This is it!
That’s all! Enjoy the moment my friends ~ Penny!
Month: September 2012
You – The Inspiration
You
There are many things that affect you each day. The one common denominator they all have is You. Each of us has said or heard the words “that is so inspiring”. What causes the inspiration within you are your own 
emotions. You…are the one reacting.
How you feel plays a major role in the shaping of inspiration. There is no one who has the ability to inspire you more than you. You the greatest motivator. All things beyond that are catalysts that “light your fire” or put it out.
There is a key here, something to think on. No one just leaps out of bed, happy with the world and thinks all things are wonderful and then goes out and conquers. Well nobody I know anyway.
But many understand what is needed and set about searching for that which will influence and motivate them towards a certain mindset. This takes practice and (the hard part) discipline.
To overcome, 
move forward, take chances, be brave and be inspired you must have the discipline to understand – you are on a mission to find those things (catalysts) in your own life that will advance your own inspiration!
I can say that with confidence. I am familiar with the discipline. The interesting thing to note here is that the daily practice of searching for motivation is actually very freeing.
The more you are outside of yourself looking at potentials, possibilities and what others are doing, the easier it is to be creative. You are no long stuck inside of you wondering what to do next.
The next step is yours. It always was about you, you know! You are your greatest Inspiration!
Your Inspiration, Your ideas -You!
And just so you know, all of you are my catalysts, my inspiration comes from a strong desire to return the favor to you my friends. Enjoy the day ~ All my love, Penny
Copyright © 2012 by Penny l Howe
Have The Time of Your Life!
Happy Weekend everyone! This video just says it all, for the young for the old, for the in-between! Great music, great lyrics, great dancing ~ living and loving! Pease Enjoy ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Should the video disappear here’s the link (just in case lol) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ra5K9sqaPE&feature=fvst
And for those of you who have seen the whole movie before, yes my favorite line is …”Nobody puts baby in the corner”!
Have an excellent weekend my friends, Penny
Ride The Winds – of Life
Ride the Winds
The Wind blows … Come what may.
~
The Wind blows.
~
Stormy days when wind blows with a magnificent ferocity not to be equaled by mortals of Earth. Nature in her greatest glory.
~
In stormy moments, the wind rages and we hold on as best we can, feeling the gale force of her majestic might.
~
There are days when wind is a gentle movement, whispering softly through the air. Ebbing currents just barely perceptible and yet the movement is there.
~
We feel a breeze … soft and soothing. So very welcoming is the gentleness of a summer breeze.
~
The quality of the wind we know is its unpredictable nature. Yet the gentle breeze or the raging force is still the wind that we know.
~
A part of our life, a part of who we are. There are always choices in life. I chose to Live and so my friends I would say to you …
… Ride the Winds, feel the breath of life blowing through you, carrying you on, be not afraid, – it is worth the ride, my friends, it is worth the ride.
~
The wind does blow!
Ride the Wind, My Friends … it’s worth the ride!
*****
***
Thank you so much for stopping by to visit, may your days be filled with fun and adventure ~ Penny
Copyright © 2012 by Penny l Howe
Time outside of time ~ And a Video of Me
“Time outside of Time”
Have you really thought about the “time” element of blogging.
I’m not referring to the time you and I spend on any given day posting, reading, or commenting on blogs. I don’t mean that kind of “time”.
When we’re online, and communicating with other bloggers there is a different mental process going on – there is a sense or quality of timelessness.
What I call “time outside of time”. When you meet someone virtually in the blogging world it seems that within an extremely brief period of “real” time you have a sense of closeness and friendship being shared with that blogger. It’s personal and it is a real feeling.
This does not happen in our everyday world. The virtual connection seems to bypass that which makes us cautious in our actual lives. We are open, and we share emotions, thoughts and feelings and this draws us closer together in a timeless manner, because you feel within a short time as if you’ve ‘known’ this blogger for much longer than you have.
Time outside of time, isn’t that a wonderful thing. And a most special way to become close to people any and everywhere around the world. Making friends outside of time ~ it sounds poetic, I think!
