Anne of Green Gables | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘Anne of Green Gables’

Fresh Air Therapy

Posted in life, Nature/Creation, The Beast, WONDER, tagged Anne of Green Gables, Beast, beasty, Children, dog, Exercise, fresh air, fresh air therapy, oxygen, path, pretty dog, scope for the imagination, sunshine, therapy, walk on November 27, 2012| 1 Comment »

It was a miracle! It was a weekend AND it was sunny and beautiful!

With hubby and all three of our kids gone, and with our two from China opting for retail therapy, the beast and I were free to do whatever we desired on that gorgeous day. So we chose a brisk walk on the trail.

People were out in droves. There were the young teenage couples who couldn’t keep their ~~tonsils~~ eyes off each other, and the older couples who walked arm in arm for both physical and emotional support. There were the single walkers, with or without a beast, briskly marching along, and the families with little ones, walking at a snails pace to take in every bit of wonder around them.

I am never really sure of the real reason that beast loves to go for walks. Oh, she loves the actual walk, but deep down the thing I think she likes most is the people we meet. There is nothing like a comment like, “oh what a pretty dog” to make her ears soar, and then she will prance down the path … head swelling bigger by the moment! If the passing compliment is not enough to excite her, there is also the adoring “puppy!” from a small child! Often we will stop, and allow her adoring little admirer touch and see her up close. If there is a child’s cry or screech within earshot of our beast, I am at risk of shoulder dislocation! She immediately wants to fly into action in the direction of the cry.

For me the walks encompass so much more than just the exercise, which is beneficial, of course. It is the opportunity to be still (I rarely ‘plug in’ on my walks, but I have been known to stop and quickly email a blog post idea to myself) mentally. It allows all of the cells in my body to inhale fresh, oxygen-rich air, that can clear my mind like nothing else. I am enabled by the combination of fresh air, beauty of creation, and physical activity to become more creative, and despite that fact that I have walked this path frequently, these walks “still take my breath away and offers so much scope for imagination!” (Anne of Green Gables)

What a gift the exercise, the fresh air, the sun shining brightly in the sky were to the beasty and I … cheaper and more effective than any other therapy!

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But I Am Too Young to Have a Twenty Year Old!

Posted in FAMILY, life, Love, The Kids, WONDER, tagged a dream is a wish your heart makes, Anne of Green Gables, as it seems, Brittay, Criminal Minds, Dancing with the stars, Follow Your Heart, gilmore girls, god so loved, human, Jesus Loves Me, Just the Way You Are, Love you Forever, Music, oldest daughter, on the floor, Robert Munsch, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, soundtrack of our life, Spinnin' Around, the best day, the hockey song, titanic theme, too young, what a wonderful world, You're Beautiful on October 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Today our first born turns twenty! Seriously, I am too young to have a twenty year old!

As her birthday was approaching, my mind has been occupied with thoughts of what to ‘get’ her for her special day. She is on the East Coast, and I on the West, and so whatever I was to get had to be light (and therefore cheap) to send in the mail.

I also was thinking about how we often give the gifts to others, that we wish to be given to us. So, I pondered what my daughter has given me over the years, and that was the key to one of her gifts. Every year she makes a CD of music I love (or music she thinks I should love) for me, and it is simply a perfect gift for me. I love the mystery of hearing what songs she chooses for me, and it is the gift that keeps on giving all year long.

And so, this is my CD to her.

The first song I can remember sharing with you would be Jesus Loves Me. It is the song that each of you kids learned, and hearing that innocent, joyful singing of such profound truth is what I pray is permanently imprinted into your mind, and onto your heart.

Thanks also to Robert Munch, and his book by the same name as the song; love you forever . It was a book that we shared snuggling in bed in the mornings, over mac and cheese, at lunchtime, or at the end of the day, with the scent of Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo drifting through the air.

We cannot forget those YEARS of watching many various musical movies, the most memorable would have to be Follow Your Heart from Thumbelina. Oh how the songs of that movie played over and over in my head, day after day, and week after week. Having just listened to it again, I am reminded that it’s message was and is still a good one!

The preteen years continued with the musicals, but none could compare with Anne of Green Gables to give us “lots of scope for the imagination.” But not every song was from a musical … Oh how I remember the song that gave us all “a funny feeling” by that group called Jump 5, Spinnin’ Around. Your dad even drove you two hours from home to attend a concert … now that’s love (and beautiful memories I am sure)!

Into your teen years, the musicals continued, with The Sound of Music being a favorite, and within it’s soundtrack, what teen girl would not want to sing along to Sixteen Going on Seventeen? I think it was sung as much by me as you!

But your teen years were not only about classic movies! A favorite for years was that James Blunt classic, You’re Beautiful. I, who never win anything, was even so lucky to win two tickets to his concert, and off we went, together (one of my favorite memories of us two). This song, I would say was the theme song for you and I during those later teen years. One of my best memories (of parental embarrassment for the laughter of my child) was standing on our front lawn singing it to you, from the top of my lungs. And, my dear, you know only too well that my public singing should be relegated to large crowds only.

And this would not be complete with the Criminal Minds Theme our TV show still (well, when I can stay awake to watch it). That show has provided the foundation of so many great conversations. And of course, the one we do not share, but when I hear it I think of you (and your best friend), Dancing With The Stars.

The most recent addition to our musical history together relates to this season you are now in, and the adventure you are now on. The message of As It Seems is the same as it was a few weeks ago, maybe with even more significance …

There are so many more, and I’ve included a few at the bottom, you know the stories behind them all. These, my adult daughter, are from the Soundtrack of our life together … I think we make beautiful music.

You’re beautiful, it’s true!

Mom

What a Wonderful World

God So Loved

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Speaking from the Heart of Someone Else

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged Anne of Green Gables, Choosing Words Carefully, Confucius, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Speaking of the Heart of Someone Else, William Shakespeare, Winnie The Pooh, Words the Speak to the Heart on February 1, 2012| 2 Comments »

WinnieEver had one of those times when you say something, and another person looks at you with shock and disbelief in their eyes, and they say, “that is exactly what I was thinking/how I feel”? To speak to the heart of another is to gain their confidence, their respect, their support.

When we hear someone else echo our thoughts in word we feel the sense of having an ah ha moment. We feel understood, confirmed, and not alone.

When you look at the lives of many historical figures who people wanted to hear, and who are still quoted today, it was their ability to speak the thoughts of others that makes people want to hear them (or, as often is also the case, it makes some to not want to hear them).

Mother Teresa said, “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” People can hear this and nod in agreement because most of us are aware of how deeply we appreciate the small things that others do for us. We are also keenly aware that we cannot do great things, and her words empower the small things we can do.

Confucius said, “our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” All who have fallen or failed, and gotten back up could echo this philosopher’s words.

Good old Shakespeare shared the depth of his common wisdom when he wrote, “cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.” And anyone who has thought of and acted bravely would agree.

Martin Luther King Jr. was able to communicate well in this way. He did not just speak what was on his mind, and from his own soul, but he spoke the words and the dreams of many around him, when he preached, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Winnie the Pooh told us what our moral compass does (should) when he said, ” a little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference.”

And Anne of Green Gables said what we often think before our head hits our pillow, “Marilla, isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

Some of these quotes are heard in our hearts, because they echo our heart cry to individuals and to a generation (and to generations to come).

It makes the importance of choosing our words carefully. For if we speak negative and discouraging words, they also echo in the hearts of others.

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