Before I answered this mornings prompt, I wanted to be sure that I had a proper understanding of what was being asked. So, I looked up the definition of principle, just to be sure!
1. a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.”the basic principles of Christianity” h Similar:truthpropositionconceptideatheorypostulateassumptionbasisfundamentalessenceessentialphilosophy
a rule or belief governing one’s personal behavior.”struggling to be true to their own principles” . Similar: morals morality moral standards moral values ethics code of ethics beliefs credo ideals standards integrity uprightness high-mindedness righteousness virtue probity rectitude sense of honor honor decency conscience sense of duty scruples
a general scientific theorem or law that has numerous special applications across a wide field.
In honesty, all that’s needed to fully answer the question now is a bible verse that you may be familiar with…
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 xThe second is this: y‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment zgreater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
After reading this verse, all you need to do is then re-read that list of similar words for principle. The ones from the dictionary do a fair job of describing the many ways to act, and live out all those principles that should define our lives! Just sayin…
The woman behind the counter smiled gently at me, as she cleaned her ear piercing tools. My heart was in my throat, it seemed. Getting my ears pierced was the most grown up thing I had ever done by my own choice.
My Nana had bought me a pair of earrings in the shape of bright red apples, but this time the jewelry wasn’t clip on… they were the real thing in the eyes of a 6 year old. My mother told me that I could get my ears done if I chose on my own… no hand holding or cajoling would be forthcoming.
I lay in bed awake the entire night before we embarked on this grown up lady stuff I wanted to take part in. I was terrified, of what I am not sure… but if they could poke me with a vaccination needle whenever they felt like it, and trade me a stupid sucker for my time, then I must be grown up enough to take the needle for a pair of gloriously beautiful red apple earrings. My mind was made up on the matter, so I just lay there and waited for the sun to come up.
I was so terrified of backing down and not being able to wear my new gift… it was in truth, the only thing that kept me on that swinging stool, there in that Bon Marche Department Store. I tucked my feet behind the bar beneath the seat, grabbed the sides of the stool with both hands in a military vice grip and tried to find my happy place.
I apparently had nothing to worry about, because it was over before it had begun! That fast… bang bang… All Done! They were kind enough to do both ears at the same moment, probably in case I backed out half way through the deal. I was so happy and proud of myself that I burst into tears, making the grown ups think I was in pain or shock. Not so!
I WAS A LADY!
So now I will explain the hilarious fall out from my Grown Up Anxiety Filled Sleepless Night… the reality of how most adults handle stress.
As exhausted as I was from no sleep and worry, over my piercing adventure, I never had a moment to catch some zzzzzz’s until that night after we got home. I was so tired that I could barely touch my dinner, and vaguely remember my mom walking me down the hallway to my bedroom……..
…. The rain fell steadily in the darkness, only illuminated by the distant street lamps, flickering occasionally. I was sitting in the passenger seat of our station wagon, while my parents were in a Parent/Teacher Conference up the street. As I waited for them to return, I saw movement not too far down the block, barely visible through the sheets of rain falling across the hood of the car.
I heard her before I saw her… this scary Witch that looked suspiciously like the lady off of the Wizard of Oz, if I am being completely honest. I could hear her laughing wickedly as she slowly materialized out of the darkness. Yup! It had to be that horrible woman who took Toto away from Dorothy. Don’t judge… I have a bucket list of different childhood memories that are triggered by different movies I had in my tiny mind.
Anyway, as the witch steadily approached my car, I frantically checked all the door locks and glanced up at the entrance of the School, hoping I would see my parents walking down the steps toward our car. Nope! As Jack Sparrow says, I was “all by me onesies”!
I crawled down under the dash where I could be hidden from view for the most part, except my feet could still be seen from the passenger door. I heard her approach the car, walk all the way around it dragging her super long witchy fingernails across the metal doors… witches always have super long curvy red nails if you needed a visual.
Then the witch stopped directly in front of the passenger side door where I was crouched down on the floor. All I could see was the tip of her hat, but I could hear what she was doing… she was picking the lock on my door with those awful fingernails. I watched in horror as the little metal door lock popped!
The next thing I knew, I was strapped onto a torture table, in the parking lot underneath the Sprouse Ritz Department Store, and that witch began to tickle me with those long fingernails…
It was torture! I began to laugh and could not stop! I fought to get away, but was strapped down so there was no escape for me… no way out! Except to wake up, but I had been so tired from the night before that it was like crawling through thick Jello to do anything. Never fear though, laughter is here… I laughed so hard that I rolled myself out of the top of our bunkbed and landed with a thump on the floor below. That did the trick!
Isn’t it funny the way we handle stress… often bottling our fears, stuffing them down and hiding them away from judging eyes. I realize that I was just a child and that the dream was probably just a way to release the tension I had been holding for several days over a perceived painful event. There was no real danger or trauma involved in ear piercing, but to a child trying to be a grown up, it most assuredly seemed like there might.
My take away from the whole affair was this… I would for sure think long and hard the next time I wanted to be a grown up!
