Tag: west allis rocks

A TALE OF 2 CITIES ðŸŒ†ðŸŒ‡

This past Saturday evening, Margie and I went to enjoy Greek Fest. It is an event celebrating the Greek culture. We love the food, music and crafts sold there. On the way into the festival we found this doll face down in the gutter. Perhaps it was an omen of things to come. As we were standing in line to get into the festival we were behind a young man, no older than 16, wearing a shirt that had the quote, “No gun, no fun”. I found this very dispiriting. Considering the rise in violent crime and mass shootings in our nation, I would not allow my child to wear such a shirt and spread such a message.

My mother phoned us and informed us that she was deciding to join us. This was great as there would be another person to split the food with. We got in line and as Margie put it to the lady taking our order, “We will have one of everything.” This included such items as stuffed grape leaves and flaming cheese. As we sat down with our many dishes set to enjoy, chaos erupted. People began running and screaming. Suddenly, a voice came over the PA system announcing they were shutting the festival down. Apparently, a disagreement turned violent somewhere in the midway. I am not sure if the young man mentioned earlier was involved, but I would not have been surprised.

We grabbed our food and headed outside of the festival grounds. Not too far is a small park where we sat on a bench and enjoyed our food, which was now a great deal cooler, and talked about what had just happened. It is a shame that disagreements turn so quickly to violence these days. I do not pretend to have all of the answers, but I can think of some. As we were leaving the park we witnessed a mother dragging her young son by the arm yelling words at him that would make a sailor blush. At one point even telling him that nobody would want him because he was ugly. I could not help but wonder if this is where the problems all start. We need to raise our children in an environment that includes respectful discipline as well as compassion for others.

Some of you may conclude that this is how the world is trending. You may shake your head and think that a few are ruining it for all of us. In some ways I would be inclined to agree with you. Before we draw any conclusions, let me share with you the second half of our evening. My mother somehow managed to convince the overly tired Margie that she might want to walk through a local park. In our leisurely stroll, I found many of these painted rocks. This is an idea that really took off a few years ago. People paint rocks, often add inspiring messages, and hide them throughout the city. There is a local Facebook group where you share a picture of the ones you find and hide. We found many this night and were reminded of the neighbors who use this fun and creative way to bring a community together.

Through the use of social media, a tool that often drives us apart, this group has found a way to connect us. Through the colorful painting of the rocks and especially the inspiring messages some contain, neighbors have found a way to bring joy to others. In a world that can often be found splitting apart at the seems, there are signs of healing and growth. It reminds me of a flower growing in the concrete. There are always reasons to find hope.

The sad events at the festival will hopefully spur some action to toughen laws and put the accent back on what happens at home. The example of finding the rocks in the park shows us there are many good, caring souls out there as well. As I lay in bed falling asleep that night, I could not help but thinking of something I heard Tony Robbins say many times, “What is wrong is always available, but so is what is right.” Yes, there was a negative event that happened in the city. If that is all we chose to focus on, we may draw a number of conclusions. Yet, throw a fun and neighborly hobby done by folks from the ages of 4 to 84, we can see and feel a sign of hope. One solution is to promote and participate in events that bring our communities closer. Thank you to all of the member of the West Allis Rocks Facebook page. You brought light to a dark day.

THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS

How many times have you heard, or even said yourself “I’ll be happy when – ” Have you also stopped to notice these people are rarely, if ever, happy? The secret of happiness is this – Happiness is not a journey but a way of traveling. Our life is primarily made up of being on journeys. If we tie our happiness to destinations, which are far and few between, our happiness will be, you guessed it, far and few between. This seems like a foolish way to approach things does it not? That is exactly what you are doing when you say, “I’ll be happy when”

The funny thing is, when most people reach their ‘When’ they are still seldom happy. They either discover the truth in that old adage ‘the grass is not always greener’ or they spend countless wasted time worrying if their ‘when’ may be stolen from them. As you can see in our quote above, when you tie your happiness to a reason, the reason can be taken away from you. We see this when couples separate, jobs are lost or someone passes away. Sure, those are all times to express remorse and be said. What we are saying is do not let your happiness depend on an outside situation.

