universe

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (& creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas & splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." w.h.murray





A Return to Love; Marianne Williamson
"You are a child of God. Your playing small does not service the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us...And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

colorado

from the "Return of the Bird Tribes"

"Let the thickness of your skin be as thick as the bark of the great tree, but your heart as open as air, the sky, the universe; and understanding and love will come pouring in".

 

from The Secret by Rhonda Byrne


"In the whisper of the pines, in the gentle call of the morning dove, in a child's sleepy yawn, the new world comes dawning through the façade of the late 20th century human world it shines, a world of shimmering potential, a world of beautiful light, a world where human beings do not behave violently toward one another in thought, word or deed. It is a world of understanding and cooperation, a world of abundance in which the human spirit, freed from the shackles of self-centeredness, flies on the wings of love, leaving a trail of joy, wonder and trust.

the orchid

 

The orchid

There’s this exquisite plant in my living room. Every time I look at it I see a generous heart, and love from my dear friend Genaveave. It’s been 7 months since that was presented to me—the chocolates are long gone, but the orchid is sprouting green leaves once again. It’s quite appropriate. I have come to feel renewed, growing stronger day by day, sometimes feeling like 7 steps back, but always coming forward. Once where there was despair and uncertainty, now lies the sense of accomplishment and wonder, amazed at how life changes in a moment, teetering on the edge at times, blossoming wonderfully along the way.
I had a heartfelt conversation with a new friend about the doors that close and the new ones that open. How I wonder if we really could see our future—would we want to? Because when something is a risk to our heart, and we reach out and open it, the wonder and amazement of it all being unlike anything else in life—if we knew it was to be taken from us- would we still take that path to experience that surreal joy and ecstasy? It would be a shame and so regretful for us to reach the end of our life and realize that we never really lived at all, that we didn’t take that chance to experience the joy of love, of uninhibited being, of laughing with twinkles in the eyes, of sitting under the majestic stars, letting our guard down and feeling safe and secure with another…..to say it was all worth the wait.

summer solstice

This beautiful lady bug was spotted as I lay in the sun, half pondering, half napping... funny too was that there was a red bird that perched itself on a branch near me and began calling around for his friend... I began to feel like I was in a disney animation.

Two people in a weeks time said I looked liked the CIA agent's wife, Valerie Plame. I had to google her to see who she is.


I burned my thumb with water I was making tea with-- a workmate told me to put musterd on it-- and it made the pain go away. I always knew I had a green thumb. Not sure what a yellow thumb means...

when all else fails

 

 

The week ended much better end than it's beginning. This is what life is at times - light and dark, sun and rain, joy and tears... I wore a fuschia orchid in my hair yesterday and it was just what I needed with the raspberry cotton top...

The butterfly picture was captured today. I was on a photoshoot, and while my clients took a break, I was able to capture these moments.

I got some new earrings today. They are aqua and blue with a shiny glaze over the top, encased in a circular silver circle, two on each earring, one above the other...

back to reality

The district assembly was in Pueblo Colorado this year, held at the fairgrounds. These pictures are from this weekend while visiting Pueblo.

Wabi Sabi

[Photo taken in Santa fe]
 
Roger Housden;
"IN Japan there is an entire worldview that appreciates the value of the imperfect, unfinished, and faulty. It's called Wabi Sabi, where the first term refers to something simple and unpretentious, and the second points to the beauty that comes with age. Wabi Sabi is the aesthetic view that underlies traditional Japanese art forms like the tea ceremony, calligraphy, and ceramics. It's an aesthetic that sees beauty in the modest and humble, the irregular and earthy..... What are the mazes, or labyrinths, after all, if not a metaphor for life? We often find ourselves retracing our steps, getting lost, and even coming upon the exit sooner or later than we imagined. Life can indeed be a-mazing. And as in a maze, the next step can be much closer than we imagine, and often in a direction we would never have suspected...."

purple delight

 
 
 

sunshine

 
 
 

Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.
- Heinrich Heine

Micah tried the black bean burrito I gave him. His brother wanted a bite, and asked what he was eating. Micah replied "It's a blueberry burrito". Cute.

3 days {inspiration}

 

 

{Chimayo, NM}




THREE DAYS TO SEE

What would you look at if you had just three days of sight? Helen Keller, blind and deaf from infancy, gives her answer in this remarkable essay.

“I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight, silence would teach him the joys of sound.

Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I asked a friend, who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, what she had observed. “Nothing in particular,” she replied.

How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after the winter’s sleep. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song.

At time my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. And I have imagined what I should most like to see if I were given the use of my eyes, say for just three days.

On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and companionship have made my life worth living. I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that “window of the soul,” the eye. I can only “see” through my fingertips the outline of a face. I can detect laughter, sorrow, and many other obvious emotions. I know my friends from the feel of their faces.

For instance, can you describe accurately the faces of five different friends? As an experiment, I have questioned husbands about the colour of their wives’ eyes, and often they express embarrassed confusion and admit that they do not know. I should like to see the books which have been read to me, and which have revealed to me the deepest channels of human life. In the afternoon I should take a long walk in the woods and intoxicate my eyes on the beauties of the world of Nature. And I should pray for the glory of a colourful sunset. That night, I should not be able to sleep.

On my second day, I should like to see the pageant of man’s progress, and I should go to the museums. I should try to probe into the soul of man through his art. The things I knew through touch I should now see. The evening of my second day I should spend at a theatre or at the movies.

The following morning, I should again greet the dawn, anxious to discover new delights, new revelations of beauty. Today this third day, I shall spend in the workaday world, amid the haunts of men going about the business of life.

Atmidnight permanent night would close on me again. Only when darkness had again descended upon me should I realize how much I had left unseen.

I am sure that if you faced the fate of blindness you would use your eyes as never before. Everything you saw will become dear to you. Your eyes will touch and embrace every object that came within your range of vision. Then, at least, you would really see, and a new world of beauty would open itself before you.

I who am blind can give one hint to those who see: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. And the same method can be applied to the other senses. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell and taste again. Make the most of every sense; glory in all the facets of pleasure and beauty, which the world reveals to you through the several means of contact which nature provides. But of all the senses, I am sure that sight must be the most delightful.”

By Helen Keller


...brilliant reminders