What Does The Word Mean - Part II

Five more words from the challenge to photograph the "the solace, nourishment and underlying meaning of everyday words" from David Wythe's book, Consolations. 

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BESIEGED

Each morning as soon as my eyes open, my mind and heart are besieged with grief from the loss of my mother and the overwhelming problems of caring for my father who has Alzheimer's. Each morning I have a choice. Do I follow this pathway of besiegement or do I take a different path? This morning I chose to smile. I chose to not begin my day with worries. I chose a different path, a fragile one, but I chose to look for joys and to be content.

. 

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CONFESSION

As a Christian confession has a significant meaning in my life. Through confession I find healing and joy. Confessing is asking for forgiveness and forgiveness leads to inner peace. 

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."  ~ James 5:16

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COURAGE

Whyte says courage is " to stay close to the way we are made." It takes courage for me to do that. To overcome the need to compare, to overcome self criticism. Only when I have the courage to be myself, to I feel real joy.

"The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is."

~ John Lancaster Spalding

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CRISIS

a tree in crisis

surrounded and smothered 

by creeping ivy

it's branches weakened and dying

my life in crisis

surrounded and smothered

by a crucial event

my life weakened by 

depression

anger

guilt

or my life strengthened by

trust

acceptance

forgiveness

the choice is mine

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DENIAL

she placed her pain behind a wall of denial

she could not acknowledge it

it might destroy her

she needed 

time to process

slowly she began to accept

slowly she let the wall crumble

she began to heal

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Photographing my thoughts on certain words has challenged me like nothing has in a long time. Each Friday I read the next chapter in Wythe's  book and think, this is it, I'll never be able to come up with a photograph for this one. Usually it's about Wednesday of the next week before the inspiration begins to creep in and by Friday I'm ready for the new chapter. If you're interested in how I interpreted the first five words in Wythe's book, you can find the post here.