Homemade Gifts and my views on gift giving.

Today I started to wrap up some homemade Christmas Gifts in preparation for the hassle free Christmas day I will have. Above is some blank cards that I decorated with scrap paper pieces. They can be used for birthdays, thankyous etc. I really like these and I know I would love to receive something like this as a gift.

This is a pretty white picture frame that I put in a page from a magazine. I have someone who is a bit craft in the family and she will get this for Christmas and some cards. The words written on it are below.

Risk more than others this is safe.

Care more than others think is wise.

Dream more than others think is practical.

Expect more than others think is possible.

I also found a calendar today that was quite inspirational. Just lovely. Now I know this seems cheap when I say it was $2.50 but again I thought it was just lovely and again I will give a little pack of notecards with this as well. It is definately something I would love to receive.

My wish for is,

Enough happiness to keep you sweet,

Enough trials to keep you strong,

Enough success to keep you eager,

Enough faith to give you courage,

And enough determination to make each day a good day.

MY FAVORITE

Do not spoil what you have now by desiring what you have not.

Remember that what you have now  was once among the things you hoped for.

I am having a lot of fun making things slowly but surely as gifts. I have a few things on the go and as I finish each one I will let you all see pictures of them. My family over the past few years have come to expect some homemade goodies from me. Usually food. This year I am mixing it up a bit.

I have read a lot of posts about peoples views on gift giving and mine is simple. WOULD I LIKE TO RECEIVE IT? It is not about the cost of the item and if it is then it does not fall under the catergory of GIFT to me. A gift is from the heart. And if the receiver doesn't think it's good enough or makes you feel bad for giving it to them then I would say it might be time to stop giving gifts to that person.

Anyway I am of  to attempt to get my sewing machine bobbin filled with a different colour cotton to sew up the squares I have to make a patchwork tablecloth. (never done that before) and sew up a few cushions in the most gorgeous satin fabric.

Cheers,

Wendy

EVERYONE HAS A STORY - EVERYONE !!!!!

Firstly - have a read of the new weekly saying/poem at the top of my blog.........

People are so INTERESTING. It is just that we usually do not take the time to listen, ask and comprehend. Everyone has a story. EVERYONE

So many times in life we miss out on so much knowledge - we lack so much understanding - because we fail to realise that everyone has a story. We seem to think that our lives are the most important. We have suffered the most. We are the ones who have and are struggling. We have no time for other peoples stories. No time to listen - no time for understanding - no time for compassion. Yet we have all the time in the world to judge others. We obviously have all the time in the world to just believe what we are fed through the media. We surely do not have time to investigate and research and truly try and understand a persons story.

Have you ever just sat and watched people. I have this knack of not noticing what is going on around me. I can be in a crowded place and just not notice things happening and going on around me. I would make a lousy detective. I will usually notice and remember a conversation - words spoken - than a persons cloths or colour of their eyes or hair. But still I realise that I know nothing about them.

Before disputing what others say, get the facts.

 There can be a giant gap between what is and what is perceived.

This lesson has come up with me over the past few years. I realised that noone really knows me except for a very special relationship with my husband. Of course he knows my story. He knows of before I met him and obviously is part of my story as long as it has been since we met and started life as a couple. My family members no me - but not everything. My husband is the one who knows me best but even then I can be elusive. But no one knows why I do the things I do - what has happened in my life - why I make the decisions I make - what hurts - what makes me truly happy - the wrongs done to me and my family - or the wrongs I have done to  others - the things that bother me in a deep way - the jobs I have held down - my gifts - my abilities - my preferences - my religious beliefs - my favorite food - my relationships with other family members  - all the books I read - the things that really effect my world view - I think you get the point.

Now they same goes for all the other people in the world out there - I don't know them.

When I look at people lately I try to remember that I don't know their story - how can I judge? It is unfair and very wrong of me to label them and put them in a box so that they neatly fit into a description and make them explainable. Maybe I could find out a bit about them. Maybe that won't happen. But at least I can be aware that just like me they are a complete jigsaw made up of all the things that has happened in their lives and I would have no idea what they have been through and why the live their lives the way they do.

This is so hard to do if you are hooked in - plugged in - to the world view of the media in the society where you live and breath. So many people form the opinions that they have from the news - current affairs report - talk back show - etc etc. I know of very few people that will willingly research and explore and try to discover truths so as to have an informed opinion. I love to change my mind. In the sense that I love to learn. I love to understand something. I allow my learning through reading to evolve. I am truly amazed that one book read will somehow correspond in even just a little way to the next that I read.

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.

Arthur Schopenhauer

The current book that has just got me spellbound and in awe of my ignorance is a book called PEOPLEQUAKE by Fred Pearce. Well that has turned my views upside down on population. Given me a very different view to the normal doomsdayers that the world is going to self destruct through over population. It has also given me a very interesting history lesson of the world I have lived through over the past 47 years and was fairly ignorant to most things discussed within it's pages. That is just one example.

I have never met a Jew.
I have never met a person from Russia.
I have never been to Vietnam.
I have never been invited or spent time with an Aboriginal family in Australia.
I have never been through an earthquake.
I have never been without water every day of my life.
I have never gone hungry.
I have never ever in my life not had a bed to sleep in.
I have never been without a home.
I have never been pursecuted by the law / government.
I have never met and spoken to a Muslim.
I speak one language - English. I cannot speak or comunicate to another person in their language.


I live in a bubble in Bauple, Qld, Australia.
It is peaceful, plentiful, safe, predictable.
I have a home we are paying of. 
We struggle with bills but we are not destitute.
I have ALL of my immediate family with me and around me. Husband, both parents, three children, 2 grand children.
I can believe in God and not be persucuted. I can go to church if I want. I can stay at home if I want.
I have access to all the food I could possibly need.
I can choose to sleep under the stars and choose to go "Camping".
I have so many choices that I choose to live a simple life. I choose it. That is amazing in inself.

HOW CAN I JUDGE?  HOW CAN I FEAR SOMETHING OR SOMEONE THAT I HAVE NEVER MET?  I know that bad things happen - they have happened in my families life. I know people can be hurtful and very unkind.  I understand that there are people who are fanantics and very zealous about their beliefs. But I just don't want to choose to live in fear.

Lately I have got side tracked and started to make statements that have not sat right with me. I really don't wish to go along that path. I want to choose the opposite direction. The alternative path. Instead of fear I choose peace.

Can I direct you to a post by Katherine. Please read this post. I had started to write this post and then I saw hers yesterday. I asked permission to post the link here and would like for you to read this.


TOLERANCE

Peace and tolerance and love to you all,

Wendy