It’s January, which means it’s One Little Word time. In past years, I’ve chosen a variety of words for a variety of reasons to guide me through a year. Some words seem to stick as the year progresses, others aren’t quite as durable.
This year’s choice was not too hard to zero in on: Venture.
I have a lot of travel planned. Ventures.
I am craving new things and stretching myself. Adventure.
I’ve also been thinking (and mulling) about business and trying to develop several of the businesses I am involved in / owner of. I have sort of shirked my responsibilities in this area. Whether writing or creativity or sharing ideas broadly, there are several ventures I need to work on. In fact, one of my businesses actually has Venture in the name.
It’s a spirit of extension. Of growth. Of embracing the new and stretching myself.
In addition, I am trying something new at the beginning of the year. I made a “24 in 24” list instead of a single resolution. They are tasks large and small, fun and tedious, that I hope to get taken care of this year. This is a practice from Gretchen Rubin. You’ll hear about these as the year goes on.
What did you take on for reframing, refocusing, and refreshing at the beginning of 2024?
It was a random Saturday. I had taken my mom out on a whirlwind adventure to Nashville, TN. Rain was in the forecast, but there was still so much on our potential to do list. What could we cram into our short afternoon?
Off to the races we went. 12 South was the area to be highlighted. A section of murals. We would attempt to snap candid photos in each art setting. Our own little mural tour. My mom had no idea what this tour would include. The clock was against us. We had an hour before the rain would catch us. Off we went.
The first stop by our parking spot was a little pop up store made from a container. It had a beautiful floral wings display. Look how cute she looks.
Just a hop, skip and a jump to the side and we found this outdoor display on the back of a lemonade stand. This was interesting as it was more of a canvas vs. a wall painting. Vibrant colors picked up by the sun before the cloud cover approached.
We had a lot of water breaks along the way since it was a scorching hot day outside. We found it appropriate to snap this action shot of the water break with the hydration sign on a local bike shop. Such a fun time and as you can see this tour we did is wheelchair-friendly. Highlighting fun activities for seniors is so inspiring and why I opt to share the beauty.
Five Daughters donuts is definitely an area sweet shop to visit. If you do, there are a few cute murals to choose from at their store. This is just one to remember to sweet taste of donuts. We ate the donuts the day before as a coincidence. Lots of tastiness in that box along with a whole lot of calories.
A monster encounter at the tail end of the bike shop made for a good photo opportunity. I must note this adorable great grandmother was on her first mural tour at the age of 84 and she had a blast.
This stop we had the pleasure of sharing the sidewalk with some international tourists. There accents were adorable. And this sign says it all. Looking pretty!
This one shows our visit to nature. Strategically placed outside an outdoor recreation store. There were many more murals. Some we took pictures of, some we bypassed. 12 in an hour before the rain drops hit us. We got spooned. We saw Nashville looks good on you. We strolled to Reese Witherspoon’s place to catch the Draper James brand, which was one of my favorite backgrounds for the day.
This was an opt outside adventure starring my fabulous mom. She is a jewel that I chose to showcase in this mural display post. Until next time.
I love Amazon. It really has most things I want on standby. Life is so busy that it is so easy to just click and add something special to my cart, quickly. Then it’s at my door 1-2 days later. You can’t beat it, honestly. Not to mention you can get more variety than most local stores.
For me, I needed some busy work for a few days. A couple of books to read to cure the boredom that I would be subjected to. Then I thought how about a coloring book. I found many adult books available. I settled in on the badass book with motivational statements and creative boxes to color. Added to the cart just like that.
Well then I needed the color. Would I choose colored pencils? Markers? Crayons? I decided markers were too messy. The then decided pencils were not as fun and would take me too long to color the pages. I opted for crayons. Little did I know crayons evolved and choices were abundant since I last purchased them many years ago.
I ended up picking wax crayons. A little fatter in design but maybe more adultish. Click it’s in the cart. The delivery arrives and I set to the side. I have plenty of tasks to complete and coloring isn’t really at the top of list. Then one night I opt for my coloring debut. It was simply amazing.
The crayons are smooth. They slide or glide onto the paper. It was therapeutic to just color. I can’t tell you how this simple activity just made me feel like a kid again. The deadlines didn’t matter for filing sales tax. I could do that tomorrow. The email could wait.
