the goods: list 19

• time spent this week with beloveds in this new landscape: at the beach on my birthday, making wishes & sending them out to the ocean; at the farm snapping photos & resting under an oak tree; on the sunporch sharing silence & sighs; around tables enjoying nourishment - food, wine, toasts & laughter - together; in the car singing tunes on our way to & from day adventures...
• enormous gratitude for this one month temporary home. my first landing spot in my leap north. a space inhabited by two generous beings. thank you, thank you, thank you, m + d.

• week 1 of Mondo Beyondo. what a colorFULL community! brilliant tasks, exercises & conversations are unfolding here - including: creating a list of my Mondo Beyondo dreams (dreams that enliven me!); listening to an interview with SARK (she spoke of her commitment to "what brings me the most joy" & inspired me to name what i'm committed to - alive & awake choices); being sent on a secret mission (spreading kindness); and, connecting with local peeps who are participating in the course (i want to co-create a local gathering of Mondo Beyondo-ers!).
• spending time yesterday with bella's favorite creature:

• an appointment in a square by the river to meet up with one of my lovely new roomies, sign the lease & ceremoniously receive the key to my new home. i move in on wednesday. so excited!
• tomorrow's train ride to be with my parents & bro for a few days.
• a friend went to the beach on wednesday & at one point during her day she set the intention to "find heart-shaped stones/rocks for gem." she found 5! 5 - all within reach of the chair she was sitting on! magic...
• honoring my sleep*less & sometimes turbulent nights, my anxious heart & my chattering mind. honoring my need for space & quiet; knowing it's okay that i haven't returned all those phone calls & e-mails. trusting that this - the whole of this - is an invitation. it is a part of this adventure & the greater adventure - being who i am precisely created/intended to be. all is well. i am well.
• Eugenia Last's "Astrological Forecast" on my birth*day: "...look to the future with optimism. Now is the time to make crucial changes that will set you up for the future. Positive action will bring results financially, personally and emotionally. Reevaluate and release what you don't need."

even without effort

rose quartz (heart shaped) - a birth*day gift from a beloved

i am holding & marinating in the truth of this wisdom card (from The Wisdom of Elves and Fairies - Messengers of the Miraculous by Gayan Sylvie Winter) - letting it in, letting it in:

"All you need in life will

come to you even without effort."

34

today i am celebrating my 34th birth*day. this week i've been working on a list: 34 for 34. here are my 34 for 34:

1. feel safe, comfortable, delighted, connected & inspired in my new home.
2. attend Squam Art Workshops in september. i arrive in 3 1/2 weeks!
3. (continue) being bRAVe in this.
4. build my practice.
5. write, write, write.
6. publish one or two or + of my writings.
7. follow my heart.
8. listen for spirit's guidance.
9. celebrate, enjoy & laugh with beLOVEds.
10. make podcasts.
11. post a vlog or two or three...
12. be with my family at thanksgiving & christmas.
13. travel to wyoming to officiate a commitment ceremony.
14. create & lead 4 seasonal rituals.
15. co-create a local creative expression group. meet monthly.
16. co-create a local spirit group. meet monthly.
17. participate fully in the Mondo Beyondo inaugural on-line course.
18. create a course.
19. collaborate with another bloggie beauty on an on-line project.
20. say "yes!" when & only when i am a heart*full "yes!"
21. nourish, heal & strengthen the temple of my body.
22. honor my daily morning practice.
23. plan a trip abroad.
24. travel to portland, maine to visit with beauties a few times throughout the year.
25. travel to the berkshires to visit with friends.
26. create, be & share in loving partnership.
27. take daily photos.
28. continue to practice the great lesson of 2009: flow. keep the energy flowin'.
29. go to a halloween party.
30. go apple and/or berry picking.
31. continue the work that is unfolding in partnership with Women for Women International in honor of bella.
32. cultivate a powerful & aligned relationship with time.
33. cultivate a powerful & aligned relationship with technology.
34. honor my voice & my intuition.

looking deeply & encountering life

"...it is exactly the way we practice mindfulness. We try to be in touch with life and look deeply as we drink our tea, walk, sit down, or arrange flowers. The secret of the success is that you are really yourself, and when you are really yourself, you can encounter life in the present moment."

~ from Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh

today -

may we be really ourselves.

may we look deeply.

may we touch life.

my art & the language of my life

a piece of the path i walked yesterday

these recent days i am holding several questions - questions that inspire & delight. here are two:

1. what is my art?

2. what is the language of my life?

on monday i explored these questions in one of my journals, starting with the question, "what is my art?" as my words moved through me (& my fingers) & to the screen i started to see that my response to "what is the language of my life?" mirrors my response to "what is my art?" my art is the language of my life & the language of my life is my art. when i ask "what is my art?" & when i ask "what is the language of my life?" i am asking the same question. i also see that my art is & the language of my life is: my gift, my skill & my contribution.

my art & the language of my life is:

• being
• breathing
• showing up
• seeing, naming, honoring & celebrating what is, the wholly holy & the extraordinary ordinary
• presence, peace & practice
• gratitude & appreciation
• creation
• light-full & light-ness
• joy
• gentle-ness, kind-ness & generosity
• healing
• illuminating
• delight
• savoring
• sweet-ness
• enough & perfection
• partnership with Spirit, ancestors, Nature, partner, children, family, friends, colleagues & acquaintances
• loving
• mindful-ness
• listening
• fluid, flowing, impermanent
• simplicity

what is your art? what is the language of your life?

"our art will flower"

"Everything we do is an act of poetry or a painting if we do it with mindfulness...If we just act with awareness and integrity, our art will flower...the being is essential. So we must go back to ourselves, and when we have joy and peace in ourselves, our creations of art will be quite natural, and they will serve the world in a positive way."

