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Saith Me… Truth and Compassion

Speaking the truth, particularly when the subject is a negative one, must be done with care. Life’s difficult lessons seldom need harsh reinforcement. When the truth is shared compassionately, there is a greater chance that a lesson will be learned rather than rejected out of self-protection and defense.

Those wise enough to both see the need to share the truth and share it compassionately are rare and are priceless beyond measure. For it takes great courage to be a person of truth and compassion in a world where the truth is used to harm and compassion is seen as weak.

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Daily Fiber… Addiction of a Healthy Kind

A discussion on the addictive nature of working with fiber, particularly in the spinning of fiber into yarn, led to the following observation on my part.

Addiction is the only way to truly describe it. It starts with an enabler, “Just give it a try. It won’t hurt. You will like it.” Then moves to where we are looking for suppliers, and then if allowable, we begin to process our own from start to finish. Yes, certainly an addiction.

There really is something wonderfully addictive about working with fiber, wool in particular. When the process begins with a fleece fresh from the sheep and ends with a sweater, one can’t help but feel connected not just to the world we live in today, but the world of yesterday. The feelings generated are hard to describe, but they are so rich and nuanced that indeed we beg for more.

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FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.

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Dust Bunnies and Daily Fiber

As an avid spinner of yarn, the woolly kind rather than the literary kind, I have become a magnet for dust bunnies, so much so that they no longer live only under the bed but float around me as I make my way though my day. No amount of housekeeping stays ahead of their reproduction.

When pondering these little bunnies, some made from really bunny fur that follows me in from the rabbit shed, I began to realize they are much like the pithy entries in my blog – random in nature and forming out of the fiber of my life. As I pondered their existence, I realized that they truly were representative of a subculture of my life. They are the children of the fiber that surrounds me and while they do not share in the greatness of their progenitors, they have a value of their own.

Pithyponderings began as a place where my random thoughts were shared. Pithyhistory began as a place where my love of history, particularly diplomatic history could be shared. Rather than creating a third blog on fiber arts and the dust bunnies the pursuit creates, I have decided to establish a category in this blog for such random posts – Dust Bunnies and Daily Fiber.

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FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.

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Pain Sucks, Life Doesn’t

Pain sucks, but life doesn’t. Whether it is physical or emotional, sometimes it is easy to forget that it is pain not life to which we want an end.

Chronic physical pain can lead to emotional pain and can be compounded by the pains of loss and loneliness. A bad day can turn into a bad week, then a bad month becomes a bad year. As with most creatures, the pain causes us to withdraw from those who seem unable to understand or assist. Caring people seem too busy or seem too happy to be bothered with the task of giving us a lift. Unlike the temporary pain most people experience, chronic pain never leaves. Sometimes it can diminish and give us a rare glimpse of relief, but then it can flare back up worse than ever. Some chronic pain sufferers face an ever shifting collection of pain that causes even the closest of loved ones to become frustrated.

Pain can seem all consuming and extremely defeating. Pain sucks, but life, despite the pain, contains joy and beauty. The dark lenses of pain may dim the light, but they do not eradicate it or cease it to exist. Daily life for people in pain requires a constant effort to see past the dark lenses, to see the light. Their efforts are helped when a loved one takes the time to lift the window shades and let in greater light.

As busy as we may be, as frustrated as we might get, we must work to lift the shades and bring in the light. Sometimes it is all that prevents the misery of pain from becoming the misery of life.

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FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.

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Saith Me… Progress

Progress comes when you focus on your successes while keeping an eye on what still needs to be changed.

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FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.

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Saith Me… No Win Situation

My desire to avoid swallowing due to the pain it induces is causing me to choke on my own saliva which in turn causes me great pain. A no win situation that proves the point that putting off difficult things until later only makes them worse.

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FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.

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Saith Me… Holiday Cookies

I really must learn more self-discipline when making cookies. There is only so much butter/shortening and sugar a person can eat at one time. Four different flavors of cookies; beaters and spatulas need children and hubbies to lick clean.

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FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.

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Saith Me… Combating Fear

There is always something that can make us afraid whether it is a someone or a something. Therefore, each day we must choose to combat fear rather than allow it control over us.

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FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.