My Roses, a story about life.

     Beauty and inspiration can come in many things and take on many  forms. All you have to  do is open your eyes and look  around you. This year's inspiration comes from my roses. They  are an epic story of struggles, lose , and rebirth.

    I  bought this property four years ago. it was a fixer upper. 40 year old carpet, 100  year old wallpaper, and a yard that  needed love.  I  remember quite well the first things that I  had to  do  to  the yard to  get it looking better.  they  half buried a claw foot tub in front of my  bay window.  but  they  did  nothing to  maintain it, after all  this was for many  years a rental  property.  The next step  was to  remove all  the sapling trees growing next to  the house.  SO I  was digging and cutting out maples, walnuts, and elm trees from all  sides of the house.  But on the East side of my  house there were also  roses that needed some love as well.  I  also  had two  full  grown maples of the east side of my property, those roses were not getting the sunlight they  needed.  SO  the first year they never bloomed.

     The next year I  moved the roses away from the house , placing them by  my garage, where they  would get more light, but it wasn't going to  be a permanent spot.  Roses are delicate plants and they  looked like they all  died.  SO  I  left them alone and worked on the many  different projects  that  I  had to  do.

     But the following year, they  showed life and so  I  trimmed them up and decided to  give them a permanent place to  grow.  I  placed them a foot away from my driveway.  I  tilled the dirt a little deeper and took more time transplanting them.  Some responded very well, but they  all  survived. They finally had a location where they  can get all the sunlight they  needed and not crowded in by  other plants.

    This summer they  grew nicely, and I  could see roses finally  start to  form. SO I  went inside the garage and grabbed some string and short posts and staked the roses. with  all  the new growth  they  needed to  be supported so  that  when the new growths stiffen up  they  are growing upwards, not on the ground.  I  was so  excited over seeing a few rose buds, but loving the sight of half the roses having multiple buds on them.  Today  was a sweet day, when I  went to  get the lawnmower, I  saw that  the first  groups of roses were blooming.  A nice deep  red with  subtle beauty.

     So  how does this make a story of life?  These roses faces  strong odds of never flowering. But the power of life and desire lasted those rough years and now  they  can shine.  We also  face hard times, moment when we think  there is no hope.  We are left to  fight for ourselves, but given a chance , we learn about ourselves, continue to  fight and when the time is right, we shine our inner spirit for the whole world to  see.  It is  going through the hard times that makes our journey even sweeter.

     And like my  journey repairing this house and yard, there were times I  wanted to  scream.  But I  took on the responsibility and I  pushed on.  I  have those moments where I  can be very proud of myself.  And through this journey I  have found inner peace and strength to  become a better person.  Now every year my spirit will  shine every time I  see those roses bloom.

    

Rebooting Pagan Learning Open Circle

One of the best things I  did for my  Pagan path was creating the Pagan Learning Open Circle.  This is a Facebook  Page that is linked to  my YouTube channel.  I  created several videos  trying to  teach  those new to  Paganism about the basics of Paganism.  I  learned more about Paganism  when I  did my research.  I  read a few messages from people that  were thankful for the videos and made a few new friends. When this project was started I  was in a different state of mind.  I  was more aggressive and confrontational then.  While I  still far from being a pacifist, I  am no longer the rabid grizzly bear looking for reasons to  pounce on people.

So why  the Reboot, this isn't a movie.  Change has occurred in so many  ways that  I  felt  it was necessary.  I  have changed in personality in many  ways. I  am more patient and calmer in handling  issues.  But there are still  so many  battles to  fight, and those might require the meaner side of me to  appear.  I  am not  a wiccan,  I  am not bound by  those rules.  I  am a  teacher, Warrior, healer, and leader.  The situation will  determine which part of me comes out.  My  path has changed as well.  I  believe that  we must constantly challenge our beliefs,  I  have done research that  required me to  rethink  how I  was walking my  path.  A change in perspective is a good thing, if your beliefs can remain strong, then you know your path  is true.

The quality of my video  has changed as well.  When I  first did these videos I  was renting an apartment and doing the videos in a small room. I  have bought a house, and have one room dedicated as the computer/video  room.  I  purchased a  video  editor program that  allows me to  use green screens.  On my east wall I  have a 10 foot by  10  foot green screen installed.  thus I  can have colorful and always new backgrounds. Recently I  bought a dash  cam and have been using it to  get new background videos.

And finally I  want to  change the format a bit.  The whole idea is still  to  teach people about Paganism. I  want to  tighten the aspects of what  I  teach. The first series was very open to  all paths. I  made references to  other paths and how they  are different.  This time around I  want to  focus more on the Celt ways and what  I  follow.  By  reducing the scope of the videos, I  can give more detailed answers and guidance.  Stress what  is important and talk about issues in the pagan community.

I  am also  going to  focus on the spirituality of Paganism. There are so many people that  teach about spells and witchcraft, I  am just going to  stay  away from it for a while. SO  many   groups are heavy into  wicca and witchcraft that  they  forget the spiritual side of paganism.  I  have 40  videos subjects  planned right now. I  will  be open to  video  requests.  And I  am  going to  expand the total  number of videos I  am going to  do  on Pagan Spirituality.

So  what  type of  video  would you like me to  make next?