Wall of Happy

Some of you may call me crazy.  Some of you may find a bit of inspiration.  I can only hope for the latter.  Part of my resolutions for this year is to have no resolutions.  Instead I sat down last night and opened the journal I have kept since I was 10 years old and I wrote down my hopes for 2012.  One of my first hopes was "to be happy."  I have heard that happiness lengthens your years on earth, and I know that I want to stay here as long as I possibly can.

TO BE HAPPY.  As we know from previous posts, I'm a collector (not to be confused with hoarder).  I treasure ticket stubs, old pictures, old notes, shadowboxes, souvenirs, receipts, etc.  If it has any good memory attached to it, I will generally keep it tucked away somewhere.  Thinking about all of this, I created my own Wall of Happy last night on an open wall in my closet (it later spread to 3 walls).  I wanted it somewhere that I would see it at the start of every day and smile.  As happy memories continue to happen this year, I will add them to my wall. 

This morning I stumbled into my closet to find my Wall of Happy and IT WORKED.  My day started with a smile.

I smiled as I looked at old pictures of my family, the house I grew up in, cherished pets, and even an old magazine article I've kept for many years about the Dalai Lama. 

Find whatever it is that you need to be happy and may 2012 be your happiest year yet.

Where I Have Been

I have been so excited about this post.  I could hardly wait until I got home to share where I have been, because I can promise you- there's nothing, absolutely nothing quite like it.

The last few days I have been digging my bare feet in the sand and smelling whiffs of old tobacco barns.  I have been covered in cat hair and dog hair and loving every minute of it.  I have been eating field peas with snaps and drinking Mountain Dews.  I have been hearing chickens, donkeys, tractors, and the hum window ac units mixed with Grandma's big band 1930s music.  I have been to a place where time is a lot s..l..o..w..e..r.  And let me tell you- it feels so good to slow down.  There's truly no way of explaining where I have been, so I'll just have to show you.

 

 

 

This is where my mama's from and this is where a lot of the parts of my siblings and I come from.  I see glimpses of us from time to time whether it may be in the swimming hole, in the barn, on the other end of a fishing line, or inside a giant magnolia tree.  Now, I even see it in these little faces...

Yep, this is where I have been.

Her Dainty, Old, Snotty Rags

Inside of this guy...

...there is this girl.  And inside of her...

...there are these.

And these are old. 

 Soooo old. 

And I love them.

 You see, I love old things.  I love my oldest silk pillow cases.  I love our old dog, Bailey.  I love my oldest t-shirts.  I love old jewelry.  I love old black and white movies.  I love older men.  (The Husband is almost 30...well, almost.)  But I really do love these old "rags."  I take them out from time to time and carefully go through and inspect their every square centimeter.

I look at their dainty details and sweet stitches.

  I laugh at the lacy-ruffly ones.

  The floral one always seems to catch me off guard.  And so does this one, but for a whole different reason.  This one melts my heart.

 They don't hold my memories, but looking at them brings me such a comfort.  I will always wonder "When she was wiping her mouth or blowing her nose, did she ever think that one day some crazy relative was going to be fingering through them, admiring them and smelling them?"  I doubt it, but I don't care either.  I love her dainty, old, snotty rags.