susan b steen...power in words and pictures @suezquesteen - Tumblr Blog

Enlightened

“Tears are words that need to be written.” ― Paulo Coelho ♦♦♦ The sadness took me by surprise. I’m normally such a happy person. Where did these feelings come from? I mentioned my sadness to some friends and immediately wished I had not — I had just exposed such a hidden part of myself. But in my sadness, it seemed I was looking for anyone who might be able to help me get back to me. After many…

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#sadness #Suicide

Knowing Your Black History

This was published in the paper early in February. I hope you will take time on this last day of the month to remember that Black History is our history, and it should matter to each of us every day of the year. “Privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.”― Martin Luther King Jr. ♦♦♦ It’s February. It’s the shortest month of the year and packs a punch. No, not because it’s…

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#blackhistory

What We Choose to Believe

“A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” ― Oscar Wilde “You know, comments like that are a big red flag to people in that community.” What? I would never mean it to be a negative, or to make someone think I’m not who I present myself to be. What do you mean? “Let me educate you…” My stomach grew a little uncomfortable as I realized my needing to be educated meant I still…

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People Who Need People

“But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince He couldn’t wait to move out of that house. He couldn’t wait to be on his own. He didn’t need anyone telling him what to do, what time to go to bed, what to eat for breakfast. He didn’t need anyone. A few weeks…

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#people #Relationships

Submitted - Telling Our Stories, 2021 version

Submitted – Telling Our Stories, 2021 version

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Maya Angelou “Everyone has a story,” I remarked to my friend as she was blessing my heart over learning things about me she didn’t know. “We both know that,” she responded. We don’t have to know much to know that there is no one who doesn’t have a story. Maya Angelou had a story, and I’ll admit to hurting for her when I first…

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Kindness is as Kindness Does

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” ― Mark Twain ♦♦♦

You push and I’ll pull. It was a lot of work, but we moved the large desk up the stairs and over the threshold. I rarely will ask for help, especially when moving furniture, but twice I have had to put out a call. Once, I moved a baby grand piano through a narrow hallway and the second time, I moved a wooden…

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Today's Date is...

Today’s Date is…

“Even if I wanted to go my SCHEDULE Wouldn’t allow it! One o’clock, Wallow in self pity Four thirty, Stare into the abyss Five o’clock, Solve world hunger; Tell no one Five thirty, Jazzercise Six thirty, dinner with me. I can’t cancel that again! Seven o’clock, wrestle with my self-loathing… I’m booked!” ~The Grinch

Even with the social distancing and staying at home I’ve been doing, I’ve been…

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#consistency

Walking Away for Fresh Air, Fresh Perspective

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” ― John Muir

♦♦♦

The photo still leaves me feeling a mixture of emotions. I was six years old. I was walking up the driveway toward the road in front of our house. I had left a note for my parents telling them I might move, then I added that if I did move I’d be in the woods,…

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Submitted, Ran 6/23/2020 What Happens to You?

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” —Anne Lamott

♦♦♦

Fielding questions about problems on a website, I have a list of tasks I normally ask people. Did you make sure you were logged in? Did you clear the cache on your browser? My final question is, Have you rebooted your computer?Computers aren’t that different from people – log in, clear your…

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More than Scraps

“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe…” ~ Albert Einstein

They were just scraps. Most people would have thrown them away. She kept them and created beautiful quilts.

I met Barbara in the laundry room where my mother lives. As she told me the story of her quilting ministry, I was moved by the simple and brilliant way she was able to take scraps, throwaways, and create gifts…

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#quilt

Writing My Own Ending

“Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do With your one wild and precious life?” ~Mary Oliver

♦♦♦

“Molly, I want to write about obituaries. I mean, I love words, and I think obituaries are a great opportunity to be able to reflect on what a person was all about,” I said to my daughter-in-law. She thought for a moment…

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#obituary

Paying it Forward

“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” — Maya Angelou

♦♦♦

“Excuse me, could I save you some money?”

A little unsure of the man approaching me, I hesitated.

“No, I want to give you some points to use on your gas.”

15 gallons later, I had paid a mere $7.35 to fill my tank. The man with all the points had accumulated more than he would be able to use before they expired, so he waited in his…

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Pillow Talk

“A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.” ― Charlotte Brontë

♦♦♦

50-70 million people (in the United States) share a common problem.

Companies in America lose more than $60 billion each year because of employees with the problem.

Several hundred thousand driving accidents occur each year because drivers have the problem.

“Do you ever sleep?” my husband asked. “Of course, I do. You just are asleep…

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#sleep

The Load is Heavy when the Support is Light

“It is easy to tell the toiler How best he can carry his pack But no one can rate a burden’s weight Until it has been on his back” ― Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“How are you?” I asked. Fine, she answered. Clearly, she was not fine. Her eyes were red, she looked like she hadn’t slept in a day or two, and her clothes were wrinkled. Why wouldn’t she just share what was bothering her? It was out of my control,…

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Submitted - To See Through the Eyes of Another

Submitted – To See Through the Eyes of Another

“You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.” – John Steinbeck

♦♦♦

“You don’t qualify. Next.”

But…

“You’ll need to contact your provider. Next.”

The exchange of words between the woman and the patient found me with a knot in my throat as I listened. The tone of her voice was not as friendly with this patient as it was with the young lady who was next in line – she had a way to…

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This December is Gonna be Different

We survived the holidays, brought out a few ornaments, and enjoyed the people we love the most. I hope you have been able to find joy in this season of odd emotions. ~ Susan

“I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.” — Shirley Temple

“Most Texans think Hanukkah is some sort of duck call.” — Richard Lewis

That…

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#Christmas #gifts #Hanukkah #holiday #kwanza #presence #time

Finding the Courage to Face a Fear

“When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Twelve steps or three leaps. That’s how far it was from my bed to the bathroom when I was a little girl. The biggest step was the first one from my…

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susan b steen...power in words and pictures