taking great pleasure in these simple joys the last few days...
a walk in some sunshine this weekend
having a lunch at our favorite cafe
visiting with our sweet neighbor and sharing a cafe and conversation
hearing the birds sing evening songs outside the window
catching up with a dear friend and planning her visit to italy (so exciting)
my great green hat that j gave me for the holidays
the buzz of creativity that's happening in this house
being on the verge of 100% healthy - (my running shoes & yoga mat have missed me)
the amazing online possibilities that are being launched this year
teachers like kiran bir sethi and the power of 'i can'
there are times in life when i find myself overwhelmed with the world - and not in a negative sense. it's like my heart is full and then some simple 'thing' happens - be it an unexpected comment, gesture, kind act, something i notice, a surprise letter/email but usually it is simple and ordinary - and it causes my heart to overflow.
i say all of this at the risk of sounding completely corny, crazy or both but it's true and genuine for me. i can recall moments like this all the way back into my childhood. it's like a momentary awareness of all the inexplicable beauty in the world and it just hits you, shocks your system a bit, rocks your world, and then as unpredictably as it arrives - it gracefully settles back down into the recesses of your soul. it's a clarity...a lifting...a peace. nothing in your life is changed after wards, but you are left with the memory of this very difficult to articulate moment. i felt this today. i cannot tell you why or when it exactly came on, but i realized it in the moment. i was simply aware of it...and so very grateful for it.
**and to be true and honest, i have those other moments too - you know the ones where you feel deflated, defeated, and it's a struggle to define anything good in the world. i wouldn't be human if i didn't have the both. but i also believe wholeheartedly that it is my mind that creates my reality, so i work very hard to be completely aware of this during those darker moments. everything in life is as fleeting as the breath.
lazy, late mornings where we linger in pj's, strolls down to our favorite cafe for an afternoon treat, long lists forming mentally of all the dreams for 2010, creative pursuits and wishes formulating for the year to come, afternoons curled up with a cup of tea and a good read, late nights snuggled with a little babe nestled in my arms, squeals of delight from kai as he plays with each and every newly acquired toy or puzzle over and over again, those delicious moments of silence and tranquility that happen in fleeting moments throughout the day, long soaks in a warm tub that invites a busy mind and sore muscles with salts and aromatic blends, a long slow sip of a glass of wine as i savor each and every one of these precious moments.
(photo by j)
it's been a long week and in some ways a hard week - but i am pausing right now with hopes of re-shifting my thoughts a bit...
i am thankful to my friend, beth, who made this lovely blog banner for me. i love how it seems to capture so much of my world that i hold so dear. beth, you have a beautiful artistic eye as a photographer and a designer. thank you for taking the time to create such a pretty banner!
other simple joys i am choosing to focus on today~
i smile every time i look at this photo strip we took while in dc. our pics escalated into 'pirate faces' which seem to be all the rage around our house these days! aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh
the peace of mind i feel during a run
corn chowder and corn bread on a chilly night
a warm cup of spicy tea
a letter from my grandmother
the wonderfully supportive and encouraging community i have found through this blog - i am so thankful for the connections and friends that i have discovered along this path
a freshly sharpened pencil
moments of peace while nursing baby ryder
this video (love it still)
the colors, oh, the colors here
the feeling of the holidays alive in the air and awake in the streets
kai's sweet voice, "tell me about your day, mama"
the sound of wind and it rushing over the sea in the distance
**what simple joys have you come across today?**
i feel like i just blinked and there went ten years...but it began years before that. j and i have been together since i was 20. when i think about it, who i was then, what i thought my life would be like...i never imagined that i would still be with the one person who makes me laugh out loud, knows my most cherished secrets and my deepest fears, or who can make me want to pull my hair out in frustration sometimes, or who pushes me to be the person i most long to be (but can keep myself from), or who has given me a family and two sweet boys whom i adore, and who has taught me how to really love.
i look at our dresser and on top is a photo of j and i at my senior show in college. i see he and i both with long hair and that awkward stance of posing for a photo when you are newly dating, and next to it, is this photo from our wedding. i recall that november night under the pecan trees on the farm, being surrounded by nearly everyone in my world that i hold dear. i remember this dance, to this song, and thinking - wow, can life get any sweeter than this?!
and now here we are, ten years down the road. j's long hair is long gone but his creative passions and pursuits are still just as vivid. and i find myself surrounded by the one man and two little men whom i hold most dear in this world... and i think....was i ever wrong ten years ago, because life became sweeter still.
with all my heart, j, i love you more today than yesterday. happy anniversary. xoxo
(the leaf pictured here is not the leaf mentioned in this post)
the past week there has been a tiny, brilliantly red leaf nestled along the green grass that lines our driveway. each time i'd come home, i'd notice her there. it was as if she was there to offer a lovely, warm welcome. even though i was tempted to pick her up, take her inside, and pin her to my inspiration wire - i decided instead to leave her there so that i could seek her out for a glimpse of autumn each time i walked up the drive. yesterday we had stormy weather and very strong winds, i walked in today and felt a teeny pang of sadness as my beautiful leaf had blown away in the wind. part of me wished i had picked her up and brought her inside...but then again i felt her greeting was a silent secret handshake and was meant to be fleeting.
colors of an autumn leaf on the sidewalk
organic soy milk
grins from my teeny boy
"i love you the marvelest, mama" from kai
morning sunlight
a few stolen moments on my yoga mat
the scent of my oil paint sticks
this tune
uplifting surprise postcards in the mail (thx for organizing, pixie dust!!)
sleeping in with a teeny baby curled up in my arms
