Your Mother Is Always With You

 

Your Mother Is Always With You  

 By: Deborah R Culver

I illustrated this beautiful poem with lilacs because
they were my Mom, Margaret's FAVORITE... well roses 1st, 
then lilacs.  
Please feel free to copy and share.  
The ending really touches my heart.........

 "But nothing on earth can separate you.
Not time. Not space. Not even death."

 

 

Go To Level

 Go To Level

 On my original blog, I shared this post back on Oct 10, 2006
Titled:  Coming Un-glued is GOOD 

https://debinside.blogspot.com/2006/10/coming-un-glued-is-good.html 

 

Sept 29, 2025 - I created this Facebook post...

 

This is something I taught my kids when they were little....

Start out saying OR thinking #3 #3 #3.....

Get to 1 and then go to the 10 to 1 count down.

Where the blue lines are, breathe out and picture

yourself on an elevator that is going down....

SLOWLY count down from …...
10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1

“Deeper healthy level”

Now take the elevator lower....
Breathe again......

….feeling your body relax as you...
~Go To Level~

Do this often enough and OVER time.... you can just tell

yourself... 'Go to level' and you feel more relaxed.

SO much of our lives are not totally in our control...

what IS IN OUR control is how we choose to respond.

 

 

 

. 

You Are Not You When You Are Hungry

 Monday, Dec 30th I went to St Elizabeth's hospital in O'Fallon Illinois...
I was having a follow up CAT scan.  I packed 3 bags like the ones below...
I passed them out to some folks I encountered.
You thought I gave away $100 dollar bills.
The bottom line is be kind.  I've shared a blank Snickers picture, you can 
download it and print out your own messages to give away Snickers.  

 

 

 

 

Whiskey ~ Tango ~ Foxtrot

 Whiskey ~ Tango ~ Foxtrot .....

 

 

 

This is a copy of watercolor art I created...  
FLYING pigs ALWAYS bring me a SMILE.  :)
Debra A. Estep 

Living in the Light - Shakti Gawain

 The quote is from the book....
Living in the Light: Follow Your Inner Guidance 
to Create a New 

Life and a New World, by Shakti Gawain.
The book was first published in 1985, and I'm 
guessing I picked up the book, maybe that year or the next.
9 other books are listed in Amazon.
Miss Gawain lived... 9-30-1948 - 11-11-2018. 

https://shakti-gawain.com/

 

 

The Most Beautiful Stones

 The Most Beautiful Stones .....

 The most beautiful stones have been tossed by 
the wind and washed by the waters and 
polished to brilliance by life's strongest storms. 

There is a whole lot of day to day
BS in our lives we must keep telling ourselves this message.
❤️ I AM BEAUTIFUL ❤️ 

This is watercolor art I painted, and the wording added 
in a graphics program. 

PLEASE feel free to copy and share.... 
I just know someone needs to be uplifted by this message. 
With LOVE 
Debra A. Estep

 

 

Watercolor by Debra A. Estep

 I have been artistic since I could hold a crayon.  :)
Watercolor has always been my favorite, but other mediums too. 

Some see a weed I see MANY wishes . . .   *

“The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and storytellers; but they are just people who have ~never~ forgotten the way to fairyland.”

―   L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables 

 

 

The Day of the Dead — Día de los Muertos

 The Day of the Dead — Día de los Muertos

 Sat, Nov 1, 2025 – Sun, Nov 2, 2025

The Day of the Dead — Día de los Muertos — is not a time of mourning, but of remembrance that glows like candlelight in the dark. It is a moment when the air itself seems to shimmer between worlds, when the scent of marigolds drifts through the night like a whisper from those who came before us.

On this day, families gather not to weep, but to welcome. They lay out photographs, favorite foods, and small treasures upon altars, as if setting a table for love itself. Pan de muerto, sugar skulls, and flickering candles become offerings that say, You are gone, but you are never forgotten.

Children laugh among the graves, chasing the same wind that rustles through paper banners cut with delicate skeletons. Their joy is not disrespect — it is remembrance made radiant. It says that death, though solemn, is not an ending but a continuation — another step in the eternal circle that binds us.

The living speak the names of the dead aloud, because in doing so, they keep them alive. Every story told, every melody played, every tear shed with a smile — these are bridges across time.

And when the night deepens and the candles burn low, there is a feeling — soft, undeniable — that someone stands beside you. A hand on your shoulder. A familiar laugh in the wind. For just a moment, the veil is thin, and love crosses over.

That is the gift of Día de los Muertos: the reminder that love does not die. It only changes form, waiting patiently for us to remember.

 

 

 

 

 

Carrying Our Loved Ones Within

 Carrying Our Loved Ones Within

We carry our loved ones
in the quiet corners of our days,
in the echo of a laugh,
the warmth of a touch,
the gentle guidance they once offered.

We honor them in the life we live,
in acts of kindness,
in passions pursued,
in values held close.

Grief and love intertwine,
and in that weaving,
their spirit becomes part of us,
a steady light,
a quiet, steadfast strength.

Even in our choices,
their wisdom guides us,
a subtle compass pointing the way.

To carry our loved ones within is to honor them,
to let their essence move through us,
shaping the rhythm of our days,
reminding us that love endures,
even beyond presence.

~ 'Carrying Our Loved Ones Within' by Spirit of a Hippie 

 Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Serin Alar

 

 

 

When You Remember Me

 

"When you remember me, it means that you have carried something 

of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are.

It means that you can summon me back to your mind 

even though countless years and miles may stand between us. 

It means that if we meet again, you will know me.

It means that even after I die, you can still see 

my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart.

For as long as you remember me, I am never entirely lost."

 

Frederick Buechner

Art: Amanda Cass