Magic in a Letter

Driving home Friday night after Elijah's basketball game, I stopped at the mailbox as I pulled into the driveway. I hurriedly grabbed the mail without looking at it, as Fonzy and Elijah were following behind me. When I parked, I flipped through the mail and found a letter from Ezekiel! He's been gone since January 9th for Air Force basic training and this was the first letter I received. I got out the truck and yelled over to Fonzy that I had a letter from Ezekiel! We rushed into the house and before we did anything else, we opened his letter.

Huddled together in the dining room, I read his letter out loud. It wasn't a long letter, just one page, but it meant everything to me. I've been worrying about him since he left, not sleeping well and having strange dreams about him. His letter put my soul at ease. I could picture him, sitting on his bunk writing, remembering on the day he wrote that it was my birthday. He had us laughing as he told Fonzy all the push-ups he made him do growing up when he left the light on in his room helped! And that basic training was nothing like Full Metal Jacket, a movie they should not have watched when they were little, but did one summer when Fonzy was off with them. He said they just yelled a lot, but had nothing on me!

The next morning as I was drinking my coffee, I read the letter again. It brought Ezekiel back home to me, even for just for a few minutes. And that's the magic of letters.

Pictured - envelope art for letters I have going out this week. 

Snail Mail and Rainbows

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” ― Osho

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” ― Maya Angelou

"Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world." - Brene Brown

I wouldn't call myself an artist. I can't really draw, I'm not a painter, but I love being creative. Give me some paint, colored pencils ( I prefer colored pencils) and I'm like a kid in a candy store! I guess that's why I've been drawn to mail art. As a kid, I was a letter writer. I had pen pals, cousins and my auntie in Tennessee that I would write. I'd pour my heart out on a piece of paper, get a plain white envelope, address and stamp it, and send a piece of my soul out into the world. I've loved writing letters again, but the art part has made it that much funner. Is funner even a word? I don't think so, but I'm sticking to it.

I have a box filled with stationary, stickers, paint, colored pencils, and a collection of mail art templates from Naomi Bulger at https://www.naomiloves.com/  She sends out a monthly newsletter with envelope art you can print, color or paint. My inner child does a happy dance whenever I pull out the box. I still write to my auntie in Tennessee, old friends and new. Sure, I could text or email. It would definitely be faster, but writing a letter slows you down and you put more of yourself into a letter than you would a text. I just wrote a letter to a friend I made on Instagram and it was 3 pages long! We've never met in person, but we connected in those little squares and now write to each other. I love getting her letters. Letters are tiny pieces of a person, that even after they are gone you still have. It's a tangible part of them. They took the time out of their day and thought only of you as they wrote. Their hands touched the paper you now hold. You can reread the letters and that loved one or friend is right there with you again. Not the same with a text or an email.

I plan on sending letters to my grandbabies. They are old enough now to read the letters and if I'm lucky they may write back. It doesn't take much to write a letter and bring a little happiness to the person who receives it. I have yet to find a person who doesn't like to receive letters in the mail. How about you?

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I had to share my rainbow sweater. Since I've taken these pictures, I've knitted more. The body is almost done! I'm not sure I'll get it done before my birthday next week, but I've been happily knitting along and can't wait to finish.

Self Portraits in Black and White and Letter Writing

Welcome 2017!

We are 5 days into 2017. How's your week going? After being on Christmas break since December 16, I'm having a tough time getting back into the swing of things. The days seem so LONG at work. My first day back, I came home and took at 2 hour nap! Hopefully by next week I'll be good.

I'm not one for New Year resolutions(I never keep them), but this year I've decided on two projects. First is a year of self portraits in black and white. I've often tried a 365 project - a picture a day and never succeed. 52 pictures, one a week is more doable. Even though my camera is an older Nikon, I have yet to get it out of auto mode. I'm hoping this project will help me with that.

Why black and white? It's simple, no distractions. You focus on the picture, the feelings. My feelings here.....tired! I had just gotten home from work, threw my hair up in a bun, and into my home wardrobe of t-shirt and leggings. I'm not sure where this project will take me or what I'll learn from it, but I'm looking forward to it.

My second project - letter writing. Good ole' fashioned snail mail. Back in the day, I loved writing letters. I had several pen pals, wrote cousins who lived in other cities. There was nothing better than going to the mailbox and finding a letter. I miss it. So I'm bringing it back. My first letter is going out this week. I hope when the person receives it, it will bring a smile to her face. Actually, I'm sure it will, and I'm almost positive she will write back.

So any projects, goals, resolutions for 2017?