More Good than Bad

by Cathy

I’ve been reading a series of books by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. These children’s books are a prequel to J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. When Pearson’s daughter was five years old her family was reading Peter Pan together. She immediately wanted to know how Peter met Captain Hook. Ridley Pearson, a New York Times bestselling author, knew he wanted to tell the story about how a boy became Peter Pan. Barry and Pearson tell of how Peter came to be on an island with mermaids, pirates, Indians, lost boys, and Tinker Bell. As I read the books it quickly became evident that shadows were a predominate theme. In fact, the second book is entitled Peter and The Shadow Thieves. Evil was portrayed by a shadowy character who captured the shadows of others.

This got me to thinking about light and shadow, good and evil, happiness and sadness. In photography both light and shadows are required to make an image. If we only had light, our photos would be overexposed with no texture or depth. If we only have shadows our photos would be underexposed with no forms to recognize. In much the same way, we all have times of light and shadows in our lives. We have periods of intense joy and happiness and moments we feel doubt or hurt. These times of light and shadow create who we are. Do we want to totally avoid life’s shadows? I think not. How we handle the shadowy times gives us depth and forms our life. If there were no dark shadows, we wouldn’t appreciate the good times.

"Life is at its best when everything has fallen out of place,

and you decide that you're going to fight to get them right,

not when everything is going your way and everyone is praising you."

~ Thisuri Wanniarachchi

Here’s some things to do the next time shadows enter your life.

• stay positive – there really is a light at the end of the tunnel
• get creative – make the situation better
• learn something – find out what went wrong
• focus on what you can control
• have the right people around you

"Be thankful to those painful moments of your life,

because that is what shaped you to become who you are now."

~ Pradeepa Pandiyan

I know that taking my camera on a long walk helps me deal with the shadows in my life. With camera in hand my focus is turned to something else, usually the beauties of the world. I know we are all troubled by what is happening in our nation and in our world right now. Some of us are troubled by what is happening in our own lives, but instead of dwelling on the bad let’s look for the positive and be grateful for what we have. Let's take the bad with the good and seek joy!

"At times the world may seem an unfriendly and sinister place,

but believe that there is much more good in it than bad.

All you have to do is look hard enough.

And what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events

may in fact be the first steps of a journey."

~ Lemony Snicket

Dear 2016

by Judy

Dear 2016:

It seems you've been quite the year for me.  There's been major illness and auto accidents and loved ones gone too soon.  There's been repairs and replacements, and bills, bills, bills.  There's been feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, and much, much worry.

But 2016 I'm still standing.  And even though it's so easy to sum up a year remembering all of these stressful, sad times, I choose to remember all of the good things about you.  Because 2016, there were many, many good times this year.  

There were birthdays and laughter....

There was time spent with family, and reunions with family I hadn't seen in years.... 

There were day trips and long vacations by the ocean....  

There were friends staying over and long talks and wine....

There was Christmas in July and sunset boat rides....

There were walks through gardens bursting with flowers....

There were raises and engagements and sipping coffee on the patio listening to the birds.... 

So many good times, so many good things. I could go on and on.  And although I can't pretend that all of the other didn't happen, I choose to focus on the positive things.  The every day, mundane, wonderful things that happened this year.  

We've said it here before, but it definitely warrants another mention - "every day may not be good, but there's good in every day."  

My wish for all of you is a happy, stress free new year, and the ability to see the positive in your every day, no matter what happens.  

Happy New Year my friends!