Know Yourself. Yourself has known you longer than you think

This is the lesson I've found that keeps showing up in life. I learned this lesson again recently. Thinking about getting older, hitting a mid-life, half way point in age. Time and time again, no matter how far I stray away from myself, explore new things, I always come back to the basics. We pretty much have the basics down by the time we're 7 or 8 years old. Our likes/dislikes and talents start to show more. I've had a love for art and craft supplies ever since I can remember. Getting a new box of crayons was the highlight of my year! Back to school supplies, new pencils, paper, notebooks, erasers, drooool...! For example. When this photo was taken, I lived in Parris Island, South Carolina. We were a Military family. If we needed to buy clothes and such, we would have to drive to Savannah,Georgia. My 7 year old self remembers that I absolutely loved "all the pretty houses." It's all I remembered about Savannah. Well, that and a big bridge. So, a few months ago, we took my son to Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, GA. It took me 40 years to get back down there! And guess what? I took over 100 photos of  "all the pretty houses." Here's proof:

And speaking of a love for art supplies...we stopped at the local Blick Art store. My son is attending art school, after all, we needed to locate the nearest art store. ASAP. Ha. Here a few more shots:

So, like I said before, things have a way of coming back around. Coming back to yourself, no matter how far you stray. If you want true happiness with your life, you come back to yourself. You immerse yourself in the things that make you happy to the core. That's why I've encouraged both of my children to follow their passion, the arts.  I am finally finding myself, getting back to my passion for art and the new smell of crayons. The smell of new paper and ink. Get back to yourself,  because yourself needs you. 

Empty Nests and Bird Drawings

So, no photos this time. Only words. I've been away from this blog for awhile. Life runs in cycles, seasons. This Fall season, both of my children went off to college. One North. One South. That leaves me with something I'm being labeled as for the very first time. Something I've always been afraid of. A day I never thought would come. A day I could never imagine coming!
I am too young to be a...gulp...empty nester. I can't believe it.
So, all of this extra time is available to me. Extra time to think. Not that I needed that! But I have been doing some extra deep thinking lately. I can feel a change in season. Life season. I have to admit, I'm a bit afraid of growing older. And I don't mean that in a bad way, we all keep getting older. I mean, getting old. Old in my thoughts. Old in my ideas. Old and tired in my mind. I don't want my mind to get so old that I don't continue to explore new ideas.
I was in the library the other day. Looking in the art section. I overheard an elderly woman, maybe 30 years older than me, ask the librarian "Where are the books about how to draw birds?" The younger me reacted by thinking, oh god, this is what I have to look forward to as I get older? And not in a good way. I thought, I'm going to be so bored, alone, and desperate for something to do, I'll be tracking down the librarian. Looking for books on how to draw birds. The older me thought, hey, this is what I have to look forward to as I get older! I will have done so many things by the time I'm her age. I will be going through a list of things I still want to do, and one day it will occur to me. I never learned how to draw birds! This is the attitude I would like to hold on to as an empty nester. I'm happy for my children, pursuing their dreams. I can look forward to a time when I have done so many things that all I might have left to do is learn how to draw birds.