The Corner of Spirit & Brave

BE THANKFUL FOR SOUL SLAPS AND AIRBAG MOMENTS

5/30/2014

BE THANKFUL FOR SOUL SLAPS AND AIRBAG MOMENTS

You are driving along the boulevard of life believing everything is fine and then
WAM! BAM! ...
in one flash the airbag goes off in your face and for a moment of unconscious confusion you don't know what happened,
how it happened or
why it happened, …but it changes everything.

These airbag moments slap your soul in a life altering second when the world stops and our thinking is forever realigned.

Life is instantly, and permanently, categorized as before and after. Your brain files all memories of the past and visions of the future in relation to the moment… it changes everything.

The slaps are at times harsh heart jabbing events and at times joyous celebrations.

The moment your child is born.

The phone call that brings you to your knees.

The last walk from the office as you change careers or life stages.

The undeniable mistake that can't be reversed.

The receiving of life, love and happiness ....or the ripping away of the same.

These all cause a slap to the soul that says, "WAKE UP!"

Wake up to see what you had, what you have and what you will be given.

Wake up to be thankful for it all and for the time you held it.

Wake up to understand that THIS moment is the moment that counts and don't take the people or experiences in your life for granted.

No one journeys through this life without Soul Slaps and Airbag Moments. There is no secret bubble of protection that shields us from the vulnerability of being stricken.

Peace comes from learning to appreciate the Soul Slaps as lessons that move our journey forward.
The breaking open of our hearts creates space for love to expand and being brought to our knees, by pain or joy, forces us to lift our heads and look up instead of down.
The understanding of this will bring the calmness required to heal.

Pennie's Life Lesson:
"Be thankful for Soul Slaps and the ability to see the lessons in both the joyous and the jabbing."

YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to see the lessons in all life altering events-- good and bad.
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below . And please feel free to email me at:
PennieHunt@gmail.com.
Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013-2014 Pennie Hunt
This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward this post.
Please keep the entire message intact, including
contact, logo, and copyright information.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission
please email: Penniehunt@gmail.com
Thank you!

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THE MAN I NEVER KNEW

5/23/2014

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THE MAN
I NEVER KNEW

It was the third cemetery I had walked through in less than 24 hours.

While visiting the state where my grandparents lived, the passing of time lead me to where snapshots of my childhood were now tucked within the granite speckled grass.

My mind flash-danced through memories as I walked.

The laughter of my handsome uncle who I was certain I would grow up to marry, until he passed away as a result of a truck accident.

My aunt’s impish smile and her black cat-eyed glasses that were popular in the 60’s. She brought a new word into my vocabulary and world – Cancer.

My grandmother whose kind gentle hands taught me how to paint, decorate cakes and see the magical, spiritual side of life - and death.

My cousin, one year older than me, that shared my memories of homemade ice cream on our grandparent’s porch and reminded us all that life can end with one attack to the heart.

The man I called Grandad. It was a name that fit. He was tall, gentle, quiet and grand in the way he blended strength and kindness. My dad was 4 when Grandad came into his life and took over the role his dad had left vacant.

Now, on my third stop, I searched for a name that held no memories for me. No snapshots of the past. I searched for the man who passed away from tuberculosis when my dad was 9 months old.

Up and down the grass I walked.
Then in the area marked by a crumbling post that once read, Section 3, I found a simple flat stone.

Loren Franklin Hunt

1904-1931

I am not sure what I thought I would feel or learn from this discovery.
I am not sure if I expected a connection of heart or spirit.

I was sure that I needed to, in some way, meet the man I never knew- yet without him fathering my dad I wouldn't be here. I needed to feel the same love and respect for him as I did all the others I had visited in the grass that day.

I stood a long time to study his name.
I wondered what his laugh sounded like; what his smile was like; what his hands felt like as he held my newborn Dad; and I wondered if he was as grand in his strength and kindness as the man who stepped into his shoes.

Life repeats in serendipitous ways. When my son passed away, also at a young age, he too left a 9 month old child, my granddaughter. I realized as I stood there why I had been driven to find the marker of a man I never knew.

It was for him.

It was for my dad.

It was for me.

It was for my son.

It was for my granddaughter.

I closed my eyes and sent a wish of hope that someday someone will care enough to search in the same way I did for the name of a man they never knew and share love and respect for his life and the generations that followed him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie's Life Lesson:
“Love doesn’t stop when you leave this life.
Send gratitude to all who came before you.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to remember not only the people you knew in this life, but also the ones you didn't know.
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below . And please feel free to email me at:
PennieHunt@gmail.com.
Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013-2014 Pennie Hunt
This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward this post.
Please keep the entire message intact, including
contact, logo, and copyright information.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission
please email: Penniehunt@gmail.com
Thank you!

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PUT DOWN YOUR MENTAL RED PEN!

5/16/2014

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PUT DOWN YOUR
MENTAL RED PEN!

Do you remember in school when your assignments were returned to you after the teacher made corrections with a red pen?
Those red check marks, circles and comments cut right to your heart as if a neon sign was flashing “FAILURE!”

Could this be where we learned the concept of judging?
We have been conditioned to point out what is unacceptable, wrong or incomplete.

We all have a mental red pen that constantly searches and rates everything within our focus.

We judge others on their clothes, income, status and even the behavior of their children.
We judge restaurants by how good the food is, how clean the floor is and how immediate the service is.
We judge the weather by the temperature, the wind speed and the humidity.

And the mental red pen does double duty when we judge ourselves. The number on the scale is too high; there are too many gray hairs; accomplishments are not grand enough; on and on and on.

