life of a georgia Artist

As we close another year and we reflect on what we learn I challenge you to not find where you went wrong or you think your body is wrong,but to concentrate on what you can do to be present in 2016. Maybe we are good. Maybe we are perfect the way we are. Our legs arent to big,,our bottom is good, our minds are clear, and we can focus on bigger things in 2016. One of my friends told me once that I was the stone that started the ripples, so here I am on my blog starting a ripple. Maybe in 2016 we can be of better service. Maybe we can strive to spread kindness, Maybe we can serve others, maybe we can stop complaining about something and be our own stone starting something to fix what you are complaining about. Everyone says they are just one person, but wasnt it Martin Luther King JR. , wasnt it Rosa Park, George Washington, and so on and on and on, that started something.  Great movements, items, things, start with that one person. Maybe you can look into serving in a local so...

There are different kinds of connections we can make. We can make professional connections. We can make friendship connections. We can make relationships of all kinds of connections, but the one I am talking about is the deep rooted love kind. Love and its connected-ness to us. Being in love, loving someone, (any kind of someone ) is an amazing thing, but how you connect is key to making that relationship work. When your partner touches your hand you feel you have this connection that is deeper than the people who see it. When you are hugged or caressed by your partner you feel instantly happy, connected, and that perhaps you two share a secret no one else can hear. When our significant other touches us in anyway, we feel connected. There is a bond that love builds between two people that only they can feel. If i touch a friends shoulder they do not feel the same as the person who are are in a relationship with. Connecting on a deeper level is important to our well being. We want t...

So with everyone having hard times, me included, I thought I would give you some ideas and tips for a holiday that wont break your bank. It is not the size of the gift, the money that went into it, it is your heart and showing you care that matters. I know Christmas/Holiday decorations have been out for weeks, do not even get me started on that with the stores. It is all about the bottom dollar to them. With all that said I share some great ideas for presents, decorating, and spreading love. These are my own ideas I have done and used over the years with my family. They have treasured all their gifts from me because they were made and not store bought. First: Pine cones. I gather them at a local park because I do not have them in my back yard. I leave mine natural but you can obviously paint them with spray paint if you want. You can find Michael store coupons on their app, or online, and get the paint really cheap. If not, do not paint them. You can get a eye hook and thread it in...

there was a time when love did not exist, a pace that I struggled to keep up with. there was a time when I felt empty, a place in my heart that yearned for you. if I told you everyday for the rest of our lives, that I loved you, it would never be enough. if I told you that I was lucky to be with you everyday, it would not encompass the gratefulness in being your love. you opened your heart from a place of darkness, saying I was the light you needed in your heart. you love me freely from a place of trust and hope, saying I was the love that you needed in life. if I told you today I will spend forever with you, and you said yes, id be your life forevermore. if you told me you wanted to spend forever with me, and I said yes, id be the luckiest lady for life. you hold my heart gently but firmly, you love me so tightly I can feel your heart. you hold my hand tightly by caring, you love me completely, but hold me with wings. conflict and strife may swirl around us, ...

So it is no surprise to any of you that I have a boyfriend. I have introduced all my friends to him and have told anyone about him I can. We have known each other 20 yrs and are finally together. The journey long and the road hard, but we are together. Now enough of me,, some thoughts on loves lost. I have realized how precious all the people who have come in and out of our lives are. I have realized that we are maybe just maybe someone important to someone we didn't think we were anything to. I see people passing all the time and never acknowledge the people around them. We do not nod, we do not smile. Both are free. Paris was just attacked,,,again. Other countries are going through strife. We on US soil have dealt with 9-11 and other attacks. With so much violence why are we all not more compassionate? Why are we not seeing how we can be the love another stranger needs. We do not even treat each other as human we see each other as someone to gain something from. We see people...

While I am a firm believer of truth I recently discovered other people are not. Let me clarify, they believe omission is not telling a lie. If the omission hurts as much as hearing the lie then I ask, what is the difference? Our goal with other human beings is to build relationships. Friendships, dating, family, and of course with our friends. If the person is not telling you half of what's going on then you have to wonder what IS going on? People try to be honest, but when it comes down to it omission or lies are easier. Yes you look nice in that dress, yes I want to do this with you, yes yes yes, but what they really mean is something totally different. Why do we not find a polite way to say what we mean? I think society has been trained with cell phones, Internet, and technology to just accept instant gratification and not bother putting in the time and effort it takes to cultivate a great true relationship with someone. In a world spinning so quickly we miss connecting with...

