It doesn't have to be Perfect

what looks good

what's art 

beauty 

and ... 

Dona Anderson
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Those seconds in time
capture so much.

Story Time.

The last several years I've taken lots of pictures and although I didn't know much about what I was doing, most seem to turn out pretty good for a point & shoot person. 

I still don't know what
I'm doing and that's OK.

As time went on I tried adding words from my books to some of them and seeing it all come together is Fun and very rewarding for me - My Art.

So now when taking pictures I think more about the colors, positioning or whatever it is.

If I added words where would they go, would it look good here or there ...

Decisions we learn as we go along.

What's wonderful for me is when people at the various shows I go to ask if I'm a professional photographer. 

One time a lady took about an hour or more and went through all my photo's and commented on them, also saying her Mom was a Professional Photographer and what I was doing was really good,

She told me not to take  lessons(??)

Another thing that's wonderful for me is the noticing of life nature, gardens, water & the sky.



The awareness of the moment fills me
with contentment and gratitude.


Each one seems to become a gift from the season or location which mostly now are from our yard, garden neighborhood and province. 

I don't need or even want them to be perfect, just to be natural and beautiful as they are on their own that day. 

I've loved travelling and living in various places and enjoyed each for their differences and gifts in the landscape, birds, flowers, crops, people, opportunities and of course the Food.

It's all taught me to appreciate and enjoy wherever Home is at the time and to notice all that it offers. 

Home is, 

where the Heart is

& beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

The photo's have also become another way

to send Gifts to You.

Thanks for your visit today and

for Sharing with others around
the World at the Links below.

If you'd like to see some other photo's
go to the label below, Photo Message.

Don't miss new posts.
Click on the link below to receive an email
each Tuesday that takes you to the new post.

Only a couple of steps and 
you're ready for next week.

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What's your Art about?

Take care and Have a great week.

PS. In the past I'd sometimes send my Grandchildren a photo message when I sent a card to them.

I forgot one time - and that seemed more important to my granddaughter than the Birthday cheque.  You just never know ... 💚

What are you really busy with?

How do we Get more done in less time

See if this makes any
sense in Your life?

Dona Anderson

Weekly posts help support our crazy life.

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How many of us have done this ...

Someone is on their way over and you rush around the house like a crazy person to clean it up.

You're intense, focused and no one gets in your way.

You only have a few minutes and ...

YOU DID IT!

The door bell rings and you're all Smiles. 

So what happens all the other days.

                    

Is this you?

                               It's me many times.

We let our self walk around with no real focus and one thing not finished finds us starting another.

A phone call or thought interrupts you and then you head off off in a different direction.

The sock in the living room may travel around the house and be left behind in yet another room.

Where did the morning go - you haven't even had your 2nd coffee or tea yet.

When I used to work

we had routines, daily and weekly chores, exercise times and to do lists to prepare for things but the holidays and long weekends set me up for not getting done in 3 days what I used to do in 2.

While computers make lots of things easier, they create more things to take your time and sometimes it's like watching TV, it's kind of being there, numb or unresponsive until it's time to eat or go to bed.

It takes us longer to get things done these days when you're on hold for hours or waiting for a call back. You need to do more paperwork for your statements, receipts and make online appointments.

More and more things that you have to do and less and less from the providers. 

You're being swamped with advertising, notifications and another hour goes by.

More things seem to build up and the list of things to do gets longer and longer.

Stress builds up, things get missed and on and on ...

What's going on
and do you need a bit of standing up and dusting off to get back into the World again and find out what makes your Heart Sing.

Where can you find HELP.

Let's make 2021 the year to say Enough and

get our life back - some of it at least.

How will you do it?

I know a lot of people are stressed and struggling with all the things that need to get done these days.

It's Something important to talk about and see what can help,

got any ideas - let us know in the comments.

PS - For the Vinyl Cafe lovers in the audience here's
a Christmas story you'll probably remember

No, it's not the one where Dave cooks the Turkey.

Bye for now, hope you're following by email
and you'll be back next week. 

In the meantime check out these ways to

Rest and Breathe EASY

Love it when the glacier sparkles.

Say the word calm as you breathe in ...

Can you feel calm as you breathe out ...

