My orchid cactus, given to me as a clipping from someone’s yard, is blooming. For many years I had no idea what I had. I stuck the clipping in a pot and subsequently forgot about it. It grew to be unexceptional, spindly, and unattractive by normal standards of beauty. I[…]
June 12: The day contained several moments of gratitude starting with the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes this morning — the sun. I know it means the heat wave is on its way but for the briefest of moments it brings relief and a burst of[…]
June 8: Last weekend was amazing. I gathered with 4 other women for a weekend of creativity, inspiration, soul filling conversation, nurturing, my first aura reading, oracle cards, homemade Crab Eggs Benedict , a visit to my first metaphysical store, singing, dancing, Margaritas, art education, Reiki, sweet Bella, and a[…]
June 2: I’m enjoying one big art date with two women from Michigan, one from Illinois, one from Canada, and myself from California. These women have nurtured me creatively and spiritually for just over 3 years now and I’m grateful to be here with them this weekend.
May 18: Every morning I read a passage from The Book of Awakening, a book by Mark Nepo. Today’s entry is about friendship. Honest friends are doorways to our souls, and loving friends are the grasses that soften the world I immediately think of the friends who’ve graciously allowed me to change[…]
April 29: Last night my husband and I attended the wedding of a woman I’ve known for almost 25 years. She is one of five women, all at one time co-workers, that have kept in touch despite no longer working for the company that introduced us all. We sporadically keep[…]
April 23: I’m a little late writing about this gratitude moment, mostly because it was difficult to write about on the day of its occurrence. Gratitude can sometimes be bittersweet. Three years ago my brother gifted me this blog so that I could write about a hobby that unbeknownest to me,[…]
April 7: Establishing relationships online is not always a bad thing, especially if it’s through a group and you meet because of a common interest. Three years ago I participated in Brene Brown’s Gifts of Imperfection eCourse. It was my first experience with an eCourse, with art journaling, using art[…]
April 4: I’ve been thinking a lot about help lately. I grew up not knowing how to ask for help. I shouldn’t burden you, which is a thinly veiled excuse for not feeling worthy enough to deserve your time. I grew up not knowing how to accept help. I should be able[…]
April 2: Spring has arrived in Southern California. Warm sunny days, cool nights, green hills dotted with mustard flowers. The first roses of the year are blooming, my first Monarch caterpillar is munching away on a Milkweed plant, and somewhere in my yard there is a hummingbird nest because why[…]
March 19th: Sometimes what we’re grateful for is faraway, hidden in the muck of all our usual thoughts, revealed to us as a suggestion from someone else’s perspective. As I write this sentence I’m reminded of one of my original goals, to offer different perspectives of gratitude, but it didn’t[…]
March 13th: On this day in 2005 I was in Paris, on this day in 2009 I was in Banff, and on this day in 2013 I was in the Galapagos. For very different reasons these were three very significant trips. Two of them included my husband and another couple.[…]
March 8th: I am grateful for the sunny disposition of these sunflowers and this heart rock, a token of inspiration and friendship given to me by a massage therapist who generously shares her creative spirit and healing energy.
March 5th: I participated in an activism training program given by Sara El-Amine today. She is the former National Grassroots Organizing Director at Organizing for Action, President Obama’s grassroots 20-million-person strong movement, and is known as “The Organizer of Organizers”. The program’s goal is to empower individuals to be political[…]
January 27th: I have a group of friends with a desire to be held accountable for their 2017 goals, a desire to be here on this day in 2018 and say “I made this happen for myself”. Goals are big when you’re young — get an education, find a job that is rewarding[…]
Today I am inspired to continue my butterfly journey. This last generation suffered so many losses I was ready to call it quits, to shut down the sanctuary. Why am I even raising butterflies and writing about it? There’s much that can be said here about perseverance and failure. I[…]
Let’s recap my plight earlier this year — warm winter, tons of caterpillars, not enough Milkweed, too early in the season to buy plants at the nursery, starvation. And the plight of the Monarch population in general? In decline. Solution? More Milkweed. My book club read Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver the[…]