What if we stepped back from the mental red pen?
Stop the check marks, circles and comments and adopt the phrase,

“Isn't that interesting?”

The next time you see a girl with blue hair, tattoos and piercings or want to thrash yourself for the two pounds you gained on vacation, step back, take a breath and say,

            “Isn't that interesting?”

This is not saying you condone everything you see and every action you or others make.
It is just the calm acknowledgement of observation.
Not good. Not bad. Not negative. Not hateful.

The phrase, “Isn't that interesting?” may become a buffer between you and confrontation. It may become a kinder frame for self-talk instead of the negative chatter we are used to hearing. It may become a new perspective into non-judgment of others.

The mental red pen can become the means for feedback and not failure.

Can you live one day without judging yourself or others? Try it.
You will notice just how often you do engage that mental red pen of acceptability or failure.

After you complete one day, try for two, then three.
You may just step back from this exercise and say,

“Isn't that interesting?”

Pennie’s Life Lesson:
"Put down your mental red pen.
Instead of judging yourself and others say,
“Isn't that interesting.”

   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to help all of us see our own mental red pen and to try an alternative to judging-- try observing.
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below . And please feel free to email me at:
PennieHunt@gmail.com.
Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013-2014 Pennie Hunt
This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward this post.
Please keep the entire message intact, including
contact, logo, and copyright information.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission
please email: Penniehunt@gmail.com
Thank you!

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OH FERN!

5/9/2014

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In honor of Mother's Day, I am sharing this "Pennies From The Past" that I wrote last year about my Mom.
My amazement, respect and love for my Mom grows with each year.
Happy Mother's Day to the Fernster!

OH FERN !

I can still hear my Dad say, “Oh, Fern”, as she began one of her stories.

He called her Fernie Annie. Her nickname is The Fernster.   Elsie Fern Tutewiler Hunt – yes, that is her name. To me she is Mom and yet, she is more than any of those names.

Growing up I remember her as the family organizer, the child wrangler, the disciplinarian, and the choreographer of our life.

She was a working Mom when most were home watching soap operas and creating meals from the Betty Crocker Cook Book. She worked hard and expected the same from others.

Thinking about the Fernster, I began to wonder who she was before me, before the years of motherhood and responsibility wrapped around her.

I looked at some pictures of her in younger days. I saw the impish smile of a child and imagined her laugh. I saw the hair of a young woman flow around her physical presence – self-assured, happy and carefree.

I realized that stepping back from the Mom I've always loved I could look deeper to see a whole person. Years before her title of Mom, there was a woman filled with spirit, determination and dreams, eager to experience this world.

The Fernster is almost 82 now and slowing down a bit. Her eyesight a little less focused, her hearing and memory a little muffled, yet her spirit and spunk remain intact.

Now I see the whole person wrapped with memories of a life lived, people loved and experiences had. And yet, the spark of that young woman still burns with spirit, determination and enthusiasm for life ahead.

The Fernster. Fernie Annie. Elsie Fern Tutewiler Hunt, yes to me she is Mom and yet, she is more than any of those names. I value her not only as Mom, but as a whole person she is.
I love her so -- the person she was before me and the person she is today with me.

Oh Fern, keep telling those stories.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie's Life Lesson:
   “Step back to see the ones you love
as a whole person!”
    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to help you see all the people in your life as much more than who they are now to you... look at all of their titles, their life experiences, their hopes and dreams. See them as the 'whole' person they are!
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below . And please feel free to email me at:
PennieHunt@gmail.com.
Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013-2014 Pennie Hunt
This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward this post.
Please keep the entire message intact, including
contact, logo, and copyright information.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission
please email: Penniehunt@gmail.com
Thank you!

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WRITE YOUR STORY IN CURSIVE!

5/2/2014

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Write Your Story In Cursive!

Did you know that being taught to write in cursive is no longer required in schools?

The new thinking is that the keyboarding skill is a more productive use of time and better prepares the child for the real world.

To me this is much more than whether the young generation can read the original United States Constitution or whether keyboarding speed will secure them a career.

To me this is about the ability to artfully caress thoughts as they flow from the heart to the paper curling and swirling with love and meaning.

To me it is about reading a recipe hand written by a great grandmother that holds generations of tradition in the writing.

To me it is about how words like:
love,
song,
dance
and spirit
all carry a deeper meaning when written with the design and art of rhythmic curves and loops.

Writing in cursive gives us the concept of slowing to the pace of flowing through the consonants and vowels,
taking breaths between words
and pausing between the period and the next capital letter to think about the space between the two.

--The space where we blink away tears and break for a belly laugh before we continue…
and when we do, the dancing of the cursive words carry the meaning of both.

Now, in a world that seems to be all about abbreviation and how quickly things can be accomplished or acquired, I encourage you to live the way you want to be remembered… live with flare, fun and fascination.

Don’t print. Don’t type. Write your story in cursive!

Pennie’s Life Lesson:

“Live the way you want to be remembered – with flare, fun and fascination!
Write your story in cursive!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to help you see the difference between living in printed world or living with fun and flare....live your life in cursive!
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below . And please feel free to email me at:
PennieHunt@gmail.com.
Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013-2014 Pennie Hunt
This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward this post.
Please keep the entire message intact, including
contact, logo, and copyright information.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission
please email: Penniehunt@gmail.com
Thank you!

0 Comments

BE THANKFUL FOR SOUL SLAPS AND AIRBAG MOMENTS

THE MAN I NEVER KNEW

PUT DOWN YOUR MENTAL RED PEN!

OH FERN!

WRITE YOUR STORY IN CURSIVE!

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