How many Self Care Moments do You need??

Important Question

yes, I do Love these 

One Rose Wellness Messages

Dona Anderson

One Rose Wellness Messages

a few words to help open the

Body, Heart Mind & Soul

In these Weekly posts I share with you
a little bit of this and a little bit of that,
as you'll discover.

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Let's start with a couple of deep

breaths to Relax

Photo message - Simply, One Breath At a Time.

and then
Say to yourself,

I give myself 

permission to rest

to become quiet,

to simply be here ...

Do you get nervous or fidgety when you have a moment with nothing to do?

That extra minute before you run out the door to work, the silence on the phone, the waiting time for an appointment and lots more ...

Sometimes when I've been out at shows and visitors stop by and see the words Permission to Rest, they kind of chuckle and then as it's taken in say to me ... 

Yes, we do need to give ourselves Permission and it's hard.

Please make time to support your own Personal Wellness.

Little changes can add up quickly ...

One Rose Wellness Cards

105 One Rose Messages all from the pages

of Simply, One Breath At a Time

Find more related posts at the label below

One Rose Cards

I hope you enjoy the Gifts of my work and the other things I find to share with You in my weekly posts.  

It truly is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. 

Some of which you won't find anywhere else. 

Even my Photo's often help bring it all together.

I like to put some messages on my photos. 

Enjoy the beauty of this time,

this place, this breath ...

My Joy comes from seeing visitors here daily from all over the World and when

others take my resources home or to their work to help themselves and others. 

Another thrill is when someone borrows a book from the Library and then sends me a note or one lady was at a yoga workshop in the eastern states and someone there had a copy of Simply, One Breath At a Time that she looked at and after had to find me for a copy. 

Loved it when a lady last fall let me know she had bought my book 9 years previously and still uses it all the time. 

Or a Yoga teacher now has lots of things to share with the class or a therapist can read a few lines or do some simple breathing to calm and relax the session. 

And this one - A friend shared that she loved to pick a One Rose card to start her day and have something to ease her grief and think about that day. 

 PS. Our World needs lots of Healing and Kindness. 

Please HELP however you can. 

Thank You!

Thanks for your visit and for sharing at the links below.

💚

No - I don't want to Say Goodbye to Summer

September 1.

Seems like overnight 

Summer came & went

but now it's time to look forward to the colors of Fall.

Dona Anderson

Summer is almost over and for me it always feels done once September begins. 

It's kind of the timetable for getting back to our regular life again but 2020 has not been normal for any of us.

We don't know what normal activities will return or what they will look like. 

Our lives have been changed and we will need to be patient and hope for the best.

I do hope you enjoyed the selections for this years Summer of Music.

It's always FUN for me to pick them.

Did You have a favorite?

if so, Please share with us 

in the comments below.

Photos and messages by Dona

I'm sharing these  photos to help remind us of Summer life, the rhythm, colors, fragrances - all its Gifts.

Your Time spent outside enjoying 

*all the beautiful flowers, fruit, vegetables

*walks in the woods, gardens, parks, at the beach

* or maybe this year it was just sitting outside reading or doing nothing

*watching & listening to the birds and the bees buzzing around

or perhaps just staying close to home 

*watching the sunrise or sunsets ...

Feeding the Body Mind & Soul with

the Beauty of Summer.

Summer is our time in nature enjoying Blue & Green spaces that help us all by reducing stress and creating feelings of wellness and happiness.

Thank You Summer

Links for sharing below,
together we're sending 
Wellness around the World.

Thanks for Helping!

   
Messages in photos were taken

from the pages of 

Simply, One Breath At a Time,

link here to all Resources

Summer of Music posts live on in the archives for
July & August 2020,

You can visit anytime.

Thank You for visiting today.

If you're a first time visitor Welcome & Thank You. 

New posts published every Tuesday, 
and over 600 in the archives for everyone to 
view and share at their leisure. 

My weekly Wellness gifts to You. 

Sign up to follow by email.
Just a couple of steps and you'll receive the
weekly email link to new posts.

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PS. One of my Summer favorite things to do is have my breakfast on the back deck around 8:30 as the sun comes over the trees.

I'm Hoping to get a few more weeks.  

