fromWithInThePatch

We are all designers!

2011-07-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

I just put a theory to the test not long ago and found out something amazing. The claim was that we are where we are because we walked or ran here. We made our own bed -- as the old timers used to say. And if we are where we are because of our choices, our expectations, our creations then we can choose something else. It doesn't have to always be a certain way. Now I took this concept with me when I went to pick up my Ryder truck I reserved before loading it up to go the Mansfield Quilt Show. It seems that I had been expecting to relive, like that Groundhog Day movie, the same day again and again. I did have a negative experience with them last fall. I arrived to pick up my reserved truck only to discover that I had to pay regular price for a truck that didn't have doors that worked on the sides so I could only load it from the back. That's not easy to do. I ended up calling Penske & going over there to rent one of theirs for the remainder of the year (2010). I really like the Sprinter vans and only Ryder offers them which is why I went back to them this year. In any event, this time I just opened my expectations to dealing with the situation as I got there. That I'd deal with life as it presents itself. I had a wonderful experience. My truck was ready, fully operational, and Tyler promised a free day to atone for last year's nasty experience, a normal charge on my rate & the deposit wouldn't be a doubled withdrawal from my checking account. I felt great when I left.

I have learned that anytime you make a change in the way you live your life, there will always be a test to see if you really want to or something will come along to give you an additional opportunity to press on through your changes. SOooo, when I returned home, unloaded the truck & returned it, I went online to check my checking account & discovered that they charged my account for $560 rather than the $360 I approved with my signature on a charge slip. I chose to keep stepping down the path of creating my life. I called them, asked them to fix it by the days end. The overcharges were back in my account by Wednesday morning. I now have a contact with no surprise rate increases (which had also happened). Sometimes you just have to create your world and wait patiently while those around you catch up.

Yea, I know -- I'm a pollyanna but my skin is a little tougher, I'm a lot wiser, and I'm no longer willing to be a doormat (not without stomping my feet). It seems that I kept re-living that old experience last fall every time I went into their office. I can see where I've done that same thing with other places in my life previously as well. The very best thing I can do is live in this moment. Responding to things/people in this moment. I'm living now -- not yesterday. While I have designed what I want my life to be in the future & have created steps to get there, I still have to finally just live now.

still a student of life,
phyllis meiring

hummmm

2011-06-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

Just say that aloud...."hummmm." The sound has so many applications that are all positive. They say you can hummm to create a vibration that will help open your sinuses. The next time you eat something delicious, do like the children do when they eat something nummy; they hummmm. It seems that if you do while chewing it rings the enjoyment bells in your brain which are already ringing if it's something nummy. Eating can be pleasurable, you know. Oh forget the whole sex association with the word pleasure. There are numerous other things that create pleasure -- embrace it.

Try "humm" the next time you're stressed, scared, worried or just can't focus. Hummmmm. If you do it long enough & this incredible, energy filled awe will rise up from within you. Make it part of your life's journey and you will quietly one day hear it all around you. It seems there's a song in the air, everywhere. It's true; scientists call it energy or matter. It seems to beacon us to discover us. I know it has gently, patiently been beaconing me all of my life, to find me. The me that seemed to hide behind fear, failure, loss, abuse, pride, my degrees, my near-death experience, my vertigo, my ills, my IQ & all the bullshit that I thought identified, classified who I was. I shoved something out front & said, "here, that's me." I assumed it was the right thing to do, after all, people always want to know your religious inclination or political stance so they can classify you & make a snap decision of whether or not they want to have anything to do with you. Well, I am NOT what happens to me. I am NOT what others think of me. I am NOT what I can do. I am NOT who I know. I have been on a quest for truth as if it were lost. The truth, it seems, had never left. When I was no longer was called pastor, I didn't know who I was. When I was no longer in the role of mommy, I didn't know who I was. When I was no longer married, I didn't know who I was.

I realize now that I simply am. I am. Sometimes I fit, sometimes I don't. Sometimes there's a clear direction & sometimes it's clouded. Sometimes I'm productive & creative & sometimes I just breathe.

....and at 50, I am ok with who I am.

Where are you? Do you feel broken & lost? You ARE NOT who they say or you say you are. You ARE an incredible, wondrous human being who holds the keys to your prison cell. What are you waiting for? Take a deep breath, reach deep into your pocket, find the key, unlock the door, stretch a little, & step outside. Shake off all the posters of definition, restrictions, boundaries, condemnation & expectations plastered all over. Do my like my 4 month granddaughter is doing....hold up your hand & look at it without judgment. You ARE precious!

Let's talk

2011-06-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

When we create something magical happens!

