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WELCOME: WHY I CREATED THIS BLOG

Hey there! I’m Dee. Welcome! Thanks for dropping by. Why I created this blog? Short answer: To provide a space for my voice to be heard. Why I write declaration:I will be brave, my voice will not die within me unexpressed and unheard. This is therefore a brave and intentional space for creative self-expression. I …

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Midweek Boost: What’s Deeper Than Love?

I was helping my nephew with his assignment, when I saw a pensive expression that was far too intense to be just about his school work.“What’s up with that look?” I asked. With deep sincerity he responded with his own question: “Why are you helping me?” And he wasn’t satisfied with “… because you’re my …

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Zest

https://youtu.be/QZF4krDe99s “Zestfully zestfully zestfully cleanYou’re not fully clean unless you’reZestfully clean” 🎶 Maybe I’ve just aged myselfRecalling this adBut when I saw Sammi’s weekend prompt word: ZestMy thought went to the cheerfully zestful commercialRecalled in 41 words 2022 ©DeeMin All rights reserved Thank you for journeying along. Like what you see? Read more here👈 I …

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Shabbat Shalom: God Moments [with audio]

Click👆to listen There are moments that are described as “happenstances” and others as “coincidences”, but I prefer to see these moments as God moments. God moments mark the times when the ordinary of our lives is interrupted and interjected with the extraordinary. God moments are moments that cannot be explained, or they are so perfectly …

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BIRTHmonth: Day 30 Concluding Affirmation—I Affirm Today to Self-Love

Before-word: To celebrate my birthMONTH I declared an affirmation for each day. At the end of the month I conclude with the affirmation to self-love, because you must first love yourself in order to love anyone else. This emanates from the ultimate love—the love of and for God. This was the April I affirm to …

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BirthMONTH—Day 13: I Affirm Today to Trust My Journey

Life is a journey, and we each have our unique way to move through it. But, no matter how different our journeys will be, we all will end life in the same way. Different journeys, similar destination. The state you’ll be in when you arrive at the destination is based on the choices you make …

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Shabbat Shalom: New Year—New Thing [with audio]

PLAY👆to listen as you read along Some times it feels unreal, but we’ve actually been hunkered down for almost two years. Can you believe it?! Just about every aspect of our lives have been constrained and in some instances crippled by an infectious agent that is so small it requires a microscope to visualize it. …

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Shabbat Shalom: You’ve Got It All Wrong

👆PLAY👆to listen as you read along Dear Human, You've got it all wrong. You didn't come here to master unconditional love. This is where you came from and where you'll return. You came here to learn personal love.Universal love.Messy love.Sweaty love.Crazy love.Whole love.Infused with divinity.Lived through the grace of stumbling.Demonstrated through the beauty of ... …

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Shabbat Shalom: You’ve Got It All Wrong [with audio]

👆PLAY👆to listen as you read along Dear Human, You've got it all wrong. You didn't come here to master unconditional love. This is where you came from and where you'll return. You came here to learn personal love.Universal love.Messy love.Sweaty love.Crazy love.Whole love.Infused with divinity.Lived through the grace of stumbling.Demonstrated through the beauty of ... …

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Shabbat Shalom: Tears’ Voice & Harvest [with audio]

👆PLAY👆to listen as you read along Tears have a voice. Whether tears are as a consequence of joy or sorrow, they speak volumes—even more than words can say. As I mentioned in last week’s Shabbat Shalom post, I was writing it from my own heart experience. What I didn’t say was that it was written …

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Shabbat Shalom: …comma-but-God Moments

👆PLAY👆to listen as you read along At a concert a couple years ago I bought a tee-shirt that read: “…but God”. I was drawn to it because I’ve always been fascinated with the power associated with that two-word combo in the Bible. It’s such a compelling combination that you’ll often hear folks use it as …

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Midweek Boost: Autumn’s Hooray

Reflecting on photos from my favorite park mixed with quotes from folks who spoke the sentiments of my heart before I did … "Autumn leaves shower like gold, like rainbows, as the winds of change begin to blow."– Dan Millman "There is something so special in the early leaves drifting from the trees–as if we …

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Shabbat Shalom: Name-Changer God [with audio]

👆PLAY👆to listen as you read along For today’s Shabbat Shalom post we’ll talk about God as name changer. One of the reasons why I love God is that He is a doer of astoundingly-great things. One of those exceptional things He does is to change names. Throughout the Bible there are examples of God’s name-changing …

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Shabbat Shalom: Wholeness is Worship [with audio]

👆PLAY👆to listen as you read along For today’s Shabbat Shalom post the focus will be the wholeness in worship. And I’ll explain it using an ancient story told in the Bible in the book of St. Luke, the 17th chapter. One day Jesus was passing through a town and came across ten men who were …

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Shabbat Shalom: God’s Art to heART [with audio]

👆Play👆to listen along as you read ART to heART is more than a homophone. It’s a life-changing salvific principle used in the recreative-poetic expression of God. The Greek word poiēma is used ONLY TWICE in the Bible and both times in reference to the creative power of God. First, when He created eARTh referred to …

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Sunday Photo Reflection #19: Pumpkins, Gourds & Harvest

I went apple picking for the first time! It rained but that didn’t stop me from climbing trees to fill my bag with the choicest of apples. Topped it off with freshly-made apple cider and delish apple donuts. Yummy 😋 There were pumpkins of all sizes and shapes, some painted with adoring smiley faces. There …

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Shabbat Shalom: You’re A Masterpiece—God’s Work of Art [with audio]

👆Play👆to listen along as you read God is a master artist, a genius creator. When He created eARTh, He built ART into every nook and cranny of it. And as beautiful and majestic and wonderful as the ART He created in eARTh was, at its completion God pronounced it as merely “good”. Genesis 1:10, 12 …

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Shabbat Shalom: God Knows Your Name [with audio]

👆PLAY👆 and listen along while you read God is passionate about you because God is passionate about God. OK … hold on. Before you think I’m saying God is egotistic, because that He is not, let me expound. God knows who He is. In response to Moses’ question: “Who should I say you are?”, God …

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Shabbat Shalom: Sun/Son & Shadows

👆PLAY👆You may listen and read along Shadow is mentioned quite frequently in the Bible, and usually in the context of God's protective presence. Like: being covered with the shadow of God’s hand (Isaiah 51:16); resting in the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1); being hidden in the shadow of God’s wings (Psalms 17:8); or walking …

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Shabbat Shalom—Be Like A Tree© [with audio]

👆LISTEN👆as you read along As we’re winding down the season of long summer days and about to enter the season of transition, I’m thinking about trees and the transformation they’re preparing to undergo—the stripping, the letting go—and how simultaneously beautiful and haunting that is. And that got me thinking about the life lessons we can …

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Birthdays

I love my birthday for two reasons: The more I have, the longer I live 😹The celebration of life which always includes a scrumptious cake The last two birthday celebrations have been low-keyed but I still marked them with scrumptious and delectable delights!!! 👆play video and sing along 👆 2021 copyrightcreatedbyDEEsign.comAll Rights Reserved Written to …

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Dress to Express

What’s your T-shirt saying? T-shirts are arguable the most functional piece of clothing in our closets. More recently I’ve come across Tees used as signposts for thoughts/feelings/stance on a range of issues making them artistic creative statement apparels. Statements like: Unapologetically dopeI never lose, I either win or I learnPeriodt. [oh yeah, when the “t” …

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The Bridge

Caught on the bridge when the earthquake struck, Desmona clings to lose cables, her body dangling precariously above the field of debris scattered across the sea below. Marshaling all her strength, she pulls herself up when suddenly the cable… Cliffhanger. Yes, I know I’ve left you dangling (pun intended😊). That’s ‘cause I’m writing for Sammi’s …

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Creativity: Intelligence Having Fun

If creativity is indeed intelligence having fun, as the wise Albert Einstein surmised, then what does the creative process looks like. Well, for one—it’s messy! But I recently read a HuffPost article which listed 18 things that highly creative people do differently. I post them here because I can relate and based on what I’ve …

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A Feel Good Story: HAPPY WEEKEND!

To say that there’s a lot of sadness around us, is an understatement. And sometimes joy may be found in the simplest of things and in the most unexpected places like with these two fairy penguins looking over the Melbourne skyline. Widowed penguins appear to comfort each other in nightly embrace The lighter penguin is …

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Featured

Why I Write: The Power of the Written Word

Before-word: As I’m spending more time building this blog, I’ve been thinking a lot about writing—the art of writing and the power of the written word. I love to write. And chances are if you’re on this site, you’re a blogger which means you also love to write. Or, you’re here because you love to …

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The Stolen Sun (a short story)

Weejars hosts this week’s MLMM Photo Challenge. My contribution is the story of the day Earthlings lost Earth Sun. Trapping the Sun, @Pobble365 He was a terrorist, of sort. An invader from a world outside the Milkyway Galaxy. A world where life—as they knew it—was dying fast and invasion and thievery became their only raison …

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Kids Say the Darnedest Things

My nephew is on the cusp of turning three years old. But from the grammatically correct sentence structures that seamlessly flow from his lips and the accompanying appropriate facial expressions and gesticulations you would be hard pressed not to think he’s 5 years or older. So mature are his utterances and mannerisms his father, my …

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Shabbat Shalom: Sabbath, A Time-Tithe

Sabbath is a tithing of our time. Okay—having put that out there, let me explain: Sabbath and tithing are two biblical principles. Both appear paradoxical or self-contradictory on the surface. And, both are associated with blessings. Paradoxical and a blessing? How? Both are based on you giving up a portion of what you have a …

