Beauty and Laughter Happen

Life at high velocity speeds your own evolution.
- 'Mind Over Water', Craig Lambert

I am writing this post while enjoying a glass of white wine - Fetzer Gewurztraminer a favorite of mine - and appreciating the sun shining on the Magnolia tree in full bloom just outside my study window. This beauty exists even though my husband has been out of a job since August 2008, I am still recovering from mass lay-offs in December where I work, a family member needs to be moved to assisted living, we are struggling to pay out-of-state tuition for my son and to top it off, my camera is not working. (That's why the picture above is not my magnolia tree, although mine looks almost exactly the same.)

This is probably way too much information, but I wanted to let you know why I usually post only twice a month and sometimes just once. (And my glass of wine is definitely making this easier.)

Frankly, I have been awed by the fabulous bloggers out there who manage beautiful posts almost everyday. I just love Melissa at the Inspired Room and Joni at Cote de Texas. Someday I hope to be able to send in comments to these inspiring blogs. Right now all I seem to manage is reading the posts.

As for coping with the roller coaster that is my life right now, everyday I force myself to find a bit of beauty and something to smile about. Many days this feels like pulling teeth, but if I just pay attention, beauty and laughter happen. Today, it was the magnolia tree and hearing my son's remarks about 'Dancing with the Stars'. He caught a glimpse of the show while I was cooking dinner. His comment about Gilles, "Sit down sexy dancing man! How can anyone take you or your haircut seriously," had me laughing out loud.

So what keeps me blogging even though I don't have nearly the talent of other designers out there and obviously I can't keep up with their beautiful prose and frequent posts? For me, the friendly and warm people found in the design blogging community are a little bit of heaven. Especially at this time in my life, it is a joy to contribute and participate in my small way to such a lovely group of women and men.

For those of you who are interested, a few short blurbs about me and Jewel Box Home appear in the following magazines this month: