HAMPTONS REAL ESTATE, SOUTHAMPTON, NY

DEDICATION  --AND SPRING RENEWAL!...The new things I will do for my life and my business to create a sense of Spring Renewal will include ActiveRain Contests!!!

This very timely contest comes on the eve of my having written a "Featured" Post asking for members to tell me how they "Fit ActiveRain Contests into their lives". I got such a wonderful response from the members who commented that it has inspired me to take another look at these contests and see if they may fit after-all!

"There are no accidents" is a mantra that I use when I see that something fortuitous has happened---this is one of those!

...And low and behold, Sally Cheeseman has offered up this contest which is totally appropriate and so inspiring to me that I MUST take part in it!!! 

This is no accident; I have been looking for a new approach to my blogging here on ActiveRain, and this looks like a good beginning.....The comments on my post were like "gifts" given to me at a time when I truly needed Spring renewal. I have been in a place as have many people, in the past 3 days; a place which I want to get out of--a place where the fear and pain and sorrow of what has happened on this planet has striken everyone to the core.....The terrible devastation that took place, the horrible natural disaster that has altered the planet forever, has left me with the following thoughts:

The Japanese earthquake struck me in the heart because I used to travel there and do business there in the Northern part of that country. I love Tokyo and Kyoto and all the smaller villages where the factories were located---I spent many days and weeks there, planning and laying out programs of "playwear" for the major stores I worked for. I was head of the merchandising team that went twice a year to put together the years special private label sporstwear groupings. I have never forgotten the wonderful and beautiful country and find myself looking for the same kind of beauty here, that I found there.

The photographs that I have added here are those that remind me of the countryside of Japan; the most damaged part was the part that included fertile farm land and I want to dedicate my post to that lovely countryside. It is a time of Spring renewal of the highest order for all, especially those whose lives were changed forever by that huge devastation. 

My experiences in Japan were always so incredible that I miss going there and often thought of moving there if I ever left New York City...Tokyo was always an option to me because of it's sophistication and wonderful people. I ended up here in Southampton however, a place that has reminders for me of Japan...the soft grassy flowing water where scallops and clams can be harvested; the soothing, rolling landscapes with gentle breezes bending the long reeds and other water plants.                               

The places in this world that match the utter beauty of Japan can be counted on one hand....a treasury of fertile lands and bustling cities and their contrast are what make this the most delightful of all countries to visit...and to live in.

Japan will always represent a place of utter beauty and wonder. It will be restored and renewed as well.....

Lets keep the Japanese people in our thoughts as we head into Spring...that perfect time of renewal for the entire planet.