Category Archives: Art

Nature’s Spectrums

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I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver

God sure swished one big paintbrush filled with a spectrum of colors when he waved it over the plant life put on this earth. Walking inside and outside the National Botanic Gardens I was awestruck by the range of botanical treasures which come from our land and places across the globe.

Enjoy this journey through visual images that I captured with my camera when I visited The National Botanic Garden’s last weekend. Some of these plants seem like “freaks of nature,” they are such exquisite masterpieces.

Nature has all kinds of gifts to share with people all over the Universe. Take every opportunity you can to be outdoors to enjoy it. It is good for the heart and soul.

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Goodbye for now from me and my gal pal, my twin sister, from the National Botanic Gardens in Washington, DC.

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IMG_20141007_093258_933This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on her book

Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected available in audio, paperback and e-book,  please visit this link.http://amzn.to/1xTvPwQ

Connections to First Chapter

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“In the first chapter of Genesis it is written that God placed mankind in the Garden of Eden. God knew from the very beginning that this perfect environment would be the key source for mankind’s healing and health.” ~ Dr. David Stewart author of Healing: God’s Forgotten Gift http://bit.ly/1rTR4LR.

An hour or two  in the National Botanic Gardens in Washington, DC is enough to uplift anyone’s spirit. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing horticultural wonders from all over the world inside and outside this beautiful structure last weekend.

Many of the plants I saw have healing properties that have been known for centuries. Others are yet to be discovered. http://www.deborahkingcenter.com/blog/2014/02/25/the-healing-powers-of-plants/

For instance, digitalis is a plant that for centuries has been used for heart ailments. However, today it is synthetically produced for many reasons. One is the ease of regulation of dosage. http://science.jrank.org/pages/2088/Digitalis.html.

Why has our world relied on so many synthetically produced drugs when much of what we need to heal is already at our dispose? I must ask. Some medicinal plants are not indigenous to areas where large populations of people roam. So, I suppose harvesting them to use in the healing arts industry may be too costly.

I ponder that in other cases a choice between harvesting beautiful plants  for pharmaceuticals and risking that they will become endangered, and no longer available for visual enjoyment and soulful pleasures may be a consideration.

Today I’d like to share some images from the medicinal horticultural section of the National Botanical Gardens. Additional photos will be shared over the next few weeks of flowers from a spectrum of colors, as well as some wonderful architecture and art from our National Portrait Gallery.

Stay tuned to this site – I have all kinds of more fulfilling things to share with you of things I discovered in Washington, DC over the weekend.

This blog brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her memoir, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link. http://amzn.to/1xTvPwQ

What a gorgeous building and grounds at the National Botanical Gardens

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Plenty inside the National Botanical Gardens to keep this avid gardener interested and uplifted!

Below: Aromatherapy – pots of spices from around the world – I indulged myself frequently at the “smelling pots”

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To read an article on the manufacturing of digitalis, a drug that so many heart patients rely on visit this link.http://science.jrank.org/pages/2088/Digitalis.html.

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Water is a magical substance. The health of all life is irrevocably connected with water. Find yourself around it, immerse yourself in it, and drink it with gratitude. ~ Unknown

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For a great resource about healing plants, please visit this site http://m.steamboattoday.com/news/2014/sep/14/local-herbalist-releases-first-ebook-series/

All Photos were taken by Sue Batton Leonard inside the National Botanic Gardens. Please read copyright statement on this site on the right hand side of the page.

The Gift of Opportunity

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“The freedom to move forward to new opportunities and produce results comes from living in the present and not the past.” ~ Brian Koslow

Boxes tied up with pretty ribbons and bows immediately come to mind when someone mentions presents.  However, one of the most valuable favors one can be given in life is the gift of opportunity.