Countless scientific studies have found that creating changes us -- it changes our mood & it even changes us physiologically. Working in mediums you like acts like an analgesic for pain. Holistic centers include creating in their programs for all forms of human brokenness. We are broken physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually. We can get lost when we fail to just listen & follow what a spirit deep within us calls us to do & be. When we step too far outside of that path that is exclusively ours, we become off-centered, out of balance & if we do it long enough, we will break. It doesn't mean that we can never heal but it does mean that we will always bare the scars of that brokenness. If choose to grow & learn from that mindless wondering, then those scars are icons for story telling. When we share our stories, we help others find their own stories. Over 9 years ago, I opened Blackberry Patchworks and created a mission statement & philosophy for doing what I wanted to do. I said that "we help color your world with creativity." And I went on the define the power of creativity. I said that creativity restores balance, encourages harmony, mend hearts, expresses love, and frees us for soul-full expression. I would add & empowerment to that. And as I consider all that I've been privileged to participate in through these years, I realize the statement was so much larger than I ever imagined it would be. I have sat with folks doing all sorts of battle with demons from their past & present and listened to their stories. I have seen folks walk in & walk out -- even out of this realm of living. To be able to take a couple of steps with them has been wonderful. To be able to walk a bit with you warms my heart beyond words. So, thank you. Thank you for that privilege & thank you for trusting me with a few moments of your journey. I do believe we have an innate drive to create. I know that creating heals & mends & frees & embraces us in arms of love. If you are feeling a little lost or hurting, then might I recommend you grab a couple of things, let imagination guide you, & create, re-create something soon. I am positive you will find what you are looking for when you do. You have only pain & aimless wondering to loose. When you do, tell me about it. I want to hear your stories too.

just a sojourner,

phyllis meiring

on the Road Ramblings

2011-06-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

Auh, back home in my stretchies, chillin' on the sofa. We just got back from the Diamond Jubilee 75th Quilt Show. It was an 8 hour drive, so Mitch & I decided to drive 3 hours last night, then drive the rest of the way back today. There were learnings in this little trip away from Piqua and things I did/do when on the road. One thing for sure is I keep busy. I'm not one to just sit and wait. (it's the adhd, i know) I think I come from a long line of adhd folks but my Kentucky relatives would just say "she/he's just nervous." What were the highlights on this trip? Here are a few:

I noticed the songs used to be poetic with rhetorical rhyme & rhythm; songs of today seem conversational.
No customer service skills necessary to be a toll booth operator in NY.
There are bronze buffalo's grazing on tall grasses at one of exits along I-90 in Buffalo, NY.
You can see lots of things looking down into the vehicles passing by or those you are passing, including things you wish you hadn't seen.
There are lots of things you can do to pass the time aside from just paying attention to the road & those around you -- such as remembering all 50 states & writing them down on a napkin (yes, while driving). I scored 100 in less than an hour and the last state I remembered was Maryland. Try it!
There is a language, mostly unintelligible to most, that grandmothers speak. You know when you see it -- a twinkle in the eye, an unimaginable tug at your heart, & a primitive moaning of deep spiritual pleasure not measured by anything known to humans. auh....

Until the next time, may all your boring moments present opportunities to create.
phyllis

2011-05-31T09:05:00.000-07:00

THIS is one of the reasons I am so looking forward to going to Rochester, NY. I get bb smooches!!! I'm so excited I could just stomp my feet like a 3 year old. Hey, I didn't say it would be pretty!

I kept preparing for this show - pushing to create new products (as usual) but finally the day comes to pick up and load the truck with whatever I've got done. I push to make new things cause there are folks who come see what I've got only at shows and they'll go to more than one of them too. I can't bore them or let them down. I want to create more and more. And that's what I really love doing too. I love helping folks & creating things that give them something to work through the things in their life. We all create when we have a hobby and in that creating we find wholeness, peace, healing, and empowerment. We can find we are capable of more and should reach out to do more. So my motto lately is get out there & see what you can do.

more later....I hear the rumbling of am empty truck.

Don't quit too early...

2011-05-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

Call it the stubborn Irish in my blood or just a determination to never fail but I'm guilty of not quitting! I'm way more competitive than you might think and my favorite competitors are the whiners & nay-sayers within my own mind (that's right, you always knew I don't live along!). I HATE quitting! I see so many people quit before they've even tried. Why? There's a reason why they say if you don't succeed, try, try again. Very few people succeed at what they do because they fell into it in just one try. Think about it.....athletes, musicians, artists, and even politicians keep pushing through to get to where they want to be. Maybe that's the real culprit -- you give up because you really don't WANT to be there. The tests in life are built-in filters to determine just how much you want to do something or be something. When those obstacles arise, you can quit & see them as a sign from a god that says this ain't for you OR you can see it as an obstacle course to challenge your determination & train you for what you will need when you arrive - what you'll need to continue on. While this all seems perfectly clear the transition from how you're living your life to making the changes necessary to be where you want to be or do what you want to do are tenuous & messy. Sometime you just have to let go of the old to make room for the new you desire. Remember I said I hate failing? I use that to make small achievable goals & 1/4 steps toward progress. I've worked hard to take those 1/4 steps so that if I loose them it's not much. Then one day, I thought about my philosophy & reality of that. I feared loosing, took cautious steps to my goals, and failed to make any, or much, progress. It IS much better to take 3 steps forward and risk loosing 2 because that STILL puts you more than a 1/4 step ahead! Duah! I must begin to swing like Tarzan without a net if I am to do the things I want to do & be what I know I can be! So if I could phonetically type the Tarzan yodel here it would be in caps so just imagine it! Better yet: Tarzan!