The list goes on and on. I opted to do coloring instead and I enjoyed it.
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My simple point of this post is try something new. Something off the wall for you. You might like it. It might change the tone of your day or week. It might be a distraction that is just what you need. Mr. Pen gel crayons are now a personal favorite.
Hope you find something quirky on Amazon that brings out your inner child like I did. My entertainment of coloring is a budget conscious choice compared to other activities. Another plus for me.
My body is a temple. A place of art. Unique as the person living under the skin. My ink tells a story or many stories. Some inked pieces are linked or overlapped while others stand alone in their storyline. Some are colored some are not. Some fade while others stand firm. Some hurt more than others.
Tattoos are interesting. For some tattoos carry judgment on the person adorning them while others are curious about tattoos. Did that hurt? Why would you get that? You do know that is permanent? If god wanted you to have markings he would have gifted them at birth. I have heard them all. I have also shared my tattoo stories to many time and time again. Some show excitement. Some say now I get it. Others say no way. Some conversations ignite a passion to finally get a tattoo. A first for so many.
My body, my choice. My temple, my art. This newest piece is symbolic. I’ve been waiting for a while post-pandemic to get an appointment first of all. Then the timing just fell into place. An anniversary date. A symbol of growth. A unique piece of art. Plastered on my arm. Worn with pride. A reminder of so much. I just love my newest ink piece.
I was lucky enough to share my ink experience with a few gals. We laughed. We took pictures. We marked the spot so to speak. We met some cool people. I should mention that all walks of life get tattoos and just visiting a tattoo shop is an experience that I encourage. From couples to moms and daughters to those celebrating another’s life are all at the shop for a unique piece of art. The tattoo artist creating that perfect image.
Years of inspiration will be drawn from this inked art as I push through life’s ups and downs. When I am old and wrinkled I will know I have lived my life to the fullest and captured moments or highlights on my canvas to share with others. These memories of life have value to me. The perfect keepsake.
I wasn’t even five minutes from the tattoo parlor when I was asked about my fresh ink. The placement was perfect. The design was just what I wanted. The coloring was spot on. The timing was right. My story continues. My ink will continue to evolve just like me.
The spring plants on the farm have done their work. Now we are barreling full bore into summer. Veggies are coming along. Zinnias and sunnies are sprouting. It’s all very exciting.
One of the truly interesting things I’ve discovered this year as a new farmer is how generous plant people can be. I’ve learned so much from being involved in farming communities online. From instagram to facebook and beyond, plant people are always sharing their successes and shortfalls. How to pinch certain flowers and why. What kind of spacing and setup to use in a garden. Arranging irrigation. Protecting against pests. So many people just lay it all out there and it’s wonderful. I read. I learn. I bookmark. We’ve bought tubers and seeds and seedlings from so many of these farmers. We grow from them, in our minds and in our soil. In turn, we pour what we are doing back into the community, hoping someone else is inspired or aided by the ups and downs of our farm’s development.
Another unexpected surprise is, the more I talk about the farm to friends and colleagues, the more people share stories, tidbits, and even actual plants with me. So many people have life stories about farming – summer at grandma’s farm, shelling peas on the porch. Farms and gardens bring up so many memories. Then there are friends at work who walk up to me and just hand me a bag of bulbs. “Here’s some elephant ears from my garden.” “I divided my iris this weekend and thought of you.” All these beauties are now growing in our ground, from the gardens of friends, family, and other farms from all over the country.
In my foray into self-taught art as a teen, I fell in love with quilts. I wanted to learn to quilt for a while but never did. I still admire the beauty and artistry in a well-made hand woven quilt. And although I appreciate a symmetrical pattern, my eye and heart is always drawn to the crazy quilts. All kinds of colors, mismatched pieces, not at all perfect. Instead, perfectly imperfect and unique. Little pieces all stitched together to make a beautiful whole.
I think of our farm as a crazy quilt on land. Pieces from all over. A little here a little there. Colorful, a little wild. Interesting. Unexpected. We have several patches of sunnies that are measured and in straight lines, but I’ve also put in a patch where I kind of just put things every which way. No measuring. Mixing seeds together. Maybe it will look like a terrible wreck. Or maybe it will be the wild, textured abundance that we are hoping for. It’s all coming together in a place that is distinctly ours. Nowhere else in the world quite like it.
2 Chicks and a blog 