Ukazoo BooksThis Saturday, on October 11th, I will be given an appreciated gift of opportunity. A chance to share my award-winning memoir with book enthusiasts in my native place of residence – Towson, Maryland. A book signing and author presentation at Ukazoo Books in Dulaney Plaza from 1pm to 4pm is scheduled. Some people who will be coming to this public event I have not seen for decades.

At 2pm I’ll discuss my reasons for penning a memoir and how the independent publishing industry has paved the way for ordinary people to tell their extraordinary stories and publish them.

I look forward to the event. I hope you, the readers of All Things Fulfilling will help me broadcast the good news that the author talk is taking place. It will provide an opportunity for others to learn something about why storytelling is so important and why people should share stories through independent publishing.

Pass the word and hope to see you at Ukazoo Books on October 11th!

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This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of the EVVY award-winning book “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.”

Weekend of Exploration

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“Where a man’s heart is, there is his treasure also.” ~ Saint Ambrose

It’s going to be a fun weekend! A chance to do some exploring of things that hold my interest in Washington, DC. I’ll be with my sister and her husband.

national botanicgarden-washingtondc9On our list for Sunday is the National Botanic Gardens and the National Portrait Museum. Two of the few museums in the District of Columbia I have never visited throughout my lifetime. The botanic gardens is a museum quite different than many others in our nation’s Capital. The treasures within the walls are living plants – many of which are not indigenous species to the United States. It gives our citizens an opportunity to see plant life from places all over the world that we may not ever get a chance to travel to. Specimens from the jungle, desert, mountains and plains, both rare and endangered have been assembled and are growing in eco-systems that mirror their natural environments.

Being an art enthusiast , it is surprising that the National Portrait Gallery is also one of the few federal buildings of importance I have never been to in Washington, DC.  After reading the blog www.castlesandcoffeehouses.com called Edith Warton “The Age of Innocence” http://bit.ly/1vzQ927 about a painting in the collection at the National Portrait Museum, I vowed that on my next trip to the East Coast I would visit it. It is a Washington, DC museum I didn’t get to as a child and haven’t yet in my adult years. Well, here I am, ready to enjoy it tomorrow.

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I’m sure I will be taking photos throughout the day to share on a future blog for those  don’t get a chance to travel to the East Coast.

See you on All Things Fulfilling on Monday. Have a great weekend!

This blog brought to you by www.allthingsfulfilling.com and award-winning author of  the anthology Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.  http://amzn.to/1vCTf7k. Don’t miss out on the audio version, it holds the treasure and also won 2nd prize in the EVVY book awards!

Simple Gifts of Life

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Making-a-Happy-LifeHave you ever made a list of things that truly make you happy? When you get right down to it I’m a cheap date. I don’t need wining and dining out in fancy restaurants, riding around in fancy cars, a McMansion to live in, high-valued gems and jewels to decorate me. Those things really don’t hold much weight of importance in my book.

In fact, my “toys” include few things – some knitting needles, books, some pretty home decorating items that are meaningful to me, and some attractive artwork that appeals to my idea of beauty. Originals are nice but not required.

My idea of the best kind of plaything to acquire is a sweet, loyal and friendly dog who walks with me and is low maintenance except when it comes to cuddle time.

As I have “aged” I have an increasing appreciation for just being on this earth to witness the goodness and gifts that each day brings.

Here are seven things that in recent years I have learned bring me personal fulfillment. They are invaluable to my sense of personal happiness but hard to measure in dollars.

 

  • Allowing myself all the time I need to browse library shelves for a good read.
  • Warm, sunny days when I don’t have to wrap myself in layers.
  • Impressing myself  with my own creativity, motivation and resilience.
  • Down time to do something or nothing of my own choosing.
  • Hearing a voice that opens with that ever sunny “Hi, Mom!”
  • The luxury of sitting in a pew and listening to a hymn that is familiar from my childhood.
  • Connecting with others who have similar life values.
  • Space enough not to feel restricted and a place that reflects my tastes and personality.

How about you – what do you highly value in your life that you would put at the top of your “must have” list?

