nearly invisible

God in your mercy, I believe you will make me whole again one day.


I believe you will heal my pain.

I believe you will provide your strength and peace.

You will see us through.

Amen.

Not your usual Christmas "Present"

light and dark

Recovering from life’s war wounds

I attempt to get up each day and look for the sun.

Recuperating from daily battles

I try to find an attitude of gratitude each day.

Convalescing from worldly combat

I look for significant details in life.

Improving from living conflict

I seek new hope for survival.

Mending from everyday pain

I pursue a joy that can only get stronger.

Thoughts run away with me...

another in the series Psychological Landscapes

leaving the dark for the TRUE LIGHT of the world

despite the Christmas lights

i stay in the dark

despite the holiday greetings

i find none

despite the season's joy

i feel none

but with the Christmas gift

God's only son

i will survive

in rememberance

smile and maybe life will smile with you!

having trouble getting into the holiday spirit due to family situation. send me ideas and i will send you a trio of kid friendly images to play with this season. don't forget your email address. if you care to share your snail mail, i will send you something special.

it's been a trying and enlightening week for psychological landscaping

My mental landscape is breaking down.


The lovely hills are melting into one giant flat land of doubt and insecurity.

Trees fall down, one by one, with thuds of despair and fear.

Skies turn dark and ominous from helplessness.

Flowers wither from the deadly fumes of hate and discontent.

Since this is my nightmare and I walk through it daily I have to accept it and try to wade through some streams of hope and faith.

I have to climb any lasting hills of peace and joy.

I must seek to find one last glimmer of light.

If I can do all this I will rebuild my dying landscape into a thriving environment again.

another day

another day

of elder care,

of fear,

of doubt,

of uncertainty,

of worry,

of anger,

but also

another day

of hope,

of prayers,

of love

seeking present balance

Recovering from life’s war wounds I attempt to get up each day and look for the sun.


Recuperating from daily battles I try to find an attitude of gratitude each day.

Convalescing from worldly combat I look for significant details in life.

Improving from living conflict I seek new hope for survival.

Mending from everyday pain I pursue a joy that can only get stronger.

Walk on the lighter side of life and find your peace.

Pray without ceasing and know your spirit’s contentment.

Keep things simple and find God’s plan for your life.

Trust God’s power for your life and go the distance in every situation.

Find him at the source of every breath and feel comfort and grace.

The Real Season

The only real hope of the season

 is to realize its true meaning.

The only real love of the season

 is to love the reason for it.

The only real joy of the season

is to be thankful all that was and may still be.

The only real beauty of the season

is in the smile of a family member happy to see you.

The only real gift of the season

 is the promise of the Christ child.

The only real peace of the season

 is the quiet of a restful night.

The only real blessing of the season

 is the family together.

choose your psychological landscape

I may not find my psychological landscape very pleasing or calm but on the page I can create any feeling I want.


I can imagine fluffy clouds and still waters. I can visualize pleasing mountains rising out of the mist. I can accept what comes but escape into my favorite venue of any color scheme and vista by choice. My present can be peaceful and calming no matter what the reality. I can pretend all is calm. I can conjure up any scene I want by putting brush to paper or finger to mouse or mind to dreaming.

Christmas countdown

my own countdown to finding CHRISTMAS SPIRIT


1. Be tolerant.

2. Pursue the reason for the season.

3. Accept the peace that passes all understanding.

4. Remember that Christmas is about others.

5. Acknowledge the grace freely given.

6. Give and have mercy for all.

7. Trust the creator for all needs.

8. Follow your heart.

9. Love the unlovable.

10. Bear the unbearable.

11. Seek the light in darkness.

12. Indulge the needs of others.

13. Grant wishes.

14. Pray stronger.

15. Smile when your down (Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. Thich Nhat Hanh)

16. Believe like a child.

17. Dig deep in your soul.

18. Experience true joy.

19. Sing along with Christmas.

20. Deny your self-pity.

21. Stop watching the clocks and calendars.

22. Put aside troubles.

23. Keep it simply “Christmas.”

24. Christmas is more than what you see; it’s what you feel and hear and what you taste and smell and what you give and share.

25. Make Christmas last another 365, 24/7, and always.

rusted psyche

My psyche is rusty.

My terrain is corroded.

My site is tarnished.

My environment is blemished.

My subconscious is tainted.

I am a rusted bottle cap.

My mind is the land of ruins.

pieces

Psychological landscape

Playground of the mind

Uncertain terrain

Shaky ground

Brain field

Secret garden of truth

Battlefield of thoughts

Lost land of fear

Mental fog

Emotional scene

Psychosomatic setting

Inner view

Spiritual topography

Unsettled background

Confused terrain

desperate prayer

GOD?


Are you still listening?

God,

Do you still love me?

God,

Am I still your child?

God,

Will you truly never leave me nor forsake me?

God,

Will you see me through this time in my life and keep me sane?

God,

Will you help me be the be strong and patient when mom and dad stress me, worry me, frustrate me, scare me and ignore me?

God,

I love you and want to be good and worthy.

God,

I want to find your hope and blessings.

God,

I want to know your mercy and grace.

God,

I want to be able to see this through.

God,

I can’t do it without you.

God,

I bow to your will.

God,

I thank you for all you have already done

AMEN

hour of the soul

In the wee hours of morning

Answers are clear or

Questions loom

It is the hour of the soul

Before dawn’s early light

Solutions are sought or problems surmount

It is the hour of the soul

In the pitch black at the start of the day

Ideas flow or creativity blocks

It is the hour of the soul

my inner landscape

My mental landscape is tired.

