TJ Hirst

Learning to listen is not just a lesson I teach my children, it is a lesson I continue to learn myself, especially that I may receive divine communication.

For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

The Book of Mormon - 2 Nephi 28:30

When my friend recently talked to me about taking away all the distractions and barriers so that she can have the Holy Spirit guide her, I could relate to that feeling. Often I feel a tight ball of stress swelling right in my chest. I know it is keeping me from more. More faith. More knowledge. More love. I know when I feel it, but sometimes it is hard to let go. But when I am willing, my heart opens, and I receive.

In the middle of my perennial garden bed, I sat between the weeds and the flowers, not knowing the difference. Sometimes perennials or wildflowers that aren’t in bloom can look a lot like weeds. I was a young mom and a young gardener inheriting a garden from previous owners.

Meanwhile, my neighbor across the street cleared and prepared her beds for an herb and vegetable garden. I craved turning over my own soil to plant new seeds or plants. I ripped at the plants that looked like weeds to me. Yet, as I proceeded, I felt a quiet urge to wait patiently and watch the garden, to not even pull the weeds. My nurturing instinct was louder than my impulsiveness, and I backed off the garden bed.

In that everyday gardening experience I became not only a more patient gardener but a more patient mother, working slowly and carefully in both realms.

My everyday realms are ordinary, but they are a microcosm to larger realms. Considering and connecting, comparing and contrasting everyday experiences to each other and to the larger world reveals truth. The grass is always greener somewhere else until light illuminates our own.

This is the 100^th post at tjhirst.com. In celebration, I reveal a new look and a new tagline, Illuminate Everyday. My husband, Paul, created this original web design to reflect my writing goals.

To illuminate is to provide or brighten with light, to make understandable, clarify, to enlighten. I am still seeking and finding what inspires, but the process to seek and find creative, intellectual or spiritual inspiration is not an anxious perusal of all the available resources the world over.

Inspiration comes when I illuminate the everyday people, circumstances and situations in my own realm and consider the truths that exist right around me. My writing is a creative process that “elevates the everyday rather than denigrates it,” as my husband says. My goal on this website is to share that process and what I discover.

Try-It With-Me Tuesday, an interactive weekly time and place to foster connections that challenge and encourage the process to become a well-rounded person.

The April Reading Challenge is to memorize something you have read that inspires you.

The students I teach in an early morning religion class are encouraged to memorize 25 scriptures from the Old Testament of the Bible this school year. One student has expressed that memorization helps her recall what she has learned and answer questions about her religion.

I am no longer a student with a need to recall for tests, but like this student, I have discovered there is still value in memorizing even after leaving formal school. In fact, it wasn’t until I discovered the value beyond recall for tests that I was enthused and motivated to memorize. Memorization develops my mental concentration in all tasks and is a tool to control my thoughts. In addition, when I memorize something that has inspired or enlightened me and then bring it back to my mind, I retain the emotions and knowledge I initially felt and also gain new understanding from it.

What important benefits have you gained from memorization?

Even though my goals (and yours) to memorize are valuable, for me to actually memorize this document will require diligent, almost vigilant, daily attention. A deadline (April 29th) helps. Being accountable to another person (anyone who reads this) also helps.

Here’s what else I am doing and plan to do to help me memorize:

I write each paragraph out on a note card.

I study the first card until I can say it without the card.

It takes me at least a day or two, sometimes even a week, to learn each card.

When I know the first card, I move on to the second card and study it.

I actually study my cards while I exercise or wait.

I try to say both cards together before I move on to the third card.

When I think I know each card, then I study the document as a whole.

I try to recall each paragraph, one at a time, until I can say it all together.

Then I rehearse it in front of the mirror, and finally say it to my family.

This is not a proven method, just what works for me.

How do you memorize?

Your tips and these tips for How to Memorize will be a help to me and those who want to try to memorize something with me this month. Good Thinking to You!

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Note: I did not post my review of the biography from the March Reading Challenge on Saturday as I promised. (I am sure no one was anticipating it). But my change of plans is an interesting insight. I was reading the biography on Dolley Madison with my mom, who lives in another state. She is listening to it on audio tape as she drives home from work. I finished reading the book last week. When we had a brief conversation about it, I was reminded of my desire to try it with her and connect through our discussions. I am going to wait to post my review until she has finished and we have had more over-the-phone book discussions. Those connections are as important to the process as the end result.

Join in by trying the challenges with me, commenting, linking, or suggesting a challenge. If you want to write a post on your blog about what happened when you took the challenge, I will publish your link. Just link to my website in your post and send me your link.

My younger sister wrote on My Wall, “Oh my goodness! I can’t believe you are on Facebook. You’re officially not old.”

Apparently, I was old when I thought “writing on my wall” meant a mess I would have to clean with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

Innovations feel youthful because they are new and fresh and full of possibilities.

In the next twenty years, my husband would love to be “driving” his Moller Skycar, but most likely our destination will be to visit grandchildren. Would that still classify us as “not old”?

Technology brings the unexpected and is therefore, unpredictable. Only in our Jetson-like imaginations can we envision what the next twenty years will bring. One fact that will be known, and it will be official, is that we will grow old. Or at least twenty years older. The writing is on the wall.

That fact sometimes makes us run away from reality back to a culture of youth, eager to embrace a life filled with new trends and fresh ideas. And to some extent, popular culture, of which new technology is a key part, does make us feel younger.

(Remember, I am the one who became young again when I signed up on Facebook? I wonder how young I became when I learned to text from a 14-year-old?)

In the next twenty years we all, nonetheless, will move forward in age as we move forward in time.

While the enthusiasm and energy of youth stirs creativity, the experience and maturing of middle age confirms wisdom. Wisdom gathers what is lasting from the newness in ideas and trends, mixes it with accumulated experience and solidifies the knowledge of what is true and right.

The last twenty years has taught me that wisdom is worth the cost of moving forward through the next twenty years.

Should I cut and paste that to my sister’s wall?

This post is an entry in the Scribbit Write Away Contest; see her site for other entries.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

1 Corinthians 2:9 & 10