Making the Old New Again
I hope you are enjoying the outdoors on these summer days, at least a few minutes a day! Nature for me is a way to take my mind off the constant news and technology we live with.
My husband and I have been making the effort to sit outside in the morning and evening to enjoy the birds, the quiet, and even the glow of a solar garden globe. At least I have attempted to have two different garden globes, and no luck so far.
Last year, at a garden close out sale, we found a beautiful blue egg shaped glass light and put it in our garden. For two weeks, we enjoyed the subtle glow it emitted to light up the evening as we enjoyed the coolness of the night. Then one day my husband walked into it and shattered it.
We searched the rest of the summer for another egg shaped light and couldn’t find anything. So this last Mother’s Day, Tony found another blue ball for the garden. We had kept the solar piece from the last globe and wanted to use it, but the opening in the new ball was too small. I put it in my car to take to the glass shop.
The next evening, Tony was driving home from an appointment, turned a corner sharply and heard a crash in the back seat. Again, I had to part with another glass globe that would have been a beautiful addition to our garden.
Not wanting to throw away the beautiful glass, I put it on FB marketplace for free and had many interested people. I divided it in to two boxes and happily sent it on its way to be rediscovered in some new form of art.
This past Saturday, someone rang my doorbell. I looked outside and didn’t recognize the car. I opened the door to find one of the recipients of the glass pieces. She had come back to gift me with stepping stones. The broken glass now took the shape of a dragonfly.
I love the kindness shown in this simple act. She was a realtor and I am guessing she makes stepping stones for her new homeowners.So many things come to mind with this simple story.
1) When you give with joy, joy comes back to you in unexpected ways.
2) We can always make something old and/or broken into something new. Sometimes, it just takes a little imagination or thinking beyond the borders of our limits to move in a new direction.
I just recently found a quote stuck in a book, which I believe is from the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Eveyln says something like this-
Nothing here has worked out quite as I expected. Most things don’t. But you know, sometimes what happens next is the good stuff.
3) Letting go of things that no longer serve us help us to be open to new things. Old memories, things, or beliefs can keep us trapped until we choose to allow change in.
We don’t know what we don’t know, and holding on to things just because they are familiar can keep us trapped in constructs of our own making. What if we tried a new way of thinking, a new way of looking at the world?
4) Dragonflies symbolize change. Change is the only constant in our lives.
When we embrace it, and not allow fear to hold us back, we can welcome change, stay in the flow and find new life in the midst of things that scare us.
So, take a minute to get outside, rest in the quiet of the morning or evening, and look for a good change that has taken place for you this year. I understand that in the midst of COVID and turmoil in our country, it is more challenging to see the good. But even the darkness holds light, much like a garden glow ball under a summer sky!
My husband and I have been making the effort to sit outside in the morning and evening to enjoy the birds, the quiet, and even the glow of a solar garden globe. At least I have attempted to have two different garden globes, and no luck so far.
Last year, at a garden close out sale, we found a beautiful blue egg shaped glass light and put it in our garden. For two weeks, we enjoyed the subtle glow it emitted to light up the evening as we enjoyed the coolness of the night. Then one day my husband walked into it and shattered it.
We searched the rest of the summer for another egg shaped light and couldn’t find anything. So this last Mother’s Day, Tony found another blue ball for the garden. We had kept the solar piece from the last globe and wanted to use it, but the opening in the new ball was too small. I put it in my car to take to the glass shop.
The next evening, Tony was driving home from an appointment, turned a corner sharply and heard a crash in the back seat. Again, I had to part with another glass globe that would have been a beautiful addition to our garden.
Not wanting to throw away the beautiful glass, I put it on FB marketplace for free and had many interested people. I divided it in to two boxes and happily sent it on its way to be rediscovered in some new form of art.
This past Saturday, someone rang my doorbell. I looked outside and didn’t recognize the car. I opened the door to find one of the recipients of the glass pieces. She had come back to gift me with stepping stones. The broken glass now took the shape of a dragonfly.
I love the kindness shown in this simple act. She was a realtor and I am guessing she makes stepping stones for her new homeowners.So many things come to mind with this simple story.1) When you give with joy, joy comes back to you in unexpected ways.
2) We can always make something old and/or broken into something new. Sometimes, it just takes a little imagination or thinking beyond the borders of our limits to move in a new direction.
I just recently found a quote stuck in a book, which I believe is from the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Eveyln says something like this-
Nothing here has worked out quite as I expected. Most things don’t. But you know, sometimes what happens next is the good stuff.
3) Letting go of things that no longer serve us help us to be open to new things. Old memories, things, or beliefs can keep us trapped until we choose to allow change in.
We don’t know what we don’t know, and holding on to things just because they are familiar can keep us trapped in constructs of our own making. What if we tried a new way of thinking, a new way of looking at the world?
4) Dragonflies symbolize change. Change is the only constant in our lives.
When we embrace it, and not allow fear to hold us back, we can welcome change, stay in the flow and find new life in the midst of things that scare us.
So, take a minute to get outside, rest in the quiet of the morning or evening, and look for a good change that has taken place for you this year. I understand that in the midst of COVID and turmoil in our country, it is more challenging to see the good. But even the darkness holds light, much like a garden glow ball under a summer sky!
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