April 15th ended the 2010 tax season which means that I finally have a little more time on my hands again. As many of you know this was my first foray out of the family business in about 17 years. I learned a lot. I loved the clients who came to H&R Block and mini tax geek that I am, I loved the actual job. The inter-office dynamics, now that was another thing entirely! I generally try to keep my blog positive in nature so I've decided not to dwell to much on the subject of my co-workers but I will caution those of you who were negative, life-sucking, energy draining, leeches (you know who you are) - Clean up your act or you are certain to be sucked into the Vortex of Hell! Whew! Feels good to get that out of my system....


Now on to more positive things. The Art Nest is busy learning and creating again. I am currently taking a small course in drawing to increase my illustration skills. This is somewhat of a leap for me since I have to conquer that internal voice that tries to convince me that I can't illustrate. So far I am doing well and I hope to post some of my illustrations soon. In the meantime I have taken out my machine and created a new dish/tea towel from the retro Japanese series I have for sale in my Etsy shop.

Isn't she just delightful! I found her happy little expression so uplifting...

Check out all the designs in this series at www.theartnest.etsy.com.

What If......

During tax season I enjoy working at H&R Block as a tax preparer. It's seasonal work and I love the challenge of keeping current with all the new tax laws and changes. But my tax geekiness aside its interesting to get a peek into human nature. For instance, during a slow day with few clients I found myself involved in an in-depth conversation with a fellow tax preparer regarding God, death, reincarnation, and our purpose in life. Darlene at one point in the conversation revealed that she just didn't know what her purpose in life was and that she felt she should by now. Her words spun around in my head for several days afterward.... I mean, is anyone absolutely sure what their purpose in life is? What if we don't have just one big purpose? What if we have several small purposes? Or even one small purpose?

I pondered those questions while stuck in traffic on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon when I happened to look over at an older lady who was seated directly opposite of me and our eyes met. She seemed very concerned about something. I smiled broadly and nodded in her direction. To my absolute delight that cute, but ever so concerned, little lady smiled back with emotion that seemed to light up her face, nodded back, and then mouthed the words "Thank-you". The traffic began to move and we both drove forward with a shift in our attitudes. It happened so quickly. It happened so thoroughly. So what if that was my purpose? What if that one small moment in time was my entire reason for being on this earth? What if everything else in my life had conspired to bring me to that one spot, at that particular time, to provide that particular interaction?

In the end, after all my pondering was put aside I decided that perhaps its not as important to identify what ones "purpose" in life might be as it is to live our lives with great purpose.