Follow your bliss - HUH?

bliss (blis) n. 1. Serene happiness. 2. The ecstasy of salvation; spirtual joy. 3. A cause of great delight or happiness -- See Synonyms at ecstasy.

ecstasy (ek'ste-se) n. 1. A state of exalted delight in which normal understanding is felt to be surpassed. 2. A state of any emotion so intense that rational thought and self-control are obliterated. 3. The trance, frenzy, or rapture associated with mystic or prophetic exaltation.

So, (enough with the lecture) this phrase, "Follow your Bliss," has become popular within the last two years and yet every once in a while it still stumps me. Now wait a minute -- I know it can mean to follow your happiness ----> I guess for too many years I really associated the definition in "spiritual" or "religious" terms. Why -- Huh? I don't have a clue maybe it is a past life or something who knows maybe I was a nun or a priest or a bishop or a goddess or saint OK whatever. I first saw a beautiful rub on with this phrase on it when I was working on my birthday album - yes another milestone. When you get to be my age, you run into a lot of milestones. Thanks to my friend Larcy (who is part of my extended family) my birthday was really special! I had a pink gorilla, cupcakes, and a celebration at a Recollections crop in 07. OK, it was 60, so stop asking already. I ended up using the phrase in that little pink book and I have slowly grown to accept the phrase defined in my own terms (now there is a scary thought).

So why the ramble tonight? I dunno know but let us trip over to the little pink skinny scrapbook album. I use to love 12 x 12 pages but with the increase in the wonderful collection of all types of albums on the market and my love of the altered arts, I now try to find unusual books to put my special collections of photos. For once, I did the "birthday book" shortly after the birthday instead of waiting for another milestone ... no comments, thank you! And I am getting ready to go to a crop this weekend in Hagerstown and I collected all of these photos of when I was younger last summer and it brings a lot of memories and forces you to really think about your childhood and what made you happy (or how you followed your bliss back then), what books you read, who your friends where, etc. And so this weekend I will be engrossed in a little house book which will be fun to work in with stamps, photos, rub ons, and what ever found objects I have.

I also decided when I started this blog that I wanted to share with you things I have created. Yes, I do believe that I do know the definition of bliss. It happens to me while creating and all of a sudden I realize that three hours have passed and I am always amazed. Then all of a sudden in that one moment, I realize that the creation I had been working on has been born and I am happy with it. . . usually... I do love the pink album and it was a joy to work on. Probably because all of the memories associated with that birthday are blissful (wow, I used the word again).

I hope you have a "bliss." I hope you follow it. To be blissless would not be any fun. So go forth in bliss and create. Hold your friends and family close. TA DA..... On a less than blissful note - I played singles tennis last night and got beat. We did two sets plus some games. It was fun. I do love running when playing tennis (yup, I know it helps instead of just watching the yellow ball fly by during the game.) Tomorrow night is my really busy night with a workout with Mr. Trainer Dude for half-hour and then we go into a tennis clinic for 1 1/2 by the time I get home I am really dragging my bliss. Stay tuned....