* * * * * * * * * *
I’ve had a few bloggers ask how I generate ideas when writing a post. So I made a very short video to illustrate a simple process. Almost without exception I write out an idea on my notepad and I sketch or doodle to come up with the essence of what I’d like to convey.Usually I wear headphones and listen to music.
Once I’ve got an image fixed in my mind, then I write (using the computer) and finish the layout with photo’s or graphics. The other day I sketched eyes for the “pigment of imagination”, today the idea was “time outside of time” I wrote a few thoughts on the idea and found myself sketching abstract connections to convey the meaning. And yes I am writing backwards. It seems to help my creative flow.
Thanks for stopping by, have a good one, my friends, Penny
Copyright © 2012 by Penny l Howe
For all of you who know my daughters story and journey of moving forward in her life. This is for you. Her daughter Jordan (in fact the whole family are “gamers” so this blog that Christina posted today is fun and funny) and delightful for me to see and hear the laughter in the household, enjoy this bit of fun my friends ~
As some of you may or may not know….I am a geek. Purebred and proud of it. I love video games, everything sci-fi, and some other pretty random stuff for a “girl”. This has sparked many fun and interesting conversations with a few fellow bloggers. There is one I shall focus on today though as he is the source of so much laughter and fun I have to share.
I know my blog is usually pretty serious (aside from some awards posts) so I would now like to “come out of the geek closet” and share the quirkier side of me. If you know me in real life or have talked to me at all really in the blogoverse then you know that I am often very silly and love love love to laugh.
Hence my blog attraction to Chris9911. He’s hysterical. He cracks me up. Before you go and get all weird on me…
View original post 141 more words
For all the Women of the World
SHE
This was written for all women of the world and where I see the future and their role. The title is “She and They”. I think most women everywhere will recognize the meaning of this.
What is interesting – I wrote this piece 22 years ago, about the future. Interesting huh!
SHE & THEY
SHE seemed to stand apart from the others in the room, an essence of wisdom radiating from her being.
THEY knew she was strong and feared for their own – futures. Futures, laid out in neat little orderly patterns and
packages so many years ago – patterns of steps, packages of goals, always in line, always the same.
THEY had structured their lives so they fit the system, the sadly eroding system which they had caused but were just beginning to notice … so intent upon steps towards goals, steps toward goals …
THEY had felt secure in all this sameness … until SHE came. SHE who had never followed sameness, or structure, no not HER.
THEY knew of her; a maverick, an independent, separate from, different, unique.
SHE was in her element, secure in her beliefs.
HER supporters and followers (many) gathering about her; shoring up her vast
internal strength, wiping out the last small remnant of lingering doubt and … Fear?
Ah yes, FEAR.
Years, upon years, upon years – stumbles, slips and falls. Always, seeming to slide backwards, further and further, a plethora of never ending blind alleys, wrong turns, and failures.
SHE knows of Fear, its moods and personality.
Cause and Effect – she’s lived it and learned it, paying her price again and again through a loss of harmony, always seemingly out of step.
Now, with the coming of CHANGE
SHE blends as one; in tune, in time, not a step out of beat. Effortlessly she knows which way to turn, how to proceed.
THEY can only stand frozen huddled around themselves wondering and worrying about their futures.
And SHE, a survivor to her past, stands poised on the brink of tomorrow, a mantle of rightness and harmony settling about her. Her future and THE future – finally one and the same.
Penny L Howe, December, 1990
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Do I have strong feelings on this subject? Yes, yes I do. Today more women are educated, reaching out and making a difference for themselves and their families. And they are more aware than ever, not only of the plight of their sisters in some of the countries around the world, but of the planet itself. And they are doing something about it! So do I mean the words I wrote 22 years ago? Absolutely. Is it coming true? Absolutely. Are women amazing? Absolutely!
Thank you for stopping by my friends, bless you all!
Copyright © 2012 by Penny l Howe
Creative thinking – The Box Outside
Do you think outside of the box? Or maybe the box is upside down and you’re under it (lol). Creative thinking means really changing you perspective in ways you’ve never thought before.
I remember in Marketing 101 (basics) the black box model. Professionally speaking this term is used to analyze
the buyer’s buying motivation. It’s called the ‘black box’ because no one is ever sure how the mind works – ergo you can’t see inside so it’s black.
