Reflections of Life...Happiness, Sadness..CHANGE!

בס''ד

On November 14th, I posted a blog called Reinventing Me! In my blog, I wrote that for the past year and a half, I have been going through a merry-go-round of emotions, but mostly I have felt sad because of family illnesses and the loss of my dear sister-in-law in August.

I know being sad is not healthy for me....I needed change but how?

I enjoy blogging. I don’t blog often, but when I do, I feel satisfied that I said my two cents. My blog is my journal. 

As I mentioned in my blog Reinventing Me!, the first thing I changed was the name of the blog from Miriam’s Words to ‘The Blogging Safta’. The link is still Miriam’s Words. 

Next, I took a good look in the mirror. I wanted to see me! Life is full of ups and downs. There are things I’m proud of and situations I should and could have done differently and things today that I absolutely need to change. 

I have been blessed...believe me, when I was a young bride of 19, I didn’t think that I would have 3 terrific kids, 2 super sons-in-laws, 13 wonderful sabra grandchildren and a very precious great-granddaughter. Next June, G-d willing, my husband and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Unbelievable!  

I had wanted to make aliyah forever. When I was a teenager, I remember telling my mother a”H, “one day I’m going to live in Israel.”  Because of my kids, my dream was fulfilled 22 ½ years ago.

Second change I needed was to get out of the house more often and try new experiences. Other than walking Patches, which I don’t do very often, [that’s my husband’s job] shopping in Netivot, appointments, and now my chugim, I’m home.

I believe everything happens for a reason. Before the Chagim, our Moetza, Sdot Negev, sent out a brochure of chugim they were offering for children and adults.

Usually, I flip through it and then file the brochure in the round basket but this time I put the brochure in the magazine rack. My husband must have asked me 10 times, why am I keeping the brochure. I told him I don’t know but keep it.

I have wanted to take yoga for some time, but couldn’t find an only women’s group in Netivot. The moetza was offering a yoga chug for women.

After speaking to the coordinator of the 60 plus groups, she convinced me to join two chugim on Sunday morning from 8:15a.m. until noon. Actually there is a third chug after the mosaic that she wanted me to join, but I said no because my language skills are not good enough and that frustrates me.

And so on Sunday mornings at 8:15 you can find me at my yoga chug...after 7 sessions of an hour of stretching, I am still finding muscles I didn’t know I had.

Fifteen minutes later, my mosaic chug starts. Here we create pictures using different mediums either by following a pattern or just our imagination and drawing freehand.  Our group is made up of 11 women and 1 man who is the husband of one of the women.

We are 4 English speakers and we usually sit together chatting as we work. I must admit that I am enjoying the activity very much.

Outside of our art room, the Moetza set up a refreshment table for us to enjoy that is constantly being refilled with crackers, a veggie platter, hummus, cheese, cake, tea and coffee.

Our first project was making a hanging picture on a piece of plywood. I decided to make a sunflower. Most used a pattern to trace a picture. I drew free hand.

Using different colours of ceramics including mirror tile, my sunflower took on a life of its own. Each colour represented an emotion. I used a strip of mirror in each petal of my sunflower because it took a good look in the mirror for me to see what I needed to change.

I named my finished picture Reflections of life..happiness, sadness and CHANGE!

We are now creating a stained glass abstract picture on a window pane and working with see through coloured glass tiles. This is much harder and slower than working on plywood. I have never used glass glue. You need very little as it is thin and runs.

Knowing that on Sunday morning I’m out of the house and having a nice time is something I now look forward too. I’m on my way to reinventing me!

That’s all for now. Feel free to comment

Chag Chanukah Sameach!

Miriam