that "rule of threes"

A heartfelt appreciation to you for your comments, messages, emails and cards.  For those of you who are climbing your own Everest, whether physically or mentally,  I hope you are experiencing the same level of heart-warming comfort and support that I have been receiving. As each day passes, I am getting closer and closer to the summit.  I sense with all the work, the summit will soon come into sight!

Rule of threes!

“A principle suggesting things arranged in threes are more satisfying, effective and memorable!”

When you take time to think about it, the "rule of threes" enters our lives in more ways than you realize.  At times it may be purposely included for one reason or another, yet most of the time it shows up unintentionally in your every day life.  In the past some of my blog titles have been "3 short stories" for no other reason than I had three stories to share.  Looking back, I preferred that title over "4 short stories" or "some short stories" or some other version of "short stories".  Today I am purposely sharing "3 short stories" to fit the bill of the "rule of threes" principle!

Ready!  Set!  Go!

Story #1

The comment left by Low Carb Team Member in my last post was so fitting. She said "concentrate on what you can do and enjoy doing it".  I am enjoying water-colour painting more than ever, I have been appreciating walking routes in my neighbourhood that I have not walked before and thirdly, each day I look forward to completing my three sets of ten rehabilitation exercises knowing they bring me one step closer to that summit.  In a couple of days, I will officially begin physiotherapy with a professional therapist.  

While looking for light-hearted, cheerful, colourful painting tutorials, one popped up that grabbed my attention. It made me chuckle when I realized I was relating to a Male Mallard Duck.  Over the past while, I have come quite a distance. I no longer feel off balance, stressed, wobbly nor unsure of my footing while out & about.  The look on the Mallard's face says it all in the early days after having that accident and then having surgery.  I may do a Mallard painting showing an interpretation of my current out & about status.  

Story #2

A card I recently received has got to be one of the most unique styles I have ever come across.  All those little bumps are wildflower seeds. The idea is to tear apart the card into little pieces and plant the pieces.  I was not quite ready to part with the card, so I did ripe around the lovely words my friend wrote on the inside.  I had two small flower pots sitting in my basement that were perfect for this project.  I asked my sister for some of her dirt and now.....

.....I am patiently waiting for life to bloom. 

Story #3

"Concentrate on what you can do and enjoy doing it"!  I am going to be a little cocky by tooting my own horn and saying "I can paint"!  Just like they say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is it also the case that "level of talent is in the belief of the performer"! 

I can paint! I enjoy painting! I shall paint!  

Numerous times since I began blogging, I referred to Highway 40 leading to and passing through Kananaskis as the highway "where life begins". While parts of my life are on hold right now, when I get the O.K. that it is go time, I will be gone!  One of the places I want to go to is "Highway 40 where life begins".  It will feel that I have a new leaf on life and I will get to begin it again. While sorting through, deleting and backing up photos on my iMac, I lingered long on the photos of water locations along that beautiful stretch of the "40".  I picked three of my favourite photos and created water-colour paintings of them.  I focused on photos that had rocky shores.  Not only could I relate to that Male Mallard Duck, this past while some days felt like rough rocky shores. 

painting #1  Barrier Lake

painting #2  Mount Lorette Ponds

painting #3  Upper Kananaskis Lake

my three reference photos

Believe!  Imagine!  Dream!

inspired by how the mind works

Thank You to all for dropping by my blog and leaving your lovely and inspiring comments! Down the road I will return to replying to each individual comment, yet for now I will go this route.   

I am not missing what I cannot do! I recently came to that realization. I like how the mind works. Without even having to play an intentional mind game, my mind is automatically focusing on what I am currently capable of doing, what is currently bringing me joy, and opening up to what I can potentially do in the very near future. All this is falling into my lap with no effort.  Yes, I like how the mind works and it is affording me inspiration to take full advantage!

