Day 31 – Tarnished Necklace

January 9, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

Today I wore a gift that I received on Christmas day. That day when I opened my present, I found a silver necklace chain with an old tarnished, flawed key. The word LOVE was stamped on one side. My Christmas present was obviously not quality jewelry from Zales. The key was not a piece of fancy jewelry but appeared to be just the sort that someone would throw away after forgetting whatever it used to unlock. I have a few keys like this around the house that I am reluctant to toss out just in case I find something that fits one of them.

The small tie-string cloth bag that my necklace came in identified it as a “giving key.” My daughter Lauren, who had given this to me, explained that this gift was connected to the homeless and that I should Google “the giving keys” to read more about its significance. I did.

The idea behind it was to re-purpose old discarded keys with inspirational words. There are two parts to this idea. The first is that the money used to purchase these keys goes toward providing jobs for the homeless who make the jewelry. The second part is to pay it forward. If—no, when—I find someone who needs the message on my key, I should give it away to that person.

What a great idea and much nicer than an expensive piece from Zales. The purchase of this key necklace helps some homeless people I have never met, people who society often discards just like old keys that no longer have a purpose, and this necklace will eventually help an individual I will meet on a personal level. These keys no longer unlock what they were intended to, but now they unlock in new ways. I wear this imperfect key with a perfect message, and keep in mind its possibilities.

Today’s gift is a giving key.

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Read more about the giving keys here:

http://www.thegivingkeys.com/

> DAY 32 Testosterone

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html 

Day 30 - Weather

January 8, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

Every year, as soon as we have our first snowfall in the Baltimore region, I hear over and over again the slogan, “Think spring.” Maybe that’s part of human nature. We always yearn for what is around the next bend.

One thing that I love about this area is its contrasts. Maryland has mountains, seashore and cities; it is both hilly and flat, high and low, populated and unpopulated, urban and rural. And its citizens are diverse—people from many countries, with different skin colors and religions.

I don’t think spring so much as I appreciate the weather contrast that Maryland has. I love every season for what it offers…winter for its unique sounds and bleak contrasts, spring for its new full green, summer for its carefreeness and laughter, and fall for its color beauty and crisp air. Each season also offers a contrasting side …back aches from shoveling show in the winter, hay fever in the spring, uncomfortable humidity in the summer and shorter days in the fall.

Changing seasons give Maryland a fully-developed personality, a diverse one. Diversity is part of the richness of life, both socially and environmentally. Envionmentalists know that biodiversity is important to our planet but contrasts in life experiences also contribute to life’s fulness.

I seek people and information sources that do not affirm what I believe. I go to art shows (Anything Goes exhibit opening at Gallery 788 tonight) that stretch how I see art and its influence. I am intrigued by the multifariousness and contrasts in life.

Today’s gift is contrast.

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> DAY 31 Tarnished Necklace

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 29 - Hands Off

January 7, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

David Simon and mother Dorothy Simon

“I was a hands-off parent,” Dorothy Simon told me. We met tonight at her daughter-in-law Laura's party remembering her recently deceased father, Ted Lippman.

I found Dorothy’s comment on parenting to be interesting and asked her what she meant. “I didn’t want to interfere too much because I didn’t want to mess things up,” she explained. “And I would have.”

Apparently, she did something right because both of her sons have been successful, one a doctor and the other an author, journalist and writer/producer of several televisions series. “There were no rules when they were growing up. They were my children and I knew they would be okay.”

I told Dorothy that my parents had been very strict with me, especially since I was the oldest of three daughters. My father just passed away in December, less than a week before Laura Lippman’s father. Dorothy had a look of genuine sympathy on her face as I shared my strict upbringing with her. My father had confessed that he thought he and and my mother had been too strict with me. I told him, “Yes, you were rather strict, but you did the best you could and I think I turned out okay.”

Dorothy told me to ask her son David if there had been any rules when he was growing up. “He will say no, except for one. The one rule was to not lie,” she predicted.

I left Dorothy to ask her son, curious if she were right. “David, your mother said I should ask you if there were any rules when you were growing up.”

“No, there were no rules,” answered David, “except for one. No lying.” He added, “ It didn’t mean that I never lied though. Okay, go rob a bank, but when the cops come around, I’d better tell them the truth about my robbing a bank.”

It was interesting to me to talk with a parent who had a different perspective from mine. I think I grew up okay but sometimes wonder what direction I would have gone in if there had been fewer restrictions. Parents can only do their best. I think my husband and I must have done something right as parents because our daughters have grown up as good and loving human beings...but then they might have done so even without us. Who knows.

Obviously, David Simon has done well with the absence of rules.

Today’s gift was a conversation with Dorothy Simon.

 

 

 

 

 You can read 365 posts for free or, if you'd like a better edited (by my husband, David Ettlin) expensive print version, you can order from Amazon at this link:

 

https://tinyurl.com/365giftsonturning70

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> DAY 30 Weather

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 28 – Opening

January 6, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

The forecast last night was for snow and, right on time, it came while I was deep in sleep, oblivious to the wonder that surrounded my house. As the sun rose, I am sure that inside other houses, children were shouting “No school today! Hooray!” Actually, I used to mumble these words and return to sleep when I was a middle school teacher. This morning, I did not go back to sleep because I wanted to stand at my kitchen door and experience with all my senses what was in front of me.

I opened the door to feel the cold on my warm skin…

…and I opened my eyes to the streaking snow in front of me…

…and I opened my ears to the muffled sounds of hungry birds…

…and I breathed in the scent of neighbor’s fireplaces burning oak logs…

…and I stuck out my tongue to taste a snowflake.

Then I took a picture not of the beauty of the snow on the holly trees in my yard but of the texture that whirled before me.

All of my senses wove themselves together in the morning moment, giving me an experience of being. I felt alive. When I open all my senses to feeling, I become part of the texture of life.

Today’s gift was texture.

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> DAY 29 Hands Off

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 27 - Sunshine and Purrs

January 5, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

Cold January winds whipped around the car as we crossed the Bay Bridge and headed toward Ocean Pines to return our grand-doggie after our pet-sitting stint for a week.  Blue skies. Maryland's eastern shore farms rolled by in a gentle blur.

Puggle Roxy was snoring in the back seat on her plush bed, next to the rainbow squeaky toy I bought for her. A warm blanket of sunshine fell on me in the passenger seat and the engine’s purr became a soothing mantra that spun a cocoon around us. No need to talk. No pressure. No expectations. Just comfortable presence, in the moment, side by side. No hurry. Breathe in. Breathe out. Feel the warmth. Farms rolled by and time was suspended.

Peace and contentment washed over me.

Today’s gift was a peaceful cocoon.

Return home

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> DAY 28 Opening

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html