Category Archives: Nectar

Sweet experiences and inspirations waiting to get processed into honey to use and share

Between Shades of Gray

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בס”ד

It has been a long time since I was drawn into a book.  I used to love to read fantasy novels and would get lost in them for hours.  I just don’t have the attention span anymore for them and with so many pressing things to do, I don’t have the desire to “waste” my time getting lost in them.

I borrowed the book Between Shades of Gray, by  Ruta Sepetys, from the library thinking my daughters might be interested.   It turned out to be more a book for me than them.  I read the first page and was hooked.

The book is a historical fiction about what happened to Lithuanian families during the 40’s and 50’s when the Soviets took over their country.  The author interviewed many people who lived through experiences of that time and she incorporated their stories into the events of the book.  Ruta Sepetys writes the book from the perspective of a 15/16 year old girl, Lina, who goes through the experience of being deported with her mother and brother, along with hundreds of others, from their home in Lithuania to Siberia.

The author takes the reader along with Lina through the uncertainty of what will happen to them, the longing for home, and the horrendous living (and in many cases dying) conditions and the treatment she and the people around her lived through.  It does so without focusing on gory details, but rather with the messages of hope, dreams, truth, love, family, importance of self-expression and perseverance through difficult times.  Shades of gray permeate the view of their surroundings, both physically and figuratively.  Even some of the harsh experiences Lina saw as “black” she later saw had shades of goodness mixed in.

As the author requested, I am passing on the word of truth about this period of time that was kept secret for too many years.  Truth not for the sake of horrifying, but instead for better appreciating the good life we live, seeing good in ‘shades of gray’ around us, recognizing the importance of hanging on to hope through difficult times, and to motivate us to do what we can to help others in need and when we see injustice done to others.

May we all soon see the day when the grandest of hopes and dreams are realized – when those longing to go home will do so and everyone will live together in peace, health and happiness!

The Glasses

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בס”ד

When life is busy, it can be overwhelming to be seeing all of the input around us all of the time.  With having 6 kids and facing mood swings of several members of my family, I know I have to put ‘blinders’ on to block out some of the constant conscious and semi-conscious demands for my attention.  I think the busier we are, the more we need to filter out some of the frustrations and distractions so we can focus on completing what we need to.  So, on go the glasses.

Different types of glasses can serve the purpose – blinders to block peripheral distractions and tinted glasses to filter out some of the constant input. They work, so we use them. When we have a high stress lifestyle, we depend on them to get us through.

But, then there is the down side to the glasses. The faster we race around to get things done and stretch ourselves beyond our human limits, the more dirt and smudges get on our glasses and cloud our vision. Sometimes, as the glasses get darker, a person’s view of the world and their life becomes darker and more negative. The blinders give tunnel vision. So much of the beauty around us can be missed. When people see darkness, the more others tell them ‘the bright side of things’ the more annoyed they get because ‘seeing is believing’ and they know how dark things are.

Sometimes life gives a ‘wake-up call’ with a splash of water in our face that clears some of the dirt away. These can be inspirational movies, books or speakers; meeting someone who really wants to be able to have kids and cannot; hearing others who comment on the special things they see in your life; etc.

Other times, major curve balls in life knock the glasses totally off, as we hear about in life-changing events as told by survivors of cancer and tragedies, such as in the stories we heard from 9/11 survivors.

We need to stop, take a break from the constant running, and take a clear look around us. Other people face similar challenges that we do and maintain a happy outlook. If life looks dark, it could be that we just need take off and wash our ‘glasses’ – to truly see and appreciate the good things in our lives. It is so much better to stop, look, see and appreciate the beauty in our kids rather than just hearing from others how wonderful they see them! We need to see and appreciate the good and beautiful things that we, ourselves, do rather than others just telling us about the great things we did that we didn’t notice – ‘all-in-a-day’s-work.’

As we just passed the anniversary of 9/11, let’s stop racing and take our own glasses off for a good cleaning. Let us really appreciate the incredible blessing of life and the beauty around us.

- DebBee