Ten Questions on a Tuesday -- Thanks, Sharon!

I was browsing Sharon's blog, Tidings of Comfort and Joy, and I saw her post from last Tuesday with 10 wonderful questions.  So I decided to play along -- a week late, but that's pretty much par for me!  So Here are her questions and my answers! 

1.  What simple pleasure would you miss most if it was no longer a part of your life?

       Reading a good mystery

2.  What was one of your prized possessions as a child or teenager?

       As a child, I had a tiny ceramic dog -- a terrier of sorts, that I had found on a walk with my dad.  I carried it everywhere.  It got broken when my oldest two kids were small, but about a year later, my children found an almost exact duplicate at a flea market!  I still have that one.  (BTW, Sharon wrote that she had a cat named Charley.  So did I!)

3.  Name a book you've read (or a movie you've watched) multiple times.

       Book - The Awakening, by Kate Chopin and Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery. (PS, Sharon, I love Legally Blond!) 

4.  What is your current career/vocation?  
       Writer and SEO/Social Marketing Manager

If you could try another one, what would it be?
Set decorator

5.  If you could take a six-month sabbatical, where would you go and what would you want to do/learn/study?

       I would go to Paris with my art supplies, a couple of really good cameras and several blank journals.  I would study French and write and take endless photos and just relax for the first time in years. 

6.  In your opinion, what is the quintessential comfort food?

      Soup.  Hot, creamy, well-seasoned soup on a chilly evening

7.  What was a formative moment or turning point in your life?

       Having children.  I always thought I would just hire a nanny and go back to my career which was just starting.  I was so wrong. As soon as my son was born, I did not want to leave him -- the career was on indefinite and happy hold. 

8.  Do you have any regrets that are particularly difficult to shake?

       Yes.  

9.  If you could be really talented at a skill of your choice, what would it be?

       Singing jazz

10.  If you had to choose one word to describe what you hope your life is like in 10 years, what would it be?

       Content

Inspired to document the little things in my life

There are no pictures on this blog post because I have not been taking any.  And that is about to stop....

After reading yesterday's post on 52 Flea about the little things, and then seeing the photos on Kate's blogs, I realized that I have gotten lazy about photography.  Sure I have lots of great photos from Pennsylvania that I can use on my posts.  And I have Florida pictures from the past few years, too. Many of those are on this blog, including my profile photo, which was taken on a weekend sail off of Miami.  And I have a ton of photos from the wedding -- about 900 or so I need to go through.

But since then, except for a couple of shots of our new puppy, I haven't been taking pictures.  Why?

It's not that I stopped noticing things.

When I walk to the dog park, I see the magnificent oak trees that fill our development, and stare up in wonder at their branches and leaves, and the tiny hint of sky that peeks through.

And I watch the happiness on my dog's face when she sees her friends as we approach the gate.  She smiles -- she really does!

My daughters returned home a few days ago, just in time to start school   And I delighted in seeing their faces, the new haircuts, the subtle changes in them since they went away for the summer.

I've seen lovely flowers, beautiful buildings.  I've finished some art.  I've been working on the house, and seeing that change.

And yet, no photos.  None. I really don't know why. I wish I did.  But I know that it's time to fix it.  It's time to pick up the cameras and start capturing the details I see. It's time to take the digital out, and the film cameras and the lenses -- and start capturing moments again.  It's time to share what I see.  It's time.

If today was your last day...

Watch and listen to this Nickelback video.

Now answer this....

If this was it...end of the line...would today have been good enough?

Did you share your love with those who matter most to you?

Did you help a stranger with no thought about reward or even whether or not they deserved to be helped?

Did you smile at someone who was frowning and watch a smile form on their face?

Did you meet someone new?

Did you learn something?

Did you call someone far away who needs to hear your voice?

Did you pray and thank G-d for the morning, always aware that it is a gift and not a given?

Are you a rock or a river?

The thoughts that were in my head when I awoke today, after yet another night of feeling "gone" and having a collection of vivid images in my head....

Which is stronger? Water or stone? Which is more powerful? Flexible and flowing, or rigid and stiff?

I sat there in bed and thought about it.

No matter how strong a stone stands, it cannot resist the flow of water. Water, which is constantly shifting and changing form, direction, speed, and shape will always dissolve the hard and fixed. Rules and absolutes are as stones. Heart, truth, spirit and openness are as water. In life the body is soft and flexible. In death, it is rigid. Even water itself...if it gets hard, it can be shattered. But as long as it stays soft, striking it cannot hurt it.

G-d is teaching us truth all around us. Water. Stone. Life. Death. Are we blind to not see the messages?

So I did a search, and after reading a few pages, I found this....

From the Tao

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Under heaven nothing is more soft and yielding than water.
Yet for attacking the solid and strong, nothing is better;
It has no equal.
The weak can overcome the strong;
The supple can overcome the stiff.
Under heaven everyone knows this,
Yet no one puts it into practice.

I wish I was free to meditate today.

Your thoughts?

Do it now!

The one thing everyone has said about Meghan was that she lived -- REALLY lived -- every moment of her life. We can honor her memory by contributing to one of the scholarship funds that have been set up in her name, and I hope everyone will.

But even more so, I hope we will all honor her memory by following her example and the example of extraordinary people like her.

• If there is someone you love, tell them now. Right now. And then tell them again tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.
  
  
• If there is a chance to laugh and really enjoy the moment, laugh. Share your laughter and joy with everyone around you, especially those who look least likely to laugh.
  
  
• Don't worry about looking silly, or trying to maintain your dignity. Once you've gone, your dignity will be long forgotten. Your willingness to put yourself out there and be yourself will be what people remember.
  
  
• Smile. Really, and truly smile. At your friends, at your family, at the world and above all, at the camera. So what if you think your hair is messy or your makeup is wrong. Someday those photos may become treasures. Make them happy.
  

I would like to ask those of you who knew Meghan far better than I to add to that list. What lessons did she teach you that we should all learn? What will you take from her far-too-brief life, and carry forward in your own lives?

What is the very best lesson anyone who has gone Home has left with you?

Feel free to post it here, or own your own blogs and web pages. Share it at her Memorial service if you're able to go. Make it happen in your life.

I will start the list:

My Great-Aunts, Eva, Helen, Ruth and Blanche, taught me that life is a grand adventure. This may be the only one, or there may be more. But even if we get another time around, it won't be the same as THIS time. So go for it, girl!

Your turn....