📚

My new book arrived at just the right time! For a few mornings in a row, I whiled away an hour or so reading, sipping coffee, still in my pjs, out on the deck, in the very early morning heat. I had full intentions of one day learning how to make watercolour paints. I was not far into the book when I decided this craft was not for me. I continued reading and finished the book anyway.  It was still an enjoyable read with beautiful illustrations.  Deciding not to make my own watercolour paints was not the main take-away from this book. Words the author shared resinated with me and the timing is perfect as I follow this unwanted journey in life.   

🐚

Where does inspiration come from? In this case, it came from a card I received in snail mail from my "valley gal" pal.  It's a beautiful image but even more beautiful were her hand written words that filled the inside of the card.  I love seashells and I own quite a collection.  I remember where I collected them from.  Looking at this card, my mind drifted off to where this collection of shells might be sitting! 

I found them, if only in my mind!

🖌

My eyes have always been drawn to bright and cheerful yet that seems to be occurring more abundantly these days! Isn't it funny how the mind works! I was inspired by three tutorials to create this trio of watercolour paintings.  It was the bright light in the sky of each that caught my attention first then the cheerfulness of the bird in each sealed the deal to create my renditions. 

Oh how the mind works!  

While there is much I cannot do, oh wow there is so much more that I can do!  

marathon training

Thank you again everyone for the comments you left on my last blog post and for your emails and messages.  They brighten my day!  

The oddest things have been coming to mind this past while. I can no longer blame that on the strong medications as I have graduated off them. What came to mind this time was how this unwanted journey I am on, in a way, is very similar to my chosen journeys of running marathons just short of two decades ago. The time frame for training to run a marathon was about four months. Four months is the approximate time it will take to be recovered and fully back to ole me again. I am almost two weeks into this journey.  The marathon plan of attack started with short slow distances, gradually increasing speed and kilometres over the four months.  My recovery program is in the initial stages with few minimal exercises. That will soon change.  Since surgery, I have experienced no pain, only uncomfortableness. That’s the same with the marathon training, lots of uncomfortableness yet never an once of pain.  To run a full marathon, you have to be mentally strong. It’s a game of percentages 90% mental, 10% physical. The recovery journey I am on now has required me to dig deep mentally at times and I know it will continue to be that way over the weeks and months to come. I am a marathoner, I ran three marathons! 

When I was marathon training, I had a list of words and phrases that were my mantras. When I needed them, I whispered them. These days there are thoughts and words that occupy my mind at times.  A few of them describe how I felt while I was settled for a couple of hours painting this scene.  

You don’t just go out and run a marathon.  There is much to learn before hand and throughout the entire training program. Even finishing running the 42.2 kms, lessons are learned and also afterwards.  When I got into birding, I knew very little about owls.  When I began seeing them while “out & about”, I wanted to know more.  I did some homework, learned lots and I shared all that in this blog post. Back in January the time was not right for further learning.  Fast forward to now and the time was perfect to take the course called The Wonderful World of Owls. I completed the course and received my Certificate of Completion. When the time is right for being Out & About again and it’s Owl season, I will be using what I learned to enhance my Owl finding and viewing enjoyment. 

I used the last of my discount coupon codes for courses, so will wait for a sale before signing up for my next bird course.

I find it much easier to focus on detail rather than look at the big picture! When I was marathon training, I looked at one week at a time, even though the whole four month program was on paper right before my eyes. Looking too far ahead was too much and would become a blur. That being said, I could see marathon day very clearly.  I played out that day over and over in my mind. It was very vivid!  I could see myself crossing the finishing line with my arms raised in victory.  

During my recent stay at my sister’s home, I spent time in her yard just sitting. Just listening.  Just looking. Just watching.  Just watching the clematis grow.  I swear it grew right before my eyes. I snapped some shots with plans to create a watercolour painting. Well, it felt overwhelming to go straight to painting the final full photo. So, I started with paying attention to a small detailed section.  

then expanded a bit on that

and a little more

It did become blurry at times.

The full final painting is so crisp and clear.

I am taking each day as it comes. I have a some what clear vision of what tomorrow looks like but beyond that is too far to see.  Next week is not clear nor is next month.  But I will tell you, the vision I see of when I am fully recovered and back to ole me, is so very crystal clear! Patience and hard work will get me there!