Random Thoughts of Amy Potts

Clown White makeup A painted smile Cover your misery Just for awhile Spotlight turns It's all your show Fear inside Nobody will know They laugh as your carry on your routine Night after night same old scene The crowd is now gone as they dim the last light You turn away and walk into the night Wash your face take a bow Look in the mirror, dear. Who are you now? It's a weird little poem that won't win any awards but it describes the person I was several years ago.  I came to place in life realizing that keeping up an image is so much more work than just being who I am. Are you ready to wash your face?  When you are I pray that there will be those who believe in you close at hand.  I don't even have to know your name to know that your "image" is not near as beautiful as what lies beneath. Thanks for stopping by.... Amy Lynn

Saturday was coming and the new Olive Garden had opened in Sioux City , Iowa a few weeks prior.  A group of ladies decided this would be a good day to have lunch and go shopping.  I’m not a fan of shopping, but I do enjoy sharing conversation and a meal with friends, so I accepted the invitation.  Being absolutely crazy for Italian cuisine, I was already aware that the Olive Garden’s offerings would not compare fully to the wonderful restaurants owned by any Caniglia family in Omaha .  But, none-the-less it was the best we had available to us in rural Iowa , so I would make the most of it.  I have two rules when I eat at a good Italian restaurant; creamy alfredo sauce on anything, bread and tiramisu. Um, make that three.  Italian food is rich, tasty and meant to be enjoyed to the point of exhaustion.  The pasta, bread and sauces are why we seek out these wonderful eateries, after all. The excitement of the day was building.  I didn’t eat my typ...

“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.”   Mahatma Gandhi When I think of Christians I want to think of a group of people who care for the needs of other people out of love and concern for their “brothers and sisters”.   I want to believe that if I fall down someone will be there to pick me up physically and spiritually.   I want to believe that the unconditional love modeled for those who identify themselves with Christ, would be offered to me no matter the circumstance.   I want to believe this, but frankly I’ve seen and experienced too much of the opposite. Each time an election year approaches I brace myself for dissention among the ranks.   There are expected ads pitting Democrats against Republicans, this community leader against the other one.   This is expected as candidates jockey for position and to get our votes.   The media battle is frustrating and the battle between politicians is certainly ...

Ask most people in the upper mid-west how they feel about winter and they will say they hate it.  When you ask them why they don't move south the response is usually because they enjoy the changing of the seasons.  In the north the changing of seasons can often be dramatic.  One day you are adjusting the air conditioning and the next the fireplace must be lit. One day you are wearing short sleeves and the next a sweatshirt.  In fact sometimes this can happen all in a days time.  Heater by morning and air conditioning by night.  That is how it is in the mid-west and that is what I love about it.  I love dramatic weather changes.  I love thunderstorms in summer and blizzards in winter.  I love a warm spring rain and I love the fragrance of autumn and the crunching of leaves under foot.  I love the change of seasons as they pertain to nature. There is only one season I don't really enjoy and that is the middle of summer when the heat and hu...

"Sometimes I wanna go, where everybody knows my name".  Everyone remembers the theme song from the hit television series, "Cheers".  Right now you are probably at least humming this tune in your head, possibly singing it out loud.  Sometimes that is where I want to be. I want to be in the presence of my friends and family to laugh and to hear about their lives. On a hectic day when my job is overwhelming and I am mentally exhausted I need a refuge.  I need a place where maybe nobody knows my name.  I need to be alone.  On days like this I will often drive to my church to play the piano in a dark sanctuary where nobody but me hears my prayers.  I begin to play whatever comes to mind.  Most of the time it is music that just flows from within, to my hands on the keys.  It resonates from the strings what my pastor referred to once as, "piano prayers".  I had never really thought of it that way before.  But when I think about the emot...

I had been a widow for nearly nine years and decided that I didn't want to be alone for the rest of my life.  I had a lot of love to give and I wanted to share it with someone who not only needed it, but wanted it and would not take it for granted.  I spent a lot of time at a sanctuary on the edge of town that I called "Serenity Hills".  I would go there and walk with my dog and at some point lie down in the tall grass to listen to the wind.  It was there that I would imagine who my husband would be.  I often took my journal with me to write thoughts as they came to mind and I would pray.  One day while I was lying there I began to pray for my "husband".  I wasn't dating anybody and I didn't even know any single men at the time. But I wanted to be sure that I was ready and that when the time came that I would not throw what love I had inside to someone who wasn't deserving.  I wanted to know that what love I had left would not be taken for granted...

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, or if you have known me for very long at all, one thing you know for sure is that I love winter!  As long as I can remember I have loved winter.  I have fond memories of snow forts and sledding.  I had dreams of becoming a figure skater or an olympic skier.  Having grown up in rural Iowa, it wasn't likely that I would become either. Through the years people have said that as I get older I will come to hate winter just like the rest of the world.  I haven't found that to be true.  If anything, my fondness for the snow and bone chilling cold only grows stronger with time. Why winter?  Why not spring, or fall or the warm summer sun? Why am I drawn to the coldest, bleakest time of year?  Would you consider seeing life through winter eyes?  It is my winter eyes that help me to see more than a simple changing of nature's seasons. I have had experiences that have taken me full circle in what I have come...