This blog brought to you by the award-winning author, Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link. http://amzn.to/1rA6fdU

 

 

Appreciate the Season

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good health and sense“You continue to amaze me,” my cardiologist whom I have been seeing annually for twenty-five years said to me last week as he spoke with me after my yearly check-up and echocardiogram.

“Thank you, “ I said. “I am very fortunate, and hope to keep up a great bill of health.”

“Keep on doing what you are doing!” He said.

“I will. I promise.” I said.

Every time a day comes around that I don’t really want to go out and walk because it is snowing, raining, too windy or cold, I think about the alternative – declining health or being sickly, and it spurs me out the door every time.

But it’s not just the physical benefits. Walking two or three miles daily lifts me up in other ways. There is no doubt in my mind about the connection between living with positive spirit and good health. There are 15 ways to naturally lift the spirit mentioned in this article. Check it out http://bit.ly/1vA9h0J.

Experiencing change in one’s life every so often is a good way to refresh and renew the spirit. Right now I am on an East Coast book tour and enjoying a change of scenery. It’s good for the “heart health.” Last Friday I was a guest on Salley Gibney’s show “Let’s Talk.” The topic of discussion was “Write your Story.”  In the interview we talked a little about my own personal history which is recounted in the memoir “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” In the coming weeks the footage from GNAT-TV in Vermont will be posted on All Things Fulfilling.

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Photo from the Steamboat Pilot, Steamboat Springs Colorado

October 1, 2014

Have a great day everyone. October has arrived and it has already snowed in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It’s a beautiful month to get outside. Take a walk -check out the autumn bounty- the colorful leaves, apples being harvested, pumpkins and gourds at farm stands, the fall scents of foods made with cinnamon and cloves. Woodstove smoke, which indicates cooler temperatures, will soon be lingering in the air.

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard, writing from the State of my native roots, Maryland.

Naively Speaking

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“It is well for the heart to be naive, and the mind not to be.” ~ Anatole France

tonsils removedI remember feeling slighted. It seemed like all the kids in the neighborhood had their tonsils and adenoids removed except me.  As a child, it didn’t matter to me that I had lived through pioneering heart surgery, I still wished I could get my tonsils out like many of my buddies.

Apparently, according to this article, twice as many tonsillectomies were performed in the 1950s and 1960s as today. http://seattletimes.com/html/health/2015264059_med10.html.

To a kid, getting tonsils and adenoids removed  meant eating ice cream! And lots of it! Ice cream was one of the few foods that I really adored when I was growing up. And to go to the soda fountain counter at S.S. Kresges or Reads Drugstore for a scoop in an ice cold silver dish with a doily between the dish and a small saucer was a special treat.

Remember the litttle plastic cups of ice cream with the wooden spoons? They reminded me of tongue depressors the doctors used. And then there were the ice-cream pop-ups.

 

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In my memoir I share both a child’s perspective of my “operation” at Johns Hopkins and  my adult insight into why perhaps I fared so well.

This blog brought to you by author Sue Batton Leonard. Her memoir, “an anthology of short stories,” is a  two-time award winner in the Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Book Awards. For information and ordering, please follow this link.

Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected is available in audio book (that holds the real treasure), paperback and e-book.

 

Motivated by Interest

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“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” ~ Franklin D Roosevelt

About two weeks ago, a newsletter from All Things Fulfilling with the mention of my two book awards and notification of book signings that are upcoming in October was sent out via e-mail. I received an unexpected number of congratulatory e-mails in response. They came from people with whom I have made business connections over the years through the independent publishing industry. I hadn’t heard from some of them in a while. One such e-mail came from Diana who said “You motivate me to work on my own book.”  I’d like to say thank you to everyone who took the time to write because you encourage me!