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Shabbat Shalom: Rest in Stillness

I’m a big fan of David. The David of the Bible. Yes, that prolific spoken word artist who was also a master harpist, a warrior King and a murderous adulterer. So bloody were the hands of David from warding off assailants while he fled a jealous crazed king and from wars he waged to secure …

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Deception Over Love: A Short Story

Delilah exhaled in exacerbation. Exhausted, and left with no more words of defense, she stomped out angrily into the court yard. Pacing aimlessly back and forth, muttering to herself: “How can they say these things about me?” “I did this for my people!” Caught up in ruminating, Delilah didn’t see the crowd growing about her …

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Cuba: The Country, The Revolution, The Cars

Cuba, trade embargoed, locked in a time capsuleHistory inextricably linked Revolution with antique, vintage, classic Iconic as cigars and Che Guevara Cruising along the Malecón broad esplanade Gliding majestically through narrow winding streets of Havana Shimmering like bright vintage jewels, kaleidoscopic colors floating by Parked strategically, juxtaposed to gorgeous ornate buildings Combined 100s of years—a …

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Shabbat Shalom: Why I am A Christian

I came across 12 Bloggerz! hosted by Rory. Rory you asked 12 great questions but one really jumped out at me. So, I’ll answer only that one because it aligned so strongly to something that is integral to who I am—my faith and being a Christian. This is the question: How would you feel if …

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4th of July Twenty Twenty-One

Noise, light, smokeExploding overheadColored flames and sparks Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, silver, gold Shooting up, spiraling around, drifting down Displays varying in size and design Fireworks light up the New York sky New York, once the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic reopens in grandeur Paint in Ode to NEW YORK CITY! NEW YORK IS …

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Shabbat Shalom: God Started It, Science Confirms It

Before I understood the true meaning and the blessings of the Sabbath, it was more like an arduous religious ritual observance. And as an adolescent, I recall at the end of just about every Sabbath I came down with a terrible migraine headache. Research on the anthropology and psychology of religion have confirmed the psychological …

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Shabbat Shalom: Grace

In addition to—the tranquility of Sabbath peace; the blessings of Sabbath worship; the refreshing of Sabbath rest; those Selah moments of pause like mini-Sabbaths that can be taken throughout the week; and the joy of Sabbath reflection—is the affirmation of GRACE. We know that God established Sabbath as a day of rest at the end …

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Gratitude with Empathy: Post-COVID

It’s almost 6 months to the day today, I was feeling the sickest I’ve ever felt and an ER doctor confirmed what I dreaded—I had contracted the novel corona virus. I shared that experience in “I Survived Covid-19: Gratefully Surrendered” I recall the days when I found it difficult to breathe, and the days I …

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Shabbat Shalom: Reflection

In addition to—the tranquility of Sabbath peace; the blessings of Sabbath worship; the refreshing of Sabbath rest; and those Selah moments of pause like mini-Sabbaths that can be taken throughout the week—is the joy of Sabbath reflection. Sabbath is a time of reflection. Many people tend to think of Sabbath as merely a command given …

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Shabbat Shalom: Fellowship

I previously wrote about attributes that Sabbath affords us—the tranquility of Sabbath peace; the blessings of Sabbath worship; the refreshing of Sabbath rest; and those Selah moments of pause that we can take throughout the days that are like mini-Sabbaths. This post is about another facet of Sabbath, fellowship. One of the things I miss …

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The Climb. The Zenith. The Cairn.

One thing that’s kept me sane and connected throughout the pandemic is being in green open spaces. Mother’s Day was spent hiking in the wonderful Palisades Interstate Park. Running up leaf-covered hillsides, balancing across water-logged walk paths, conquering rocky terrains, swinging from trees in carefree abandon—my inner child came out to play. The changes in …

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BirthMONTH—Day 22: I Affirm Today to Self-Assurance

God has a purpose for your life. Before you were even formed He knew you—the color of your eyes, the number of hairs on your head, the color of your skin, even your talents and abilities. He has equipped you with all you need to fulfill your purpose. Knowing and being sure that you possess …

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BirthMONTH—Day 19: I Affirm Today to Find Peace In the Waiting

I’m not a patient person. No judgment. Just saying. Knowing, however, that patience is indeed a virtue I’ve been praying specifically for patience. And this prayer has truly been an object lesson in “careful what you pray for, you just may get it”. I don’t know if I thought God would have waved a “magic …

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BirthMONTH—Day 5: I Affirm Today to Tell My Story Like It Really Is

Word of the day: STORY—telling an account of imaginary or real people and events What is the story you’re telling yourself? Whose story is it anyway? As the day unfolds, inevitably we’ll tell ourselves stories about what’s happening around us—in our own lives, about people we’re interacting with, and about ourselves. The story or narrative …

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