I seem to have found a new routine which sees me writing on the bus. I’m getting the hang of typing on the iPad and then posting later in the day.
Gorgeous weather in New York today.. makes me smile and look forward to the rest of my Thursday with optimism. It helps when I go in armed with a cheery countenance because it helps me to deal with whatever challenges come my way. And it’s going to be a busy day… and there are moods to tiptoe around.
My Altered Book is already working its magic as I opened it to my “Happy Thoughts” page. I tried to think of other things that make me happy for additional blurbs on a “captions only layout I’m working on.. I managed to put two in yesterday: “How can you go wrong with CHOCOLATE?” and “Sleep in”. While on the bus, I thought of “Butter Pecan Ice cream” and “Make up”. (Made me smile again….). And just now, “Paris”. (That thought literally made me pause… and smile.)
I realize now that that is the essence of being able to go back to the “happy” in one’s life — it helps remind you that you have been blessed so many times to have felt happy. And that is a gift in itself, in good times or bad. I’ve decided I will do random layouts of “Happy thoughts” to reinforce that. Both the creating and reading parts help me to focus on the positive, from the mundane to the profound. We often tend to forget the things that brought a smile to our face, or that gave us that warm and fuzzy feeling of joy in our hearts. Sometimes it can be something as simple as a food we crave and love, or something else in our every day lives that lifts our spirits up.
I work on bits and pieces of the altered book, sometimes putting things in place permanently, and sometimes playing around with the layout by temporarily affixing the embellishment on the page. On the layout to the left, the picture is already pasted (isn’t he gorgeous?) but the caption which I printed out on brown paper bag scraps is being held to the page by some teeny-weeny masking tape. I keep going back to this page and see my bundle of joy smiling at me. That is reward enough.
I want to go about my day today with a smile on my face and a light heart. I am vowing not to let myself get aggravated by anything inconsequential. Well, I will try. =) (Trying to be reasonable here.. Life happens..)
Pinay New Yorker 