floundering a bit with my identity.

It is easy to remember who I once was, but who am I now?

And this is where these women are oh so important.  Because they reflect back who I am and are walking with me to the new person I am becoming.

They     know     me.

They     see     who     I     am     becoming.

And they do not want me to be someone I am not.

They trust God is working in my life and heart and I am in his hands.

I  am thankful.