Still - Keeping Life Simple.

What are some of the things you love to do in the summer?

More info more often on Facebook

Dona Anderson, Roots to Breath

@rootstobreathwellness

 

 · Health & Wellness Website

3 quick ways to Reduce Stress & Relax

put your feet up,
relax & enjoy these 
gifts of Summer  

Hello & thank you for visiting today. 

I hope you're getting ready to enjoy the Summer.

Dona Anderson

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Many of your Summer
plans for this year may have changed so I hope these 3 posts will give you time to be happy, relax and enjoy the things you can do.

all from 

Moving Forward from

 the Heart.

Here's 3 links to previous posts that will let you be part of the Joys & Gifts of Summer.
  

Summer Breezes

Garden in your Dreams

A little poem- 

also from Garden in your Dreams. 

Did it work- if not Repeat!

Don't miss next week when 
Summer of Music 2020 starts!

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Spread the word 
&

Thank You for sharing with others - 

together we continue to send

wellness around the World.

Links for sharing below.

2020 Summer of Music

starts next week. 

8 opportunities to be inspired

and wonder what you'd do without Music.

Soothe away Stress & Blossom

Explore Comforting resources for Life.  

Visit the

 Resources Page. 

Last day to get my guided relaxation CD  for free
with the purchase of one of my books.

P.S. If you're viewing this in the mobile version you can go to the Web version to get the Archives on the right side bar, and the labels and links for sharing below.

I need to get this out of my Head!

I went to bed with a Song in my Head

and woke up with this instead.

Dona Anderson
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I guess it's normal.

We get a song, idea word or quote in our head and we can't get rid of it.

It repeats and repeats and repeats - how MANY times.

Love My Heart  leaf Tree

Last Friday when I was getting up I got the words, I'm off to bed with - in my head and it kept repeating with different endings.

So I started to write a few down to get it to go away but more came.

I hope you don't mind my sharing this with you today. 

I figured I'd better post it right away or else it will keep going round and round in my head and I'll keep looking at it.

I'm famous at spending hours changing things until it gets published.

Hopefully this will help.

Cabin fever must be getting to me.

It's silly but Silly is GOOD right Now,
and silly helps us lighten the load.

I guess I'm Off to Bed will be the title.

Here Goes

I'm off to Bed
with food in my belly and I've said good night to the telly

I'm off to Bed
to get my old favorite nightie on and cover up tightly

I'm off to Bed
with tired eyes that don't seem to see much anymore

I'm off to Bed
with sweet Lucy (dog) to cuddle cause she doesn't mind if I snore

I'm off to Bed
turning off the outer lights to let the inner ones softly glimmer 

I'm off to Bed
and hoping for once to make some sense of those crazy dreams 

I'm off to Bed
in badly need of sleep and hoping tomorrow I won't feel too crabby

I'm off to Bed
with a window open to hear the songbirds later performing

I'm off to Bed
and on the way I'll ask the stars for another Good good morning 

I'm off to Bed
One more time in hopes I will finally get these darn 4 words out of my head.

Lucy when she was a puppy.

Take care and something will be
coming next week.

Hope this is gone now.

Thank You for helping me spread

Wellness around the World.
Links below.

Visitors to the Blog also have
access to the Archives for past posts.
This is my 618th post.

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Being a subscriber also lets me know
you're enjoying what I send out each week.
Thank You.

Have a wonderful week ahead,

and  please stay safe.

Christmas List - Pet version

Lucy has her own Holiday Wish List

Dona Anderson
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She even has her own stocking for Santa.

Can't forget the rest of the family at this time of year.

We LOVE you sweet Scottie girl.

Here's what's on Her List

Hi, I'm Lucy

Resting ... by the fireplace ✅
Cuddling ... in the blankets ✅
Cookies ... maybe new ones to try out ✅
Walk ... need exercise  after cookies ✅ 
Treats ... leftovers from the fridge ✅
Gifts ... maybe a new stuffy ✅
Visitors ... more pats and kisses ✅
Supper ... loves a bit of turkey gravy  & even better with peas added to my dish ✅

Love it that we get to be
 part of all her wishes.

