As I write my final blog as Miss April 2015, I keep wanting to write something like “My top 5 tips for finding renewal” or something like that. But it just doesn’t feel right.
It’s the kind of headline that experts keep saying will get more clicks and we all want more clicks, right? But the truth is, I’m tired. I’m tired physically and a little bit mentally. But what I’m talking about right now is that I’m tired of so-called experts telling me what to do. Or at least that’s often what feels is happening. So why pretend that I know all about renew and that I can give all this sage advice?
I’m tired of my newsfeed being filled with articles that proclaim they have the answers to life and that if I just follow these steps, my life will be organized. My life will be exciting. My life will be in perfect balance.
I call hogwash. I admit, clicking on these types of headlines is tempting, especially when I feel disorganized, boring, or out of balance. Just one quick list that we can follow and all will be well, right? A few months ago I started feeling overwhelmed by the tips, instructions and unsolicited advice. So I stopped, backed away and reflected.
Did I really need to be following all of these tips? Are these authors really presenting anything new? Even when I researched tips for renewing yourself it was stuff like get more rest, take a vacation, and eat more veggies. Basically, take care of yourself.
I wondered if I was just being lazy by not feeling the urge to run out and make all the suggested changes? That’s how I felt at first but I realized that no, I didn’t need to follow their lead. Some of the advice is good, but I don’t need to turn my head and follow every self-proclaimed expert.
I’ve learned that when I feel overwhelmed by life, I have to go back to my mantra of being enough. What am I called to do? What fits my belief system and my goals? What is truly important? When I get overwhelmed I try to step back and assess what has me overwhelmed and almost without a doubt it’s because I’ve tried to accomplish what I don’t need to accomplish and I’m trying to be someone I’m not meant to be.
I also find that once I realize this, I can’t just jump back in and everything’s OK. I have to truly readjust and almost withdraw (usually in small ways) before I can come back to full force and feel refreshed. Before I can feel focused. This may be taking a bit of quiet time from social media (since I use it for my profession I never get fully away, I just do less). It could also mean not participating in certain kinds of activities for a bit. Or, it could simply mean taking a weekend to just rest and veg out.
I’m curious, how do you feel when you read headlines that offer advice on just about every aspect of life? Do you find those articles helpful or overwhelming? I can only share what works for me and don’t want to be one of “those” people who tells you that the same will be true for you. So I’m curious, what do you do when you get overwhelmed? When you need to be renewed?
Chances are you set goals for yourself at the beginning of the year (or perhaps you got a jumpstart on this at the end of 2014). Now you find that April is nearly over, which means that we are almost a quarter of the way through the “new year”. When did that happen?! Realizing how much time has passed, you reflect on the goals that you had so lovingly and passionately set for your life back in January. If you are anything like me, you settle into a slight panic.
I’m nowhere near where I thought I would be by now!
At this point you can do one of three things:
You can give up on your goals. You decide that too much time has passed and that you will never be able to catch up. It was a nice dream while it lasted.
You can push forward with your goal, blindly, without taking into consideration whether anything needs to be tweaked.
You can assess your goal, determine if anything needs to be adjusted, and move forward with a renewed sense of passion and purpose.
I suppose you can tell which category I recommend.
I actually recommend that you take time regularly to look at your goals and track your progress. By doing this, you can determine whether you are still on track towards your goals, if you need to change the path that you are on, or if you need to completely switch gears. This may involve letting go of some goals and focusing on others. That is ok! Sometimes we need to switch focus in order to get where we need and want to be in life.
One thing that I have been learning as I get older is that sometimes the things that we want (and need) in life change. Goals change. Priorities shift. When I graduated from undergrad in 2008, my goal was to take a year off and then go on to pursue my masters and my doctorate in counseling psychology. Then I became a mother. Many of my priorities shifted. Instead, I decided to put off my formal education once I attained my masters in Educational Psychology and I am focused on raising my son, homeschooling him, and working as a freelance writer (which has been my dream career for as long as I can remember). My goals changed, so my action plan has changed as well.
