Believe

My daily Mantra!

I recently attended the 25th Anniversary

for Blue Skies Gallery,

in Hampton, Virginia.

I have fond memories of being a part owner and artist

in this collaborative art gallery over the years,

in fact, I truly can't believe I left there over 10 years ago!

I was thrilled to be invited and so happy to attend!

The crowd that gathered was impressive ... what a turn out they had!

I purchased this lovely clay sculpture (pictured above)

 as a keepsake,

to always remind myself to

"Believe I can do anything"

Blue Skies Gallery believed in my artistic abilities,

and back then I was concentrating on

my hand weaving and I loved my work!

Now I stand here ... 10 years later

and barely find time to sit at my weaving loom,

I miss it!

I truly miss the time I spent working in the gallery,

the fellowship with other artists, the inspirations,

creative conversation,

meeting patrons from all over

as they visited the gallery.

Those were good times, wonderful memories

and I grew in confidence,

in my artistic abilities.

Attending this gala last weekend,

forced me to think about the past ten years 

since I left the gallery to pursue a full time position

at Gilbert Eyecare,

I had to give up a lot to work full time again,

especially time!

Time is a precious gift for sure.

Now here I am ten years later . . .

now just working three days a week as an Optician,

caring for grand children two days a week,

and fitting in my artistic pursuits wherever I can!

My artwork has gone totally in another direction,

and I have learned so much along the way.

Yes, I believe in Me!

I believe there is time to pursue what interests us,

I believe in the Artistic Process and in Growth,

I believe I have a strong purpose in my life,

I believe my words matter,

I believe in God, love, truth, faith, family and all good things.

B ` E ` L ` I `E `V ` E

in yourself

in your own dreams

in your life pursuits

You can do anything!

Donna Lee

Practicing Gratefulness

New Doorways of Opportunity 

 Enchanting words

 Beauty in all things

Nature

 Stolen Moments to be creative

 Beautiful flowers

 Poetic Moments

 Taking the time to write

 Yumminess

 Candlelight's gift

 Cupcakes!

 Learning new things

 Making Art

Being a grand mommy for the first time

This week of Thanksgiving

take the time to think about

what you are grateful for.

There are so many gifts we are given

in our lifetime.

Sometimes our vision gets blurred

and we lose sight of what is truly important.

Let this week bring you back home.

I am grateful for YOU

my friends and readers!

Blessings to you

May your Thanksgiving be filled

with love and precious moments.

Donna Lee

Today I Will Write

A writing affirmation

I have always been in love

with the writing process.

I love words,

I collect them,

I breathe them in,
always wanted to put pen to the page!

Recently I had the pleasure
of taking a writing course at our
local writing center
The Muse
in Norfolk, Virginia.



It was my first visit there
and I wanted to see what all the
happy comments I had been hearing
were all about!
It was a Saturday morning
workshop entitled
"Creative Lab"
It certainly sounded 
like it was just for me!

I learned so many wonderful brainstorming ideas,
inspirations and activities
to spark the creativity inside of me.
I learned also how to apply
the ideas to my artwork as well!
How much fun it is to sit around
a large table with eight creatives
and brainstorm together
about the creative process.

I took away with me a wealth of resources,
ideas, creative exercises and handouts
to pour through
over and over again.

What I learned also reinforced
within me
that I am getting it right!

Some of the information I had heard before,
maybe presented differently
but with the same message.
I knew I was already applying what I had learned,
this was reinforcing those creative lessons!
That is a really good affirmation!

It is good to step out of your comfort zone
and try something totally new!
I have always leaned toward art classes
and learning a new art technique.
Coming to the Muse
(love that title!)
was a totally first time great experience.
One of my classmates was a student
in my first
Artful Spirit Workshop
talk about a small world!

We are all connected in this
beautiful world of ours,
through poetry, through words,
through art and learning,
through internet and social media,
it's all there
if only we will see.

Try something new!
Look for opportunities
to stretch your creative wings just a bit!
Get out there and share your own talents
with others,
see where it will lead you!

Donna Lee

I Am One Who . . .

I Am One Who . . .

gets up early morning just to write

loves Chai Soy Lattes

always has a book in her hand

loves knitting socks

sings alto in her choir

practices hot yoga and loves it

is in love with Poetry

is an art journal junkie

loves her family with all her heart

escapes to the Outer Banks

enjoys her little blog

tries to learn something new everyday
finds time to be creative

has worked in the eye field for forty years

believes in a mighty God

loves candlelight and incense

meditates

loves senior adults

is a major Downton Abbey fan

loves time with her girlfriends

is in love with her life


This was a writing prompt I gave to my senior adult writing group,
I decided to share my writing from last night with you!

A Gift Beyond Measure

I received a text this week from a friend of mine,

it said "Sam has a little something he would like to give you . . . can you drop by this weekend for a couple of moments?"

Of course I replied "sure" with curiosity written in my response!

So on a beautiful Saturday morning,

I woke up to no electricity

which means NO COFFEE FOR ME,

so off to Barnes and Noble

with my laptop in hand,

I knew I could get some writing done,

recharge my Macbook

and of course look around

the Poetry section!

Somehow I always find myself there!

I have also been looking for a good book

on Grammar and found

Woe is I

by 

Patricia O'Conner

I always excelled in English

and felt like I was pretty good at writing;

but there are times with my poetry,

I question where the grammar rules

apply or don't apply!

So that was my purchase for the day.

Back to the beginning of the story,

remember Sam had something for me?

On the way to the bookstore

I stopped by to see my friends,

Chuck and Sam.

It was a lovely visit, as it always is

and the birds outside their windows

were breathtaking!

We talked of knitting, good things, bird feeders

 and writing poetry.

Sam then lead me into the dining room,

 there was something tucked under a towel sitting on the table.

When I uncovered it I saw there was 

a vintage Remington typewriter

that he had used at work for

over forty years.

There in the typewriter was a typed message for me

and I was so overwhelmed with emotion,

I couldn't speak!

I had shared with them a few weeks before

about Maya Stein's type-rider adventure

{oh my gosh . . . he remembered that}

Sam knew I was a writer,

that I loved Poetry

and that his typewriter

would be going to a 

place it would be loved.

So here is the message that was sitting in my new baby!

What a gift I will treasure

for always.

I received this gift of a typewriter

on 

National Typewriter Day

and didn't even know the significance of the day

until I read a post on Facebook

about a friend ignoring her typewriter

on National Typewriter Day

that evening.

That made this gift, on that particular day,

even more significant to me!!

At the end of our visit, I was handed

a small brown envelope and told to 

read it at a relaxed time,

when I opened it later that evening

tucked inside was a book of

Sam's own poetry published in the

early eighties.

My day just kept getting better and better.

I am not sure yet which gift I loved more,

the typewriter or the gift of words!

When someone pays it forward

in such an incredible way

it makes you feel like everything

else in the world will be okay.

Thank you Sammie!

The poems and words that will come

from this typewriter

will be 

 rooted deeply

and always

from my heart.

For whatever reason

I keep being called into the

wonderful world of poetry.

Please join me over at my

100 poems journey blog

 when you get a chance!

The link is at the top left of my blog!

May you reach out this week

and touch someone with a small gift

of love 

somehow

some way!

Donna Lee