April 29, 2013 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

Thank you for the Dragon Loyalty Award

Thank you to dear Shaun for nominating me for the “Dragon Loyalty Award.” You are so gallant and strong…and your blog is that of an Honest Knight! Dear Shaun, you wrote: “I have a great life, I am blessed, but when the hurt comes, I turn to you, Word Press..And you help me.. I hope I help you back, just a little” —- your words have helped me a great deal! Thank you for being a blogger and sharing your truth so beautifully!

Seven Facts about me:

1. I seem to love to laugh…more and more…and not to “cover up” pain…I feel so happy! and it is WONDERFUL! I have been sad long enough in my life…and now I think there is something more…deeper joy!

2. I love to plant trees…unfortunately, due to last summer’s drought, trees that I watched grow for 2o years, are now dying. But today, my neighbor gave me 4 more trees to plant! How kind and generous of Ellen!

3. I am blessed with beautiful people in my life…my family…my daughters…my grandchildren..LOVE!

4. I do enjoy playing Canasta and Gin Rummy…occasionally.

5. I would love to learn French, Spanish, Hindi and Chinese. I know one or two phrases in each. Now time for some serious studying! LOL

6. Sometimes I get very lonely…and depressed…and I turn to my writing to free myself…and then I get responses from the wonderful WordPress family and all is well! Since I have begun daily meditation, I am doing so much better…I see how important it is to return to the Center…to find balance.

7. I believe in the GOD of LOVE—and I am open to all forms of spirituality….because, honestly, I think we are all ONE in LOVE. We are all water love crystals, gifting each other along the way…just like a bag of marshmellows when placed in the microwave—they all become ONE! So we are marshmellows of love crystals full of love sugar and whichever religion, spirituality, view gets you to believe in yourself and the goodness of others is a wonderful, tremendous gift!

I now award 7 people:

* Kamlesh Oraon scarycloud.wordpress.com http://en.gravatar.com/kamleshoraon

A new and inspiring poet from Dhanbad, India. I am nominating Kamlesh for this award because he reminds me of a Gentle Dragon going out into the world, giving blessings and hope to all with his new found voice in poetry!

* Saunved Mutalik http://saunved.wordpress.com/

So young a writer, a poet, and already on the road to success! Saunved, your blog is wonderful to read! Such versatile entries! Love your humor!

* Mama Baker http://crumbsnatchertales.com/

Love your recipes and joy of life…a happy dragon of delicious words!

* Pat Gerber-Relf http://angloswisscat.wordpress.com/

For her very delightful blog in which her dynasty cats allow her to publish their profound writings! How wonderful and fun!

* http://www.mybpdlife.org/

You are a courageous lady! Your words are the expression of your bravery! You are a lovely, talented and amazing dragon of inner strength!

* http://emdawn80.wordpress.com

Love your beautiful pen drawings…your selected quotes…your words! Your strength to go out there and be BOLD! Definitely a gentle dragon!

* http://theelusivescribe.wordpress.com

You receive this award, dear Elusivescribe, for you are the Dragon of Romanticism! Lovely, lovely poems have you!

* Patty http://petitemagique.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/hardest-post-for-me-ever/

I nominate you, Patty, for this award, because you have tremendous, courageous fire in your words…you are my Dragon of Courage!

Thank you again, Shaun, for the award! YOU are my Dragon of Gallantry! You honor me too much! Congratulations to the SEVEN BLOGGERS above and may your footprints of thoughts continue to grow!

Jane

The Rules are…

-Display the Award Certificate on your website.

-Announce your win with a written post and link to whoever presented your award.

-Present 7 awards to deserving bloggers.

-Drop them a comment to tip them off after you have liked them in the post.

-Post 7 interesting things about yourself.

-If you don’t have a blog but have a website, Facebook, or Twitter or other type account, post there with a link back.

April 28, 2013 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

the elusive thought

In Thought (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

the thought is there

and then it is gone

on the edge of consciousness

i can feel it

overpowering

my brain begins to run

trying to catch it…

anxiety builds…

my breath abates…

then…

it slips away…

oh…begin again…

let it go…

perhaps a blessing awaits me

and the thought will return

to nudge me again

April 28, 2013 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

laughing water bubbles

not you

not me

laughing water bubbles

carrying us beyond human limitations

laughing water bubbles

healing you

healing me

carrying us into the Heart of Joy

Bubbles left at tide pools after the ocean water retreated (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

live your water bubble with gratitude (johannisthinking.com)
Milk / Water drop collision in a bubble (colincarterphotography.wordpress.com)
The Bubble Bath (vinesveins.com)
Absolute Laugh (theauthorsblogg.wordpress.com)

April 28, 2013 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

love crystals – a healing wish for my friend

Crystals (Photo credit: Velo Steve)

love crystals

all around

love crystals

in your arms

love crystals

for you and me

love crystals

keep you free

love crystals

touching you

love crystals

healing thru

love crystals

your very being

love crystals

so clearly seen

April 27, 2013 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

Thank you for the Sunshine Award. I am deeply honored. Thank you!