Don’t be afraid of change. Embrace it and make it work for you. If you have setbacks on your path towards your goals, take some time to figure out a path over or around that obstacle and then get on it!
As they say…
Tiffany has been blogging for nearly 5 years. It started out as a hobby but has transformed into a business. She is the owner of the blog Single Mommy Warrior where she blogs about her life as a single WAHM. In fact, her blog is a large part of why she has been able to work from home since 2012. Tiffany’s mission is to motivate others to live their lives by design, not by default. You can follow her blog at www.singlemommywarrior.com
This post is dedicated to my father, James Scott Hutchins
How do you define a Productive Life?
Is it achieving all the goals you set for yourself?
Or is it just simply getting through another day?
Productive Life can be used to describe something that produces a positive result.
So maybe it is achieving all your goals you set or surviving another day at work or school, but to me it has a bigger meaning.
I don’t want to just live with an end in mind, I want to Embrace the Productive Life I have.
I can write this post and be productive, but is it going to have a positive effect on my life?
I have to chose whether what I do is going to affect me in a bigger way in order for me to have a Productive Life.
My father, has worked his fingers to the bone since he was a small boy. When most elementary aged students are enjoying playing baseball and swimming with their friends, my father was traveling back and forth to Missouri to work in the cotton fields to help supply the needs of his family.
When my father was in 6th grade, he had to quit school to work in the fields full time. After that, he never continued to slow down.
After meeting and marrying my mother at the age of 20, my father worked hard to support his bride along with the four children that would come into his life through the next fifteen years.
He worked to supply a home for his family, as well as food, and extras that we thought we needed.
My father kept a garden for fresh food, along with chickens for fresh eggs. He hunted deer, squirrel and rabbits to supply fresh meat along with fishing when the weather was good.
When he wasn’t working at his job, he was working on our property, adding rooms to our house to provide for our growing family, as well as remodeling to make it more livable for a large family.
My father retired at the age of sixty to care for my mother who was doing of cancer. After she passed he went right back to working the land, the same way he had all his life.
Today at the age of seventy-four, my father still works everyday to make the most out of this one life that God has given him.
He works his garden, he takes care of his chickens and he helps every person who needs help in their life.
I look at my life and I realize that the things I have chosen so far as not been very productive as far as in the long run.
Then I look at my father’s life and I realize that he has Embraced the Productive Life.
He has taken every moment that God has allowed him to have and make sure that the moments ended with a positive side. He was never afraid of hard work, risks, or bad situations. He faced them head on and continued living in a productive way without ever slowing down.
My father has every right to look at his life and be proud of the life he lived.
Are you Embracing a Productive Life?
If you answered no, then you still have time to Refresh and Renew the life you were given.
Miranda, is a Crunchy, Country Mama giving her look on a Homemade Life of Homeschool, Good Eats, (Mis) Adventures, and Living Grace-Filled Everyday@GraceandGravy with a side of life! Miranda has been married to her sweet husby for 16 years and a homeschool mama to 2 kiddos at home. She loves her four-legged, fur babies and they make her life complete. Miranda is passionate about Guatemala Missions, Early Farmhouse Life/Decor, and learning to be a Self-Sufficient Homesteader!
Have you ever had to just take a break? Did you feel like you were letting someone down or somehow not living up to your potential?
I know, I’ve been there. I felt like a failure because I had to stop what I was doing and take a break. Sometimes, this is a day when I’m exhausted and have to take a nap despite having tons of client work to do. Or sometimes, the break is more profound and I’ve needed to step back for a month or two from being a part of an organization.
There are times when I come back from my break refreshed, renewed and ready to get back to doing what I was doing before, only better. Then there are times when the break gives me perspective and I realize that the work I was trying to accomplish wasn’t a good fit for me. So instead of returning, I move on to something different and a better fit for me and ultimately the organization.
I think that’s what drew me to this quote—the whole idea of how it’s OK to take a break. I am challenging myself during this month of being Blogger of the Month to stick with the Renew theme. So, I started looking for quotes and ideas that have to do with renew. Like most words and concepts, there are many ways to look at the idea of renew and renewal. I like how this quote takes on the idea that it’s not only OK but a good thing to take a break.
