The Evergreen Journal #25<\/p>\r\n
\r\n\u00a0My Journey into the Land of <\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\r\n
Happiness and Abundance\u00a0 ~ Memoir<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\r\n
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This week I thought about my first publication. I did not remember the exact date that something I wrote was published. I was on a mission to find that information.
<\/span><\/h4>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nIt did not take long for me to locate my first personal journal.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\r\n
I began working in this\u00a0 journal in 1980, and it records the early publicity of my art and writing. <\/span><\/p>\r\n
\u00a0It is interesting for me to know that I started writing and collecting this information 5 years before I entered the university to pursue my degrees in fine art and English. This journal was clearly the first step in a new direction for my life.
<\/span><\/p>\r\nMy art career began in 1976.
<\/span><\/p>\r\nMy unusual journal has large 11 1\/2-inch high x 12-inch wide pages.<\/span> It’s the size and heavy weight used for a scrapbook.<\/span><\/p>\r\n
What I could not have known is that this journal would define my thought life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n
I have clarity now that my humble beginnings of a journal is the cornerstone for my life journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n
I look through the pages today as I am nearly ready to celebrate my seventy-ninth birthday. It all makes sense to me at this moment. I was writing my own future as I worked on pasting newspaper articles and photos into this journal. <\/span><\/p>\r\n
In fact, I am looking directly at the beginning movements of my life song.<\/span><\/p>\r\n
From the first writing, I saw that I was stepping out to begin a life journey. And this is why I know it:<\/span><\/p>\r\n
\r\n\u00a0I gave my journal a name!<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n
I wrote the name of my journal on the first page.<\/span><\/p>\r\n
My Journey Into the Land of Happiness and Abundance<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n
I put the date of my commitment on the second page:<\/span><\/p>\r\n
\r\n“Begin September 6, 1980.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\r\n
Lynda J. Lambert”<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n
And here is the most exciting discovery I made when I looked at this page:<\/span><\/p>\r\n
\r\nBeneath this declaration, I Pasted in a clipping of Psalm 139 (verses 13-16).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
In this little clipping, I can now see that I have established the core of my worldview. This is the exact moment that I know who I am. As I read those words aloud, everything I ever needed to know about “me” is right there in this message from ancient times. This is a Psalm written by King David and was given to the choirmaster to lead the Hebrew people to worship the Living God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n
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All humans have a core belief. Everything they say, or do comes from their core belief. Often, people seem to live their life unaware of that fact. Yet, when I read just a few lines of an author’s work, I can see their world view laid out on the page. Their thought-life spills out into every aspect of their life. It is true with art as well. We all share who we are, even when unaware of doing so. It flows out of our mind. Our worldview is embedded on the pages and canvasses as we are creating.
<\/span><\/p>\r\nThese days, a person reveals their worldview on social media with everything they choose to post or say. Most are clueless about what they have revealed.<\/p>\r\n
Everything I create reflects the statement I saw in Psalm 139, over\u00a0 forty years ago.<\/span><\/p>\r\n
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\r\n13 For you created my inmost being;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
1`4 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
your works are wonderful,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
I know that full well.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
15 My frame was not hidden from you<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
when I was made in the secret place,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
all the days ordained for me were written in your book<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n
before one of them came to be.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
On subsequent pages, I placed photos of things I wanted to do in our home. For example, there are photos of kitchens, living rooms, and bathrooms. I was selecting pictures that reflected rooms that looked inspiring to me. there is lots of fine art in every photo I selected for my journal. Each room has a personality that only original artworks can bring. I wanted a home filled with real, original art.
<\/span><\/p>\r\nI began putting important newspaper clippings in this journal. Each article features an art exhibition where I have won awards for my paintings. <\/span><\/p>\r\n
When I started this journal, I had been painting for four years. From the earliest shows I participated in, I usually won an award. As the years progressed, I saved the newspaper articles. It was only a few years before I was doing national exhibitions. Those clippings record them in my journal.
<\/span><\/p>\r\nFinally, I arrived at the information I was seeking. I found a letter sent to me by an editor.\u00a0\u00a0 My story about my bird, Beaver, was published in the April issue of American Cage Bird Magazine,1981.
<\/span><\/p>\r\nThere is one significant page in the journal is a page of bird photos.<\/span><\/p>\r\n
\u00a0I loved birds and had quite a few birds in my home.\u00a0 There were fifty birds of all sizes.\u00a0 I loved them and tended them with great joy every day. <\/span><\/p>\r\n
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I belonged to the Pittsburgh Cage-bird society and attended monthly meetings with other bird lovers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n
As far as I can tell, this was my first published article and my first writing that received payment for publication.\u00a0
<\/span><\/p>\r\nI’ll publish Beaver’s story next Friday in The Evergreen Journal #26.<\/em> I found the original article that appeared in American Cage Bird Magazine,<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 April 1981.\u00a0 I think you will enjoy this beautiful story.<\/p>\r\n
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