Instead of looking for a reason to be happy, I suggest looking for every reason to be happy. Here is a personal example of this. Today I went for a walk in the park. I was hoping to find some painted rocks that a group of people hide in the neighborhood. As I walked for the first mile I saw nothing. I noticed I became a bit discouraged. I stopped myself right there. “Are you saying that if you do not find a colored rock you will not be happy?” People walking by began to look at me funny. Not only because I was yelling at someone, but I seemed to be the only one present. Little did they know that was exactly who I was yelling at. When you ask yourself a pointed question like this one, the absurdity of the situation becomes clear.

It was then I began to feel a little foolish. Still not very positive, but better than discouraged. I looked around me. It was a very pleasant day. The sun was just setting behind a baseball diamond where a family was gathered. The temperature was just cool enough to walk without discomfort. Then I looked down and saw a family of ducks. the young ducks seemed to be exploring the park with a keen sense of fun and adventure. I was missing all of this because I was sad I had not found some of the great works of art created by the members of the West Allis Rocks Facebook group.

With an additional spring in my step and enjoying the evening that much more I walked another mile, smiling all the way. A funny note is that although I did not find any rocks as I searched diligently in my first mile, as I just walked and looked around for everything I could happy about in the second mile I found 4 rocks! When you make happiness a way of traveling instead of a destination, great things just seem to happen!

DAY 7 OF 10 DAYS OF HAPPINESS

We are going to make this a quick and fun blog today. One, because these days it seems we all could use some quick fun and because as I write this it is almost one o’clock in the morning and I am up listening to Warrant’s Down Boys instead of in bed acting on that song. I am genuinely excited to bring you today’s post. It is something that I do regularly and I can promise you in brings me more joy than I can convey. The lady in my life lives by this secret to happiness and it is where she derives her major amount of happiness. (With, of course, the exception of the time she spends with the charming and suave man in her life) It works for me, it works for her and tonight we also found out it works for my mother as well. I promise it will bring happiness into your life. What is it?

Today is day 7, and remember we are climbing the stairs from bottom to the top. That makes today’s step for happiness Consume less, Create more. My writing that I share with all of you is what brings joy into my life. My love, Margie, is a creation machine. If she had the time I would be willing to bet we would not have a single purchased item in our house. She makes cakes and cupcakes which most of you know. She also arranges flowers, draws and paints. She creates jewelry, and even made me a blanket once. She is happiest when she is creating. Tonight we had my mother over and all three of us painted rocks for a local community page. Everyone on the page paints rocks and then hides them in the community for others to find and do the same. All of our rocks had fun images or words that would inspire and bring joy to those who find them. Not only will the people be happy when they find them, but we had a great time creating them.

Although we might not win any art contests for our rocks, I have to say they all turned out very well. When you create something their is a sense of pride. A feeling of “Hey I did that!” Even if your rocks looked like mine, you still know that you created that. Creating something with a group of people, or creating something for other people to enjoy only amplifies that feeling of pride and joy. Whether that is a painting, a short story or even a shortcake, creating gives you both a sense of pride and accomplishment. Creating with others adds a sense of togetherness. Going out to dinner with Margie can be a fun and romantic escape, but it is nowhere near as fun and being in the kitchen together making homemade pizza listening to Dean Martin.

Consuming can leave us feeling exhausted and bloated. When we create we are bringing a bit of ourselves into the world and sharing it. Sure, that can be scary, but it is also very rewarding. As children we are forever drawing pictures and giving them to adults. Who doesn’t appreciate a drawing from a child? As adults that can fade unless we have a glass of wine in our hand at a paint and sip. Even if the painting we create doesn’t really stack up to the one the love our life did right next to us (We were drinking different wine. I believe that was the problem) you still have fun and create one of the best things you can – memories.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FUN ROCK PAINTING GROUP WE BELONG TO