Something I see a lot in different blogger groups, is that sometimes people need to take a break from their blog and somehow they feel the need to apologize for that. Part of me wants to tell people to stop apologizing! I know the feeling of wanting to be there for people. And there’s idea that we need to be consistent with our blogs for our own self-expression and also pageviews.
I try to think of it this way: if it’s wearing you thin, are you giving it your best? Are you putting out your best content? I don’t think we should have to apologize for having a life outside our blog and that sometimes that life takes us away from the blog for a bit.
When I have to take a break, I try to remember to not apologize and just pick up where I left off. Sure, I talk about what I had been up to but not in a way that I’m shaming myself for needing to take a break. It’s more of a “hey, this is what I’ve been up to and this is what’s happening next.” I tend to make that as a full blog on its own instead of starting out say, a recipe post by saying something like “hey, I haven’t been around in a while.”
There have been many other times when I’ve needed to take a break to refresh my mind, body and spirit. Sometimes I’ve returned a stronger person, sometimes that strengthening as turned into me realizing I needed to make a more permanent break. How have you seen this in your own life? I’d love to hear your stories of when you took a break and how it made you feel.
There is a busyness about nature during the spring that forces me to sit still and pay attention. Nature’s agenda has a definite purpose with an important schedule to keep filled with buzzing and blooming and turning the world green.
My busyness rarely seems as purposeful most of the time. With jobs, families, and friends sometimes the busyness of life is unavoidable. We’ve cram packed our days from the time our alarms go off in the mornings till we fall asleep with our smart phones clutched in our hands. But I find that if I can stop for even a few minutes and listen to nature in all its busyness, the heaviness of my schedules and to dos melt away.
I may take 15 minutes with my morning coffee on the porch swing as the day awakes instead on thumbing through my Instagram feed.
I may choose to set in the courtyard at lunch instead of eating over my computer at work.
I may even choose to spend thirty minutes before the sun sets digging in my garden wondering when the fireflies will come back.
I don’t think of these as stolen moments from my hectic schedule, but rather time I am gifting back to myself and allowing the rhythm and rhyme of nature to renew and recharge me.
Jeanetta is a crocheter and coffee addict, chicken keeper and goat wrangler, a farmer girl and maker of drunk jellies. You can find her online at www.jeanettadarley.com or on twitter, pinterest & instagram @jeanettadarley.
We’re writers. We envision, create, write and revise. Edit and revise again, and finally, publish! Who can deny the thrill of seeing your words on the page, or the screen, knowing you’ve written something others will enjoy?
But what happens when your desire to write dwindles? When the success you envisioned doesn’t come to pass as quickly as you thought, or at all?
How do you keep writing?
I’ve relentlessly pursued my goal of being a published children’s author for years. I got a master’s degree in creative writing. I obtained an agent. I wrote and wrote. Surely publishing success was just around the corner. Instead, I’ve encountered rejection. Writers are fragile folk. Our egos can only take so much before sliding into a chocolate indulgent slump.
I found myself in this slump in 2014. My agent hadn’t been able to sell my latest book. I was half-heartedly working on a sequel with little motivation to finish, and I’d neglected my blog for so long I forgot to renew the hosting until it was too late to recover any of my site. Four years of (admittedly haphazard) blogging gone.
I knew I needed to renew my vision for writing. But how?
Here are five steps I’m taking in 2015 to bring new purpose to my writing.
Focus
In January, a few fellow bloggers had a discussion about the one word theme they were choosing for 2015 to bring focus to their blogs. I loved this idea. I chose the word Story. My blog this year would focus on my own stories lived out from my childhood to now.
I’ve been so intent on my overarching goal of getting my books published, I haven’t wanted to spend the time and effort to get to know local writers. Selfish? Yes. I decided to change that in 2015. I began actively following Arkansas Women Bloggers and participating in conversations. I attended a blogger work day at the Artist Retreat Center in Bella Vista in February and met other bloggers. I’ve made it a goal to continue to meet and reach out to other writers locally through 2015.
Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
I love writing stories for children, but I felt my writing was becoming stagnant. I needed to challenge myself. I decided to commit to finding opportunities to write on subjects I don’t normally consider. Once a month, I would pursue a different outlet for my writing – one that challenged me to write outside my norm. So far, I’ve had the opportunity to write for three blogs I love and I’m happy to announce I’ll be reading an essay at Little Rock’s Listen To Your Mother show in May.
Learn
It doesn’t matter how much you know about writing; you can always learn more. I’ve committed to learning how to be a better writer this year. I already have two local writing conferences on my calendar and a number of free webinars. I plan to attend a few local classes and actually read those books on writing that have gathered dust on my shelf.
Renew Your Commitment
When I was younger, I didn’t understand why people wanted to renew their wedding vows after years of marriage. After slumping through 2014, I see the power behind recommitting yourself to someone, or something, you love. 2015 is a year for me to recommit to my original goal of being a children’s writer, but in a gentler and, hopefully, wiser way.
I’ve already seen a measure of success this year. I’ve had the opportunity to guest post on three blogs I love, including Arkansas Women Bloggers. I auditioned for Listen To Your Mother Little Rock and was chosen as one of the participants. I’m currently outlining my next middle grade novel.
But here’s the best part: I’m excited about writing again.
While I’ve had less time to spend writing books, the renewed energy and enthusiasm I have for writing is worth the tradeoff. I’m excited to see what the rest of 2015 will bring as I continue with my renewed vision for writing.
Have you found yourself in a writing slump? How did you renew your vision for writing?
Kimberly Mitchell loves journeys, real or imagined. She has traveled to five continents and over twenty countries, always with a book in hand (or backpack). Now she writes middle grade adventures to send her characters on journeys, too. She lives in Northwest Arkansas with her husband and the best souvenir she ever found, a Yemeni cat. Find out more at kimberlymitchell.us and follow her on Twitter @KSMitch17.
My kids and I are all “worders”. By that I mean we love grammar and diagraming sentences and such. We love Lynn Truss’s books. We correct each other’s adverbs that happen to be missing the “ly” ending.
It’s the little things in life that mean so much.
So when we drove past a motel with the sign, “Newly Renovated Rooms”, we hooted in mock superiority. “Renovate means make new,” we chortled, as we gaped at the obvious mistake. “How can anyone ‘newly make new’?!”
But maybe that was premature?
I like to think while I mow and mowing season has already begun for us. In fact, I’ve mowed twice already this year. I’m full of thoughts fluttering like a butterfly migration in my head. So I was thinking about “newly renovated” and wondering about the possibility of making something new, anew. I thought of how green is popping out all over, lately. I thought of the return of the birds and their lilting songs and how the peepers are peeping in the damp ditches all around.
And suddenly it hit me: The best way I ever found, to do Spring cleaning (do NOT turn the page, just yet!) is only about 30 years old. Spring cleaning is a LOT older than that. So maybe I found a new way to make things like new?
Possibly.
Regardless, I’ve learned to love spring cleaning with this new method and you will, too. It’s revolutionary because:
You spring clean your house every day.
It only takes about 30 minutes.
I am not making this up! Let me tell you a story about why I DO spring clean, and love it:
Once, a long time ago, I went on a successful hunt.
No, I did not bag a huge elk or an antelope. Not even a deer. Not even a turkey or a quail. Nope.
What I found, after hunting for 3 days, was a beautiful pearlescent tan orb, pointed on one end like a teardrop, about the diameter of a dime.
And as soon as I found it, I destroyed it.
It was a black widow spider egg sac. It was under my file cabinet, which I was able to upend because I’d removed all its drawers.
At last, I’d completed the hunt that began when I’d found the lovely female black widow spider on a lower shelf of one of my bookcases, just behind the Little Golden Books I’d provided for my grandchildren. That was close. At least I knew to be on guard because I know black widows love wooden places to hide. Like toy boxes and behind door frames.
