Monday, December 6, 2021

Word for the Week

 Intention presented itself to me several times in the past few days. I almost wondered if it should be my word for the next year. A few minutes ago I left a tea chat on Instagram where they were talking on sharing tea with intention, being in the moment. Another chat early this morning also talked about meditation as you sip your tea, just to take moments throughout the day to pause, sip tea, and let our mind rest.

Saturday I attended a wreath making gathering with 6 women. I love the lite candles greeting us as we entered. Candles always cause me to pause and notice.

Then we got down to creating. Sometimes creating is messy. Wreath making is messy, but it smelled so good.

It was a rainy day, but I didn't mind going outdoors to find just the right material for my wreath.

Even the resident cat was intrigued. She sat there among the mess and paid attention.

At the end of the day my wreath and I returned home. I hung the wreath above my mantle, right where I planned for it to be. Now if you notice, it isn't the most perfect or neatest wreath you have ever seen. Nope, I didn't want it to be perfect. I attended the gathering with the intention of making an imperfect wreath, something a bit wild.

Normally I am a neat and tidy creative person, but for some reason I knew I had to intentionally do something out of my comfort zone and accept it for what it became.

Now look closely. The wreath has an empty picture frame behind it. The picture frame has been hanging there for awhile. The story goes that over 50 years ago someone I worked with asked if I would like to clean out her garage, as she wanted to park her car in the garage at her rental house. The owner of the garage said she could clean it out because a previous owner had left things there many years earlier and never returned to get the things. Whether they did that intentionally or not, I don't know. In the garage was this picture frame. I fell in love with it, but never found the right picture for the frame. Recently I decided to just enjoy the frame for what it was and hung it above my mantle. I know several have looked at me puzzled, but I love it. I intentionally decided just to enjoy the picture frame for what it was. I love that it now holds my imperfect wreath and I wonder what the future will bring to this frame.
 
So enjoy the word for this week.
Notice what you notice.
Accept imperfect.
Do life with intention.


4 comments:

Red Rose Alley said...

Marilyn, I love your wreath, it's simple and lovely hand made with things from nature. It looks really nice above your mantel. And the bottle brush trees are so cute lined up on your mantel too. How nice that you went to a wreath making event, and those white candles are beautiful. That is a good photo of the resident cat.

Have a happy December week, Marilyn.

~Sheri

Jeanie said...

I love your wreath. I haven't made on e in a long time and I'm not sure I could even remember how. It looks fabulous over that frame and I love what you said about intention with the blank frame. Lovely and wise.

Lorrie said...

Your wreath is lovely, and looks great in the picture frame. I have, in the past, hung empty frames, too, and am struck by how puzzled some people were. Love the word intention. It's part of my blog headline.

Mary said...

You did create a really lovely wreath Marilyn - I used to make mine years ago!