Shine

excerpt from Shine by Andrea Gibson 

"...Gandhi said
You must be the change
That you wish to see in the world
So you’ve been curled up and sad?
Good
Depression is the first blessing
It means you’ve been in tune
But now the moon is waiting
For you to burn bright
And there has never
Been a time
When your light
Was needed more
Never a time like this before

Yes you are small
We are all as small
As a single breath
But tied to the rest
We are all the life of the world
The pulse that turns rocks to pearls
Inside the darkness
Of their shells
So become the well
Where wishes are born
Become the bell
That rings when even
The birds refuse to sing
Become the wings that fly
And every time you’re full of sorrow
Every time you wake up crying
Know that that day
Is a perfect day
To shine"

**Gainesville folks...this life changing poet/spoken work artist is going to be performing at the Reitz Union Amphitheater on April 13 at 7:30 pm. This event is free and open to the public....so be there, or be.....well, just go- your heart and soul will thank you.

thank-full (a better late than never blog)

Those who are Awake
live in a state of constant amazement ...

~ Jack Kornfield ~

This post has been in my head for easily two weeks now- what are the things in life I am most grateful for? How do I summarize that into a concise blog post that someone would even want to take the time to read? So, round and round in my head it has gone.  
forgive me. this will be messy and unorganized. 
and my grammar will suck.


Last weekend as I listened to my girls laughing in the other room with one of their friends, I was reminded how so much of what I love is processed through my ears. Music...always music. and laughter. from anyone. 


I am grateful for all the people I share love with. 
My family. 
my beautiful, twirly, funny, creative, ever-changing children.
My friends who have seen me through the good and bad decisions- while lifting me with support. 
My wise friend who said: to him...all we are are our relationships and our conversations. 
Another friend- who has seen me through the same.old.shit. a million times. and is still here. and still smiling.
For another friend who said, "what are you THINKING?!? If anyone can get their massage license reinstated within a month, it's you!". And you know what? She was right. 
I am overwhelmed with gratitude on amost a daily basis by how many people I have in my corner and could easily list 100 people who have done extraordinary things to support me (m0mmacat, this means you).

I am thankful for the beauty that surrounds me. For the sun as it cuts through the trees in my back yard, the breeze that brushes across my arm, my peck peck pecking chickens as they search for food and care for the two new little ones...

I am thankful for the time and space I've been given to explore my creativity and find out what I love to do. 
And for the artists out there who are sharing their work. The singer-song writers, poets and philosophers especially. thank you for filling my soul on the days I was most in need. 


and as I write, I am thinking of how much gratitude I have for you. whoever you are, reading this blog. whoever you are...looking at my work on etsy or at a local market...relating to a poem I post or trying a recipe...thank you. Thank you for having an appreciation for a part of me. and our connection.    

last month on my trip to California, at a winery in Napa

perfect loveliness

St. Francis and the Sow

by Galway Kinnell

 The bud
stands for all things,
even those things that don't flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;

 though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;

 as St. Francis
put his hand on the creased forehead
of the sow, and told her in words and in touch
blessings of earth on the sow, 

 and the sow
began remembering all down her thick length,
from the earthen snout all the way
through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of
                the tail,

 from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine
down through the great broken heart
to the blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering
from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking
                and blowing beneath them:
the long, perfect loveliness of sow.
                                                                    

------------------------------------------------------ 

The every so lovely Kathryn of Kathryn Kaye Photography has a new etsy shop!

If someone wanted to make me a very happy Helen they would purchase this 

beautiful piece of art for my birthday <3 (oh, or this!) 

Here are Kathryn's other links:

blog (a bazillion photos so striking you won't be able to stop looking until there are no more left to see) 

facebook be the first to know when she makes a new blog post or has a promotion going on!

my favorite and my best

It's hot as hell here in Florida. And yet...Fall will be here soon. My favorite time of year.


a cool breeze through my open windows
hot coffee
iced lemon zinger tea
baking
the Wednesday Farmers Market- actually staying to enjoy some music
planting a winter garden
more time outside in general
several drop offs to the thrift store as I try to keep our belongings to a minimum (forever, my losing battle)
and oh, the colors....oranges and browns, green, grey and yellow...
my heart warms just thinking about it.

joystclaire

shannspishak

Sylvia C Photography

sewjenaissance

 If You Were Coming in the Fall 

by Emily Dickinson

If you were coming in the Fall,
I'd brush the Summer by
With half a smile, and half a spurn,
As Housewives do, a Fly.

If I could see you in a year,
I'd wind the months in balls --
And put them each in separate Drawers,
For fear the numbers fuse --

If only Centuries, delayed,
I'd count them on my Hand,
Subtracting, till my fingers dropped
Into Van Dieman's Land.

If certain, when this life was out --
That yours and mine, should be
I'd toss it yonder, like a Rind,
And take Eternity --

But, now, uncertain of the length
Of this, that is between,
It goads me, like the Goblin Bee --
That will not state -- its sting.

The Lanyard and other bits of Awesome

If you have 32 minutes and 1 second to spare...spend it watching this video. Even if you don't have the time to sit still, just play it in the background while you're going about your day. Billy Collins. Clever American poet and also Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003.