My word for this year is simplicity. I planned to organize, streamline, and simplify my life. Here we are halfway through the year, and I continue this mission. The nice people at Goodwill recognize me when I drive up with donations. My weekly garbage can is fuller than it has been in the past. And I am feeling a little lighter in my living spaces and the way I do my work. It is progress.

What I didn’t expect by keeping simplicity in my mind, I would begin to look at the simple things in life differently. It gave me peace to spend time drinking coffee with my dogs on my lap in the morning. Watching the different birds wrangling for their place on the food tray of my bird feeder was amusing to me. Counting and naming the baby bunnies in my yard brought me joy. Simple, silly things were slowing me down to enjoy life more.

It was during these moments of watching life in my backyard that I noticed dragonflies. Lots and lots of dragonflies. They were swarming above my yard in massive numbers. Day after day I watched them circling my property.

I have always been a butterfly girl. I love the beauty of their colors. The way they float through the air. The mystery of how they begin as a caterpillar, seal themselves into a cocoon, and then emerge as a glorious, graceful creature. When I was a young girl, my grandmother taught me the story of butterflies representing transformation and rebirth. She would hide a butterfly made of icing on each wedding cake she decorated as a symbol of the new life the couple was stepping into.

Yes, I am a butterfly girl. But this influx of dragonflies caught my attention. Of course I had to research them. I found the meaning of dragonflies in many different cultures.  
​
Native American Traditions often viewed them as spirit messengers between realms.
In Japanese culture, they are seen as a symbol of courage and strength and are believed to carry the souls of ancestors.
Celtic Folklore considers them creatures of the fairy realm, representing the thin veil between life, death, and the spiritual dimension
 
After my research, I was captivated by the mystical dragonflies that were visiting me. I was convinced the ceremonial circling of my yard was a spiritual ritual of protection for me and recognition of all the loved ones I have lost. (Let me have my moment.)
 
And then one morning on my patio, there it was sitting on the concrete. I am sure it was waiting for me. Luckily, I had my phone in my pocket and snapped several photos before it lifted its wings and joined its tribe in the ceremonial circling of my home.  

I looked to see if my photos were worth keeping. To my surprise, when I zoomed in on the dragonfly, I hadn’t just snapped a picture of an insect. I had captured a vision of a majestic work of nature’s art.

The design on its body was a perfect pattern of a glorious blue on black with white accents. Its huge eyes must have been scanning me as I took the photographs. Its wings were whisper thin with a delicate veining pattern that could only be created in a magical way. I had no idea that a dragonfly held such beauty.
 
I don’t know why the dragonfly chose to pause on my patio, but I like to think it was so I would notice. I needed to notice that the little things in life are not always simple, but until we slow down, we may never realize that their simplicity is exquisite … and this beauty is in our own backyards. Simplicity isn’t always that simple.
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                                                   Pennie’s Life Lesson:
             When you notice the simple things in life, you see their glorious beauty. 
                                                    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

​YOUR TURN...        
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below.  And please feel free to email me  at:
 [email protected]. 
                                                                 Thank you!  ​
                                      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                         All Rights Reserved
                                          Copyright © 2013-2026 Pennie Hunt
                             This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward and share this post.  Please keep the entire message intact, including  contact, logo, and copyright information.
#CornerofSpiritandBrave #LoveYourLifeNoMatterWhat #JourneyThrough #PennieHunt #IAmGoodEnough #grief #Love #Joy #HowToBeHappy #Happiness

Four weeks ago, my daughter’s family moved to a different state. I was sad that my little ducklings were going to be so far away. I decided I needed to stay busy. Very busy. After the moving truck pulled away, I began cleaning my own house. I cleaned out closets. I did yard work, and one day I decided to power wash the garage floor.

As I sprayed water, squeegeed and sprayed again, the floor began to shine. I was tired, but the idea of staying busy was helping me keep my mind off missing my grandsons. Suddenly I looked up from the wet floor, and there she was.

Standing right in front of me on the driveway was a duck. I said, “Hello.” She just stared at me. I thought she would like the water, so I sprayed enough in the driveway to make a puddle. She immediately sat down in the middle of it and continued to watch me work.
The next day she was there again. I once again said, “Hello.” She once again stared.

​On the third day I saw her disappear into the bush in front of my dining room window. I ran into the house,​looked out that window, and straight down into the bush. She was happily sitting on a nest. In that moment I named her, “Little Mama.”

Day after day she would waddle out for a short time in the early morning and once again in the evening. Just to stretch her legs. Every time I saw her, I would greet her with, “Hello, Little Mama.” She wasn’t afraid of me but always stared at me.

I read everything I could find on mallard ducks nesting. I learned that within 24 hours of hatching, the mama would walk her ducklings away from the nest and find water. I live a long, long way from water, so I was concerned.

