What are meaningful “action” words?

July 14, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 11 Comments

And how do you use them?

*

Love, Hope, Give, Honor, Care, Trust, Believe, Forgive, Value,

Such small words. Such huge and wonderful meanings. When we use small words with big meanings do we feel big feelings? Do we think big thoughts?

In the English language of things, these can all be “action” words (verbs)! Are they action words (in your life) when you say them or are they simply words connecting other words together in a sentence. Words written or spoken in daily platitudes but not our personal attitudes.

I know when we use small words that are negative …

fear, hate, fault, blame, mean, hurtful, cruel, greedy

… we are very action oriented! Look around, it’s rather obvious isn’t it? Violence, meanness, cruelty, selfishness, greed are everywhere (in abundance)! Why is that?

The human heart has such a giant capacity for LOVE and LOVING!

Today, written and spoken words are being used as weapons, tearing apart and ripping through the potential of what we can become: something far greater than the sum of our individual parts. Please use those action words that help bring us – all – closer together. Not further apart. And yes! You do make a difference! Every single human being on the planet does!

Each life holds the capability of greatness from which something mighty may grow.

an embedded heart

within, a seed of greatness

embracing love

~

I hope you are having an excellent Sunday and for those beginning your new week, may it be a full and loving one for you.

~ Penny

Ligo Haibun Challenge – Listen, can you hear?

July 12, 2013July 15, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 38 Comments

Hello and welcome to this week’s Ligo Haibun Challenge! The honourable mentions for last week are listed below. Join our international group of writers (We welcome and encourage you to join us in the creative pursuit of your written words!) just check at the bottom of this page for more details.

The challenge this week – Write a haibun choosing one of the following written prompts:

“Lost Moments”

“The earth has music for those who listen.”

Quote by George Santayana

My offering for this week is from the quote by George Santayana!

Listen, can you hear?

There once was a girl, mostly deaf, me! I could hear – when sounds and spoken words were loud, or when looking directly at the person speaking. Lip reading was self-taught (although unaware, I learned to speak and understand by lip movement and observing facial expressions). When a child, you don’t know you have a hearing problem. A problem undiagnosed, until 7 years old.

*I grew up in the fertile and lush Willamette Valley in the northwestern part of North America, spending days/years communing with nature through intimacy of sight and touch. At the age of 11, through a series of incidents, my hearing (overnight) became full and clear. Never explained or clearly understood, by professionals, why this happened or why it happened when it happened, but I woke up one morning and could hear.

And so a difficulty to describe what has not been heard before. The ebbs and flows; birdsong, breezy sounds, rustling grasses, stirring leaves, streamlets rippling murmurs, distant croaking frogs. Woodland whistles through dense trees.

I had never known nuances of sounds, nor echoes in the life force of nature. Magically magnified by my perfect ears – one hundred fold. Raw richness of sensation, the day I first heard, the music of my earth!

when first heard

nature’s symphony of life

magic inconceivable

(A true story, I have had perfect hearing since the 4th grade and have never stopped loving the musically beautiful songs of nature, nor do I ever tire of visiting Mother nature in the wild, my true home on this planet!

Taken early this morning! Thought I’d share.

All those who entered last week’s Ligo Haibun Challenge presented well written haibun. Congratulations to all of you, please keep writing. The honourable mentions for last weeks Challenge are:

Twoscamps

Anja

Penny

Peripetatic Eric

Reading Pleasure

Each of their haibun are well worth taking the time to read and enjoy. Just click their name! Again I am included. I am honored by the other judges voting for me.

To enter and learn more about the Ligo Haibun Challenge, click here!

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend,

~ Penny

Good Morning World – We all need each other!

July 1, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 55 Comments

You’re in my thoughts – Each and every single one of you!

You aren’t ever alone. We (all living things) need each other

and because we do – we will never be alone!

Have the best week you can have

with the current resources available to you and don’t forget

… even for a second

that we share in life together!

One family living in our home – the planet Earth.

So I say good morning to my family

every single one of you!

And wish for you the best of days today!

All my love!

~ Penny

Be at rest

June 18, 2013June 18, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 30 Comments

Be at rest

Be at peace

My child in slumber

Be at rest.

be unencumbered

my child in slumber,

All is well.

The unknown

will always be.

But you’re protected

you have me.

Be at rest

My child in slumber,

You are safe

I promise thee.

~ Penny L Howe, 2013

~*~

~ Penny

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves

June 14, 2013June 14, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 30 Comments

A very curvy Snow cat ~ shaped by Emma

Hello.

