Bold Strokes of Magenta

written by

Jeannette Zink

Write the next chapter with a pen enriched by life experiences.

Use the ink made of vibrant magenta, not the demure rose color from reticent days.

Calligraphy of assured bold strokes.

Wisdom reflected in equal portions of learned regrets and triumphant challenges.

Shared are the trials and victories, so others may valiantly cross the bridge of uncertainty…

Wishes turned to dreams of reality;

Cannot Be Done to Yes, I Can;

Discouragement to encouragement.

Timid voice to self-assured dignity.

Be courageous, be bold, be magenta!

Write the next chapter with a pen enriched by life experiences.

Use the ink made vibrant by the gifts of your story.

Write the next chapter this day…

Radiant light of

 magenta;

your story

our hero.

Be courageous, be bold, be magenta! 

What if The Little Engine couldn’t or didn’t want to …

written by

Jeannette Zink

July 14, 2018

I have always loved the children’s book, The Little Engine That Could. The rhythmic and reaffirming – I think I can. I think I can. – has gotten me over many a bumpy road throughout the gravel pits of life. Then, of course, when victory prevailed, and accomplishments were achieved, I rejoiced in a loud and mighty confident voice … I thought I could. I thought I could!

So, now that I have more spare time to ponder the what if questions that float through my retired status universe. I took on the mighty and weighty questions that now come to light as I re-read this beloved children’s story. For example, …

What if my beloved The Little Blue Engine couldn’t or even more devastating – didn’t want to -- puff, puff, chug, chug its way over that monster mountain towing the broken engine filled with toys and good food for the children on the other side. What if it was just simply too much for The Little Blue Engine, no matter all good intentions and good karma mindfulness.

What if fear was stronger than bravery for The Little Blue Engine; after all, “over the mountain” was a new and foreign land for The Little Blue Engine.

What if the toys had never morphed magically into their life-like persona. Who would have told the story, who would have negotiated with the other trains, and who would have convinced The Little Engine That Could that it could serve a higher purpose in life than to switch out other trains … I ask you, who???

What if the funny little toy clown had been the negative type with absolutely no leadership skills.

What if the toys had garnered their energies and ingenuity to repair the broken little Number 7 train. What if they had not relied on the benevolent heart of the smaller and less equipped Little Blue Engine.

What if the Shiny New Passenger Engine or the Big Strong Freight Engine or the Rusty Old Engine had just completed the train company’s sensitivity program and saw opportunities to help others as a blessing and not an annoying inconvenience.

What if the children on the other side of that monster mountain were no longer there because their families had moved to another village with better employment prospects.

What if we were kinder and gentler with the caring hearts to serve others … would we need this story.

What if we were the joyful toys and the good food that fed the hearts and souls of the universe.

What if we were The Little Engine That Could … in all its glorious Can-Do persona!

What if we are now The Little Engine that thought, could and did … oh, what a beautiful place that would be.

What if we could now tell a different story because we are much better today than we were yesterday and will be tomorrow.

What if The Little Engine That Could had never been conceived, written and illustrated because there was never a need to tell this story.

What if …

There is a mystical gracefulness in the stories that remain with us from our childhood. They are the fantastical wand that with one wave can take the unbearable and mysterious dark corners of our lives and shine the rays of reassuring light … the relief and hope that we can and will make it over each monstrous mountain on the brave wings of our faithful Little Blue Engine.   

What if …

The need for The Little Engine That Could be simply to remind us that there is always a way to the other side of kindness if we climb the steps of desire with a caring heart, cast our fears and doubts on the sideline and believe we can and will be better than we were yesterday.

What if …

To know and learn from The Little Engine That Could will hopefully pave the way to a better way that holds in wait for us … we just need to make the effort … just like The Little Blue Engine.

What if … my kindred spirits … what if.

Let Tomorrow Breathe

written by

Jeannette Zink

The sun does not always shine.

The stars do not always blink.

