Raige Creations

Photo courtesy of Buttercup (my daughter) Raige Creations A photo from many weeks ago. It was a cloudy, rainy day. My daughter and I were going in to check on our booth at the antique mall . She was snapping pictures for an art class project. When we saw this, we were kinda speechless. All I could say was, 'Look at all those tiny birds on the wire!' So original. I could say that I was the one driving, and therefore could not give the attention necessary. But my daughter couldn't think of anything either.   So I leave it to you to caption, comment, say what you think. Give us a new way to look at this photo.  What is YOUR perspective on a photo like this?  Give us a new way to see it.

I write about pressure quite a bit. I am under quite a bit of pressure. And I am so tired of it. When I signed up for Blogher.com 's January NaBloPoMo , I hesitated when I saw the month's theme was pressure . I wondered how much more I could write about pressure !  Image courtesy of Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Then it brought on the more relevant question of 'How much more pressure could I endure?' I have felt so much unpleasant pressure in the past year. I went through the pressure of trying to make a struggling business grow, closing said business , moving all the crap out of said business, then the pressure of what to do now? All while struggling to meet out obligations moneywise. This is heavy pressure. I am sick and tired of this kind of pressure. So I took on the pressure of posting a blog every day ( NaBloPoMo ) for January, since it gave me such pleasure when I did it in October and November . But I was not as successful ...

When life takes over, one may not get to post every single day for NaBloPoMo . Not in my world. With the heat issues the other day, then a day playing catch-up with tasks that didn't get done due to the possibility of instant frostbite the days before, and then a day of driving, how could I get any writing done, much less sit in front of the computer to post? The pressure of this challenge, however, is not the kind of pressure that makes me anxious. It is not the kind of pressure filled with dread, panic, or stress. This kind of pressure is pushing me in a gentle way. It is an urge to write, a task I WANT to do, not one I am forced to nor one I dread. Strangely, I noticed as I tended to my tasks, my mind was planning my posts. Actually, thinking of what I would write, even forming sentences and arranging paragraphs! This is a sensation that came to me in a previous NaBloPoMo attempt , and I am so glad it continues to be part of my days. In fact, while I was driving home ...

I have been off my game lately. Or should I say on a different game? I don't know. After the Jingle Bell Run , I stopped running. After two months of blogging every day, I all but stopped blogging. I didn't even blog about the actual RACE I ran for goodness sake. After applying strenuously for new jobs listed on the online sites, I stopped applying.  (Until today, that is.) So what HAVE I been doing? I  HAVE  been cooking more (mostly).  I even made pancakes for a breakfast yesterday, and we all sat down as a family and ate breakfast, well brunch really it was noon, TOGETHER! We never do that.... And Kung-Pow Chicken and Lasagna, two days in a row! I  HAVE  been spending time with the family.  The kids all home on break, Assasin's Creed IV for Christmas (Pirates! We all love pirates and this game is kinda fun to watch, with all the pillaging and plundering and shark fishing and all....) Then there was The Walking Dead Marathon. I am...

Oh, the horror.  Oh, the disappointment. I missed a day of NaBloPoMo.  A NaBloPoMo FAIL! Oh The HORROR  by  hybristophilia666  on  Polyvore It's not like I didn't know it was going to happen. I did. I had a very busy day and after dinner last night I just wanted to relax. I sat on the couch, Kindle in hand  new book waiting, full belly, family all around chillin', and said "Oh CRAP, I didn't post a blog today!" Then, I turned on my Kindle while hubby found a movie for us to watch (I can read and watch a movie at the same time. Multitasking...you Mom's know what I mean), I settled in on the couch, and the thought of blogging evaporated. It's not that I am short of ideas! I have 4 drafts going, and I even have handwritten in my journal ideas for other posts. If NaBloPoMo  right after NaBloWriMo  has done anything for me, it has got me to write every day, whether I actually post or not.  But last night, I just couldn't...

Tell us what you have learned so far from daily blogging. The NaBloPoMo prompt from Friday. Always a day late with the prompts, but here is some of what I have learned. I learned daily bloggin is damn hard.  I learned it means forcing myself to write even when I don't want to.  I learned that some days it is okay to just blog about the mood of the day, and other days it really helps to have prompts . I learned it keeps me from proofing and changing my posts 10 gazillion times before I post it.  I learned it makes me re-write entire posts. I learned the delete key is easy to hold down. I learned sometimes it is okay to share that thing I wasn't sure I should share. I learned it is okay to not include a picture with every post. (Even though I feel I MUST...ADD PICTURE....with this ten-second-attention-span world we live in.) I learned some days I am writing just for myself. I learned some days I am writing for other people, and those are the da...