From then to now, I still often find myself thinking long and hard every time I have to do grown up stuff… I know I should be fine with getting tickled all night in a parking lot, but this girl would rather leave the Witch back at Sprouse Reitz…
Does it make me a bad person if I say that I wouldn’t give it away, at all?
Before you start thinking I’m some uncharitable ingrate, who’d take the money and run for the hills at the first chance, it’s not what you think.
I was born into poverty some 50 odd years ago, spent years growing up in the streets, and in the last 5 years, haven’t had the luxury of money, nor the familiar safety of a solid roof over my head… that is, until March of this year. In all my travels, thus far, whenever a person is just given free money… most simply squander it! Handing a starving person free money is like offering clean needles to heroin addicts. How about this? Try taking your life in your own hands by getting into the water with a drowning victim, go ahead… you first.
Media makes us all lose our ju ju’s over the most recent announcements of how high the current Power Ball Lottery is… like each one of us were simply destined to have those winning numbers! But, how many will admit that they went right out and bought a ticket anyway, just in case? Gambling casino’s are filled with the hurting, the hungry, and the lost, all willing to bet their rent or food money for a chance at better luck than they were given at birth.
It bothers me that we live in a day and time where it seems that the well of human kindness has simply run dry… or run for the revival tents.
We have Netflix specials to display all those Lottery Dream Home’s, YouTube millionaires and professional gamblers giving money, haircuts, and new shoes to people sleeping in the streets. I don’t think Oprah’s free car giveaways to her audiences did the world any favors… Oh, life is hard… here, have a free gift… you get a car, and you get a car, and you get a car! Oh, you can’t pay for the taxes and licensing on said car? Why not?
The reason I said that I don’t think I’d give the money away, is because it’s foolish, that’s why! It’s much wiser to use the money to do what needs doing for those in need. If you feed a starving man instead of giving him the money to go buy it himself, the chances are higher that he’ll actually get fed, instead of shooting it, smoking it, or snorting it in a state of literal free fall.
Put that money into Food Banks, clothing banks, medical clinics, and shelters. Use the money to build a food bank, clothing bank, medical clinic, and/or shelter!
We need to get off our proverbial booties and get out there… do something to change lives instead of just handing out change!
My husband and I have been living off of nothing other than food stamps, for nearly 2 years now, and somehow we’re still here. That’s God, in my personal opinion.
So, when I consider what I’d do if I had an extra hard mil, simply laying around, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t know what to do with it, I’m sorry.
I was born angry, raised on the streets, and have plenty of scars to prove it. But, the most tell-tale sign of my origins… is my mouth!
It didn’t help that I spent a good five years riding in a Semi truck with my husband, soakin up the lingo from other truckers, while we sat waiting to load or unload.
They employed such colorful ways to express one’s immediate feelings, re-tell another truckers incredibly embellished stories, or build up their own tales of fiction. It was like taking a crash course at the Potty Mouth Institute!
I got so good at makin a man blush that it went to my head, and since there weren’t any kids around, I just started letting my own brand of foul words fly free. I didn’t really think I had a problem, but my own husband started giving me raised eyebrow looks. He actually started cutting back on his own bad language because of me, I think.
Then, about two years ago I just got sick of listening to my own vile utterances, so I decided to stop.
Honestly, I can say that it was one of, if not the most difficult goals I’ve ever set for myself. It ranks right up there with quitting a 40 year old smoking habit, though God carried me through that one. For this reason, I can’t technically say that the smoking was the most difficult goal.
Looking back now, I see a number of things that lost their charm, once God began reshaping and remolding my life to match His purposes. The more time spent in scripture, in prayer, and in fellowship with my heavenly Father, the less I struggled with my language. Over time, foul words began to bother me more. As I listened to other people use profanity, whether on television, in public, or on the gaming chat channels, I was convicted by my own discomfort at listening to others…. I sounded just the same when I swore!
I realize that words are just words, but for myself, I feel that it grieves my Holy Spirit. And, not just that… it could cause offense to another person! That was the part that sealed the deal, for me. There would be no more fence-walking on this one… foul words found the door, and I made sure to let the door hit them as they went out.
How bout them cookies…
Ok, so maybe the cookies are a bit large, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t taste good… well, maybe don’t eat the ones that landed on the road, as they’ve become soggy and gross.
I realize that I’ve said this before but WP really should try harder with some of these prompts! I mean, come on…. why can’t they give us a little more direction, than simply saying “artist”? How can I even break my list down into reasonably smaller lists, in order to pick my favorite in that category? See my problem? The struggle is real, my friends!
I have so many lists of my favorite things, I could rival Julie Andrews from the Sound of Music! She was able to sing her favorites into one beautiful song… just one! Are you kidding me?!
Why just last night, I watched the most amazing videos of this young woman who can make complete reenactments of differing scenes from CGI movies, like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and similar movies. She was so bright, I thought. Her husband was too!
In the same evening, I also watched music videos from past episodes of The Voice… such talented voices, oh my goodness!