So now that you are ready to begin cleaning your whole house in 30 minutes a day, let me share how I do it so you, too, can have “Newly Renovated Rooms!”
Here we go:
Turn off the phone.
Choose where to begin. I like the front door, entryway, and living room, for obvious reasons.
Gather the following: a small bucket of lightly soapy warm water (about a half teaspoon of dish liquid in a gallon) and a rag and towel, rubber gloves if you use them, a small stepladder or stool, and a notepad and pencil. Depending on the location, you might also want a vacuum or duster. Oh, almost forgot: You’ll need a timer.
Begin at one corner of the room and use the rag and soapy water on absolutely everything that can take it. Wash the entire surface of the wall, the doors, doorframes, doorknobs, the windows (dry these) and windowsills, the furniture (dry again), the picture frames and any glass in them (dry), the crown molding and baseboards, the lamps and do-dads, etc. Change the water if needed.
Use the notepad to note needed repairs, contents of boxes that need labeling, and any writing ideas you want to remember.
This time is not for the ceiling or the floors. Do those as special projects when they are needy.
If you come to a bookcase or desk, clean, only. Do not purge or organize; those jobs are for other moments in your life. But do remove every book, dust it, and clean its shelf. Do remove desk drawers to clean under them, etc.
Have a designated place to set miscellaneous items to put away later. That chore, too, is for some other time.
Work fast. Work only for thirty minutes. Then get on with the rest of your day.
Begin where you left off, tomorrow, and repeat, daily until you’ve cleaned the whole house. Then begin again at the front door.
That is all there is to it. The average house has about ten or twelve rooms. The average room has three or four walls. The average wall is small enough to get done in thirty minutes.
In my house, counting hallways, there are 52 walls, seven closets, and a LOT of cabinets and shelves. That means I ought to get the house totally clean in less than a year, but I’ve found it takes me closer to two years to get all the way through every room this way. Life does not always happen on schedule . . .
Still, if my house is “Newly Renovated” every two years, that’s a huge improvement! How about you?!
Katharine Trauger is a retired educator and a women’s counselor. She and her husband spent 25 years running a home and school for children who would otherwise have been homeless and has worked 15 years as contributor and/or columnist for several small professional magazines, with over 60 published articles. She blogs about the rising popularity of “being at home” from a sun room on a wooded hilltop in the Deep South at: Home’s Cool! and The Conquering Mom and tweets at Katharine Trauger (@KathaTrau). She is currently working on a self-help book entitled: Yes, It Hurts, But . . .
God overwhelms me. He overwhelms me with his goodness and his grace. Sometimes he drags me, kicking and screaming, to the right decision. I’m not an easy child of God.
When we lose someone dear to us, I don’t think we realize until then what a vast chasm their loss creates. Compound that with family disagreements and abandonment over an estate, and it becomes a deep valley. One wonders if there will ever be a way out. This happens more often than we realize.
The first year after my Mother’s death, I was quiet, calm throughout the storm raging around me, and sometimes in me. In every…single…step, I was calm. To this day, I remain amazed and look back at the time almost fondly. Why? Because I survived, made it through, and kept my promises to Mother. But most of all, my faith in God during that time was calm and a force. I KNEW He was with me, covering me. I did not take a step without talking to Him.
You see, during this time I really didn’t care if I lived.
Really…Did…Not…Care. My sisters and my nieces basically cut me out of their lives, and I was devastated. I had so tried to make everything work out, and I am sure-footed knowing I did my best. Along with my Mother, they are the reason I closed my Nashville, Tennessee business in 2002 and moved to Conway. And now?
My house is too big for me, and seems empty. We bought this sized house because my beloved nephew, 6’3″ Ron Greene, lived with us. We gave him the upstairs. The house was blue, Mother’s favorite color! Silly things that seemed to mean the world at the time. She loved this house, and really envisioned me living here after she was gone. In some of our late night talks she would tell me things she wanted me to do with the house — screened in back porch; take over the master suite. One out of two isn’t bad….
