This past week I set out to totally revamp my living room. It has been five years since I shifted around the furniture and splashed on a new coat of paint, so it seemed fitting to give my favorite room a new look. It’s quite amazing how we begin to feel comfortable in our surroundings, and after a while we subconsciously start zoning out highlights of a room we spend many hours in. It could be a painting, a couch, or a simple rug…I kid you not, as the months roll by our eyes can easily start factoring them out….until one day when we decide to make some changes….we then look at every square inch to see what stays, and what goes. For me, that time was this week.

As I went about moving the furniture, repainting the wood floor, and repositioning pictures and paintings, it was as if, after a while, the living room itself started to have a conversation with me. Each change I made I felt was done in agreement with the room. This process took two days…the room was transformed, bright and new, while still retaining its original character. I only wanted to give the room a fresh look….while not erasing the memories.

How about you? Have you ever gone through this experience? Possibly so. When you go out to run errands, and return home, the difference can be striking and gratifying. So many of us feel we have to move on to a new house after five years or so….forgetting that it is quite simple to just re-invent the house that we have. A friend of mine who was considering selling his house and moving, fixed it all up to put on sale, and it was at that point he looked around and said, “What, am I crazy? The house is now the way I wanted it all along! So why move?”

As we enter each room in our home, the walls speak back to us of all the time that we have spent in that surrounding. In this day and age, it is so easy to get bored in the shortest span of time. While we forget the history that we are personally creating, revamping our surrounds gives us the opportunity to look back and plow ahead.

If home is where the heart is, it too needs a little tender loving care to let it know how much it means to us.

Home Sweet Home,

love, Jennifer Avalon

© 2006 Jennifer Avalon

Right or Wrong, Up or Down, Good or Bad, Rich or Poor, Left or Right, Love or Hate, War or Peace, God or Godless…these are a few examples of choices that we have to make daily. Each predicament or scenario that stands before us, sometimes at a moment’s notice, in an instant we sometimes have to choose one way or the other. In some cases we don’t get to have the luxury of time and reflection…in these moments we go by gut decisions. Such is Life.

It’s quite amazing, when you think about it, how we humans are able to get so many things right, with the obstacles that we have to overcome. In the year 2006 surprise, surprise, so many are still here! If one was to turn on the evening news and see the havoc that is revealed on a daily basis…a person could easily come to the conclusion that it is nothing short of a miracle how we all can continue to exist together. Each day always brings with it a new set of choices.

Isn’t it strange that most of the answers to complicated problems can be answered quite simply…not complicated, not cluttered, at times with just one line. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if an independent force could intervene in the war between Israel and Lebanon and just say “STOP, put down your weapons, and go home to your families.” It’s as easy as that, STOP killing each other…there can be no winners. The independent force would round up all the weapons and say, “ENOUGH.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t need to see any more children getting killed for whatever reason….because next year it’ll be something else. Some other place….someone else’s choice….for whatever reason….to kill.

May we all make the right choices, may we find the peace that we so desperately need in this world, may we never forget the light in a newborn’s eyes, may we never forget the last words before someone dies. Perfection may not be obtainable, but growth and contentment can be found within our hearts. As we sail through life, the direction we choose can either leave us lost at sea, or headed for home. We are what we choose.

Choose wisely,

love, Jennifer Avalon

© 2006 Jennifer Avalon

Here we go again folks….the Middle East is erupting into a major confrontation. How long and how far will this go? God only knows. Through the course of our lifetimes we have seen this scenario taking place again and again, each one worse than the last. After awhile one has to wonder…how much more blood does it take for the Middle East to find Peace?

This time around the stakes could not be greater….for the first time the word “nuclear,” has entered the equation. How long will it be until multiple Middle Eastern nations have nuclear arsenals? Rest assured, we are heading down that road. What’s starting to look more difficult to understand is, can nations fight their way to safety? What do you do when nations don’t want to negotiate, don’t want to disarm, and can’t find Peace? Let’s hope it’s not inevitable that we arrive at the Line in the Sand.

I still have hope that the current conflicts in the world will resolve themselves…but what I find troubling is that each time around the wheel the challenges rise further. I pray that cool heads prevail….but with each passing day I am hearing lines on the news that sound eerily like those that got us into two World Wars. Not bad for a planet that has more PhD’s then ever….what are we really learning?

So many people praying daily to one God….yet the only solution that man ultimately comes to is War. Does it really matter what Age we are in if that is the only conclusion we can come to, to solve disagreements? I call on man to implement the true hope of God…that only through Peace can we find lasting progress. It doesn’t take a microscope to see what’s wrong on Planet Earth….let’s hope it won’t take one to find the broken pieces.

Love thy Neighbor,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2006 Jennifer Avalon

The pit and the perils of everyday life can surround us and reinforce their negativity on us at will. One flick of the television dial and a person instantaneously can be inundated with everything that is wrong about the world. Still, there are far more people, places, and things out there that are wonderful, beautiful, helpful and healing. Joie de Vivre, or in English, Joy of Life, is something we have to protect, nurture and grow in our lives. Life is way too short to allow negative forces to take control and dominate the time that we have left.

What more does Hate fear, then Love? or Despair fear more than Hope? or, does a frown run from a smile? Which action or choice we choose rests with us. We can never get enough of the Joy of Life…we must make it surround us, embrace us, and enhance us. The danger is when we blind ourselves of all the good, and swim in a sea of sludge. We take so much for granted on this earth….that we always expect things to just be. The sun, with all it’s beauty, doesn’t have to rise in the morning….but it does. How many times do we take each minute, hour, day, and year, for granted, as if we have a never-ending, unlimited supply? Well, we don’t….each day is a golden nugget from Heaven, for us to cherish and leave our mark.

Joie de Vivre…taste it, drink it, feel it….it’s nourishment is timeless.

Cheers,

love, Jennifer Avalon

© 2006 Jennifer Avalon

Has Loyalty become an endangered species in our society today? Perhaps, perhaps not. Still, there are many out there who’ve forgotten the definition and the meaning of Loyalty. Has the world entered the stage where it doesn’t matter what you have to do, as long as you get there in the end? I hope not. Loyalty means that we hang in there through thick and thin, and never compromise our principles.

Loyalty is that prodding finger that constantly reminds us who we are and what we stand for. While storms swirl around us, and doubt blows through the wind, Loyalty is what keeps us straight and tall without giving up. We all in our own way, from the day we are born, do battle with injustice, fear, doubt, and compromise. Loyalty is there to always remind us that some things are not for sale. Loyalty and Dignity walk hand in hand, through all terrain. True Loyalty is not laced with foolishness or dominance. It is a collection of principles that are established to evolve the world to a better existence. The purpose of Loyalty is to give one a perspective and wide range of vision, while holding the Truth close to the heart.

The ultimate Loyalty comes from God….while there are those who may disagree, God never abandons us. What we learn from the Heavens about Faith and Purpose, we are obligated and bound to disseminate upon earth. Loyalty challenges us to understand that while Peace is the destination, the journey can sometimes be quite rough. Love, Peace, Loyalty…have they become relics, or are they destined to consistently be reborn?

In the hands of Loyalty is Hope and Understanding. Loyalty has to stand strong to tell someone they are wrong, even when they think they are right. If Loyalty is the foundation of a good friendship, then Truth is the house that it is built upon.

Be true,

love,
Jennifer Avalon

© 2006 Jennifer Avalon