The ‘black box’ model sets up possible scenerios to help you “guess” better (my interpretation on this). I thought it was dumb. It seemed they were taking something simple and complicating the crap out of it. Again just my thoughts.
I suggested that it might be easier to simple ask the customers what they wanted. I did not get an “A” in that class. An interest side note however is that years later when I was conducting independent workshops about marketing basics to young entrepreneurs, half my class was filled with people with degree’s in Marketing. Apparently they didn’t get it either (lol).
I don’t have a box! Never did! Creative people don’t do well with restrictions to creative thinking.
“Like most creative people I don’t fit well into boxes” – Laurell K. Hamilton
“Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don’t fit into boxes” Tori Amos
“Hollywood likes to put actors in boxes, and it likes to put Asian actors in really small boxes” Sandra Oh
Do something really different today, If you don’t want to get rid of the thinking box (comfort zone) completely, at least move it outside. Then go for it, as in big time…some huge creative stuff!
“If I did have boxes to think outside of … they would be creative ones” Penny L Howe
Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy your day and be creative ~ Penny
Copyright © 2012 by Penny l Howe
A Day to Appreciate Bloggers
Appreciating Bloggers Around The World
Okay so it’s not officially “Blogger Appreciation Day“. But doesn’t it sound great ?
Today sending love to all of you (graphic interpretation above). I appreciate the words your write, the thoughts you share, the places you visit, your posts about loved ones and pets.
The photographs you take, the beauty of your poetry, the cleverness of your stories, the things you reveal, your pure creativity, your love,
your words and your inner beauty – all expressed so well!
Everything about you and what you blog! I love it!
PASS IT ON, MY FRIENDS!
One more thing. My family and I have a very large map of the world. We will (slowly) be adding each bloggers name (geographically located) that we ‘know’ onto the WW – bloggers map. The map is on the wall in our home(not virtual – the real deal), so when we blog with each of you we can glance at the wall and see how close to each other we really are.
Anyone who would care to identify their specific geographic location for me (I know where many of you are in general) that would be wonderful, I would love to add your name to our bloggers map!
Thanks for stopping by, have a great blogging day today! Love to you all, my friends ~ Penny
Copyright © 2012 by Penny l Howe
A Pigment of My Imagination
Imagination– A Pigment in the Minds Eye
I’ve been an artist since I could hold a pencil and draw. Colors constantly fill my world! I’m fascinated by
patterns, designs, shapes, colors. When I’m thinking on what to write about, I doodle. Here’s a doodle on the paper where I was beginning to write today’s post. There I am holding a pencil, which was my very first creative tool for expressing myself.
When my senses are invoked by anything and I am being creative, my minds eye immediately races to my imagination. I’m sure it’s an actual place inside my head, where all these creative thoughts hang out just waiting to be used.
Just about anything triggers my imagination. And while there has been much written about
imagination scientifically, it remains as illusive to scientists as quantum physics are to most of us.
So I’m doodling (as you can see) and thinking about writing more about imagination.
Imagination has no boundarys, no limits (like you and your potential). Anything goes with imagination.
So I doodled and sketched a bit more and came up with these eyes. And I thought “colors and eyes”. Then the saying “A figment of my imagination” came into my head and looking at the eyes in my sketch I replaced the word ‘figment’ with ‘pigment’ and Voila I had my topic for the day – A Pigment of my imagination!
Your imagination is the equivalent of a treasure chest. Something to dig into again and again for inspiration. It is no coincidence that some of the most talented and brilliant humans on the planet who have ever lived refer to “imagination” as the most important thing there is! And it’s yours for the doing. Set your mind on fire with your imagination.
Open those gates to what’s waiting just inside your mind, better yet jump right in and explore. As I’ve already said imagination has no boundaries, yours to do as you wish, go where you want…nothing holding you back…but you! Be imaginative, have fun, there’s a glorious world waiting inside you…imagine!
Imagine this!
Use your imagination. What might this be a picture of, or where, or when?
May your days and nights be filled with laughter, fun and love ~ thank you for stopping by, Penny
Copyright © 2012 by Penny l Howe
The Why About This 