I once toured the Bellagio Hotel, down in Vegas. Their entire lobby ceiling was covered with Chihuly Glass. Good lord, that man’s talented!
There’s nothing I enjoy more, than touring different art museums, historical sites, and the like, just to view the differing talents gifted for our enjoyment, and pleasure.
The definition of artist is as follows, according to Google…
An artist is a person who creates art, using skill and imagination in mediums like painting, sculpture, music, or writing. The term also applies to skilled performers, such as actors and musicians, and more broadly to anyone who is exceptionally skilled or expert in a particular area, like a “scam artist”.
Key aspects of the definition:
Creation of Art: The core definition involves producing works of art that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria.
Skilled Performer: The term can refer to public performers in the performing arts, like a trapeze artist or a jazz artist.
Exceptional Skill: It describes someone who is very good at something, demonstrating exceptional skill, such as a “strikeout artist” or a “scam artist”.
Subjectivity: What constitutes art and who can be called an artist is often a subjective matter, with definitions ranging from professional endeavors to passionate hobbies.
Broad Application: The word can apply to a wide range of artistic disciplines, including visual arts (painting, sculpture, photography), performing arts (music, dance, acting), and other creative fields like storytelling.
Why did I go to all the trouble of sharing the entire page of information, you might be asking yourselves? Well, to be honest, I got super excited when I saw the last part of the definition… the part about Broad Application… you guys, we’re all in here! We’re all artists, and I have Google for my proof! See? There at the very end, it says “storytelling”. That’s us!
I spend hours each day, visiting all of your different sites, reading your art, and appreciating the gift God has bestowed on so many of you! You guys are absolutely Supercalafragelisticexpialidotious!
When it comes to favorite hobbies or pastimes, I’ve led a very full life. Fortunately for me, having children to use as my excuse, I was able to shamelessly buy myself all manner of games, books, craft supplies, and the like… all under the guise of “it’s for my kids!”
As time marched on, however, my kids grew and moved away, so I became a closet crafter, for a good while.
Then, as age crept onto my hobby scene, my fading eyesight and arthritis stole much of my hobbies and pastimes, which included things like photography, gardening, painting, horse wrangling, camping, hiking, and the like. The list really does go on and on.
But, the one hobby that began when I was small… you know… my Easy Bake adventures in baking… some things never change!
When I realized that gluten, among other things, had to be removed from my diet for health reasons, it seemed like all gloom and doom ahead, for this girl.
The only memory I had of eating gluten free was from my mother-in-law, about 10 years ago, and the bread tasted like a half-cooked, unflavored rubbery biscuit. Don’t get me started on what the early recipes for Cauliflower Pizza did to me… I think it scarred me… seriously! I will never get that 5 minute’s back!
Oddly, when I approached the whole gluten free baking thing in recent months, I’ve discovered how far advanced they’ve become in things like gluten-free flour blended mixes… I don’t have to become a scientist to bake a loaf of bread. Though I haven’t braved the whole cauliflower movement, I have begun baking again, with much success! And, my stuff doesn’t taste like cardboard that’s been sitting out in the weather, ya know?!
Cookies?
Don’t worry, I haven’t started using cauliflower in my cookies, yet…
I was born in the late 60’s, spent my earliest years on a farm with only a single Black and White television that was encased in wood that came from Atilla the Hun’s battlefields… nothin like stubbing your toe on the corner of a 300 lb block! While I understand that my numbers are, in most probability, grossly over exaggerated, are they really… really?
Anyway, my point is that I’ve lived in both non-computer days and the current computer age, so yes, things looked different.
But is that different a good or bad thing… or is it just the times, or progress, if you will.
I remember taking typing classes in high school, and excelled at typing, matter of fact… I got skills! The thing was though, outside of a class at school, or my part-time job at an insurance agency, I never used a typewriter. In fact, I’d wager that most of the other student’s parents didn’t buy them one for personal use at home. Could you imagine having to bring your own typewriter with you, packed up in your backpack, or better yet, stuffed in your school locker? Nowadays, you can wear it on the right lens of your glasses. That’s only if you’ve the pocket change for one… their ridiculously expensive!
While I fully miss talking to others out loud, instead of texting, and writing letters on paper and sending them in the mail, one cannot deny the convenience and speed of using a computer. One single solitary box (in some instances, no bigger than a stick of gum), you can hold numerous differing translation of the bible, a building worth of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesaurus’, and past news publications from eons past. You can access a plethora of books on fiction, history, science, religion, and more… from your cell phone/smartphone/pda/tablet/kindle/ and of course, those glasses I mentioned.
It’s undeniable that computers have incredible uses in today’s modern society…
But, we all know that too much of a good thing can spoil it’s goodness, in the end.
Checks and balances, moderation, and wisdom, should rule at the end of the day, wouldn’t you agree? Just make sure you don’t forget the old school days and ways, because you never know when we may need to use it again.
Take a moment to think on this…
If all our power grids went offline, indefinitely, how long might it take before the war over toilet paper returns?
Journey With Me! 