NaBloPoMo Prompt. If you had to switch your first name, what name would you choose and why? source I was never one of those children who wanted to change their name. My brother and sister had that phase. I remember the year they made Christmas stocking with their desired names on them, and were permitted to use them! Me? I was satisfied with my own name: Rebecca.  My father lovingly teased me when he called my Rebecca from Sunnybrook Farms .  At even more playful times, he would call me Beckerooni. My friends simply shortened it to Roo , as we had Pooh and Tigger Too in the group.  All this I was quite comfortable with, never thinking of a name I would rather be called. Hubby took to calling me Beck, which was once mis-heard by one who called my Beth from then on. I never corrected him.  Then, last year, people kept calling me Rachel . Even right after introductions, saying 'Well it was nice to meet you Rachel' to which I immediately corrected t...

NaBloPoMo Prompt . If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? This prompt had me really stuck.  You see, I find quotes about things I want to remind myself, but to change myself? Aren't I perfect the way I am? source I started working on this prompt Tuesday. I know there are things I would change. The difficult question was ~ did you want to hear about my weight or body parts I wish were different? I am sure the answer to that is NO. And truthfully, I really can't change those things, and finally after 4 decades, I am actually pretty OK with how I look now. (except for the grey, and I DO change that every 4-6 weeks) Tuesday came and went. Didn't write this post. source Wednesday came. Okay NOW I was going to finish this post. After all, this was the prompt for Nov. 6th. Wednesday was Nov. 6th! Right on schedule. I sat most of the day trying to figure out what I would change.  Oh, I would change the money situation, but wouldn...

Taking part in NaBloPoMo , I look forward to prompts to help me get started some days. If you are at all like me, you sometimes sit there, with a blank screen, and stare. Hoping something comes to you.  Then, when it doesn't, you scan the internet for inspiration. I try Facebook , Pinterest , BlogHer , Slate (okay, mostly I read Slate to unwind, not for inspiration) .  I sometimes am forced to look through my old pictures , try to remember which ones I have used, and try to find one that I can do something with. That is why I longingly read the suggested prompts that BlogHer suggested. I need someone to jump start my brain and get me moving! And sometimes it really works!! Sadly, the one posted on BlogHer for the first day did not. The prompt was:  "If you found one million dollars in the morning and had to spend it by nightfall, what would you do with the money?"   I tried, I really did, but who really cares how I would spend $1 million dollars in one...

Well, it's late on a Friday. I am sitting here watching a movie with my family, stressing about what to write about for the first day of National Blog Posting Month .  Fall Country Road photo courtesy of  Raige Creations "Didn't she just do that?" I hear you asking.  Well, kind of. Well, yes I took part in National Blog Writing Month , where the goal was to write every day in the month of October.  But National Blog Posting Month is the month of November, and I joined a group on Blogher.com . As the day wore on, I felt so uninspired, yet felt the pressure of getting something posted. I realized, not for the first time actually, that I am tired of stressing . Camouflage Tree photo courtesy of  Raige Creations Dinnertime came. Pizza was on the menu (see tired of stressing above, and I DO stress about dinner regularly), but we had to go to the place to order it, and wait for it.  (They don't have to-go menus, and I actually find...

It was time.  I was ready.  Time for change, time for a more focused direction, and I am ready to introduce... Not a different direction really. It is one I have been going for a while now.  As I was growing my other businesses, I was wishing more and more that I could write, share my motivations and insights that I have learned along the way.  Well, the time has come, and my opportunities are changing to allow me to give a more serious effort to writing, blogging, and creating in many different ways.  So I have focused this blog, and my facebook and google pages, to be the Thoughts of Raige; views of life, motivation, and creation. Basically what I have been doing all along, I just didn't realize that the look of my blog had been outdated for quite some time. I will still be selling my creations, as Raige Creations (on Artfire and Zibbet , plus Vintage Rage on Zibbet ), sharing my motivations, getting through life's highs and lows...