One Snap for Thirty

Well, hello my friends! I hope that this finds you all doing well and enjoying the last few weeks of summer. We have been fairly active this summer and I have been glad for it as a few weeks ago, we lost my Dad. His death, while I am glad he is not suffering anymore, has affected me deeply. My Dad was a happy, funny, wise and loving individual who always had some wisdom to share. He did amazing things in his lifetime, like working for NASA...No, really...he did! He raised a son and then took on the task of being a wonderful father to me and my brothers. He made my Mother happy. He enjoyed camping, poker and he disliked anything that could not be explained rationally, lol. We once had an argument over the movie The Ring, because of that very thing, lol. Can you imagine? He was never far away and even though we had not talked over the phone much this past year, I loved him. I know he loved me.

I have been very blessed with a very strong support system and while I am not over this hurt by a long shot, they have kept me in the life of the living. Kept me busy. They have not allowed me to lay down and give in to my sorrow. Today, as I write this, I am very thankful for that. I am loved just as my Father was loved...he saved me more times than I can count and that's what it is all bout in this life. Forming lasting relationships in this big and scary world. Giving and being loved...well, I had that and will continue to have it. I was a very lucky girl to have him be a part of my life and I will miss him for as long as I am here on this plane. So, I have had good days and bad. I am sure that will stay with me for a while, but I still have to move forward. Even if there are days that I don't want to. I know that we as humans almost always say this when tragedy touches us, but it rings true. Tell those that you love, that you love them. Not just now and then, but EVERY single day! You just never know... 

In that spirit of things, a challenge has been lay down. Something to keep me from wallowing. Yes, I have decided to take on a little creative challenge. I am going to pursue some inspiration and shoot something every day for the month of September. That will mean that I will never be away from my camera. I will be looking for inspiration in everything I do. Even the boring stuff. I am pledging to post a snap for every day and I am kind of excited to see where I end up then. Just picture it...a snap shot of something every day. What will my life look like in photos? The possibilities are endless!

So, here it is. I am not only challenging myself to do this, but I am challenging you too! Imagine the things we can create or see or do in 1 month? What will all this creativity look like? How and where do we find inspiration? I don't know the answers, but I am excited to find them out! Are you with me?

Let's fill our news feeds and walls with something beautiful every day, just by living our lives!

Anna
Artfully Odd

A Point of View from an Empath

Life is beautiful and terrifying and wonderful and terrible. Sometimes it can be all those things at once. But whatever it is, I know that it leaves holes in all of us. Sometimes those holes are deep, and one has to wonder how they will ever fill them...others are shallow and scar over quickly. I think that we all search for that something that will heal us. It could simply be a smile from a loved one or a really great day or even a new spiritual path. No matter what it is, we all have our ways of coping. But for those of us who feel things more deeply than others, how do you fill those holes. As an empath, how do you block things out when you are doing extreme archaeology in your deep hole?

I write this because I know we all go through this. All empaths certainly do and there are some days when all the grounding and chanting and candle burning and cleansing in the universe will not help. I have read that true em-paths often struggle with this and that some days it's best for them to stay in bed. While I can appreciate that, I am far to busy to be able to do that. Sometimes I lose myself in creative pursuits and that seems to help a lot, but at the end of the day, it does not take the feeling away. Now, don't get me wrong here, I love what I am. I love that I am able to help others and I love that I am easy to talk to, but there is a huge downside and it might be one that you never think of, I certainly didn't, and it's loneliness. I have gotten very good at walking my path,(I often walk it alone), so very good at helping others and taking care of negative energy that one day I turned around and I realized that I desperately need to talk and there is no one there who really understands. And let me say, I have a wonderful husband who loves me, but he has a hard time understanding what is going on with me for many reasons. The main one being he is not an empath himself. But he is a wonderful support to me and I love him so.

The path of an empath is indeed very lonely. We don't like being in crowded rooms as there are too many emotions to steer clear of. We feel things so deeply that it gets us into trouble sometimes because we often can't control our emotions. People often don't understand us and because we tend to distance ourselves, think we are standoffish, or worse yet, fake. We carry a bit of extra weight...I have read that its to shield us, but who the heck knows if that's true. We are sensitive to a fault as well. I have trouble watching sappy or disturbing movies, commercials or listening to some music. Reading blogs and emails can be difficult. I often need moments of quiet to steady my mind and ground daily. It makes normal life difficult. Thank goodness I am an artist at heart. I have lived a normal reality most of my life and it almost killed me. That's not being dramatic, that's truth. I had a very hard time coping and it makes having a normal job difficult. Now, here's the part where I vent. It's hard! It's frustrating! I feel so much sometimes and lately it has gotten worse. I have read recently that many of us are feeling this together. I try to find comfort in that.

One of my favorite authors, Laurell K. Hamilton wrote recently in her blog that, "True faith is a path filled with many stones and thorns, because it is not the easy road that makes a warrior." She posted that on a day when I needed to hear it and no truer words were ever spoken. I saved this statement and I look to it often for wisdom and a reminder that I am not alone. (Which I am never truly, she is always with me)

 So, to my like minded friends...to my spiritual friends...how do we cope when life grabs us by the shoulders and yanks us around a bit? How do we fill the destiny of our path? How do we balance our Karma? How do we ask the Goddess to take us by the hand, even just for a moment, and share her wisdom?

I wrote this for many reasons, sympathy not being one of them. Mostly, I felt compelled to write this for anyone else out there in the universe that feels the same way or lonely tonight. To you, whoever you are...You are not alone.

To the Goddess- Thank you for your constant. As within...so without. Blessed Be!

Anna