The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. Aristotle

I finally got my Holiday Cards done and mailed out. Yes, I do still use snail mail, if fact I made the majority of my cards this year. I enjoy having the chance to make my cards; it gives me a real sense of being connected to the person to whom I send the card.

This is not one of the cards I made but an example of the kind of cards I make.www.stampzia.com/.../thumbs/holiday-mg-t.jpg142 x 200 pixels - 14k

I have been thinking some about how I connect to people. I enjoy blogging and sending e-mails to people, but I must admit I prefer at times to have a more personal type of contact.

I also must admit that I do have a need to feel as if I have created something. I don’t have talent in an artistic way, at least not in a traditional sense but making cards, using the rubber stamps and choosing the colors of paper, ink and the style and format of the card does seem to satisfy this need to create for me.

It is fun for me to create then give a set of cards to someone. I have the chance to share a piece of myself in a way. Perhaps that is what those who pursue art in various media feel when they create a work. I find it a bit difficult to consider myself an artist, but there is a deep need for me to attempt to share in a tactile way.

Art is not a thing; it is a way. Elbert Hubbard

Holiday

I find myself cleaning house, getting ready for the holidays and in many ways trying to get things in order to enter the New Year. It seems almost cliché but I do find, in spit of myself, reviewing the events of the year and try to figure out what I want to change as the New Year begins. I have found a few quotes that seem to fit the process as I look at the start of a New Year.

Those who refuse to make New Year's resolutions because they always break them anyway miss the point. Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle. Eric Zorn

People have times in their lives when they are forced to examine themselves. Cat Stevens

Perhaps this qoute sums it up for me best!

Each year is a new year. Tim Buckley

Getting ready for the holiday

December 25, 1818 in History

Event:1st known Christmas carol ("Silent Night, Holy Night") sung (Austria)

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. Charles Dickens

Christmas! 'Tis the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial fire of charity in the heart. Washington Irving

ENTER THE LIGHT OF LIFE

THE CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE
Airing on the Hallmark Channel!
Tune in December 24, 2006,at 7 a.m. ET / PT.

ABOUT THE Christmas Eve Service

The Luke 2 account of the birth of Jesus is the text for this Church of the Brethren Christmas Eve service, created for national broadcast on CBS. Christopher Bowman, pastor of the Oakton (Va.) Church of the Brethren, is speaker.

Music is coordinated by Shawn Kirchner, minister of music at the La Verne (Calif.) Church of the Brethren, and features soloists Kim Simmons and Ryan Harrison, the Juniata College Concert Choir, a children’s ensemble from congregations in Indiana, and instrumentalists and readers from across the denomination.
Order the music soundtrack or DVD from BrethrenPress.com
ENTER THE LIGHT OF LIFEChurch of the Brethren Christmas Eve Service
Music

Working at relationships

Here are some thoughts that focus on relationships.

Everyone has them: family, friends, co-workers, children and many other, yet they can be the most wonderful or the most painful part of a person’s life.

It can be defined as: The state of being related by kindred, affinity, or other alliance.

I've included a few quotes that I found interesting on the subject.

On a level of simple personal survival, understanding and forgiveness are crucial... whether in an intimate personal relationship or on a global level. Edward Albert

The greatest gift you and your partner can give your children is the example of an intimate, healthy, and loving relationship. Barbara de Angelis

The one who loves the least, controls the relationship. Robert Anthony

We cannot have that relationship if we only dictate or threaten and condemn those who disagree. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Christians were instructed to serve others, and the thanksgiving was for the grace of God and the fact that God offered a way for man to return to a positive relationship with Him. John Clayton