If you’ve got the space, use it well!
Love these great big signs in NYC’s Soho district Starbucks. Super high ceilings and giant windows make it spacious, the organic-feel signs make it cozy, the messaging makes it fun. Nice touch!
May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go. ~ Irish Blessing
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52 Weeks of Peace / Week #64 / © Patricia Saxton
Two peace signs this week, I know! There are two reasons for this. One, clearly this design couldn’t wait, since it is, after all, St. Patrick’s Day. Two, I needed an extra dose of peace myself this week. So there you have it.
Top o’the mornin’ to you; may your day be full of blessings! And remember ~ “A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures.” : )
52 Weeks of Peace / Week #64B / © Patricia Saxton
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” ~ Albert Einstein
Yesterday was not only Albert Einstein’s birthday, but also National Pi Day.
Yes ~ ∏. I’ve since learned that National Pie Day is on January 23. Still, one can take artistic license now and again. And besides, it seems a great theory to celebrate both mathematical tributes (Pi and Einstein) with some yummy dessert.
You could even make a mathematical equation in this somewhere, I betcha. The ratio of blueberries to sugar sprinkles? The probability of not a single sugar sprinkle hitting one of the raspberries? The average number of vertical lines in a kiwi slice?
Or maybe not ~ but I think Dr. Einstein would have enjoyed a piece of fruit pie, with a dollop of whipped cream and a nicely sharpened pencil on the side.
Dear Clients, I’m planning to take the rest of the afternoon off. I hope you don’t mind ~ in fact, I think you should too, and here’s why:
My God, what a gorgeous day! The windows are flung open wide, the sun shines, the air is warm and breezy. Birds chatter, daffodils open, kids walk home from school, sweatshirts abandoned.
Spring is everything delicious. Everything new and reborn. Really it is ~ because it’s not as though we’ve never seen a daffodil before, but when they bloom each spring there’s a thrill of delight as if it were the first. And when we spot a robin, as if it were a strange and unusual creature, we shout like children, “look – a robin!”.
Our heart feels lighter, our hope expands. A beautiful day like this reminds us that life always chooses to look up, to grow towards the light and surprise us with a million ways to shine, no matter what.
And all that warrants some time out ~ enjoying this early gift from the fickle month of March, for the winds could change tomorrow!
Ah, yes.
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
(ps: you can see all “where in the world is peace?” images compiled on our special “where in the world is peace?” page. Our book is on Amazon, our totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com and we’ll also post them on our FaceBook page. Let’s see where peace goes!)
I hear a bunch of exasperation out there about social media.
Bottom line, we have to make choices about our time ~ these days, almost on an hour-to-hour basis. In any given period we may ask, is this a good use of my time? Is this what I want to be doing, is this what I HAVE to be doing, is this just what happened when one thing ran into the next and here’s where I landed?
Those of us who are self-employed need to insert structure into our day, or we’d not be at all productive ~ and that requires a hefty dose of self-discipline.
This may work beautifully if you work with tasks that have clear beginnings and endings (not to say there aren’t snags and challenges that could send potentially simple project into galactic proportions), but far less controlled if you’re in the concepting stage of a design project where you’re, let’s say, trying to break the rules in imaginative, but still effective ways. You can’t set a timer for that. But you can set a timer that says it’s time to shift gears, have dinner, take a walk.
So what then do you do with the onslaught of social media demands on top of all the rest? Do you skip the walk to check your twitter feed? Post facebook quotes while you eat dinner? Pin on Pinterest early in the day, while checking email and planning calls … and yea … you see, things can start to overlap and then maybe your grip starts to slip, the ride is moving and your hat is flying… and you’re saying, “wait!, whoa, slow down!” Yet the world out there is saying, “ha! right! time waits for no one, better hop on!”
So you sigh and shrug and try to keep up.
Or you decide not to.
Here’s the thing: there’s no rule book that says you have to leap into every social media outlet that comes along. That said, I’d be leading you down the wrong road if I said you shouldn’t participate in at least a few of your choice. But by all means, unless you’ve got a budget and a staff whose sole job is to handle every social media site, be choosy.
When all those invites come in to join this group or that network, don’t impulsively jump. Let it sit. Check it out. If it feels right, you may want to climb aboard. If it feels a lot like “ugh, do I have to?”… then don’t.
Either way, don’t miss that walk in the park in order to get a front seat on the next social media wave. If it really sings to you, you can join in after your walk.