Through all of this, calm as I was, I really just hoped to die. Soon. Of course, I would never, ever actually kill myself, but I did not care. In my mind, I was useless. Everything I had done for family had been in vain. I really don’t think it was a pity party either, because I have known years and years now how very blessed my life truly is. My main goal was to get my affairs in order so I would not leave my nephew — executor of my will — a mess to clean up. He would have my Mother’s estate and mine to deal with, and that would not be fun or fair. So, my prayer was always to let me live until things were in order for him. That is basically still my prayer, but for a very different reason. I have a lot to do.
Ron deserves my best. He has lived with me or near me for the last 12-plus years of his 30 on this planet. He has backbone, and has withstood sometimes what seemed insurmountable odds to be in my life. He is my real life Hero!
Ron Greene and I celebrating his 30th birthday at our favorite place, The Capital Hotel’s One Eleven. 2015 permission from Brenda McClain
It will embarrass Ron, but he is also truly one of God’s Angels. For the first two years after Mother’s death, he stayed close, coming within a nano-second if I called. He left Conway Saturday, March 21st, on his new journey. I am so proud of him and the solid direction he has chosen. The sparkle in his eyes is back, and he is working to make his life better. He is still my Hero, an Angel of God. He’s just doing it from his beloved Texas! Through my tears and a few Krispy Kremes that Saturday, I was so very thankful.
The first friend I met in Conway was actually working in Little Rock. We met through my work with Gaither Music and his work with then-Governor Mike Huckabee. Don Bingham was Executive Director of the Governor’s Mansion. Little did I know what that chance meeting would hold. At the time, we were both just doing our jobs for our respective clients.
Don and Nancy Bingham with their grands.
Don Bingham is now Executive Director of the Governor’s Mansion for newly-elected Governor Asa Hutchinson. This Governor will never have a better, more loyal employee. The state is lucky to have Don and Nancy Bingham in our midst. Don and his wife Nancy are Angels in my life. I guess they travel in pairs?
Enter Georg and Annabelle Andersen. It was Georg who freely offered his expertise on redoing my then house, and Annabelle who would greet me with fresh muffins, or invite me to lunch every time I came home. We discovered we lived about three houses away from one another. One of the houses in-between was, according to Georg, home to “the best eye surgeon in the region, if you ever have a need.”
“Good to know,” I said. How little I really knew.
Georg and Annabelle Andersen in front of Elizabeth Bogard’s art in Art on the Green. Permission from Art on the Green.
Georg was to become my ‘Tipping Point’ Angel. He connected me to Nina Ruth Baker.
Georg was the one who first talked to me about working with Art on the Green, a top drawer Art Gallery, the first of its kind for this growing community. I was confident and experienced, but just simply going through the motions.
Nina and I met late one afternoon in the offices of Baker Eye Institute, where she assists her husband as a Registered Nurse Practitioner. HE is David Baker, MD, FACS. You remember? The best eye surgeon in the region, according to Georg. See how little I knew about God’s plans for me?
One of Nina Baker’s “Lift Up Your Head” paintings is hanging from the ceiling skylight at Baker Eye Institute and two are in the Cantrell Airport in Conway, Arkansas. Used with permission from artonthegreen.net
It was in Nashville, Otter Creek church of Christ and Jerry Jennings was talking about Ephesians when he said “God’s plans for us are so much greater than we can ever imagine.”
I have never forgotten that moment or his words.
On the drive home I was numb. Can this be? Is it possible that i’ve found good, interesting, and even visionary work that will allow me to utilize the skills I worked so hard to acquire? I called my Aunt, Marvine Ely of Fort Worth, Texas. Since she has been one of God’s Angels in my life for years, she understood. I was beginning to.
October 17, 2013 I wrote this about Nina on my blog, brendamcclain.com:
Then, there is Nina. Nina Ruth Baker, R.N. and Artist. Conway Art Gallery is her dream. As a young woman, told she was going blind, she picked up a paint brush and the rest is history…..As I met with different people in town I find their love and reverence for her kind heart similar to what was felt when The Dick Clark came on set of Prime Time Country. A hush, a genuine reverence for the person. This will embarrass her, I’m sure — but I want to say – publically, in this forum — just how loved she is by all. I am already learning so much from Nina.
