Gems 8.44

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Niki Flow

I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
“My piece | February 28, 2022 | 14 months Sober today.” -John Olander, Denver CO

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Newsletters and Videos

Posted on September 4, 2021 by Niki Flow

I hope you’re having a beautiful weekend. ♡
Here’s what’s coming on ¤ under1000skies ¤

´¨) ¸.•´¸.•´¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•` ¤ Newsletters and Videos ¤

The first newsletter (1.1) was published on June 15, 2019. By 1.4, I added the first video. On December 31, 2019, I published a year of Gems. By January 11, 2020, I started themes. The first theme was “Solace.”

Between Newsletter Video 2.22 (July 4, 2020) and 2.24 (July 18, 2020) I skipped a number (2.23). Since I did a series of J.R.R. Tolkien quotes during our Annual Kindspring Eowyn Challenge, I will be creating a video with the JRR theme and labeling it 2.23.

There are two one-day themes (Friday and May the Fourth).

Gems will begin again on Monday. The theme for the next two weeks will be “Intuition.” Then, beginning on September 20 until October 8, the theme will be “Journey.” This is to honor the Fourth Annual 21-Day KindSpring Eowyn Challenge (beginning September 23, 2021). It will once again follow the journey of Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry from The Shire to Rivendell. The Journal of Samwise Gamgee (“illustrated” by his daughter Elanor) for all 28 days of that journey is here (Bag End to Rivendell).

In reverse order, these are all the Newsletters and (beginning with 1.4) Videos for under1000skies.org.. I will be making a subject list soon. In the meantime, if you want to find a specific subject to look for quotes, just use control-F on this page. And if you have an idea for a theme we haven’t covered yet, please let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

I will see you on Monday!

♥. Niki Flow

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Homeless Creatives

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Niki Flow

I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡

This site was always meant to exclusively feature the work of creative folks who are currently between homes.

We’re getting back to that.

If you are, or know of, a homeless creative who would like your work featured here, comment below or visit our contacts page and drop a line.

Peace.

♡. nf

Gems 5.221

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Niki Flow

I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
This year on ¤ under1000skies.org ¤

This is the last Gem of the year. I am especially thankful for the number we ended with this year (221, or 2/21, my son Ben’s birthday). Thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts since he disappeared. Thank you for sharing his page and information “Missing Benjamin.” We are all grateful for everyone who has shared and reached out since Day 1 – March 2, 2016.)

Thank you for sharing a beautiful year with us. May 2020 be the best year for all of us.

Happy New Year!

fireworks

♥.

Gems 5.85

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Niki Flow

I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

5.83

Photo by TruthSeeker08, Pixabay

Gems 5.51

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Niki Flow

I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

5.51

Yesterday I learned that Netflix has one of my favorite movies available, I Am Legend. I hadn’t seen it in a very long time, and it was just as powerful this viewing. If you know the movie, you know that Will Smith is a virologist trying to solve a world pandemic in New York City, ground zero. It is an incredible, terrifying movie, and Smith is, as always, masterful.

As he said these words later in the movie, I felt something shift in me.

He (Bob Marley) had this idea, it was kind of a virologist idea, he believed he could cure racism and hate, literally cure it by injecting music and love into people’s lives.

One day he was scheduled to perform at a peace concert, gunmen came to his house and shot him down.

Two days later he walked out on the stage and sang. Somebody asked him why. He said the people who were trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off. How can I?

Light up the darkness.

This site, under1000skies, started as a place to store my photos. Then it became the answer to a challenge to “do something about (homelessness)” from an author on Twitter. It was a small thing, but I envisioned a place to spotlight the beautiful creations of homeless creatives. I had hoped to bring homeless artists together from all over the world. In the five years since we began, we have had two contributors, Johnny O., and Cord X. Happily, both now have homes. I’m very grateful for their photos and poetry contributions.

But lately, I felt as if I had failed. I hadn’t found more creatives, so for the past year or so, I was finding photos on Pixabay or sharing my own and combining these with quotes I loved. It just seemed like I was propping up something that was winding down. But I was wrong.

When I made it my life aspiration to create 10,000 graphics, it was for exactly this reason. I wanted to pour love into the world, one beautiful tiny gem at a time. These are small things but done with great love. Even a candle can be a brilliant light in the darkness. Somewhere along the way, I forgot that.

So now, under1000skies has changed again. It’s about pouring love, one day, one little quote at a time, into the world. Forgive me for losing my way and forgetting. I’m back.

Light up the darkness.