For those of you who like to honor St. Patrick, or have a love for all things Celtic, “52 Weeks of Peace” / Week 29 is for you!
Yep, it’s just about a week away ~ the day of dance and drink, and the traditional feasting of Irish bacon and cabbage, all to honor Saint Patrick, the patron saint and apostle of Ireland.
Saint Pat was actually born in Roman Britain (way back in the fifth century), but apparently was kidnapped at 16 and brought to Ireland to work as a slave. (I did not know this!) He escaped (phew!), but returned to Ireland in later years, bringing Christianity with him, appealing to both the Roman Catholics and the Irish Protestants of the land. (No small feat in Ireland… so I’m guessing he must have been charming, as well as devout.) In the process, he also elevated the status of the shamrock, by using its three leaves to explain the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461. Patrick has endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity.
And a little trivia (courtesy of Wikipedia):
The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Dublin on March 17, 1783.
The biggest celebrations outside Dublin are in Downpatrick, County Down, where Saint Patrick is rumoured to be buried. In 2004, the week-long St. Patrick’s Festival had more than 2,000 participants among 82 floats, bands, and performers and was watched by more than 30,000 people.
The shortest St Patrick’s Day parade in the world takes place in Dripsey, Cork. The parade lasts just 100 yards and travels between the village’s two pubs. : )
So there you have it. And as they say, “If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, then you’re lucky enough.”
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” ~ Leo Buscaglia
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Sometimes – well, more than people know about ~ many of us designers lend our services because we feel it’s the right thing to. Talents are shared so that they may in some way help a person or worthy cause along. We do it because we’re able. Obviously we wouldn’t be putting food on our own tables if this was our mantra for everything that crossed our desks, but it sure feels good when you can do something just for good.
Sometimes though, it takes more than a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear ~ certainly more than a helping of design – to turn a life around, as in the case of my nephew’s beautiful 7-year-old son, who needs neurological surgery for his autism.
Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are still in the planning stages for a fund-raising event (as is this poster), but I’m so glad to be a part of it, by giving “what I’m able” to give. And I figured it might be cool to share some “behind the scenes” for this hopeful event.
Bless his little heart, and his loving, attentive parents.
Alright, not exactly at Westminster Abbey, but close enough! And I’m pretty sure this bag did make the trek to the abbey, along with London’s other great sites.
Then as if to remind us that March it may be, but winter isn’t over quite yet ~ a lovely snow-tipped vision of peace among earth’s leaves and branches.
Thank you both for spreading our peace message in everyday ways! Gratitude…!
(ps: you can see all “where in the world is peace?” images compiled on our special “where in the world is peace?” page. Totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com and we’ll also post them on our FaceBook page. Let’s see where peace goes!)
Yesterday I learned that a friend had died. She was the mother of one of my daughter’s childhood friends. Overwhelmingly sad, I went to the wake, hugged her family and spoke for a while to Ursula as she lay, peaceful now, in a casket, feeling that she heard me. I hope she did.
Ursula and I met at a kiddie music class. In a waiting room of mom’s before the first class, she and I gravitated to one another. I instantly liked her. Not just her Irish-British accent, but her strong, quiet warmth and her friendly spirit. Shortly after that we met again when our girls went to pre-school. The girls would play, we would chatter and make snacks and keep an eye out that the girls were sharing nicely and taking turns.
The girls went to different grammar schools, our lives became busier and we would see each other less, but as if clandestine meetings prearranged by the universe, we’d often bump into each other at the small grocery store nearby. When we did, it seemed that time would stop so we could have a good long chat right there in the jams and jellies aisle. And if they weren’t traveling to her husband’s home in Italy, she would come over for tea at Christmastime. She was one of the first to subscribe to my blog and told me many times how inspired she felt by my 52 Weeks of Peace.
We shared a connection that didn’t seem to need frequent visits, a fondness that was always apparent when we did. I looked forward to more teas together when our lives were less demanding.
This all may sound very ordinary, but ordinary takes on a whole new light when someone is gone. A light gone out too soon. And it makes me have to say: if someone has touched your heart, try to have that cup of tea together now, not later.
I send enormous prayers to her two beautiful teenage daughters and her loving husband. And I dedicate this flower to Ursula, because she loved peace, and because she was both delicate like a flower and a ray of genuine sunshine in my world. She touched my heart. She was lovely. Just a lovely human being.
Go peacefully Ursula, as you watch over your girls on wings from heaven.