BEGINNINGS...

Begin:  to proceed or start, to undertake or attempt

Something occurred to me the other day, don't laugh but just reaching the cusp of 50 I am a slow learner and late bloomer, anyway here goes...I can craft my own life.  I don't have to be complacent opening my box of dreams, taking them out one by one, examining them, yep, they are still there, then quietly shutting them away again.  I can actually take them out, dust them off, and simply begin.  All it takes is one small first step of faith...

(A new beginning, mixed media necklace)

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Martin Luther King 

Not to be morbid but most likely at this stage of life I have more behind me than before me and I don't want to get to the end of my life road with unfinished business.  And so I have begun, starting by doing what for me was necessary.  I have spent years invested in dreaming of what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I spent months preparing my environment so I would be ready to begin.  I recently spent weeks studying and carefully crafting a plan that would allow me that one tiny first step of faith.  I have spent hours wishing, hoping, dreaming, praying for the faith and courage to just begin.  My life minutes have ticked by and somehow I have never fully discarded that stored away box of dreams.  In one split second, a breath in and a breath out, while I was folding laundry, my dream whispered, "It is time." trailed by the simple thought of, "I can craft my own life."   

(A little personal reminder of where all my journeys begin, maybe this one will become my personal signature piece.)

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." - St. Francis of Assisi

I am a big picture kind of gal, I want to see from A to Z and that was just not getting me anywhere.  In fact it was absolutely paralyzing, it looked like too big of task, too much to take on so I shied away from beginning.  I would sigh and tell myself it was too late, I should have done this earlier in my life. I have been learning that by laying out a ladder to success it makes that first small step ever so much easier.

Some dreams are late bloomers like me.  They unfurl when it is time to unfurl and the best one can do is to be ready to begin.  Looking back over the years I can see an entire staircase behind me that I did not even realize I was climbing, steps that fed my dream in little ways, little creative moments encapsulated in time that were indeed getting me closer to the top stair of opening the door and stepping through.  I did what was necessary, now I feel ready to do what is possible. 

So I now follow a path of new beginnings...to be continued as the journey unfurls.

Are you ready for a new beginning?

P.S.  Speaking of beginnings, the Romantic Crazy Quilt Cuff Class is almost ready to begin!  It will launch one week from today with an introduction and supply list with 4 weekly classes following, more on this in my next post!