Musings of a Whimsical Realist

I’ll admit, this subject had me stumped for a while!  Perhaps it’s the sheer scope of the topic.  Happiness or joy.  I could instantly think of 1,000 spins on this, and at the same time, nothing inspired me . . . until today.  I went outside, breathing deeply of one of my favorite scents – rain – and felt a deep upwelling of joy!  The joy of smelling something and having a million memories run through your head at once, the happy and the sad, intertwined and a part of what makes you who you are. The olfactory sense (the sense of smell) is the sense with one of the strongest and most intense links to memory.  There have been many studies on this phenomenon, especially as regards childhood memories linked to scent.  One interesting fact is that the sense of smell is processed in a different part of the brain than the rest of the senses, one very closely situated to the center for emotion in the brain.  Olfaction and Memory Smell and Memory ...

Just remember: I warned you!  Disneyland is my favorite place, and when I read topic #3, “Street Scene,” I tried and tried to think of something different.  But all I could picture is Main Street, USA, the lane that conducts you from the entrance gates into new worlds.  So after several days of trying to find other inspiration, I gave in. “The idea of Main Street was inspired by Walt’s childhood hometown of Marceline, Missouri" (Little-Known Facts About Well-Known Places: Disneyland).  It is said that Main Street, USA, is meant to feel like everyone’s hometown.  It is beautiful and comfortable all at the same time, and I start every trip to Disneyland skipping down it like a 10-year-old.  If I could ever choose one place to spend the night, I think that it would have to be the 600-square-foot apartment over the Main Street Fire Station.  Walt would actually stay there on occasion when he was visiting the park.  What a thrill to be in the spo...

I love learning something new!  When I looked at topic #2 for Project 24, I realized that it must be referring to something photographic.  The Rule of Thirds is a guide for off-center placement of the subject in photographs.  This may even improve my own EXTREMELY amateur photos.  But I also love how it explains why some pictures are aesthetically pleasing while others flop.  Because while I don’t take outstanding photos, I definitely appreciate looking at them. There is something almost instinctive about looking at and liking a photo that follows this rule.  Rule of Thirds -- Explained and Displayed Apart from the photographic applications of the Rule of Thirds, when I first read those words, I had an entirely different thought.  In my home, the rule of thirds is very much active – every time I have something to give to my three adorable little cretins!  Every parent can understand what I mean by this.  “If she gets some, then I get some...

It is said that we all wear many hats . . . husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, cook, chauffeur, friend . . . the list would go on and on and on.  But in the literal sense, there are thousands of hats worn every day.  Many of them are distinctive to our occupations, but some hats are just plain fun.  And probably one of (if not THE) most recognizable hats in the world is a simple cap with two round protrusions.  The famous Mickey Mouse ears! Mickey Mouse is the 3rd most recognizable character in the WORLD after Santa Claus and Ronald McDonald.  Between its opening in 1955 and its 50th anniversary in 2005, Disneyland alone sold 78 million pairs of Mickey Mouse ears.  That is enough to adorn every child in America under the age of 18! “The all-time most popular Disneyland souvenir is a pair of personalized Mickey Mouse ears.  While the embroidery is free, the Mat Hatter and other shops that sell them will not allow guests to have them ador...

[Written shortly after our trip in November 2012] Impatient waiting.  Air of expectation.  Gates open!  Enter Main Street.  Nostalgia welling.  Lights twinkling.  Skipping feet.  Spot the castle gleaming brightly.  Head into the future.  Fly in space.  Meet an android.  Race around the stars in darkness.  Dance with Jedi.  Swim with Nemo.  Race away from abominable snowmen.  Pixie Hollow, full of fairies.  It’s a Small World after all.  Into Toon Town.  Shake hands with Mickey.  Tea with Minnie in the garden.  Grab a train ride.  Travel to New Orleans.  Jazz music softly playing.  Into the pirates lair.  Yo ho, yo ho, over to Pooh Corner.  Play a game of Pooh Sticks there.  Take the plunge into the briar patch.  Back to Adventure now.  Run away from snakes with Indy.  Take a jungle tour around.  Kick your heels up in the Golden Horses...

As the fall/winter season drags on, I begin to miss something more and more each day: sunshine!  I LOVE sunshine!  I crave it.  I let it pour over me, warming me to the absolute core of my being. Don’t get me wrong, my melancholy temperament thrills at a dense fog or a gloomy overcast sky.  But sunshine is vital to keeping that same melancholy in check instead of allowing it to steam-roll my emotions into a soggy, tearful mess.  “Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year.  If you're like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start in the fall and may continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody” (Mayo Clinic).  This is the technical explanation for why I crave sunlight in the winter.  “A drop in serotonin, a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) that affects mood, might play a role in seasonal affective disorder.  Reduce...

As I sat there that day during my high school years, I was unaware that a seed was about to be planted.  I can’t remember if I was in church, at school, or with my youth group, but I remember the exact moment that the words sunk into my heart: “In China, because they are only allowed one child, hundreds of little girls are left without families every year.”  And for the first time, years away from motherhood, I considered the word ADOPTION.  The seed planted was watered many times over the years.  In college, I discovered a love (passion, even) for world geography and history.  I took for fun (yes, I’m a bit crazy like this) History of the Far East.  I worked with children professionally as a piano teacher and voluntarily at my church.  In 2007, I was finally transformed into a mother with the birth of my eldest daughter.  Deep within me, the planted seed sprouted, waiting, in a kind of calm stasis.  Then, in 2011, the twins were born....