Nina Baker in her studio, painting. Photo by permission with Art on the Green.
Have I learned from her? Beyond measure. Nina Ruth Baker is the most selfless human being I have ever, ever met. EVER.
And as selfless as Nina is, David is wise. I would see him from time to time, and he was always extremely encouraging to me in my work for Nina. But one day, when I was (unbeknownst to anyone) feeling really low, Nina came to the Gallery. We met each other going in.
David and Nina Baker with Wesley Walls at a Gallery reception.
“David asked me to give you this message today.” It was a very encouraging Bible verse, and while I want to keep this as a private message, there is no way I can accurately say how moved I was. I understood then, and continue to know, that David Baker,MD, FACS is one of God’s chosen Angels. I continue to be overwhelmed by David and Nina, their kindness, their generosity, and their just all-around goodness.
God answered my prayers before they were formed. He moved people, his earthly Angels, into my life for this very purpose, more than ten years before I knew I would need them.
This is the day my life felt renewed. Art on the Green’s ribbon cutting. L to R Front row: Katrina Dolislager, Sheila Parsons, Nina Baker, Georg Andersen, Linda Flake and Elizabeth Bogard. Back row: William McClanahan, Cathy Wester, David Baker, Parilee Croft, Lois Giorgis and Don Bingham. Used with permission Art on the Green.
Is this to say David and Nina, the Binghams, and the Andersens are the only Angels in my life? Absolutely not. So many have had an impact, and I plan to continue talking about my Earthly Angels @ brendamcclain.com in the coming months.
How do I ever say “thank you” to people who unknowingly helped me renew my life, gave me a new will to live? I can’t. What I can do is be as honorable as I know how to be around them, and if in some small way I can make their lives easier, I will. I do Pray so.
My favorite photo of Art on the Green at night. Photo used with permission Art on the Green.
Brenda McClain is Gallery Director for Art on the Green, the art vortex for Central Arkansas. Her blog, brendamcclain.com tells about her life and experiences in the Entertainment Business as the former CEO for MPR, a Nashville, Tn. based Public Relations agency.
You will usually find her having a morning Starbucks in Art on the Green, reading the headlines on her iPad mini. She’ll be the one in black and if the sun is shining maybe even wearing sunglasses!
What do you think of when you hear the word renew? I have mixed reactions, to be honest.
On one hand, I see it as a way of conveying life returning or revitalizing. Even though it brings on allergies, I love how Spring is a season of renewal. I see a renewal in the foliage and feel a renewal in my soul as the Winter fades away. For many of us, Spring and renewal go hand-in-hand because of Easter and the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
But there’s also a slightly negative connotation, at least in my mind. Think about it—you have to renew your driver’s license, right? For most of us that means picking a number and waiting in a long line.
And another reference is renewing wedding vows. Now hear me out here! I don’t think anything negative when I hear of friends renewing their vows. It’s romantic, touching and meaningful. But when I think of doing it myself, I keep thinking “how can I renew something that doesn’t expire?” My husband and I plan to do a similar thing and repeat our vows and celebrate our marriage. The first time will probably be at the 10-year mark (we’ve been married almost 7 years). But I just can’t call it a vow renewal. I want to call it a refresher. At least I felt that way before I started looking into it more for the sake of this blog.
Here’s the thing with most words—there is a real meaning and then there’s connotation. In other words, what the dictionary says and what people think the word means. So I looked it up.
This probably won’t surprise you, but renew has several similar definitions (I grouped them all together):
• to make (something) new, fresh, or strong again
• to make (a promise, vow, etc.) again
• to begin (something) again especially with more force or enthusiasm
• to make like new : restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection
• to make new spiritually
• to restore to existence
• to make extensive changes in
• to do again
• to begin again
• to grant or obtain an extension of or on
• to grant or obtain an extension on the loan of.
