Poetic Inspiration for a rainy day

watercolor on watercolor paper
3/2014

Between stimulus and response

there is a space.

In that space is our power to

chose our response.

In our response lies our

growth and freedom.

 - Victor Frankl

I found this poem, somewhere…..I don't remember except that I liked it.

Or maybe it is a quote from a yoga website,  as adults we are very capable of using the above words for guidance in our everyday encounters.

I recently have begun understanding what it means to walk and speak truth.

I recently begun to understand that the other person is me and what it means to be compassionate.

the human heart, the heartbeat, life

“The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand” – Robert Valett

Heart yantra
watercolor on watercolor paper

It all begins with a heartbeat…..

Today in yoga the instructor began class with the knowledge that at five weeks gestation a heart beat is audible, not the brain, but the beat of the heart.

It reminded me of the first time I heard the thump, thump, thump of my son’s heartbeat at about 5 – 6 weeks.  It sounded like a miracle.

The heartbeat is a miracle, but it is the heart that feels and the brain that responds.

Our feeling comes before our ability to think.

It is the heart chakra that must remain open for us to thrive and live and prosper.

And many of our hearts take such a beating on the path of life, broken promises, miss spoke words, actions and re-actions, situations that it takes time to heal from. 

The heart itself is a strong muscle, as big as our fist. 

How do we keep our heart open when life throws curve balls, hard balls, tidal waves and storms our way??????

Then comes the question what do you love? Do you do what you love? If the answer is yes then get your mitt on and catch those balls, get on a surfboard and ride it out, put on the best rain gear you’ve got.

Our heart is the most precious part of us, it begins at 5 weeks of conception to beat for us…. What makes your heart beat?

What makes your heart stay open?

Life is a precious gift.

Love and OM

Watercolor on watercolor paper
12/2013

I love watercolor, I love playing with this media.  My new thing is to draw something, a little hard, and then watercolor it.

I love the sound OM.  it is everything.

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2014 BEGINNINGS

Spiral of Life
watercolor on watercolor paper
12/2013

I am putting out to the universe that I am ready to receive, simple clear messages, like about what I should do when I am challenged by life’s circumstances.

Taking risks.  I am going to take risks. 

I am once again doing a 30 yoga challenge. Yep, that means a class a day for thirty days.

I would do it anyway, because it helps me start my day. 

I am going to be kind, loving and gentle to everyone, even those who piss me off.

I have learned not to think I have it under control.  Just to say I am on top of it. Because when I think I have it under control, it just explodes in my face.

I am learning.  I am learning new things, new things about myself.

I am realizing the truth about who I am.  I am embracing who I am.

Twenty thirteen

Love
collage on wood
12/2013

What a year!!!!!

I started in a place with misgivings and uncertainty in certain areas of my life and have moved to another place filled with hope and possibilities!!

         I have embraced parts of myself that I let go off and had not tended to for a long time.

People that I care about have passed on to another existence leaving a beautiful memory, reminding me of who I am.

I stepped into a new beautiful new experience letting go of the gym and gymrats. I guess to embrace something NEW we have to let go of that which doesn’t serve us anymore.

         I found YOGA.  And I love it everyday.  And it is beginning to change me as I take the risk of connecting deeper with myself through movement and breath. I love going through a vinyasa or chaturanga, even if I am still not so strong in it.  I love rising up in warrior 2, I feel exultant and powerful.  Like I have climbed a mountain and through hard work got to the top.  I love camel’s pose and opening my heart. 

         I did some traveling for fun and visited a city I never thought in a million years that I would enjoy. NYC!!!! Yeah that’s crazy.  I loved being there, I saw 2 shows, and visited Chelsea and mid town.

It was so fabulous, to be somewhere just for fun.  I walked so much, I dressed like I did in college and loved being there. 

         I am dealing with my food issues.  I took a Giant leap and released myself from eating fruit everyday.  I realized I was strangling myself with sugar.  We will see what the blood work reveals when I get tested again. Still love roasted brussel sprouts and Persian cucumbers.

         I found out I am a strong woman, rooted to a core of strong values.One of being do no harm. Inside I often feel like a little girl who needs someone to protect her, but the reality is I always

WOMAN UP.   I handle my business and even better take responsibility for the actions I make in the world.

         Devotional love, I am still pondering what that means and connect it to unconditional love and higher love and love with no limits, boundaries, contracts, restraints or tethers.  I am accepting that kind of love and giving that kind of love.

         I still love little human beings.  My gosh, they make the difference in so much of life for me.  I have to remember to never let that go.  That unconditional devotional love I have for nurturing life.

         Which brings me to adults and their words.  I had some counsel that turned out to be incorrect time line wise.  It hurt like the dickens. I am learning that sometimes one has to let go of people and situations that aren’t healthy, that feels lonely. But my survival is more important than letting someone drag me down. And the flip side of that coin is there are people just waiting to connect with me on a deeper level.

         I am a strong woman, I keep on going, I don’t let the morass of indecency get me down too long. I want to translate that strength to my physical form, to my emotional form, to my spiritual form. I want to be strong enough to move my body through life.  Yoga helps me do that.  My mind focuses, my breath gets me through and my body participates.

My goals for 2014 –

Live, Love, Laugh, Be

Be in the moment, be in the now.

Live like I love my life and all of the people inhabiting it.

Nothing without Joy

 

Spiral
watercolor on watercolor paper

What is joy?

A feeling, a giddiness, a resonance with the mind body and soul.

A beingness of happiness and pleasure.  Delight.

What does it mean to say nothing without joy?

To me it means to do what I must do with a light heart, even if the situation is heavily emotionally laden.

It can happen through the flow of time and space that we encounter challenges to this lighthearted way of being.

And that is where the learning is…..can we gracefully flow through the challenge in front of us?

It takes a great deal of effort, focus and discipline.

One has to remember not to let the situation affect our personal joy but find strength in having that (joy) as a foundation.

I have been tested.  I discovered that Epsom salt baths help to relieve the tension that can build up in my soft tissues.

I discovered that healing music and support my mind in staying focused on what is true.

AND, AND AND I remembered that everyone is doing the best they can do right here, right now. AND, AND,  that helped me with being calm and knowing this will all pass.

My goal for this year is joy. To be and do with joy and to spread joy in anyway I can.

Balance - find centeredness

I am learning, to breathe and stay centered in my truth. I am remembering my purpose and what the meaning of my life is about.  And that helps me stay centered as I travel through the experiences around me.