life

Make The Time

Posted on by stephanieberry0531

Henry Drummond said ” Wherever we are, it is our friends that make our world.” A few posts ago I shared the importance of saying yes. A component of that is saying yes to making time for your friends. As we get older responsibilities increase while extra time decreases. We find ourselves yearning for a girls night out, but deciding against it because a Friday night could be used to catch up on laundry. Today I am challenging you to forget about the laundry, dishes, and yard work. You will always have those responsibilities, but can you say with 100% certainty that you will always have the opportunity to see a friend? People move, grow apart, get ill, pass away and those opportunities become fewer and fewer.  This week I have taken every opportunity I can to find time for my friends, and to be honest it was as much for me as it was for us. I have been having a hard time coping with the grieving from dropping out of school and laughing with my girlies was just what I needed. So go make the time! You deserve it and you NEED it!

We Can All Be “Artists”

Posted on by stephanieberry0531

Ok ok I know not everyone likes art or can draw, but figuratively we can all be artists. What I want you to do as you read this quote is reflect on how these concepts can apply to you because they are meant for everyone! Not just those who are artistic.

“The young artist of today need no longer say “I am a painter” or “a poet” or “a dancer”. He is simply an “artist”. All of life will be open to him. He will discover out of ordinary things the meaning of ordinariness. He will not try to make them extraordinary. Only their real meaning will be stated. But out of nothing he will devise the extraordinary then maybe nothingness as well. People will be delighted or horrified, critics will be confused or amused”

-“The Legacy of Jackson Pollock” by Allan Kaprow

I’m curious how my readers interpret and apply this to themselves. Share your thoughts in the comments!

The Power of Yes

Posted on by stephanieberry0531

Saying ‘yes’ was what helped me to recover from my long list of mental illnesses, however, I realized after reading this blog post that I have stopped saying yes. With the stress of school, my health, and life and general, ‘no’ has become and all too familiar word. It’s time for me to say ‘yes’ again. This time not to heal, but instead to maintain.

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Yes. A small word with a big impact. One syllable that can lead to incredible adventures, new relationships, and abundant life. Recovery has been a journey of rediscovering me, and becoming who I&#…

Source: The Power of Yes

Detours: I Can Have It All

Posted on by stephanieberry0531

In my first blog post I wrote a short synopsis of my recent detour from art school. I came across this writing I did in December about an internal struggle I had been dealing with, and thought I should share.

Sometimes I feel like I have two separate people living inside my body. Both are really selfish! One wants to have babies, buy a house, travel, and settle down. She wants the house-wife-all-american-dream. The other wants to get a masters degree and move to the west coast. She wants to travel the world to show her art and see a history of masters. She wants to devote her life to her art. But which one am I supposed to be? Do I dedicate my life to creativity or to motherhood? I see no way to do both. As much as women have the empowerment to do whatever they want in life, it still comes down to biology. You can’t be a full-time artist, have kids in your late 30s, and still be able to dedicate life to creativity. It has to be one or the other.

One or the other.

That’s within me…then I have outside of me. Family, money, my husband’s education, my husbands goals, expectations of others.

It’s impossible.

Yet there is a little bird that continues to whisper in my ear.

Yes you can.

In my second post I addressed how to flip your mind from abusive to encouraging. When I read this I can identify every negative voice and every encouraging voice. I know myself.

I also know how black and white my brain is. Grey matter (punny) is extremely difficult to come by in my brain. It is a constant struggle of finding a healthy balance.

One thing I have realized recently is I do not have to settle for one or the other. I really can have it all, and there are many paths I can take to get there. Right now I am working on the alternate route that works best for me. I have no fear of the future or others’ expectations. Instead I rejoice in the newness of it all and the versatility of my dreams. I have a sense of adventure and awareness. Many roads can get me to my destination. It’s time for me to take the pressure off of myself; it’s time for all of us to take the pressure off of ourselves.

As Kurt Cobain says:

All in all is all we are

Plans

Posted on by stephanieberry0531

The most amazing God experience happened last night! I had been feeling distressed; not sure if my decision to quit school was smart or rash. Was it more constructive or destructive? I felt like God wasn’t helping me. He wasn’t guiding me, and I couldn’t feel him or hear him. I felt like a lost sheep that the Shepard had forgotten about. In my despair I started talking to God; asking him to let me hear him. Tears streaming down my face a book and verse popped into my head. After reading it I was guided to my portals of prayer which was titled “better worrier”. I had that feeling that I have in church occasionally that this was made just for me. I realized that I had not been asking God for help with my struggles, I had not been asking for what I want or depending on him. I stopped going to church, stopped reading the bible, stopped praying. No wonder I felt lost! So last night I gave it all up to the Lord. I cried and praised him. I told him I wanted to finish my degree and I asked him to please take this tension and pain away from me.

And you know what happened next…

My back felt like someone was hugging me from behind and suddenly all my tension and pain drained from my body.

God is so good!

I wanted to share this article I came across this morning because it is such a great reminder that maybe we can’t handle everything and maybe we don’t understand everything, but God has got our backs! We don’t need to be able to handle everything or understand everything, because he asks us to let him do all the leg work. All we need to do is praise him and glorify his name with our time on this earth.

Wishing you all a blessed day!

Stephanie

(PS with God’s strength and help I will be continuing my degree. My help comes from the Lord!)

Read the article “Plan” in the link below!

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“The most important lesson that I have learned is to trust God in every circumstance. Lots of times we go through different trials and following God’s plan seems like it doesn’t make an…

Source: Plans

Calling All Bloggers: Feature Friday

Posted on by stephanieberry0531

I want my blog to not only be positive but to be all inclusive. With that being said I am calling bloggers who would be interested in a feature to email me a link to no more than 5 of their blog posts. Posts must be positive and inspirational. I will pick posts that are inspirational stories, tips to mental health, motivational topics, and success stories. If you are not sure if your post would qualify please email me and I will let you know. The first feature will be on March 11 and all requests must be in by March 7th at 11pm CST to be considered. I will email you back if your post(s) have been selected, and once I run out of features I will hold another submission date.

Please email feature submissions to:

stephanie.berry0531@gmail.com

with the subject line: Feature Friday: Round 1

I can’t wait to read all your wonderful posts!

Love,

Stephanie