Painting the Canvas of Life with Positive Brush Strokes

Every day is an opportunity for me to paint a new section on a canvas called life. With hope, an artist's eye, and an enthusiastic spirit, I choose the right hues to inspire my thoughts and guide my brush. Each stroke is carefully placed to fill a space then, reflected upon. I celebrate each lifting of the brush as I connect the strokes.

This year, positivity is my guide. I wake each morning to immerse myself in positive thinking. With this fresh attitude, I start my day by painting my canvas with bright, vivid colors. I open my heart to possibilities in the face of challenges that may come my way, chasing away negativity and fears that may creep into my thinking. I listen to my heart, others around me who guide my way, and the murmurings of nature that lead my thinking within. 

There is much reflective thinking needed to make positivity a mantra. I try to quiet the chatter, to become still with nature. Last January, my one little word openness served me well. It allowed me to pause and look within. The OLW I chose spoke to me. Resolute led to openness. Pause found its way in as a reflective move to let openness carry me further on my journey. Now, my mind, heart, and spirit asked listen to guide my journey. 

Recently, I have been pondering life thoughts by two great thinkers from past eras:  Henry David Thoreau and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. While writing down the quotes, I listen to their callings and find meaning in the words.

The world is but a canvas to the imagination.

Thoreau

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.

Roosevelt

Positivity has become my guide on the journey of life. I try each day to immerse myself in positive thinking so I can paint my canvas with bright, vivid colors that open my heart to possibilities. In the face of challenges that may come my way, I rely on faith and positivity to get me through. 

Will I be successful on my journey? 

Perhaps, 

but if I take a misstep, 

I shall not falter. 

I will pick up my brush 

and paint a new scene, 

step back to reflect, 

and move on. 

It is my hope that this reflection, my slice of life thought, will allow others to be filled with faith, hope, and positivity as they walk their journey this year. 

Now please stroll over to Two Writing Teachers 

where you will find the Slice of Life 

and the offerings of various slicers.

Winter Whisperings Calling to Me

This week, winter graced Long Island with biting cold and snowy drops that patterned their flight with the grace of a ballerina on stage. White flakes moved to and fro before stepping lightly on earth. As the steady stream approached, the flakes settled creating a soft white setting for little feet to tip toe through. It all appeared so serene as I listened in silence from my windowed perch.  

Thought #1

Snow dances in patterns. I watch its flight.

As dreamers wander and writers write.

Thought #2

With a writer's eye,

staring upon street corners 

of partial winter white, 

I reflect in the light:

Help me find the perfect swatch

to color a world of winter watch.

Thought #3

May winter call to you as it enters each locale. From the blustery sub-zero states to the warmth of the southern exposures, winter greets all of us in a variety of ways. Let it speak to you and provide a perspective unique to your region. From its call the Winter Whisperings Gallery of Artistic Expressions will arise. Please join me this season to showcase winter as a season for listening to the callings of nature as it surrounds us in its varied colors of winter white. In the above image, winter is lit by the radiance of the sun reflecting upon the snow. Wih the assistance of photo editing tools I was able to emphasize the "snowsun." 

You can access information about the gallery at last week's Poetry Friday offering here.

With winter winds calling me this morning, 

I ask you to journey over to Tabatha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference

 as she hosts the Poetry Friday Round-up.

Her offering of William Carlos Williams' poem, Winter Trees, 

is the perfect entrance for my post.

Ready for #Nerdlution15

It's time to stop lollygagging about my nerdlution now that I have settled on my One Little Word, listen. The time is right to give full attention to what is possible for me to accomplish in the next fifty days so today I am announcing my 2015 nerdlution as a basis for my positivity campaign. 

I decided not to make any resolutions that will be dropped along the way but a nerdlution is a nerdy form of my OLW so that is fine. As Colby Sharp says, these nerdlutions should become part of our lives and no longer goals. Hopefully, my nerdlution will become a way of life for me. So what I can realistically do for the next fifty days?

Are you ready to LISTEN? I have three tasks that will comprise my #Nerdlution15.

1. LISTEN intently to what life has to offer and what I can offer back. You 

can read more about this quest here and here. 

2. Write each day, LISTENING to the voice inside and hopefully the muse who visits me. I will offer my new gallery, Winter Whisperings, as a platform for diverse writers to gather together to publicize that reflective writing matters. 

I am inviting all connected colleagues to write for the Winter Whisperings Gallery of Artistic Expressions. Are you curious? If so, you can access information here and see the previous gallery collection, Finding Fall here. 

3. Publicize #NYEDChat as the voice of New York State educators to focus on the importance of connectivity as a way to blur the lines of boundaries that separate. With a concerted effort, PD love will be highlighted throughout the next fifty days and beyond, via Twitter educhats.

These three components of my Nerdlution 2015 are doable, so I offer them into the wide reaches of social media to bring focus to the power of togetherness on the journey of life.

I am off to making my Nerdlution 2015 a reality. 

I will LISTEN-LEARN-LIVE LIFE POSITIVELY!

Join Me.

Focusing on the Path to Positivity

With the holidays still a vivid memory and January settling in, it is important to keep our focus on what is important. As the Proverbs 4:25 says, "Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you." 

http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-positively-positive-start-to-2015.html

Positivity is an open road, 

a lens to view life, 

and a tool to keep our heart 

open for possibilities. 

What better way to bring 

FOCUS 
and 
positivity

into the daily routine 

than 

to wake up each morning 

and 

start the day with the Divine Light.