As you know I don’t normally do photo challenges but this weeks WordPress Photo Challenge of curves sounded like fun. Also I wanted to submit a drawing for ‘Time out for Art’, also I wanted to write a brief post about the summer of things versus the winter of things, also Emma had asked me to showcase some of her creative work. (As if that’s ever a problem, lol).

A cartoon drawing by Emma. Having fun building a snowman in winter.

One of the things we females do extremely well, is multi-task so without further ado. My photo entry for the Weekly Photo Challenge of curves (Emma’s). The drawing, for Lisa’s of Zebra Designs and Destinations: Time out for art (Emma’s). Expressing herself through her art form, drawing multiple drawings per day is the norm. for her.

And I … well I sit here viewing both Emma’s creative molding of a snow cat (she loves cats), a cartoon drawing of a snowman (she makes her own cartoon videos) depicting the fun we can have in winter on even really cold days while out on the patio this morning where it’s a warm and breezy blue skied day outside!

There you go! a Challenge, a time out, some feel good feelings of sharing a young girl’s creativity and a reminder that, yes indeed, summer is just about here and celebrating the difference between the two seasons.

Here’s the Artisan herself: Emma (And yes she designed and colored the hat and shirt)!

I’m going to sip a little more coffee as I publish this, everyone have an excellent weekend!

~ Penny

Being at one with nature – take two!

April 5, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 16 Comments

In my post just previous to this one, it was suggested to me (in the comment section) that depending on where you live right now, being “at one” with nature can be a more difficult proposition (not mentioning names here Alastair!) So just for you, here is take two of being at one with nature!

Now if everyone had a good laugh (if you didn’t get it go to the photo of the previous post – should be obvious then!) And now to leave you with a different mentality of being at one with nature!

And there you have it being “at one” with nature (even if it isn’t spring yet!

Have a great day!

~ Penny

A short one!

January 29, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 15 Comments

Very short … but to the point!

CARE!

I guess I could have called this post ‘word for the day’, but I figured it was pretty self-explanatory,

~ Thanks,

Penny

Awww … and Reading Inspiration too!

November 6, 2012 / Penny L Howe / 34 Comments

Reading – the foundation to learn upon!

I love this picture!

Reading words became my learning foundation when I was 4 years old. I had difficulty hearing as a child so I was taught to read early (actually my mother taught all of us to read early, she felt it was important.).

My imagination happily took flight when I would get lost inside the the story of a book and when not reading I would daydream and imagine all sorts of wonderful things as a child.

Reading books is a very good thing for children. Based on my own personal experience I cannot encourage you enough to encourage children to read books. There are electronic formats now, in abundance.

And these are good too. They can be used to further encourage children to use, write and read words. Word power is the thing.

The more words a child knows the more he/she is able to learn.

Education is the key to a better future. Word knowledge is the main foundation for education.

Share, be involved and encourage children to read. This is Good!

This is very good!

Always!

A Child Reading ~ Our Future!

Thanks for stopping by today

~ Penny

Purely Inspirational

September 2, 2012September 2, 2012 / Penny L Howe / 50 Comments

“Free to Fly”

This morning I was having a conversation with an online friend and she was telling me how she was enjoying so many bloggers posts as they were so inspirational. That she was feeling more inspired and how she was starting to feel she could be freer to express herself.

I encouraged her to do so with the following message “Please with all my heart I would wish you to be free to fly” (express yourself).

Christina (my daughter) and I recently posted on the wall, our ‘wish/dream’list for the family’s journey of moving on with their life. (Duane – beloved husband to Christina and loving father to his children was struck and killed 2 years ago by a driver not paying attention) Emma, my 10 year old granddaughter said this morning when asked what she would wish for (for our list) and I quote her exact words”

Emma – self portrait

Emma: “I would wish to fly like a bird. Perhaps I could use a jet-pack or a glider, I do so want to feel free to fly”.

I think that is nicely summing things up!

This was said by a 10 year old beautiful young creative girl (a girl that is now without her wonderful father ) who is at last moving forward like her other family members and joyously embracing her future.

The art and photograph are 100% all compliments of talented Emma.

The photo at the top was taken by Emma a few weeks ago.

she’d rush in to grab the camera to shoot a picture of the sky because it was so beautiful and then she’d review the photo and do “touch ups” with effects so the picture would represent her view.

If you truly wish to be inspired here you go! (this is just a sampling) She makes cartoon videos, clay characters, puts on plays and she’s a nut about science. She loves to talk about time travel and her favorite expression is “that must be a psychological phenomenon”. And yes she does know what that means!