Harm No One!

On this Halloween night, I hope everyone is taking precautions to stay safe.

Let us remember to be watchful and aware.

Equally important is for us to be kind, loving and fair.

Tricks and mischief can only hurt…

with evil intentions we should not flirt.

Treats always come to those who are kind and sweet!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

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The Winds…(of Sandy)

The Winds… (of Sandy)
by Dr. Angela Kowitz Orobko

The WINDS…they gust
with sinister lust,
powerfully bending the trees.

The full moon tides
that coincide,
flooding our lands willfully.

Heartfelt prayers and love
signaling the angels above,
to deliver us from hurt and destruction.

As time passes by
the wind still cries,
causing fear and dysfunction.

But we will soon see
through this melee
that we are more than just survivors.

Material things we can replace,
but not the human race,
so, let us hang on to each other.

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Gifts of Love Slideshow

As many of you know I am giving away 100 Gifts of Love, which are hand-painted lunch bags with the intention of spreading love tangibly and inspire others to spread love. I have given away close to forty gifts now. Here is a slideshow/gallery of gifts #31 – 52.

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When I give away 20 more, I will post another slideshow. I encourage each of you to join in this campaign by going to HEARTS THAT CARE. I have a gallery of all the bags I have created from 1 to 30. I am adding more to the gallery each week. I have given most of these bags away. When you choose to do the Gift Of Love Campaign, you will be paying LOVE forward by creating your own beautiful work of art on paper lunch bags. I have a poem available on my website for you to include with your hand-painted/crafted bag. This is an opportunity to give others a Gift Of Love, express your kindness, connect with others in a meaningful way, value and appreciate who he or she is, and make his or her day.

Buckled Down; Higher Ground

Between yesterday and today, my family and I have moved things up from the ground level in anticipation of flooding. As you see in the picture, we elevated my dinner table and placed items on top of it. We, also secured all loose items that we had outside. I was thinking, this an interesting metaphor for life as I seek higher levels spiritually.

Furthermore, I have secured my belief in my Lord Jesus Christ and God. I have buckled down all my loose emotions like fear and grounded them in love and joy. How are you moving yourself to a higher level and securing your beliefs?

 

Preparation, for a storm is a brewing…

We are preparing for the worst and praying for the best. Hurricane Sandy is getting a lot of press lately, but it is truly better to be safe than sorry. Back in 2003, when hurricane Isabel came through, hardly anyone expected the 8.5 feet tidal storm surge we received. There was so much property damage. It looked like a war zone during the clean up.

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There was so much debris, ruined appliances and furniture on the streets. There were so many trees down due the many little tornadoes that spawned as a result of Isabel. These caused a power outage that lasted a week. We didn’t get our phone back for ten days. Despite all we endured,  we were grateful no one was hurt. Things can be replaced, people cannot. May God bless all of us who are on the East Coast with me who will be affected by hurricane Sandy. Preparations are key; please stay safe.

 

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Time to Bond…

 

I had the most wonderful couple of days! I got to spend time with two phenomenal women, Mikell and Deborah. Mikell opened up her home to me as we shared our hearts. Deborah joined us the next night for dinner, when we spent time together and really got to know each other on a deeper level.

The whole experience reminded me the importance of developing deep and meaningful bonds. Two years ago, we became acquainted via an on-line life coach certification program with thirty other wonderful women. Mikell, Deborah, Carrie and I were part of a cohort of  four, in which we discussed lessons, completed a couple of team  projects, and supported each other. (Carrie was not able to join us this time; however, I am certain she will next time.)

Mikell, Deborah and I were able to really connect at a profound, meaningful level when we spent time face-to-face. The interpersonal relationship we had established with each other two years ago was greatly enhanced, as we exchanged and expressed stories of ourselves and our interests openly, honestly and with admiration for each other. It was powerful! I wish we had more time together. I am certain we will manifest more opportunities to get together. The past couple of days allowed me to appreciate and realize the value of time and energy given to develop and strengthen the bonds with others in our lives. It is vital to share time and energy in order to nurture interpersonal relationships. How have you spent your time and energy these past couple of days?

