GPP Street Team

Anniversary Winner!

 

I'm late with the drawing - congrats to Inge!  I will be sending you the new stamps this week.  Inge was the first to leave a comment for the drawing and she is a warm and generous soul who I have gotten to know because of these crusades.  An international friendship can begin with a blog comment and evolve off site to emails and exchanges.  I am so grateful for this little place we meet on the net!  *more confetti*

2nd Anniversary, 100th post!

Two years, one hundred posts, dozens of crusaders, lots of creativity! 

It's time to celebrate!

 

 

 

I can't believe we've reached the 2nd anniversary already and are beginning our third year of crusading for creativity.  Hats off to all of you who come here to play.  I applaud you for taking the time to share your art and your stories.  This place is not just about coming to learn something or stopping by to see what others are doing by visiting the links - it's a much bigger picture - it's about connecting with like-minded souls.  I am so grateful to have gotten to know many of you who I may never have encountered if you hadn't gone out on a limb to participate.  Being plugged in - with what you do and how you respond to others becomes it's own reward don't you think?  Everyone:  reach up and pat yourselves on the back, high five yourself, blow yourself a kiss, and toss confetti.  Thank you for being part of this community.  xoxo

Crusade No. 24 ~ Final Wishes

 

I view these crusades as a platform to encourage creativity.  I love that so many of you have plugged in and shared of yourselves.  I see and hear of new friendships being made and that is so cool.  I witness encouragement through comments given and received.  I have tried to present challenges to get you doing something for yourself – maybe something new or something revisited, but something that we all do so we can learn additional tricks in the process of sharing.  I have some crusades in the hopper where we will carry on making stuff but this month I have an assignment for you I feel passionate about and I hope you will give it some consideration – if not now, then sometime soon.

 

 

If you’ve been following along with my personal life on my other blog you know that I recently lost my sister.   I was in the privileged position to discuss final wishes with her.  I was present and therefore able to think out loud with her and later follow through.  It is a difficult thing to communicate about this kind of stuff but it is even harder to plan a farewell while you are coping with immense grief.  While in the midst of all the preparations I kept thinking to myself: I need to think about and write down my own wishes and I'm going to tell everyone I know to do the same.

 

    

 

This month I challenge you to think about the unthinkable.  Consider what, if any, final wishes you might have.  Write them down and tuck them away in an envelope in your jewelry box or bible or special place.  I truly believe it is a gift to your loved ones to spell out your preferences.  We may think that none of it really matters because we are in a better place but if you have thought it through, even to the smallest degree, you may diffuse a lot of tension. 

 

 

I can barely write this post which is proof of how we dance around the subject of death.  My experience makes me passionate about asking you to give this subject some thought.  I’m not going to spell out all the things that I think you should be writing in your Final Wishes letter – you will know what’s right for you.  You may find your letter gets longer or shorter as life experiences give you addition insight.   There are many sites that can be of assistance if you need a jump start.  Click here for one.  Think of how much planning went into your wedding.  Now imagine something just as significant to your family, but with less time, compounded by grief.  It’s a gift to do this.   We hope to lead long, healthy lives and doing this doesn't alter that perspective - but we shouldn't leave difficult decisions to our loved ones if we can help it. 

 

 

I don’t want this to be a morbid or morose exercise.  It can be thought of as a loving act.  Do it for you, do it for your loved ones.  Back in high school we had an assignment to write our own obituary.  It was a lesson in goal setting and forecasting as we imagined what we hoped would be said about ourselves.   Writing my obituary didn't make me suicidal, just like deciding where I want to be buried, or if I want to be buried,  doesn't mean I want to die.  Do you know the poem The Dash?  The day we are born and the day we die doesn't mean as much as what we do with dash between.  Think of this crusade as a similar assignment.   

For this crusade:  write a private letter stating some of your final wishes.  Do this for yourself, and if you choose to post about it come back here and leave a comment and I will add you to the link list.  You are always welcome to participate in any previous crusades – just announce accordingly and I will label your link.  For instance, if you want to revisit Get Gothic I will label your link (C13).  If this isn't up your alley, I get it.  I'll be back next month with something to get your hands messy.

 

CRUSADE No. 24 ~ Final Wishes DUE DATE November 1st

 

Edit:  Achived links have been moved from sidebar to here.

CRUSADE No. 24

• Anna Matthews
  
• Anne Hartman
  
• Bonnie Luhman
  
• Cath Sheard
  
• Ingrid Dijkers
  
• JeriAnn (revised)
  
• Joanie Hoffman
  
• Kathryn Antyr
  
• Kathy McCreedy (C23)
  
• Kim H
  
• Lay Hoon
  
• Luanne Iwan (C18)
  
• Marie Johansen
  
• Marilyn Weyman Kegg
  
• Marlynn Likens
  
• Michelle Ward
  
• Suze Perrott
  
• Ursula Clamer

Crusade No. 23 ~ WINNER!

 

I reached into the Top Hat and this months pick is Kathryn Antyr.  Congrats Kathryn!!  I just looked through the past crusades and find it amazing that she has only participated in the last three crusades - must be because she has shared more than once on two of them.  I feel like I have known her longer than four months which is probably how you feel too as she is not only a generous sharer but she is a great commentor too.  Happy to know you Kathryn. 

Thanks to all of you who played this month and congrats for participating in the grand clean up.  If you're like me it's a work-in-progess.  I'm still clearing the slate of deadlines and I'm still trying to make some headway in the organization of supplies.   But I'm doing it.

I'm writing the crusade for October and will post it tomorrow.  In the meantime, stop over at Kathryn's site and *high five* her for winning, and see what she's doing with Soul Journaling!