Then the day came. I looked out the dining room window and little mama looked up at me like she always did. Two little fluffy brown and yellow ducklings peeked at me as well. I was so excited!
​
I called the Game and Fish Department with my concern about Little Mama and her ducklings finding water. I was reassured that nature had a plan, and she knew exactly how to take care of her ducklings, and they would be fine- even if they were going to travel a long way to find water.

The next morning, I was sad to see that Little Mama and the ducklings were gone. I never got to see them waddle down my driveway to their new life away from the nest. I am not sure how many ducklings actually hatched, but she left behind a perfect nest with 5 abandoned eggs. In my reading, I found that this is normal. I continued to check on the eggs, thinking maybe they would hatch and the nest would once again be filled with life. They didn’t. 

Through this experience, I have learned a lot about ducks. But I learned more about life. The feelings of empty nest syndrome don’t just happen to parents when their kids go to college. It can happen to anyone, no matter what age your kids or grandchildren are when they leave.

It has been a reminder of how important it is to accept and adapt to change. You can be angry, sad, scared, and fight against it, but change is going to happen. If you accept and adapt, you will be happier. An empty nest is evidence that love has done its job.

I also learned to be careful and specific about what you put out there to the Universe. I was sad when my daughter’s family (my ducklings) moved away. So, what did the Universe give me… a mama duck with a lesson for me. I needed to watch how she nurtured her eggs, and when the ducklings hatched, they all left. Life is a cycle and change is real. I needed to accept it.

I miss Little Mama and her ducklings and hope they found the water they went looking for. I miss my human ducklings and hope they soak up all their new life holds for them.
​Now I am back to cleaning and decluttering my home and life. And in the future, I will be very specific about what I will ask the Universe for next.
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​                                                  Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                                       Every ending is also a beginning.
​                        An empty nest is evidence that love has done its job.
                                                       ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

​YOUR TURN...        
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below.  And please feel free to email me  at:
 [email protected]. 
                                                                 Thank you!  ​
                                      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                         All Rights Reserved
                                          Copyright © 2013-2026 Pennie Hunt
                             This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward and share this post.  Please keep the entire message intact, including  contact, logo, and copyright information.
#CornerofSpiritandBrave #LoveYourLifeNoMatterWhat #JourneyThrough #PennieHunt #IAmGoodEnough #grief #Love #Joy #HowToBeHappy #Happiness

My mom was terribly afraid of tornadoes. It didn’t matter if it was a tornado watch or warning, or if she just thought the sky looked like a potential tornado; she would panic. When I was young, we didn’t have a basement in our home, so at any sign or thought of a tornado, she would take my siblings and me across the street to the neighbors who did have a basement, so we could have appropriate shelter.

When was the last time you were afraid? Were you afraid of storms, spiders, darkness? What caused your fear? Did a spider cause your fear? Did a dark night cause your fear? Did a tornado cause my mom’s fear? No. No. And no.

When you think about it, most of the time we scare ourselves. My mom was never in a tornado. You probably have never been attacked by a spider. And has the dark of night ever caused you harm? These things do not cause our fear. We cause our fear.

Our brains are continually scanning for threats and overestimating the risk of danger. When we do this enough times, it becomes a habit. We become very good at visualizing the worst possible outcome. We become very good at creating imagined monsters under our beds.

When we do this, our adrenaline rises, our anxiety fills us, and our fight or flight response is on high defense. And, we have done it all to ourselves.

Yes, we need to look both ways when we cross the street, and it probably isn’t a good idea to walk alone in a dark alley. We need to pay attention to real weather warnings, and don’t pick up a snake or try to pet a buffalo. Logical caution is a skill we need to learn. But giving our brain the freedom to create the worst-case scenario in our mind is not the way we should approach life.

Our thoughts create our reality, and we control our thoughts. When the sky turns dark and clouds look frightening, refocus your thoughts. Instead of visualizing the roof flying off your house and your house turning into a pile of rubble, focus on the present moment. Right now, you are safe. Right now, it looks like a storm, so take appropriate precautions, but do not create a hysterical panic.

If you see a spider, instead of visualizing it attacking you, focus on the present moment. The spider is small and several feet away. You can turn around, leaving the spider to his happy life, and you can walk away… no harm done.

In every moment and every situation, we have the power to refocus and choose fear or faith. As creative beings, we can conjure up the most amazing frightening situations in our mind that can induce hysterical stress in our bodies. Or… we can focus our thoughts on the present and have faith that our situation is stable, safe, and we have the capacity to handle it calmly.

Given this choice, why would we intentionally scare ourselves when we can live every moment in calm observation of our lives?  
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                                                     Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                   Instead of allowing your thoughts to create irrational fear,
                               use logical caution, and train your thoughts to
​                              stay in the present moment of calm observation.
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(*It is important that I mention that past traumas cause many people fears that are difficult to manage. PTSD is 100% real. I continue to struggle with driving in traffic after I was involved in a terrible accident years ago. In these cases, it is not self-inflicted but caused by a life-threatening or traumatic event. PTSD is not a case of scaring ourselves. This is not the fear I am referring to in this column.)