It wishes to pull down the shades and pull up the covers, disappearing from life.

My mind’s foreground is filled with overgrowth and debris, mostly fear and worries.

My mind’s middle ground is covered in excess and needs pruning, mostly of doubt and despair.

My mind’s background is untidy and missing, full of angry thoughts and uncertainty.

My psychological landscape is in need of a makeover.

I want to simply trim its branches of hate and discontent.

I need to thin out the weeds of unhappiness and morose thoughts.

I need to replant flowers of peace and assurance.

I need to see that love and trust and faith can thrive once again in this messy environment.

It is through dry deserts that God refreshes our thirst for life.

It is in the deep valleys we find our soul’s rest before climbing the next peak.

It is being lost in wilderness that causes us to reflect on a better pathway.

It is the loud crescendos of our life’s landscape that cause us to appreciate and find answers in the quiet interludes of our journey.

It is the dark dry places that lead us toward the light of refreshment.

I long for quiet passages.

I need uneventful stretches.

I crave dull routine.

I desire unexciting days and ordinary nights.



what color is your psychological landscape?

Tested and tried I whine, Oh, God, why me?


Satisfied and complacent I forget Oh God, why me?

Every day should be thanksgiving and thanksliving.

In both good times and bad.

In fat years and lean.

In trials and triumphs.

In hope and despair.

For God never leaves, never stops listening, never stops answering, and never stops loving.



All things come of thee Oh God. All things bright and beautiful.

(inspired by devotionals)

I know I am not the only one who sees the dark parts of the inner landscape.

All feel hopeless and despondent or seasons of their lives.

They try also to find the bright hope of a new day as it colors their skies with new blessings and promises.

Suddenly a gray ominous landscape turns all golden and pink with joy.

The dark clouds part and a great orange ball of possibility rises.

One moment life is overshadowed with dark and if allowed proves no chance of contented joy.

There suddenly the mist clears and the bright light of new found faith reappears.

It is after the season of daunting colorlessness the light seems brighter and more beautiful.

As a Christian I know that when this different season comes to a close, I will find new pleasures and hope for better seasons.

Just like in nature another harsh winter will always come again but there will still be the promise of a new life and spring joy.

time for a gratitude reality check

57 things I am thankful for


1. God loves me no matter what.

2. I have a Savior and the Holy Spirit who help me.

3. The Bible

4. My parents love(d) me.

5. My husband loves me.

6. My son loves me.

7. My friends love me.

8. I have two homes paid for.

9. I have three cars paid for.

10. I have plenty to eat and wear.

11. I have abilities and talents.

12. My life is pretty darn good despite the present circumstances.

13. Dad has survived a stroke 3 ½ years.

14. Rathbun House

15. Carepartners

16. Mom can still do some things

17. Matthew is smart, sweet, and a good guy.

18. I have too many friends to name (Camille, Carol, Jane, Jean, Diane, Charlotte, Anne)

19. People value my opinions

20. People think I’m a good listener.

21. My new couch.

22. Kiawah

23. Jonas Ridge

24. Fernwood

25. Books, movies, and stories to escape in.

26. Art (making, viewing, and enjoying)

25. Sunshine by day

26. Moon by night

27. Journaling

28. Big Bang Theory

29. Music

30. Family (aunts, uncles, cousins)

31. Computers

32. Miracles

33. Devotions (Guideposts, Daily Word, The Upper Room)

34. Favorite animals: Birds, cats, dogs, penguins

35. Trees

36. Long walks on the beach and in the woods

37. Digital cameras and photography

38. Watercolor, mixed media art

39. Quiet and alone time

40. Angels

41. Forgiveness

42. Breathing

43. Health

44. My sundeck

45. Role models (Christ, Eugenia, Matthew, and too many to name)

46. The mind and its endless ideas.

47. Scrapbooking

48. Tee shirts and comfortable pants

49. Good neighbors and neighborhoods

50. Church family

51. Libraries

52. Audio books

53. Favorite foods:: chocolate, cheese, vegetables, bread, peanut butter, coffee, and tea

54. Love

55. Hope

56. Peace

57. faith

I am chicken weakling!

The earth holds me up but the sky falls all around me.

I am Chicken Weakling.

My landscape is colorful and bright with dark overtones.

It strengthens me but tries to destroy me.

I am a therapist’s dream client.

My landscape is sacred when I focus on blessings.

My landscape is precious when I ignore the negative.

My landscape is finding all the positive in the present.

my big 5 7

self taught therapist

My new series PSYCHOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES is truly teaching me something. Lots of answers are deep within our psyche and it’s up to us to unearth it.

Nothing is perfect and that’s okay. Life does not have to be perfect to be GREAT!

Our psyche is a mixed bag of thoughts at any one second. How quickly it changes from one thought to another. We can find our life’s purpose, our craziest idea, and a silly joke all in a nano second. We can also find happiness in the midst of an unhappy situation. We can find answers when full of questions. We can find peace when tormented by wars of the mind.

My mind is at war.

It can’t find a way to make peace.

It has two armies and neither can win.

One is fighting for perfection and purpose.

The other is in mortal combat for realized dreams and wishes.

It gives me a headache.

time to re-scape the land masses

It’s time to get my psychological landscape re-scaped.

I need to find a way to trim the overgrowth and remove the deadwood.

I want to replant the posies and increase the order.

I would love to know a peaceful setting and feel a happy life.

I would like to be able to do the things I want to do and feel joy.

I would like to serve and be responsible without fretting.

I would like to be the person people think I am.