Where is this Place?

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Posted on May 18, 2015

All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that place.~ Philip Johnson

Identify both of these places and the city where they are located. Leave your answer by way of comment to this blog. First person to identify accurately these two houses of worship will win a free personalized paperback copy of the award-winning book, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. Family members are excluded from entering!

Hints:

They are located in a state west of the Mississippi
Each place is distinctively different yet, they are located in the same community, a few blocks away on the same street, making them nearly neighbors!
I can hear your brain buzzing with activity trying to figure this out!
I visited both of these places last week and thoroughly learning more about each and enjoyed the photography opportunities.

Edifice #1 – I am so grateful for the kind stranger who directed my husband and me to the 10th floor of a nearby building to capture this incredible shot!

Edifice #2 (below) – As I entered into this building I couldn’t help but wonder how many people every hour, every day, every month or year pass by this structure having no clue of the magnificence that lies inside the doors. All it takes is one peek to grab one’s attention.

Aren’t both visually and architecturally stunning? If you joined in on All Things Fulfilling last week, by reading the posting Finding a Good Fit and if you read my memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected you’ll understand the reason why I enjoy seeing church buildings. It has to do with my family history!

Do return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow. I will post a few more pictures of these two extraordinary places.

Finding a Good Fit

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Posted on May 14, 2015

“Religion is like a pair of shoes…..Find one that fits for you, but don’t make me wear your shoes.”
― George Carlin

Today on this Thirsty Thursday, one day of the week All Things FuIfilling is dedicated to good news, I’d like to share an architectural wonder that perhaps has greater meaning than what was intended by the firm who created it.

I was drawn to an article about this holy place since the building of churches goes way back to the first generation in the history of my family’s five generation construction business.

There is a house of worship designed and built by the architectural group, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, in Borgloon, Belgium that takes seeing religion from different perspectives to a whole new level.

The good news is that there are many kinds of religions throughout the world. If you live in a truly free society, individuals get to select the religion that best aligns with their own principles and values, or we can opt out of being a believer of any sort.

Images in the article I’ve linked to this website tell the rest of this story. Put your Sunday shoes on, any kind will do, and take a few minutes to enter into this unique church. View the images and you will see what I mean. To learn more about the construction of the structure, visit this website.

That’s all for today! See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling. We will be sharing an upcoming educational event that is good news for independent publishers or for people who are thinking of writing their own stories of any type (faith stories, memoirs, fiction, non-fiction or creative writing through the form of poetry, song lyrics or screenwriting).

Talking Personal Fulfillment

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Posted on May 12, 2015

Last week when I presented “One Day in the Life of a Writer” to the Junior Girl Scouts, I mentioned that although I write books, my small business geared around publishing provides me with many other tasks that I handle in the course of a normal work day. Tasks such as maintaining a website/blog, e-marketing for independent publishers, responding to reader’s correspondence, scheduling and doing book talks and other promotion are also on my daily to do list. Not to even mention keeping up with ever-changing news about the publishing industry.

Over the next couple of days I am going have a change of work space. You’ll learn more the following week. A change of scenery will provide me with new sources of inspiration as I sit with many ideas that will be discussed during my upcoming appearance on “Life Changing Talk Radio.”

From www.blogtalkradio/livingaricherlife.com , the program overview for the May 21st broadcast is as follows:

“Most of us have learned we can not find happiness, making it our goal. Happiness is the unintended benefit of pursuing personal dreams and living true to yourself.

When you proactively connect the person you are with the things you choose to do, a deep sense of fulfillment will emerge. Fulfillment is a form of happiness or satisfaction that is the direct result of fully developing your abilities or character.

Personal fulfillment is best described as the achievement of life goals which are important to you, in contrast to the goals of society or even your family. Personal fulfillment is an ongoing journey for most of us. The journey commences when we start becoming conscious of ourselves, our surroundings and our past. But for many of us, finding your path to fulfillment can be buried in the unexpected. How can you find your path to personal fulfillment?”

What I do in my business, personal and professional life is extremely joyful and satisfying. I am so very grateful that I have been able to create the kind of life that feels good and right.

Join us in the discussion on May 21^rd by going to www.blogtalkradio/livingaricherlife.com . If you are in the East coast listening area, tune in at 9pm, 8pm Central time, 7pm Mountain time and 6pm Pacific. You can call in with your comments and your questions #855-345-4714.

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.

Brightening the Spirit with Color

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Posted on May 11, 2015

“Kodachrome, they give us those nice bright colors

They give us the greens of summers

Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah.”

~ Paul Simon

We are living in a visual world and scientists have been studying the effects color has on our psyche. Indeed, there is validity to the psychological properties of color.

I have had my own long standing argument with wearing the color black. Sometimes I feel as if I want to put it on because it looks sophisticated and more formal than many other colors. So, I think “Okay, this occasion calls for my little black dress.” I put it on, and off it comes. I can’t stand what it makes me feel like. Don’t get me wrong, people look terrific in their little black dresses. But, its just not me unless paired with some loud contrast.

