Escape

Today your prompt is the word Escape. What does that word mean to you? What do you escape into? Some of you are thinking."That's ridiculous, I don't "escape", I am grounded, I am a realist"! My question to you is ARE YOU SURE? When life gets tough what do you dive into? Did you know that escape comes in many forms? Here are a few examples. Spending, Eating, Drinking, Reading, Hobbies, Television, Movies, Drugs (yes even the Tylenol P.M. that you take every single night because you are afraid you will not sleep unless you do), Denial and Relationships! There are many more. I have listed only a few.

Most of the things that I listed are good things. They only become unhealthy when we use them to hide from or escape from pain or the pressures of everyday life. Everything is a balancing act. It is important to recognize harmful behavior, otherwise we will never address it and change it and nothing will ever change.

On Friday our topics will lighten up and will be fun for a few days. You have worked very hard this week and I am proud of you.

Today is the last day to post or to upload on Flickr for the giveaways. I will announce the winners after the prompt on Friday.

Have a fantastic Thursday.

Sending You Love,
Susan

Influences that have shaped us!

Today our prompt will require some thought. We will think about the people we have known, events (good or bad) in our lives, books we have read, jobs we have had, teachers we have had and from this list we will think about our beliefs in general, our personalities, what issues we have (example trust), our insecurity or security, our positive self image or our negative one, our fears and our faith or lack of faith. We will then answer todays prompt which is..

What influences (above or ones you think of on your own) have shaped my life as it is today?

On Friday I will draw a random name from the people that have posted on the blog from Monday through Friday. The winner will receive a copy of THE MIDDLE PLACE by Kelly Corrigan.

I will have a similar drawing on Friday for everyone that has uploaded to Flickr. The winner will receive a art related gift that will be reveled on Friday. Remember the only way you can join the Flickr group is through personal invitation so if you wish to join please email me at smsummerville@hotmail.com.

Have a FANTASTIC Wednesday.

Sending you my love,
Susan

What Goes Into Your Mind?

What Goes Into Your Mind Comes Out In Your Life! What have you been feeding your mind?

Did you know that what you watch , read and listen to becomes part of how you feel mentally and sometimes physically. Science proves this!

What do you feed your mind with daily? Think about it and journal about it. Journal about what is going into your mind and how you think it is acting itself out in your life.

Do you read before you go to bed?, What are your favorite shows? What are the words to the music you are listening to? Really THINK about this prompt.

When I journaled this prompt I found that going to sleep with Criminal Minds or NCIS on was probably not the best idea. I found that waking up and reading something positive was working very well for me. At the end of my jounraling the final conclusion was that I need to put more positive, uplifting, true things in my mind each day and need to choose what I watch more carefully. No..I did not give up Criminal Minds or NCIS...but I do record them and try not to let them be the very last thing I watch before I sleep.

I think you will be surprised at what you find at the end of this assignment!
Please share anything you wish!

group and wish to email me at On Friday I will randomly pick a name from all who have commented on the post from Monday through Friday and the winner will receive a copy of The Middle Place. I will be holding a similar drawing for the flickr group for everyone that has uploaded from the beginning through Friday. If you have not joined the flickrsmsummerville@hotmail.com and I will send you an invitation as it is by invitation only.

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

Fondly,
Susan

What I like about me!

I promised that we would move on to an uplifting topic today so we shall. Today we will list a minimum of five things (list as many as you want but please list at least five)that we like about ourselves and we will dig a little deeper and list WHY we like these things about ourselves.

The hard work you did yesterday will be further explored later this week. But for today we will focus on the positive.

Sending you love,
Susan

Words Can Hurt

Our Prompt today is to remember a time when someone said something hurtful to you and to journal about how it made you feel. Example feeling angry, insecure, unsure of yourself, ugly, stupid...what were your feelings.

Some of you are thinking..why on earth would you want me to open old wounds and hurt again. I promise you that there is a reason and that this prompt may be one of the most important ones that you do this month.

I encourage you to write everything you are feeling out. Write until you have nothing more to say about the subject.

I know this is a tough one..some prompts will be. Monday we will start with a happy prompt.

Sending you Love,
Susan

Heads up and todays prompt!

What would your attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? THIS IS YOUR PROMPT FOR TODAY!

Your prompt today will require you to look with in. Do you know the answer to this prompt immediately? or does it require a bit of soul searching?

You HEADS UP is that one week from today..your prompt will be this.
My random act of kindness this week was _________________. Then you will be asked to write what kind of impact this made on you.

Just like our once a month gratitude list , once a month we will focus on doing something for someone else. Perhaps you buy the person behind you in the Starbucks drive through their coffee and then drive off, perhaps you send a card or a letter to someone that you know that needs encouragement, perhaps you spend time with a family member that you have not been to see for a while, perhaps you drop off cookies at a neighbors or nursing home. For those with financial resources perhaps you pay a bill for someone that is out of work. These are just a few examples..the list is endless.Whatever your random act is , next Saturday you will journal about how it made you feel to get outside of yourself and give of yourself for that brief moment . You have the power to bring joy into someones life. How will you do that?

Have a Great Saturday!

Fondly,
Susan

Art Journal Spotlight by Sarah Elliott

Journaling:
My Pandora's Box
Inner Doubts...
Fears...
Demons...

Many Days I'm plagued by self doubts... they may not be true... Maybe they are... but they are there...

My Internal Dialogue --->
NO
Bad
Failure
Never
Not
Don't
Shouldn't
Can't
Why?
Not for you
Undeserving
Dumb

I’m a Bad Mother…
I’m Fat…
Nobody wants me…
I’m not Smart enough…
I’m Not Good enough…
My House is a mess…
We’re Poor…
I’m scared he’ll come back…
I don’t want to be abused again…
What if he comes for the kids?
Why do I bother?
Would they be better off without me?
Maybe I deserved it?
I’ll never be good enough…
HOPE