Last one - Play in the snow ... We can't help with this one Lucy but hoping you do get to play in the snow - it makes you so ... happy.  


She wants to know if you see her eye?

This post was Lucy approved!

New Years wish -
More of the same. 

Our Summer surprise - We have a new girl in the house, a beautiful 5 year old Westie (West Highland White Terrier) girl Kelsie. 

that's me, Kelsie

I hope she likes the Christmas holidays and we're looking forward to see what she likes about Winter.

We'll have fun making new memories, wish lists and taking pictures of them both for next year.

I do know that anything food related, tummy and back rubs, and Sunshine would be on her list. 

She loves going for a walks, and faces to kiss. 

*** Lucy says she already got the best gift this year - 

a new Sister. 

Thanks for your visit.

Please take care of you this busy time of year and keep the pets warm.

True Treasures

 What's That?

Dona Anderson

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A new idea

In 2009 I started work on what later became my card set from Simply, One Breath At a Time  called One Rose Wellness Cards.

They're 105 short messages for mini meditations, a time to catch your breath, relax, change thoughts, smile and so on.

Recently I thought about finding passages a bit longer and sharing them with you occasionally.

I've shared these before but now I like the idea that they will be referred to as True Treasures in the labels below.

So anytime you see True Treasures in the label area you can check out other similar posts.

They'll be offering you more time to pause, linger for self care, reflection, gratitude, breath awareness and more. 

I always flip through the pages of my books and what I need is usually where I stop. 

After a few lines I'm transported to a place to open my body, connect with my breath, let go of stress or to a place or memory.

Another day it might be feeling free in peace, nature, or just being reminded to take care of me, that I deserve to feel Well.

I'll be using excerpts from both books and I'll tell you in the post which book it's from and the page number.

I just happened to have made a photo message of this one. (I love adding text to photos)

It is from Meditation #39 - Will You Go,
page 99 in Moving Forward from the Heart

If you have this book look it up to see the rest of the meditation.

Visit the Resources Page

Please Share the GOOD Stuff,
You never know who it may help.

Take Care.

Lots more sharing happens 
on Facebook.


**Use the label below True Treasures to link to
other similar posts. (already a couple there)

It's time to Wake Up and Enjoy the Day

& the under the Stars Story

Dona Anderson

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This post is kind of a check in before the Summer of Music starts next week.

Do you have plans for the summer?

Here are a few lines from the Meditation - 

Wake Up and Enjoy the Day.

It starts with ...

The grass can wait

The dishes can wait

The laundry can wait

Listen to the sounds around you,

the birds, the passing breeze,

your breath.

The short excerpt above is from Meditation #45, page 112 in Moving Forward from the Heart. 

It mentions summer activities but this can be anytime, or another season that we do activities for that season in.

It just wants to make you the priority for some of your to do lists with an I get to do list. 

Ask yourself - What makes you happy and makes you smile.

What refreshes and nourishes your body & soul.

Later it ends with this last thought - If today is just for you, what will you do?

The summer goes by so fast that I always find it to be a more important time of year to notice and be present.

We need to rest and enjoy those warm days and nights - and remember to make a few lazy days and do nothing days to just breathe life in.

Even simple things like I love to watch the birds visit the yard, notice what changes from day to day in the garden, or just sit by myself for an hour or so and do nothing but nourish my soul.

Over the summer I hope you will exchange the Busy word for something like I'm having Fun or doing lots of reading on the porch, planning a BBQ, exploring the parks, going to the lake or on vacation, camping the the backyard, I'm growing lots of  fresh vegetables or ...

Story time - I have to tell you about one night years ago we got up around 2 am to watch the stars.  We had the blankets and pillows all ready to lay outside and hope for something special to happen.

The dogs came out with us and after cuddling awhile and wondering why we weren't in bed, they started to walk around and ended up they both had a big smelly poop close by.  

Well that wasn't the special thing we had 
hoped to happen that night. 

After getting up and a few laughs we went back to bed.  

Please Take Care of you, 

and enjoy this years 

Summer of Music starting next week.

Regular posts will return in September.

You can find me also on Facebook

Use the labels below and the archives to find more posts.

Thanks for sharing at the links below - together we're spreading Wellness around the world!