....and the winner is....

Megg! Congratulations! I am sure you will find or create something beautiful to pay forward...:-)

~Paying It Forward

('Lotus Rising' 2009)


I was just peeking in at my friend Darlene's blog ,and she is offering three of her beautiful photographic prints for her reader's to win. The winner is supposed to 'pay it forward' by then offering something up for their readers.

I just think it's such a fun idea...and I hate waiting on things, so...I thought I would just jump on in...and offer a print of the above painting to one of my readers. My kids will be drawing names next Sunday night...

Have a great week! :-)
ox

~Softly Unfocused...

I've been missing blogging lately...missing visiting and commenting at my favorites...but right now I am completely entangled. During the day I am going about my usual routine...playing with my little ones...running my household...squeezing in time to study, and practice my yoga. Everything, is the same, and yet, completely different. I can't really find the words to explain this sensation any better...

I remember when I was reading the discription for this course I am taking. Right there in black and white it said it would be a...'profound, personal experience...'. Um....yes, yes, it has been...It has also awakened me to the fact that this is only the very first baby step. I love learning...learning about myself, about others...My body has become so much stronger, but it's the meditation that's been the real kicker...again, it's something that's hard to explain. If you do it, you know what I mean...

I can feel the little prickles of change coming. Spring just around the corner...my son's hockey season finishing...my course finishing...free time...time to plan, to dream...how do I want to teach...where do I want to teach...what do I want to study next...(herbalism, I think.:-) Gardens to get ready...a greenhouse to be build and planted...a house that desperately needs a little work...canvases that need to be painted...camping...hiking...friends to meet...journeys to take...You know how it is, I'm sure you've got a list a mile long too...



All this truly has me feeling happily...softly unfocused...:-)


Namaste....xo

Today I ache...
For the light...
Sand between my toes...
The endless roar of the sea...
Dancing in the pauses of the waves...
The screech of birds soaring overhead...
Hauntingly beautiful cedars...reaching ever up to the sky...
Time worn...telling their tales...

Today I long for...
Farm fresh flowers in a milk carton...
Bought from a roadside stand...
Bike rides down island country roads...
Wooden basket picnics...
The flick of a whale's tale...

Breathing...breathing deep...
Fire lit faces...turned up to the stars...
Soft whispers...
Deep dreamed nights.





Yes...today I feel especially weary of this season of winter. It is not a day of sunshine, and glistening snow. No, those days I can honestly say I love winter. Today is grey...dreary...cold...wet...and I am shamelessly pining for the magic of a season that is still a little ways off...

Friday Fun...

(I may have an unnatural love for the colour green...:-)


Hi there...feeling much, much lighter today...The sun is shining, and dare I say, playful? Uh,huh. This morning seemed perfect for a little wander around the house with my camera...:-)

(I love this old tin.)

(The photograph is my mother-in-law, and her mom...a family treasure. The etiquette book from 1953 I picked up at a garage sale in Victoria...it's a great read if you need some laughs.)

(This vintage Coke add always reminds me of Jon and I when we started out...)

(Starfish make me smile...)

(Old stove on the back deck.)

(...and I had to share this awesome entertainment center that Jon built. The doors are windows that we salvaged from our house when we built the addition. It's my favorite thing that he's built yet.)


Sooo...feel free to pop in for tea. I'll even clear the laundry off my table for you...:-)

Happy weekend!
xo

Love and Compassion...

(Cozy scarf and necklace from Liz Elayne I love them both!:-)


(*Disclaimer. The following post was written on almost no sleep and too much coffee. A quick note to parents with little ones...please beware! Your preteens can keep you up more than a newborn!)

So I guess I've been in hiding. Not intentionally...but through two back-to-back illnesses(which is very strange for me) I just found myself knocked right down. You know that feeling when you're sick, and you start to imagine what it would be like if this is the best you ever felt...ever again? I started back-tracking over the past few weeks...how I haven't eaten properly...slept properly...struggling through my yoga practice.(It has been anything but a 'moving meditation'.)I can't even remember the last time I picked up a paintbrush...All of this, in turn, has made me a regular 'Little Suzie Sunshine'.

The very first concept I learned about yoga philosophy was 'ahimsa'...having a sense of love and compassion for all living things...which strangely enough, is supposed to include yourself. This is something that is a constant work in progress for me. So yesterday,as I was really focusing much of my energy on this...and found myself being reminded of a time that seems very far in the distance...

I grew up in a home that was a little unconventional(I know, who didn't?). The best way I guess to describe it, was that things were excessively strict, and ridiculously permissive at the same time. I am the oldest of four children...and I guess I could honestly say, I was born a 'mother'. Due to work and schooling commitments of my parents I grew up very fast. By ten I was cooking dinner, doing laundry, and caring for my three younger siblings on my own quite a bit...all the while being a straight A student. I babysat for my parent's friends quite a bit, and sometimes that money would go to help run the house. I worked very hard at being the perfect daughter...perfect student.Somehow, I would be loved...

This is how it went until I was almost seventeen...when I kind of lost it, and began living two lives. On the surface, nothing was noticed, but it could have been. I followed curfews...and rules...my report cards escaped being checked, so my parents totally missed that my grades went directly in the toilet. I could have given a shit...There were parties...and experimenting...and complete disregard for personal safety...Ya,the exact opposite of 'ahimsa'. But in the blink of one terrified eye one night everything changed...It just hit me that if anyone was going to pull this sliver of a girl onto the right path, it was going to have to be me. Literally overnight, that is what I did. I took that girl's hand and we ran...fast! I retreated from anything unhealthy...I dove headfirst into my studies, and quickly brought my grades back up...I used money from an after school job to put myself through classical guitar (Okay...I honestly suck at this...:-) and classical voice training (Much, much better at this.)I spent my spare time writing, and sketching...practising...singing...studying. I just threw myself headlong into joy with reckless abandon...and then came the best part...tumbling head over heals into the arms of one very, very special person...Someone brave enough to put up with my crap...and so kind that he truly makes my life better everyday...(well...almost everyday...;-)

So, I guess the point of my spouting here, is that I suspect, deep down we do know what is best for ourselves...we do know how to be caring and kind to ourselves...if we just stop and listen. Maybe allowing ourselves to hear it is the hardest part? I know lots of women who don't realize how wonderful they are...So girls, please... feel free to wrap your arms around yourselves...come on...I dare YOU! :)

xo

(...and speaking of love. I just couldn't resist...:-)

~Littlest Birds...

I'm alive...and actually feeling quite human today. This is a song that my little girlie and I just adore. It's 'Littlest Birds' by The Be Good Tanyas. We love to dance around together singing it, and man, my girl can sing...:)





I'm dying to actually write something...anything...but the words just aren't coming right now...but it is my hope where ever you are today, you are happy, and the sun is shining...Basically, I'm just popping in to say 'Hi!'...:)

xo