I have had the privilege to meet such interesting and creative people through my work in the field of independent publishing. As I look back over the past 6 years, I am astounded to think that I have published an award-winning book, written some 1,461 blog posts as of today, had 6 or 7 e-zine articles published and formed We Write Steamboat, a networking group for independent publishers with 58 members and counting! There is a lot that has come with that. I’ve also done volunteer work in the arts, for the Colorado Independent Publishers Association and for my church. Needless to say, I’ve been busy. I’ve gotten much personal fulfillment out of all of it or I wouldn’t have continued.

Why am I telling you all this? Because sometimes we do have to pat ourselves on your back and be proud of our own successes. When I moved to Colorado six years ago due to my husband’s new employment opportunity, I had no idea what I was going to do. I decided to take a leap of faith and invest in learning all I could about this thing I became so interested in called “independent publishing.” As it turned out, even though I had already worked in the industry  I had just begun to wade into the waters. The industry kept evolving. At that point I hadn’t even begun to learn about good writing or public speaking either. Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think I would soon get to all that I’ve accomplished!

Leaps of faith…sometimes we need to take them. What happens when we are driven and livin’ by our heart, soul and creativity can be surprising!

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Over the next 10 days or so, I will be taking a much needed break to concentrate solely on preparing for some upcoming book appearances. I invite you to peruse this site. There are hundreds of postings about independent publishing, finding motivation in the arts, writing, ideas that are an extension of my book and all kinds of fulfilling things to read about.

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author, Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on her memoir, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, which has won two EVVY book awards, please follow this link.http://amzn.to/1mbmVGR

Writing Motivation Tip#1

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Writing & Publishing Tip #1 – Next time you start a new endeavor or  start down the road to a personal journey – post a sign with  the following words on the mirror so you see it first thing every morning. Put it front and center.

 

what if you fly

Make a contract with yourself right now, writers, to pay no mind to the first line of this “what if” thinking.  Only focus only on the second question and  life affirming possibilities.

Every time you are feeling defeated, discouraged or disillusioned ask yourself once again which alternative is the most appealing.  “Oh my darling, what if you fly?”  is what will keep you pressing forward.

You’ll soar to new heights. I found it really works!

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This blog brought to you by the award-winning author, Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. For more information on the publication, visit this link. http://amzn.to/1mbmVGR.

 

 

 

Glam Outdoor Wear of Yesteryear

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“A smile happens in a flash but it’s memory lasts a lifetime” ~ Unknown
vintage ski wear1Oh, how outdoor clothing for the north country has evolved. A lot of time and research is now put into fabrics and construction of outdoor wear that is designed to be the most rugged, weather-proof, comfortable and warm. There is a whole science behind it – even right down to the manufacturing of socks! http://www.smartwool.com .

Back when I was learning to ski in the 1950s and 1960s, clothing manufacturers didn’t have the variation of fabrics that are available today. There was wool and wool. That’s about it. But the new generation of wool is nothing like it used to be.  Remember how  heavy it was when it got wet, and the smell? Peewww…. (Can’t figure out how to describe it – but the smell was icky!) Fashions have changed tremendously over the decades of my lifetime. Here is an article from the Vintage Traveler about the evolution of ski wear.http://bit.ly/1wPn5Zd

fur hat and muffWhat little girl in the 1950s and 1960s didn’t just adore her fur hat and muff when it was frigid out.  We felt as highstylin’ and glam as our mothers when they went out  in their “Persians” with fur collars.

And remember the long “stocking caps?”  The cashier at the local A & P knew  everybody, including my little brother, Scott, by his vintage stocking capsignature long, red tasseled stocking cap. Whenever my mom came into the grocery store without my youngest brother, the lady at the checkout always asked “Where’s the little boy with the red stocking cap?”

It tickles me to look back on old styles. With the long lives that most people live today – sometimes people are around long enough to see things make comebacks!

This blog brought to you by the award winning author Sue Batton Leonard, author of  Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. For more information on the award-winning memoir, please follow this link. http://amzn.to/1ti4XVi