Whew! That’s a lot of potential uses of the word renew. But I see a lot of common threads there.
Do you notice that most of the definitions speak of something that existed but is either continuing or is starting again? And that when that thing, whatever it is, is coming out the other side stronger, better and possibly even more amazing?
I love that about the word renew. It doesn’t necessarily indicate that what was before was bad. In fact, it could be so great it’s worth repeating. Or even if whatever is being renewed changes, it implies that whatever was before provided a strong foundation.
To me, that’s not negative at all. It helps me reframe the whole idea of renew, even when it felt “off” to me before. Yes, even that long line at the DMV. After all, I didn’t lose my driver’s license with bad driving so I can look at it as the state saying “we still think you should be allowed to drive. Now go do it better.”
And the whole wedding vow thing? I now envision the idea of a vow renewal as talking about all these definitions above (OK, maybe not all). We can talk about how our marriage vows didn’t expire; instead we are restating them and strengthening them as we revisit our goals. In all honesty, it’s the exact same concept as before I’m just OK with the connotation now.
I’m interested to know, what do you think of when you hear the word renew? Is there anything in your life you want to renew as we come into Spring?
It is not difficult to find motivation to freshen up an outdoor space in spring. What is slightly more difficult is knowing what to plant. There are so many options — annuals, perennials, bushes, trees, flowers… And don’t forget to feed the bees.
When it comes to suggesting plant varieties for any situation, I like to encourage folks to add plants to their garden that are multi-purpose. Yarrow, for example, is a humble native wildflower, an herb that can be used for tea and it attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies. Red yarrow was even featured on the cover of this year’s David Austin Roses catalog, a fancy-schmancy English Rose catalog. If it is good enough to plant with roses, it is good enough for any space.
To renew your outdoor space, take a look at what you already have. Would it be easier to add new plants in old flower beds or would a container garden suit your space? How much time do you have to maintain your garden? Would you rather sip wine on the back porch then spend the evening pulling weeds? That is not a fair question — I think we would all prefer the first option.
Regardless of whether you are planting a few containers, a cutting garden or a poolside retreat, there are a few flowers that are easy to find locally, simple to plant and require little maintenance.
Yarrow – Our example from above comes in white, yellow, red and pink. All are beautiful options that look lovely alone or combined. Yarrow is a perennial which thrives in lean, sandy, clay or rocky soils. The blooms and leaves can be dried and used as teas or tinctures. Plant it in the ground or in a container in full sun for the best blooms, then forget it and let it grow.
Echinacea – Also known as the purple coneflower, echinacea is widely known as a relaxing herb. It is a reseeding annual — so if you leave the blooms at the end of the year to deposit seeds, it will come back the next year from seed. This plant is also loved by pollinators and makes a pretty cut flower.
Comfrey – This plant also used to be known as “knit bone” because of its potential to help heal broken bones quickly. This medicinal herb is used for topical salves, but should not be ingested. This plant is a nutrient accumulator — that is, its roots grow well below the surface of the soil and bring nutrients up to the surface where they can be absorbed by other plants. Comfrey is a beautiful summer plant that grows about 2 feet tall, and its leaves add valuable nutrients to the compost pile. Bees love the gentle bell-shaped blooms. A few things to consider: the leaves are prickly so don’t plant this along walkways where you would rub against it frequently, and the plant grows and spreads quickly.
Basil – There are culinary varieties of basil that are quite pretty as well as basil typically grown for its blooms. Either option is easy to grow from transplants or seed and both smell amazing in the heat of summer! Again, bees love the blooms of basil and opal basil is a stunning addition to any flower bed.
I could go on and on with a list of low-maintenance flowers to renew any outdoor space, but this is a good start. Tell me, what is your favorite flower to grow?
Tiffany Selvey is a Washington County Master Gardener who writes about growing food organically at Songbird-Gardens.com. When she is not elbow-deep in soil or teaching gardening classes, she enjoys spending time outside with her husband and son and playing with their rescue cats and dogs.