Off Kilter

There is a mirror hanging in our house that is off kilter and not centered. I was in a hurry to get it off the floor and I only had one hook so it's been hanging like that for awhile. I'd like to think it's because I'm artsy and creative. But in all honesty on my flip side I am very organized and everything has a place. In my space, I make a plan, label everything and give it a home. When I use a tool, I put it back. There are times when I am working on a project that a cutting tool may sit out for a couple of days, but it aiways goes back, to its perfect planned space.

I have found that life gets busy at times and it is not picture perfect, no matter how hard you try. There are advents in life that just happen. These chapters in life are ones that you don't write a plan for, that can set your life off center and make it questionable. There are no set answers on how to fix it. I have come to believe there are times one has to slide sideways in life to make it through the narrow opening and life is never the same again. Once I've made it through the opening, I secretly hope, keep my fingers crossed and pray I will never have to go there again.

This last weekend I had some time to straighten the mirror and I decided just to let it hang askew. To remind me life isn't always the same. I took a few pictures to show you, to make us laugh. But as I looked at the pictures I found one had been taken upside down. I'm not quite sure how it happened. It wasn't planned, but isn't that how life happens at time, just a little off kilter.

The Dance of the Bugs - by Valaree Muir Weiss

Today after work, my chair lulled me to sit in it's lap and lean against it's back. I was tired, it didn't

take me long to sit and snuggle up in it's arms, it was one of those sunny days and the windows

were wide open. No blanket was needed for the sun covered me with its warmth, my eyes slowly

dropped closed one by one, until I fell into a short slumber. When I awoke, the sky was filled with

dancing bugs, in every shape and size, it was as if glitter had been shaken from up on high. The

winged bugs danced and danced they didn't even care that I was watching. I'm sure there is some

lesson to be learned from all this if I really think about it. What strikes me is that they didn't care that

I was secretly spying on them and watching all their moves. I find it interesting that after so many

years, I've learned to let go, I've learned be me, but there's still a nagging in the back of my mind

about what I say and do and about what others think. I really do want to be like those bugs, not

caring, no worries just having fun doing a dance and honestly living like no one is watching me and

not caring if they do. By Valaree Muir Weiss