Lately, I have been doing a little merchandising at a thrift store called Lift Up. It’s creatively challenging because all items are donations, display space is limited and I have to use the resources we’ve got on hand. But that is what makes it so much fun.

I’ve been taking pictures of some of the displays I have been creating. I had to laugh at myself the other day as I went through them. Notice the arrangement of the colors on this multi-level bookcase and what i put unintentionally on the bottom shelf. I need to raise it’s status!

Sometimes, it is good to face what’s been dark places in our lives. I found that out when I wrote my memoir “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” As it’s been said, if it wasn’t for darkness, there’d be no light. There is another book related to darkness and light of spirit that you might want to add to your reading list.

Wouldn’t you agree a spectrum of colors is illuminated more beautifully when it’s been placed up against the dark?That’s the reason why after a cold dreary winter, we appreciate colorful flowers that burst forth every spring and summer.

Enjoy spring and the coming of the bright season of summer! I know I will.

This blog is brought to you by award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard.

Moms Shape Lives

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Posted on May 10, 2015

A mother’s heart is a patchwork of love. ~Author Unknown

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms everywhere.

Giving birth to children is not a requirement for motherhood. So, today we also need to include and celebrate those women who have taken responsibility to nuture the younger generation through unconventional mother/child relationships, such as through mentoring, foster parenting, guardianships, adoption or in teaching situations. For they, too, have influenced and made better the lives of children of all ages.

Today, in honor of my mother I share this multi-media message which makes me smile because I think it reflects her attitudes toward life.

Mom, I hope you like this blog I created for you. I am truly grateful for your enduring influences in my life.

Wish I could share this day with you in person. But since I can’t, I’d like to share a little woman-to-woman wisdom with you ~~~~

Happy Mother’s Day! Love, Your daughter Sue

Life Created Just for You!

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Posted on May 8, 2015

“It’s not the circumstances that create joy. It’s you.” ~ Unknown

Have you ever stopped to consider your personality portrait? What makes you who you are?

Here are 16 personality portraits and each type has it’s own code:

ISTJ – The Duty Fulfillers ESTJ – The Guardians ISFJ – The Nurturers

ESFJ – The Caregivers ISTP – The Mechanics ESTP – The Doers

ESFP – The Performers ISFP – The Artists ENTJ – The Executives

INTJ – The Scientists ENTP – The Visionaries INTP – The Thinkers

ENFJ – The Givers INFJ – The Protectors ENFP – The Inspirers INFP – The Idealists

Your personality type, in part, determines how you react to the world and people around you. When I read the profiles I find I am a little bit of this, and a little bit of that which makes for a complex mix of what fulfills me in life. Want to know more? Read this article and click on the description of each personality type.

Finding what makes us happy and what fills us up in life is the secret to personal fulfillment. The good news today is that we can take steps in our own lives to create a life that is filled with joy and happiness!

On May 21st, I hope you will join in the conversation because we will be talking about this very subject on blog talk radio www.blogtalkradio/livingaricherlife.com. Call in with your questions and comments! #855-345-4714

Spirit Not Withstanding

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Posted on May 7, 2015

“A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.” ~ William Arthur Ward

What’s a girl to do when she’s a bystander because she is too young to be a Junior Girl Scout? She creates her own sense of fun, and I loved it.

Look at the joy on this little girl’s face! I’m calling her the “Dazzling Earring Girl.” She went about her way finding a creative use for the paper roses I had made and given the Girl Scouts while she was waiting for her sister to complete her craft project.

One never knows where life will take us and “Dazzling Earring Girl” might just have the tag line “jewelry artist” under her name in the future!

You know what I like about the Girl Scouts? Please excuse my bias because I was both a Brownie and a Junior Girl Scout. In my opinion, it is an organization that endorses postive values that parents can teach their children about keeping their values straight in life.

I hope this little girl in the picture remembers to always to seek the light! The good news is on this Thirsty Thursday her joy will dazzle other people. Glad she joined us!

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her memoir and book of short stories. On Sunday, May 10th I’ll be honoring Mother’s Day on All Things Fulfilling.

Hats Off, Hats On

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Posted on May 6, 2015

“Building art is a synthesis of life in materialized form. We should try to bring in under the same hat not a splintered way of thinking, but all in harmony together.” ~ Alvar Aalto

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about hats because it was recently Easter and because I’ve been wearing many different hats lately. When I was growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s no Easter outfit was complete unless it was topped off with a new spring coat and a matching headpiece. It tickles me silly when I think of some of the hats my mother wore to church. She had a yellow one that was shaped like a bees hive, and there was even a little fuzzy bee that was glued to the mesh that surrounded the hat.

In my childhood days it was not a rare occurrence to see men and women as well as boys and girls wearing hats on occasions that called for dressing up like going to church. It was all part of Sunday morning tradition.

Teaching children manners were of utmost importance when I was a kid and that included making sure kids were well versed in the etiquette of hat wearing. It’s been said by writer Alexander McCall Smith that “manners are the basic building blocks of a civil society.”