Hopes do not always come true.

Dreams do not always find their reality.

And, love does not always float toward the rocky shoreline.

Release and set free what once was thought to be.

Let possibilities find their fresh new home.

It is time for tomorrow to breathe and take hold.

It is time to just let be.

Is that the sun we now see shine …

Do the stars wink in our twilight hours …

Hopes patiently stitched together their truth …

Dreams laugh and dance a jig to a new tune …

Love … oh, beautiful Love …

The shoreline may be a bit jagged and worn;

crafted from the gentle waves of wisdom;

gone the debris of expectations and conditions.

This your brand new and refreshed home.

Come inside and rest a spell.

Greetings and Peace.

Welcome home,

Love … oh, beautiful Love.

maybe the Question should be ….

written by

Jeannette Zink

There are re-occurring questions that seem to enter the conversation I may be having these days. They go something along the lines … Congratulations on your retirement. What are your plans now that you have retired? Are you staying in the area? I bet you are going to do some traveling and see the world, right? Tackle that bucket list? So happy for you … best wishes.

I have always been an overachiever. So, I have at the ready my prepared responses to these inquiring questions. Yes, indeed, I do have plans …. After all, I did not retire on a whim – I thought it all out; did research; measured each pro and con; met with retirement counselors; talked with financial-like folks; and, even visited retirement communities; plus, made an inventory of my hobbies and continuing education options. Ask me your typical question when it comes to the chit-chat of retirement, and I will provide the answers to your well-meaning questions.

But, maybe these are not the questions to be asked … maybe the more important question to ask is the one that is tucked secretly away inside the stairwell of our soulful heart. The one that gives me more of a challenge and that higher degree of fortitude to climb one more level of exploration. That question being, “What do you want to reclaim from your youth … now that you are retired?”

To answer this question is not hard for me, it is the courage to implement the answer that seems daunting to this 69-year-old retiree. You see, somewhere along the way, I lost the courage to be brave … to take those bold steps that in my youth were scary, but I did them anyway. Here are just a few of (at least for me) my youthful high-flying trapeze acts:

In my late twenties, I left all familiar safety nets of family, friends and homeland to move from my birth state of Oklahoma to the foreign land of New Mexico.

While living in my adopted landscape of New Mexico, I ventured across the bridge of New Mexico to Old Mexico – Juarez (on more than one occasion) ... dancing the night away with the love of my life to the disco crystal ball tunes of Donna Summers.

Traveled solo to Europe on a 17-day TWA tour.

Career goals led to moves from Oklahoma to New Mexico to Dallas to Washington, DC to Houston to Midwest USA back to Dallas and then finally back to Washington, DC … traveling solo on all these career-ladder junkets.

Bought 4 homes and sold 3 … all by myself.

Traveled all over the country … sometimes driving solo late at night in all kinds of weather conditions and interesting terrain.

Like I say … these were courageous acts for me and ones that would surely give me pause today. Yes, I was once BRAVE and took calculated risks that now warm my heart as memories protected by yesteryear’s joie de vivre. I want to rediscover my bravery … the courage to dare age and logic when the rational mind whispers the what-ifs of potential life road-bump disasters.

I have purchased all kinds of security blankets -- insurance policies, long-term health care, AAA for roadside assistance, mobile phone and charger, check for water pipe links each morning and evening, and have saved for the inevitable rainy days. So, what is stopping me from reclaiming my once cherished and youthful BRAVERY?

I tell you, my friends, life experiences can play havoc on the road to tomorrow’s age-proof brave next steps. I want to be brave and do those things on my bucket list; I want to toss caution over the shoulder of risky business and do it anyway; and I want to be responsibly irresponsible (within limits). I want to find my brave joie de vivre, again!

So, there we are … the question for me is not what I will do in my retirement … but, will I find the BRAVERY to do all the things that I would love to do … as I once did in my youth?

Does Amazon sell safety nets for joie de vivre?

Stay tuned …