CHOOSE: TO "SEE" A SONG

This entry could have been, "Choose kiddie lit with your morning cuppa," because the book on the kitchen table was beckoning. I couldn't resist. The title alone drew me in.
Sometimes a simple children's book can open one's mind to possibilities.

My morning cuppa with Eric Carle's, I See a Song, had me contemplating "seeing" with each of  my senses, not just sight. I think Jenna Fergus' art lessons are permeating all areas of my thought processes.

That coupled with recalling all the ways "to see" which my"blind friend," Terry Parlow, had taught me, had my mind seeing with my eyes closed. After he lost his sight in an accident in 2004, he told me that his "vision" was sharper than it had ever been.
I think that's because his other senses were so heightened when he lost his vision.
Carle's succinctness is a creative reminder of the value of intensifying an experience by bringing all of one's senses to bear, rather than just the obvious one.

• Hear color.  
• Paint music. 
• Let colors dance.
• See your own song. 

I would add: Feel color; Feel the beat; Rearrange lyrics to create your own song.

So, I closed my eyes and sang, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." A fount of every blessing. A tuning of my heart. A singing of grace. Unending mercy. LOUD, LOUD, PRAISE!!! A sealed heart!

I felt like the sounds in my head were accompanied by musical and non-muscal sounds from wind swooshes, water dancing and vibrations of a tuning fork.
Even colors came forth, from soft blues and to bright reds in the lyrics, as the words took root in  my head and ended with COLORFUL fireworks!

What a way to begin my day!

All because of a cuppa, a kid's book, and two friends who taught me to see with all my senses and sing & see with all my heart.

CHOOSE JOY in READING

Choose joy in reading by selecting books that touch the heart.

There's no such thing as a good book written just for children!

If a book is well written it can appeal to all ages.

That's my philosophy and I'm sticking by it.

I often choose to read books that touch the heart----not sappy books, but endearing ones. Some, such as All the Light We Cannot See, with 544 pages are on Best Sellers Shelf. Others are found in the "kiddie lit" section. That's where this week I found, Tucky Jo and Little Heart, unpaged. (Unpaged is library-speak for picture books. No page numbers.) Both are set during World War II---one in France against the Nazi's and the other in the Philippines with the Japanese occupation. Both touched my heart.

Maybe the Philippines setting book reminded me of the rare times when Daddy, a Kentuckian, would answer my questions about the months he was on the isle of Leyte in WWII, where he was wounded by a Japanese sniper/soldier. A wound that saved his life. He was "hospitalized" there, think MASH, and thus removed from the war. The next day his entire unit, of which he was the Sergeant in charge, was killed when they resumed their reconnaissance with a "sub" platoon leader. He wore that guilt for the rest of his life, I think.

Today's choice not only touched my heart, it blessed my heart with memories of Daddy and gratitude for all the US vets who served In the Pacific in WWII.