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Gift Of Love #36

As I have given an update on my Gift of Love campaign yesterday, I also discussed how each bag has a story. Gift of Love #36 has a very special story. It has an image of praying hands with 3 hearts surrounding them. The three hearts represent God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

I spent a lot of time on the hands because I wanted them to look as reverent as possible. I, also, felt deeply connected with the Holy Spirit as I painted this. I really sensed that God was guiding me through this Gift Of Love. In fact, as I have progressed with this series of Gift of Love bag paintings, my connection with God and Spirit became more and more profound. It is extraordinarily validating. I know I am doing what I need to do. Have you ever felt this kind of connection in your work?

Gift Of Love Update

In the hands of over thirty individuals, a Gift Of Love has been delivered. These gifts are most likely touching hearts  more profoundly than I will ever know. Back on April 1, 2012 I was inspired by God to create 100 hand-painted paper lunch bags to illustrate the gift of love; and, then share them with others. Some went to friends, a few to family members, but most of them are going to acquaintances and people I have just met just because our paths crossed at that moment in time, which has been my favorite experience.

This week I plan to give out twenty more Gifts of Love, which will bring the total just past fifty bags. Each lunch bag is a work of art and love created with a blend of crafters (liquid) and artist (heavy-bodied) quality acrylic paint. Each Gift of Love is different, but theme of love and hearts are on each one. And, each image tells a story.

Gift of Love #34 has footprints and hearts on it. It tells the story of how love is a journey of the heart that needs to be made authentically without covering up who you are. When we present ourselves as someone we are not, we set up our relationships for failure. It is only when we can bear our heart and soul to others that we are able to attract those who love us for who we truly are creating a strong and profound bond. How are you presenting yourself to others?

Are you trying to impress others as someone you are not or have you permitted yourself to be genuine and true, letting go of all expectations? Are you able to let go of any concern of how others might think of you? It is not easy, but once you can, you will feel uplifted and joy will fill your heart. The only person  you need to please and delight is yourself.

Be Gentle…

We can be our own worst enemies. I find myself wanting to accomplish so much and then mentally berating myself for not meeting my daily goals. I have the choice to be gentle with myself and celebrate everything I did do! I have found that I am doing other worthwhile activities that were not even on my mental to-do list (Aside…I made a typo just now, and it read do-do list…maybe that is exactly what it is). In an article I wrote back in February I suggested creating a Ta-da List.

The point of that article was to share a couple of tools to help us gain a sense of accomplishment by creating a mental shift. The first thing we did was reorganize our way of thinking on “what we NEEDED TO DO” and then  we proceeded to reinvent or recreate the familiar honey-do/to-do lists into something fun. We discovered the best way to get anything accomplished was to create a visual organizer or map to help us focus on the main item or items among all those daunting tasks that vied for our attention.  This was a mental shift from the standard To-do List to a Map of Hocus-Focus, which made it fun and fanciful. (for more go to To Do or Ta-Da?)

This is a lovely way to be gentle with myself and others. Another fabulous way is to accentuate the positive in our lives. It is uplifting to appreciate all the wonderful people, things, and events that have taken place and count our blessings. It stirs enthusiasm and it can be self-inspiring to spark the energy we need to get us through the challenges and tasks at hand. How are you gentle with yourself and others?

 

Tugs on my Creative Heart-Strings…

I have this need to just create, create, create…so what is holding me back. Would you believe, posting about it? I spend more time just thinking about what to write, taking pictures or scanning art work, and editing them than doing the wonderful creating that I would rather be doing. Ironic. So, after I post this short blog today, I am going to spend the next few hours creating art and writing. What is tugging on your creative heart-strings at this moment?