I am so blessed to be part of this family on WordPress.com I am honored to have received the SUNSHINE AWARD from the following two bloggers on WordPress:

Shaun shaungibson1@sky.com and/or http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/sunshine-award-2/ Thank you, Shaun, for your very kind award! When I visited your blog, I found myself entranced by your courage and strength to accept all that is so very difficult, and yet, you continue to share and to blog and to live life as fully as you can! You are amazing! Your children are blessed to have so gentle a father as you!

and from…

HikariYori@rocketmail.com and/or http://daylighttune.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/sunshine-award/

Thank you, Hikari Yori, for the Sunshine Award. I feel as though I have not earned this…I accept it with gratitude, nevertheless. Your blog strives to bring light into this world, and I hope I do also…even in the sad things that I write. I hope that through the darkness of some of my poems, strength and light are found in their conclusion. Thank you so much! ありがとう Arigatō

Rules for receiving the SUNSHINE AWARD:

Include the award’s logo in a post or on your Blog.
Answer 10 questions about yourself.
Nominate 10 Bloggers.
Link your nominees to the post and comment on their Blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.
Link the person who nominated you.

Ten Questions:

Favorite color: Ultramarine Blue
Favorite animal: Dog
Favorite number: 4
Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Water
Prefer Facebook or Twitter? Neither..If I had to choose Facebook
My passion(s): My family…humanity…truth
Prefer getting or giving presents: Giving
Favorite pattern: Eclectic…it changes daily…LOL
Favorite days of the week: Thursday — week is drawing to a close and anticipation for the weekend! It was also the day I was born–eons ago! LOL
Favorite flower: Daffodil

10 blogs to nominate:

* Kamlesh Oraon http://en.gravatar.com/kamleshoraon and/or scarycloud.wordpress.com

I have chosen Kamlesh to receive this award because he is not only writing poetry with great VOICE, he is writing in a language that is his second lingua franca to learn! How courageous is that! I admire his fortitude and determination to write poetry and to learn English at the same time! WOW! That is true SUNSHINE ! That is the “courage of light”…and so I nominate him for the SUNSHINE AWARD!

* Judy Berman http://earth-rider.com

I have chosen Judy because she brings sunbeams to my thinking. Clarity always follows after I read her lines of poetry or essays.

* Idealistic Rebel http://idealisticrebel.wordpress.com

I have chosen Idealistic Rebel because her words have the potential to bring sunshine into the lives of so many who think that there is no way out or any other way to live. Her words offer the hope of sunshine!

* Dennis McHale http://dlmchale.com/ The Writer Bites My Bones

I have chosen Dennis because his poetry flows beautifully and wakens my heart to reality — which brings light to my soul!

* Grandma Lin http://grandmalin.wordpress.com/about/#comment-2688

I have chosen Grandma Lin for sharing the simplicity of everyday life and the little things that make our lives meaningful as she saw them in her own family’s history. How refreshing!

* Noeleen & Daniel http://wordsfallfrommyeyes.wordpress.com

I have chosen Noeleen for the SUNSHINE AWARD for her unfailing bravery…for her courage…for the deep love she has for her son…for the Sunshine she is bringing into his life! and for the sunshine she has brought into mine with her unrelenting valour! You are amazing, Noeleen!

*Patty http://petitemagique.wordpress.com/awards-and-dedicated-poems/

I have chosen Patty for the SUNSHINE AWARD for her generosity in giving affirmations to other bloggers! for her gentle expression of hope and compassion! for her teaching us how to do other things with WordPress, i.e.recent how-to print a photo with your poem! Thank you for your kind and soft spirit, Patty!

* Carl D’Agostino http://carldagostino.wordpress.com

I have selected Carl for the award for the sunshine his writing brings to my heart! So beautiful and romantic!

* Seeker http://theseeker57.wordpress.com/

I have selected Seeker for the SUNSHINE AWARD because of her deep honesty for truth and her constant seeking of the LIGHT!

* George http://euzicasa.wordpress.com/

I have selected George for the SUNSHINE AWARE because he strives to bring good things to the LIGHT…the wonderful art and artists of the world. He cares about goodness and in spreading GOOD!

Please accept and give to 10 others.

Thanks

Jane

April 25, 2013 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

Letting go…

letting go

letting free

oh hard it is

to let it be

letting go

letting free

hard as nails

to let it be

letting go

setting free

let it be

open cocoon

butterfly love

you are free

let it be

April 24, 2013 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

each WOMAN, each young GIRL is a GIFT…treat yourself with respect and treat her with respect!

Girl at sunset (Photo credit: nxb)

The young girl and woman in our world needs to be elevated to personhood! How many thousands of light years have passed, and still women and girls are treated with disdain and lack of respect? Women and young girls are looked upon as only sex objects or slaves in every country and society of this world. Too many women and young girls do not think they are worth something without a man beside them.

Women and girls everywhere must believe in their own innate goodness! We are worthy because we are! Each woman and girl is worthy because she was born! Being born makes you worthy!

Our connection to ourselves and to each other is broken. We must revitalize that connection to each other. We must look at our very nature which is to give life…and I am not just speaking about procreation…I am talking about our nature to be life-givers…love-givers…nurturers! We have to give that love to ourselves. We need to respect our own needs and desires. Naturally, we eat when we are hungry, we sleep when we are tired, but when we need love, do we tell ourselves: “I love you, Self!” ?

I read just the other day of a 15 year old girl who was gang-raped. The law enforcement did next to nothing to help her in her situation. The young boys who sexually abused her were not brought to task for their deed but instead, ridiculed the girl even more after the horrific event! The ability of the sexual abusers to disseminate the poor plight of this young girl through the social media that is available today , drove this girl to her death. Ultimately, she committed suicide. Unfortunately, I believe this same horrible crime occurs everyday somewhere in this world. The woman or girl is blamed for being female and the “boys were just being boys.” Rape is murder — it is murder of the human spirit of the girl or woman!

I feel we are all at fault for not promoting the self-worth of the female person. Women everywhere need to help other women. Help each other and each day make it your priority to uplift one woman or one girl. Make one positive statement to that person — we need each other!

First, as a person, we need to know that we have worth. We are alive! We have to first love ourselves…we are able to do this by recognizing that we are gift. We need to be for ourselves what we think others can do for us. BE the WORTH that you look for in others!

Raised in a Catholic home, and often told that God loved me, I was also constantly reminded that I should and ought to be selfless, and to love others and to help others. Somehow, to help myself, did not occur to me. Somehow, I received the message that if I did things for myself, then I was NOT being a good Christian. I was being selfish and not thinking of what I could do to help someone else. Today, I still struggle with loving myself as I should. I still struggle with self-worth, and I have two college degrees, held teaching jobs for over 36 years, helped to raise my three daughters, and still struggle with self-esteem! The external things are there that would say I was relatively successful in life, but my interior compass, needs constant reassurance and strengthening. I have to take the time each day to meditate and go to that inner core and find my worth. I have to do this for me! I take the time for me! Quiet and mediation because I am worth the time!

Women and girls need to believe they are worth being loved in truth!

Do not accept being hit or abused as a form of love. That is not love. Would you hit yourself? Would you scream and berate yourself? “NO! Of course not, you say to me.” Well, then do NOT accept that behavior from your husband or boyfriend. YOU have WORTH!

Seek out that partner who loves your gentle soul. Seek out that partner who does not need to control you, your every move, your friendships…that person is NOT healthy and is a control freak and manipulative. True love is trusting and allows freedom to love many. I am NOT negating committed relationships. I just think that when one person tells another whom they can speak to –this erodes your own responsibility to care for yourself and make your own decisions. When your boyfriend or husband tries to distance you from your family, it is a control issue. It is not because he cares about you. That person wants you under his power. Once a boyfriend or husband breaks that boundary of hitting you, it will happen again, again, again, again and again…until your spirit is so broken…that you will either die or wither…and then…will you be fortunate to find that last glimmer of hope to lift yourself from the ashes? or ….?

Do NOT think you do not have worth, because you do not have a man on your arm. I know that there are good men and good teenage boys…however, IF you need someone else to complete you, then you have NOT done your homework for yourself. Then you do not love and respect yourself ! No one can complete you but you!

Believe in you!

You are WORTHY….you should not be hit or abused in any way!

We have to see that we have all that we need within…go to your core…and listen to your inner heart. Darling, talk to yourself and tell you that you love you each morning when you awake!

Tell yourself, “Darling, you are on a fascinating journey and you are doing a great job each day!”

And when you find yourself in a situation that is not good, do as this saying suggests, author unknown, “Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you or makes you happy.”

Please remember, that the universe thought you were a good idea… and DO NOT GIVE UP ON YOU…ever!

Relationships are good and important in our lives, helping one another is good and important in our lives…but we have to first love ourselves, only then, can we truly love another. As Goethe said, “Believe in yourself, and you will know how to live.”

As the saying goes, “Understand that you own nothing. Everything that surrounds you is temporary. Only the love in your heart will last forever.” And, YOU are LOVE!

“I wish that I could show you that when you are alone or in darkness, the astonishing LIGHT of your own being!” Hafiz