One October night a few years back I was at a concert with a friend. She had received free concert tickets in exchange for doing a TV show about a product. We were waiting patiently for the concert to start when all of a sudden a mad drunken crowd headed right for us. We had no where to move and were frozen in fear. As the crowd moved closer we could see they were not drunk but actually zombies. We were the only ones left as humans and had to run for our lives. The zombies kept coming at what seemed like an abnormally fast past for zombies. It was then we realized that we were falling. We had not physically moved, but we were falling. The zombies were falling toward us, which made them appear to go toward us faster. At last we hit the ground with a small thud. We had fallen for a little while and were sure we were far from home. It was dark by the time we hit the ground and were unsure of our surroundings.Not a zombie in sight anymore. We had lost them in the fall. We fiddled around ...

October is here and so it means that I will start this years Halloween story this coming Sunday. It will be put up in parts until Sat the 31st will be the ending. It will be a mystery for sure and will keep you wanting more. Stay tuned for this Sunday as part one hits the blog. Happy October,,Happy Autumn, Happy orange and black month. This is my favorite time of year. xo your storyterller,poet Debbie

a new story by me The night was damp. The fog came rolling off the bay. It seemed to engulf the whole town. I made my way , carefully, down the stairs to the platform. I looked for the man with the large stetson hat., but alas he could not be found. I heard, "All aboard" as someone yelled it in the fog. I followed the voice, found the train, and climbed up the steep train stairs. A hand reached out for me in the darkness and pulled me up. I turned to grab my luggage, pulled it onto the train, turned to thank whomever pulled me on board, but no one was there. Did I imagine it? The porter found me, grabbed my bags, checked my ticket, and took m to my drawing room. I have always wanted to travel by train. I have wanted to go out west and explore as long as I could remember. I never imagined I would do it alone. With the papers signed just yesterday an adventure was just what I needed. My depression had been setting in for awhile and I needed the change. It was an unwanted gu...

When beginning any new friendship or relationship, what is key? The foundation right? So why are so many of us in a rush to skip ahead. We are all gushing and jumping into new friendships, relationships, and we get hurt and lose that person in our life. Why have we become an instant gratification society and are no longer willing to put in the time and effort to build lasting relationships. When we meet someone new we need to spend time with them. We need to learn what they like, what makes them tick, what hobbies they have, and what their core values are. You can ask people this, make a list and move on, or you can actually spend time with this person. You can do activities with them and talk. Yes hours and hours of talking. Days and days of doing things with them. You need to invest in your new relationship and build a foundation that will last. Do not rush things. Learn from how you see this person react. Yes they can tell you they are sweet and kind, but actions speak louder th...

So it is not secret that I love fall. The colors,the smells, the food, so I realize its still summer, but I am over it. Here are some of my favorite photos from my trip to NJ in 2013. I hope it gets you in the autumn mood too. New Jersey is truly a magical place in the fall. I hope you like the photos and remember please dont steal them. My mom has since moved away from this area, but I look forward to exploring her new area soon. Happy hoping its fall tomorrow to you. your story teller/poet xo Debbie

On the way home today I noticed the tiniest bit of change. I noticed the air was different. Leaves were falling,blowing over the roads, and it was a tiny tiny bit cooler. In Georgia fall does not appear her head till the end of October or even November, but today there was a twinge of change. If you pay attention every day to the items around you, the temps around you, the world around you, you will notice changes. Today I thought, Autumn is coming. The world is spinning and change is approaching. I love fall. I go hiking in fall. I live for fall as it is the happiest time of the year for me. Today I noticed another change. This one is in me. I feel stronger. I finished my two summer classes today and rocked them both with A's. I realized that I had not noticed the changes happening in me over the last few years of college.  I am a senior this year and I now write so incredible well thanks to some amazing professors who pushed me and pushed. I am not the best student by far, bu...

There are women, like me, who people consider a wild woman. Not swing by the lights, go get wasted drunk, throw eggs at mailboxes wild. I mean the kind of wild where we cannot be tamed.We have wild hair, we dress how we want, we say whats on our minds and in our hearts. We cannot be tamed, controlled or  tricked into anything we want. We have hair blowing all over. We have words flying past our lips that come from our deep souls. We are wild woman in the sense that others just hold back and we do not. Wild woman are full of compassion. We give from our deep soul. We do not just give a little, we give everything and anyone our all. If we just met you, if we have known you a lifetime, it does not matter. We abandon all the rules and throw love into the universe and watch it mix and mingle with the world and hope it spreads out into the cosmos. We feel so deeply our emotions that we are seen as intense and crazy sometimes, but those emotions have to go somewhere. We send them to you...

So laying in bed last night I was thinking about things men have done in my past. These things showed me they loved me and I loved them for doing them. Each person has a different way of showing they love someone. A different manner of how to treat a person they treasure. So I lay in bed thinking, what are the top 10 things that I have loved over the years. #1 When I get hugged and the person does not let go for a really long time. You know those hugs you feel will never end. Like this person genuinely loves you and does not want to let you or your heart get away from them. Taking time to hug and linger in that hug means a lot to me. #2 When they come up from behind me and wrap their arm(s) around me and surprise me with a hug or holding me. Who does not love being surprised snuggled? Am I right? The fact that this person knows I am his and he can do this melts my heart into a puddle. #3 Writing a love letter. Romance in email,,umm no. Remember when we used to get paper letter...