Do you think we are better off being a more relaxed society or would you like to see a return to some of the niceties that were present several decades ago?

Please take this one second poll on All Things Fulfilling. I’d love to know your response.

This blog is brought to you by award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard.

The Young Artists in Them

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Posted on May 5, 2015

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~ Pablo Picasso

On Friday, a number of nine and ten year old students, who are Junior Girl Scouts, expressed their love of writing during my presentation “One Day in the Life of a Writer.” When I admitted to my weakness of rising extremely early at 5:30am to 6pm to write and record what I have often been thinking in the middle of the night, a few said they, too, wake in the wee hours of the morning with ideas to put down on paper.
So, each junior Girl Scout was given a spiral-bound notebook to embellish with reflections of their own personality, design sense and color preferences. The notebooks are bound to hold up no matter where they travel and no matter how long it takes to fill the pages with words.They’ve been given a strong foundation backed with Duck© Tape! I never realized there are so many colors and patterns of Duck© Tape now available.

With a promise of returning to teach the Girls Scouts how to make paper roses, the group set about doing their own craft project after my presentation. The rest of today’s story will be told in photos – enjoy the colorful personal journal creations made by Girl Scout Troop #12622.

Isn’t individual creativity a wonderful thing? Come back tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling, I’m looking for some opinions. And on Thirsty Thursday, you’ll enjoy a post called Spirit Not Withstanding!

Happy Cinco de Mayo from Sue Batton Leonard, the award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.

Time with the Girl Scouts

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Posted on May 4, 2015

Children are our most valuable resource ~ Herbert Hoover

It’s been said that spending time with children heals the soul. Yes, indeed, it does. Friday was a splendid afternoon spent sharing “One Day in the Life of a Writer” with Junior Girl Scout Troop #12622, ages nine and ten.

Photo: My writers desk in the Girl Scout meeting room

I asked each of the girls to bring a question that they’ve always wanted to ask a writer but have never had the opportunity. I gave them my Girl Scout promise that I would do my best to serve them further by sharing their questions and my answers today on All Things Fulfilling:

Is that you in the photo on the book? ~ Alison

Yes, it is me, thirty-five years ago on the day I got married.

Do you write on weekends? ~Ella

Sometimes I get brainstorms and write a whole bunch in one day so I won’t have to write on weekends. And I try not to write on weekends to take a break. But, sometimes I get ideas and can’t help myself.

Are you writing a new book right now? ~ Margaux

Yes, actually I am working on two. I have the goal of publishing one in time for Valentines Day 2016. It is fiction, an imaginary story. The other is about independent publishing. That will take more time because I want to share the knowledge a little differently, and I am trying to decide how that might be. I have some ideas…

What are the names of the books? ~Molly

I only have working titles for them at this time, but nothing final.

When were you born? ~ Caroline

1953, I am not quite 62. (Another little girl piped up and graciously said – “Oh! Then you’re not old at all!” To which I smiled and replied “Thank you for saying that!”)

What kind of fiction book are you writing? ~ Jade

One of the awards I won for Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected was in the Young Adult category – for ages 12 and up. I like writing for young girls, so this is the genre I’ve decided to write this next book for also. My first book was a memoir. A real life story. This new publication I am working on is not based on real characters but it is based on things that girls sometimes face in life.

Do you think we could read your book even though we are not 12? ~ Caroline

That would be up to your parents. The dialect of the character of Fanny is written a little differently than the way some people talk but there is no bad language such as swear words in it or anything else a nine or ten year old should not read. Since I just read you a chapter and you heard how the star character Fanny talked, you probably wouldn’t have trouble reading it.

What inspired you to be a writer? ~ Margaux

Back in 1998 I started working for an artist who has won every major art award in America. He independently published his own books and videos on painting. Back then very few people did that and I very inspired by it. When I started my own business, I started a blog called All Things Fulfilling and started writing daily. I realized how much I loved to write. I had a story I’ve wanted to tell all my life, and decided to write and publish independently. It’s won several awards.

Where can we buy your books? ~ Alison

On Amazon.com and it is available in paperback, e-book and audio book. By selling it over the internet, anyone from all over the world can purchase it. The real treasure is in the audio book because I narrated it and you can hear me speaking in Fanny’s voice. It won a 2nd place award in the audio book category.

Could you teach me how to make those flowers? ~ Margaux

Absolutely! I would love to. But, I’ll have to come back and spend more time with you Girl Scouts.

Note: I read aloud the chapter from Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected called Paper Roses. I surprised each girl with one of my own paper flower creations that I learned to make when I was a Junior Girl Scout. After my presentation, the girls worked on a project that will give them a firm foundation to write on in coming days. You’ll learn more about Girl Scout Troop #12622’s art project when you return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling.

This blog is brought to you by award-winning author, Sue Batton Leonard author of Gift of a Lifetime Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.

All Things Fulfilling

Writing Focused on Fine Art & The Humanities

Category Archives: Inspiration

Finding a Good Fit

The Young Artists in Them

Time with the Girl Scouts