For as the song says

" 'Cause to start the day without You is impossible to do." 

Today, at Spiritual Journey Thursday, 

we bring our attention to Holly Mueller's One Little Word for 2015: FOCUS

 knowing that this is the way we need to start each day.

FOCUS on the Light as you walk on the Reflective Pathway.

One Little Word Becomes My 2015 Mantra

With the New Year comes a fresh start to approach life in a different way. This new pathway we discover becomes a welcomed avenue for a new year.  

New Year resolutions have always been a familiar return to school activity in the beginning of January. They tend to be markers of what needs to be accomplished but these well wishes often fall by the wayside as the months move on. In the past year, an alternate path to the New Year resolution has sprung up in the form of a one little word (OLW). It appears to be the trendy thought in the Twittershpere so why not try it out?

Bloggers use the one little word as a mantra that lights the way. One writer recently spoke of the OLW as a soundtrack for the year (such a splendid image). I found my one little word for 2015 that compliments my 2014 word (openness). My guiding word, LISTEN, will become my mantra. I invite this word to become a part of my vocabulary as I listen intently to what life has to offer and what I can bring to my relationships.

I heard my word call me as I approached winter. You can read about the evolution of my OLW here and here. While I am not a huge fan of cold weather and snowbound times, I decided to take a fresh look at winter this season. To honor my new perspective, I sent out an invitation to all to listen to winter's whisperings. Hence, the Winter Whisperings Gallery of Artistic Expressions came to be from a desire to bring diverse writers from around the states and the globe to write how winter touches their lives. I listened to my one little word, Listen, to turn winter into a magical season of possibilities, despite the chill, snowstorms, and all the issues that arise from extreme weather conditions. You can view to my invitation to write for the gallery here. 

Last week for Poetry Friday, Mary Lee Hahn, a colleague, created an acrostic poem about her one little word, notice. Margaret Simon, another colleague, thought that would be a unique way of publicizing our words so I decided to try one out for size. I listened to my heart and here is what it said. 

Then, I searched for a song that might capture the essence of the one little word concept. While the song I found is not a contemporary one, I felt it was a nostalgic way of portraying the one little word theme. 

I have been thinking about the power of the one little word as way to bring positivity to light so I decided that my message for professional development sessions this January would revolve around the OLW. Below is one slide that I created for a reflective writing exercise with educators. The same type of activity, the creation of a Graffiti Wall of OLWs, can be implemented with students. One little words evolve from a reflective stance and look at the year to come and how the message of positivity can enter and affect your world. 

Now it is time to stroll over Two Writing Teachers where you can find other writers Slices of Life.

To contribute to Margaret Simon's DigiLit Sunday site, I am dedicating my professional development work on OLW as a start on how I will integrate technology into literacy.

 Here is a compilation of one little words gathered from last weekend's Celebrate this Week bloggers, using Tagxedo.

Celebrating My One Little Word to Kick Off the New Year!

For me, choosing one little word (OLW) as my direction for the new year was a slow process that needed careful consideration and nurturing. Let me give you a sneak peek at how my OLW became my guiding star.

Carol Varsalona's OLW

Now that I chosen the word or did the word choose me, I am proud and want to celebrate! I have moved From Openness (2014 OLW) to Listen on a journey worth exploring. 

Here's to celebrating 2015.

New Year's Eve Dinner Party

And the Countdown Leads to a Wonderful Start to 2015

Each week, Ruth Ayres asks us to recount the celebrations that bring joy to our lives. 

You can read Ruth's celebratory post and the celebrations of other writers here.

Ringing in the New Year with a Look Back and a Look Forward

The New Year brings a promise of possibilities. I pause in the stillness of the early morning to reflect on the myriad of choices I have to start the day. Since it is Friday, I am eager to open the Poetry Friday site and see what offerings are awaiting me. In my quest to challenge my technical skills, enjoy new readings, and write to grow as a learner, I created a museum type showing of the Finding Fall Gallery that has the feel of a New York City gallery. If I accessed the final copy correctly you will be able to enjoy the variety of perspectives on the season of autumn and recollect your fall memories in the process. (Click here to be emazed.)

As promised, I am now ready to send out the invitation to the 5th gallery of artistic expressions. Read below and see if you can determine what the new title of the collection will be. I hope I can encourage many more Poetry Friday community members to offer a poem and accompanying photo. The submission deadline will be the end of February for a March showing. 

Did you guess the title of the new gallery?

-Winter Whisperings-

I included my One Little Word (OLW) for 2015 in the poem-LISTEN!

I will listen to the words in each and every offering to the Gallery of Winter Whisperings and showcase them in an inspiring design. 

Here are the easy steps to engage in reflective writing for this gallery. In doing so, you will assist me in building the collection.

1. Find that special winter site that allows you to listen.
2. Pause, observe, reflect.
3. Capture the image and couple it with a poetic thought or poem.
4. If you want to experiment with photo editing tools, try PicMonkey, Canva, or Word to superimpose the poem onto the photo.
5. Include your name, Twitter handle or website, and location of the  photo.
6. If you are not familiar with the above tools, send me the original photo and poem and I will combine them.
7. One or two student poems are welcomed per teacher, as long as the  teacher submits one, using it as a mentor text for her class.

May your winter be filled with the blessings of the New Year. 

************************

Now greet the first Friday of January at 

The Miss Rumphius Effect 

where Tricia has already started 

ringing in the New Year with Poetry Friday.