I have long known I am an empathetic person. I have always felt other peoples emotions deeply. Sometimes I wish I could turn it off, but recently I realized how much of a gift it is. I can hurt with them, I can share in the highs, I can be there fully for those who need me. I think it is a gift really. I might not always understand what the person has gone through, but I listen and feel the hurt down to my soul. It shakes me to my core and allows me to empathize with the person. This empathy is dangerous to me and my own happiness. While I feel other peoples emotions so deeply,I notice I feel mine even more. With every good or bad thing that happens I realize how much it resonates with my soul. It takes a tole on my body sometimes and that is not good. The definition of an empathic is this: of, relating to, or characterized by empathy , the psychological identification with the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of others: a sensitive, empathetic school couns...

I find myself recently thinking of traveling again. I love the newness of a place. I get bored with the old. I like learning new about new cultures and making new friends. I have one more year of college and then I am open to moving anywhere. I would love a job with writing of course as I am an English major, but I do not limit myself to that. I open my heart and soul to wandering. I think if we stay around the same people too much we disappoint them. They are bound to get tired of us, or us them, at some point. Ive recently realize if we attach to someone, some place, or something we will eventually get hurt. Everything that has a beginning has an end. All relationships start and end. All our time in a place starts and ends. Nothing lasts forever. Buddhists say if you do not get attached to anything or anyone you will not be hurt. Easier said then done. Pfft! I always thought my lack of attachment to people or places was a bad thing. If we go with the Buddhist's way then I am ...

As humans we yearn to connect. We yearn to be part of a community. I definitely believe we are placed together to connect, but I feel we have a huge disconnect going on. While out today I noticed people at the same tables, but not talking. Everyone was on a cell phone, a laptop, or another device. How are we supposed to connect with one another if we are no longer speaking with one another. We no longer call someone to wish they a happy birthday. We text. We no longer write beautiful hand written love letter or poetry, we type it. Where has our love of connecting with people gone? We have such power in connection. I firmly believe we need to disconnect from technology and reconnect with each other. We need human contact. We need to write and relearn how to spell. LOL and OMG are not words. I promise you as an English major I can confidently tell you that. We need to use our voices to protest. We need to use our voices to say, "I love you". We have lost connection with our e...

There is a story I read ( for some class ) where this ship gets stuck in the doldrums. Now doldrums means inactivity, stagnation, and in this story it meant the area of the ocean where no wind ever came. The ship sailed by wind to the sails and it just sat. It was stationed in the middle of no where and nothing basically. This is where I find myself. I am in the doldrums. I think its a lull really, but feel stuck. When in life you have passions and they are not fueling your fire, what do you do? Maybe I need to take a new crafting class, get a new lens, do something new. Maybe I am taking a break from the constant running I do, the cleaning, the yard work, and maybe this is actually a chance to rest. Perhaps my body needed some down time and this lull is the worlds way of saying, take a break! Is a doldrum a positive or negative thing? I dont know. I think it is somewhere among homeostasis. I think it is around the middle. Sort of like the equator. It is just there. I feel a pull...

so im &$()&%^$ years old ;) and have learned a few things in life. First off and most importantly,,spread love. 1)Love wide open,,heart open to anything including the hurt. It will happen and you might as well go all the way home when it comes to love or pack up and go home. Yes we are going to have our heart broken,,it happens,,crap does in life, but if you aren't all in with someone you love than you didn't give it your all and you really need to. If you do not and it does not work you will always wonder. B) (yeah I do 1 than B hehe) Spread kindness. Yes you know you can do it. No you do not have to like everyone, but there is no reason to be mean. You do not know what that person has had to deal with in life, so smile. If they ignore you, what did you lose, nothing? right!! So smile, offer to buy someone a coffee, give a hug (im a huge hugger) What would happen if we made our design to be kinder,, oh no kindness would spread...lets try it I say. 3)  Life , or w...

So this is something I wrote a bit ago and included the poem I wrote also. I placed them together like this because I think they are beautiful together. I hope you enjoy it.   Love & Him             He stole my heart right away and I fell down the rabbit hole. I fell in love and struggled with balance in my daily life. I struggle with how much of myself to give to someone, how much to hold onto, and how much is making me so vulnerable that I am hurting myself. I struggle with being nice; I struggle with keeping kindness for myself, I struggle with being in love. Everyone says they want to be in love and give freely of themselves to the other person, but are we willing to be vulnerable enough to share all the light and dark of ourselves? There is a balance we need to strive to achieve in any relationship. Is love and vulnerability possible? I am here to say; I lost my balance, but had my heart smashed and it was wor...