~ from Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh

heart*soaring & soul*singing

inspired by this post by Jamie Ridler i made a list of things i value, things that are important to me, things of the heart soaring & soul singing variety.

1. Aligning with & living in partnership with the rhythms of the earth, nature, seasons & my being.
2. Being. Being with.
3. Process.
4. Magic.
5. Honoring & celebrating the daily, the ordinary extraordinary.
6. Creation. Creativity.
7. Beauty.
8. Tenderness, Kindness, Generosity.
9. Love.
10. Light.
11. Home.

mermaid dreams & morning light & other things

yesterday: commuter rail, subway, car, shuttle bus. traveling on the interstate and through inviting small towns to the beach. sunshine. clear water. diving in. dinner with friends and friends of friends. water and iced tea. rice. salmon. salad. a warm cookie for dessert. sitting at the table for hours. conversation. laughter. silence. appreciation. the day sung me into a sweet, long sleep and mermaid dreams.

today (so far): the start of my birth*day week. waking without an alarm. staying in bed. my morning practice. dressing. apple chunks sprinkled with cinnamon. plans for time outdoors, getting work done, making phone calls and seeing Julie & Julia. and, this morning light on my bed:

the goods: list 18

• on monday night, while conversing with a soul*sister, these lines from this song worked their way to me & whispered through me: "Peace in the struggle / To find peace / Comfort on the way / To comfort..." these words rose as my prayer for her. this week i have a long string of souls for whom i wish & sing this prayer. in particular, three college students - one who nearly lost his life, one who nearly took a life & one who was a witness. for them, their families & friends & for all of us, i sing & pray peace & comfort.
• the trailer to a movie entitled, Lemonade. watch here.
• Kindness Swap. i heart this idea!
• on wednesday night i found my new home space in this new geography. this find was pure magic. i move into my new home on or around september 1. there are so many gifts in this. including, being a 10 minute walk to two homes of beloved friends. lucky, lucky me.
• a 24 hour visit with family friends & my momma. my momma & i had a slumber party. such fun!
• this message from an excerpt entitled, "Aimlessness", in Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh: "There is a word in Buddhism that means 'wishlessness' or 'aimlessness.' The idea is that you do not put something in front of you and run after it, because everything is already here, in yourself...we do not try to arrive anywhere...If we keep thinking of the future, of what we want to realize, we will lose our steps...Each moment brings us back to life...By taking good care of the present moment, we take good care of the future." let us honor our steps. let us be brought back to life in this moment & this moment & ...
• sitting here at my desk, by the window, receiving the warm breeze & softening in the sunlight.
• thinking about the fall. fall in this new geography. cherishing summer.

the goods: list 17

• Megg's blog: More to Me.
• an excerpt of a commencement address given by Sue Monk Kidd & Ann Kidd Taylor. listen here. Ann's words speak to me: "The novelist John Gardner suggested that the true search in life is for one's 'necessary fire.' I believe he was referring to the genuine, inborn desire in one's heart - the one that feels required, as if it is part of your purpose for being here. Your necessary fire is an endeavor that holds the possibility to bring you alive, but also one with which you have a deep compatibility, a true affinity." what is your necessary fire? Sue & Ann's new book, Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story, will be published in the fall.
• as part of my daily morning practice, i read an excerpt (one a day, a vitamin of sorts) from Thich Nhat Hanh's work, Peace Is Every Step. this morning i underlined these words in the passage entitled, "Walking Meditation", "Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet." and, these words, "Every step makes a flower bloom under your feet."
• i am reading, often in the moments before sleep, Everyday Spiritual Practice. this work is a collection of essays on spiritual practice written by various writers & edited by Scott M. Alexander. always words & phrases like these resonate & delight: "connected"; "sense of oneness"; "to know our place and our value"; "essence"; "continuous play of creation"; "appreciation"; "using all of our senses"; "feeling the ground"; "dedicate"; "flow"; "cradle"; "whispering"; "observe"; "miracle"; "practice"; "impeccable"; and, "deep currents."
• feeling at home in the north. grateful for my proximity to dear, dear friends - friends with whom i feel at home. in particular, three women, two men & two wee boys. i feel lucky. so lucky. and, cared for. and, hopeFULL.
• with most of these dear, dear friends (see above) i spent the weekend exploring this new geography. by the ocean. in the sunshine one day & underneath a heavy blanket o' clouds the next day. walking. driving. laughing. tearing. making alive & awake choices. speaking. listening. hugging. holding.
• these are my prayers & intentions for the week: listen for the heartFULL "yes!" live conscious. schedule my days. be powerFULL. speak the truth. create.

the day after i arrived

rising after 10 hours of rest.

the migraine dissipating in the night hours.

waking in my new bed in this new and temporary home space (until i find a more permanent home).

walking across the hall and through a room to say good morning to my friend, l., who traveled north with me to this new home. grateful for her presence in the transition.

yoga.

a warm shower. a baptism of sorts.

greeting the generous people (the mother and father of a dear friend) who have opened their home to me for a month or two while i create new work and home.

a cup of ginger peach tea and the sunday morning paper.

friendly chatter.

phoning a beloved sister, d., who lives nearby and creating a plan to spend sunday afternoon hours together. the first of many hours we will spend together now that i'm here.

a sweet sunday breakfast. l. treated.

sitting in the backyard with l. looking at maps of this new geography, my new home. i heart maps.

embracing l. before she departed.

driving to the organic farm with d. i thought of her and how much she would love this farm; i imagined the photos she would take. d. and i sat at the picnic table by the perfect climbing tree for minutes leading into an hour +.

a solo walk around the neighborhood. quiet. green. an answered prayer. perfection.

looking forward to taking pictures and posting some of them here.

coming here to share with you.