Words of Wisdom

Last Thursday was just one of those days where nothing seemed to be going right. Old man winter had finally decided to visit so I had decided to take the bus back to my apartment. As I neared to where I could see the bus stop, I noticed that the bus was pulling up while I was still a good distance away, so what did I do but run to catch it. Out of breath I get on the bus and see that it is pretty crowded. No big deal, I ride the bus standing all the time and walk down to one of the vacant metal handles to get ready to steady myself. While I'm adjusting my feet, you know assume the position as it were, I hear, "Excuse me miss, would you like to sit?"

I look to where this voice is coming from and again he says, "Would you like my seat?"

At this point I'm in complete shock, who in this day and age gives up their seat on the bus? A few moments passed as I stared at this gentleman about my age before I finally spat out, "I'm fine, thanks," really loud I might add. 

He smiles and motions to his seat as he gets up and says, "No, really."

Is this guy for real? My eyes go from him to the other passengers on the bus and sure enough they were all watching. I'm sure I blushed as I smiled and told him thanks as he walked towards the back of the bus.

All the way home I stared out the window and kept thinking about how nice of a gesture that was. You never hear about that kind of thing happening, especially nowadays. And there it was, "you never hear about nice gestures."

I feel that my generation and those that follow have a case of what I like to call the "gimmee me." That illness where it seems that everything that comes out of one's mouth is either an I want this, give me that, oh how I suffer or whoa is me. ME, ME, ME, ME! And the honest truth is, I hope we all snap out of it and find a cure. I'll be the first to tell you I'm not perfect and there are occasions (more than I would like to admit) that I am quite selfish, only thinking about how something will benefit me and not anyone else. When I get in these moods I always hear a voice tell me, "How is that going to affect the other person involved?"

That voice is my grandparents, growing up I spent most of my time hanging on to every word of wisdom they spoke my way. The main one's being to care for others and to always remember that no matter how down you feel, that it could always be worse. To this day I still hear these words through stories that people who knew my grandparents share with me and telling me that they were "just good people."  What was so common in their day but something you just don't see much of anymore.

This brings me back to the gentleman on the bus. A "good guy" who cared enough to give up his seat to a perfect stranger, because he thought she needed it more. As the bus pulled up to the stop near my apartment complex I frantically looked around for the gentleman, hoping to learn his name and thank him again. But to my dismay he was nowhere to be found. I will never get to tell him just how much his kind gesture meant to me and that it has refreshed my eyes to see the world differently.

Because of him I have set up a challenge for myself (and hopefully you will join in with me) to help someone out everyday from getting the door to leaving a post-it on a desk to make someone smile. And who knows, one day I may get to repay the gesture...

"You are my sunshine...

...my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray."

I heard this a lot growing up. My mom would sing this song to me and my little brother all the time, especially when we had trouble falling asleep. So it is a song I hold near and dear to my heart and I know that I'm not the only one (I heard it on Katy Perry's recent music video for "The One That Got Away"). That is why today I have a little treat for you all in time for Valentine's Day to share with your Sunshine.

Head on over to Scribd and download this free printable (available in numerous formats so you should have no trouble opening it, but if you do just let me know and I will fix it). It is sized to 8x10 so all it needs is a little trim and a cute frame and POOF you have a nice decoration for Valentine's Day or any day for that matter. If you would like to see more subway art from me for download leave a comment with some suggestions. Sunshine Full Subway Art

 

Thanks for stopping by! For more creative ideas be sure to check the following :)

 

Have you seen it?

I've definitely been bit by the "subway art" bug that has been going around. The way the words form some type of puzzle just keeps my mind going "wow, how'd they do that?"

Well today I decided to give it a try. I'm graduating in May and wanted to make something for my sentimental heart. So what better way than with some subway art? I basically just went through my memory bank of the last four years at school and decided on one to two words that would help spark that memory in the future. Once I had that list I went into my photo editing software (I use Paint Shop Pro, but you can use just about any program of the sort to do subway art) and began playing with different fonts and piecing it together. It did take me quite some time but it was so worth it!

I am so proud of this thing, there were moments I thought I couldn't pull it off! Right now it is just the background on my laptop but I definitely plan on printing this out and framing it as soon as I can.

If you want to make your own and want some pointers feel free to contact me. I would be more than happy to give some advice and send you some links of inspiration. But most importantly: stay crafty!


Edited to Say: "If you are from the catch-as-catch-can party on My Repurposed Life, welcome! Thank you so much for dropping by. I would love for you to stay awhile to visit and if you like what you see (or if you don't) let me know in the comments.


And if you are already a 'regular' be sure to click the picture below to see more blogs by crafty people! Thanks again! -Christine"

I'm proud!

Have you seen the subway art craze that is going around on the crafting blogs? I was definitely inspired to do one of my own, see? Click the picture to read more about it :)