Brave Girl: Hold Your Own Key

 "The secret to her happiness was holding her own key"

                                                                                -  Brave Girl

Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying "people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be".  It's one of the great secrets of life, really.  Taking control of one's own mind, choosing to be happy in each moment on a daily basis can transform your life.  Recognizing the difference between that over which we have control and that which is beyond our control is the first step.  And surprisingly difficult.  It takes a good bit of practice to learn how to stop trying to control the behavior of others.  But once we do, the magic door to Happiness opens and we can begin to enjoy our lives. 


 Women are socialized to make others happy - husbands, children, in-laws, bosses. And we're bombarded with images and messages telling us that we're responsible for everything.  Literally everything.  We're supposed to raise healthy, pretty, popular, well-adjusted children, keep our bosses and co-workers happy, and be the perfect wife who maintains her figure and looks.  All while smiling with perfectly white teeth and gorgeous hair.  

Is it any wonder that we forget to nurture our own happiness in the pursuit of pleasing others? The newest brave girl collection reminds us that we alone have the power to make ourselves happy.  Never give the key to your happiness to someone else.  Hold your own key.

The Saving of the "Very Good Signs"

So we've had a guy here this week doing some earth moving around the farm - cleaning off the creek, cleaning out a branch that runs into the creek, etc. Last night hubby tells me that he's also covering up part of the garden as part of his attempt to reduce his compulsive overworking in the summer, which sounded great to me. Last night, that is. This morning I realized that he meant the garden patch which contains my "very good signs". Whaaa?????

I ran outside with a bucket, a rake, a hand trowel in.the.rain. and started picking up everything I could find. I'm proud to say I didn't throw a hissy fit . . .but I was prepared to lay down on the spot in protest and dare them to bulldoze over me!! Thankfully, hubby was open to a compromise and had the guy scoop up 7 or 8 huge scoops full of dirt from that area into piles at the edge of the woods for me to sort through.

The things we do for our art, eh?

I think it was completely worth it: