Spring is blooming and whispering its song on the wind, and I am in love with the blossoming trees all around me! Trees are one of my most favorite things in the world and especially the cherry blossom tree, (“sakura” in Japanese). Every time I turn a corner I see the evidence of spring! This past month I think I have taken over 100 photos of all of the variations of blossoms in sizes and shades of pinks and whites.

 

 

On the morning of my birthday, I woke up to a lightly dusted layer of soft snow gently resting over the blooming trees. Every time I looked at the joyful pink branches with their white flurry snow covers, my entire being was smiling!

 

The spring air and the blossoms always remind me of the years that I lived in Washington D.C. and I loved to go down and walk along the pathway to the Jefferson Memorial. I was in awe of the breathtaking blossoms. Their awakening season always bringing a sense of renewal of new life and a feeling of hope in the air.

I truly fell in love with these sense-arousing blossoms
In the way that they weave themselves through the windy twists and bends
In layered shades of pinks
Appearing from afar as plush feather blankets Lightly covering the angular golden green branches
With natures backdrop, a contrasting vivid hue of deep blue skies
As they bow to their place in this yearly dance
~Rebecca Holt

 

Living in DC was a truly dreamy, magical time in my life. I had an amazing group of close friends who were living there on what I liked to call our “Extended Vacation Adventure.” Every weekend we took a different road trip to a new place. I remember us laughing all of the time. One particular trip we took was to Virginia Beach and I remember one day of that trip so vividly it’s as if it were today.

 

On the beach that day in the beaming warm sunlight with my feet in the sand, I turned to my friend Steph and said, “How does it get better than this magical life?” Laying out in the sun by the ocean, feeling the water and sun on me, laughing and eating yummy food.

 

Every part of me was connected to the warm, sunny, vibrant, feeling of creative joy and adventure, and being in love with my life! Being in the flow of this magical, creative “springtime” energy inspired me to look for more photos of sakura in all parts of the world.

In the first part of my photo adventure, I came across this inviting photo (right) of a lush white living room beautifully decorated with clean white natural lines, sheepskin rug covered cushions and a low table containing a contrasting large clear glass vase holding tall winding branches with round light pink blossoms. I was immediately drawn into the center of this room, with its fresh enlightening vibe of sensing springtime coming, and the

 

perfect light cascading through the windows highlighting the bending blooms. I found myself in my mind sitting on one of the soft sheepskin covered cushions alongside the low table.

The writer commented on her recommendation of placing blossoms throughout the home in order to ring in the spring. She was anticipating her annual drive to admire and celebrate the Cherry Blossom trees. I was instantly taken back once again to my magical time in DC. These images inspired me to look back through the historical journey of the Cherry Blossom tree. The word Hanami, (花見, lit. “flower viewing”), is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying and celebrating the Cherry Blossom.

To the Japanese, Hanami is not just an annual tradition of admiring flowers. The annual search for sakura carries the metaphor of “Mono no aware” (物の哀れ), a Japanese aesthetic sensibility, based on the buddhist concept of impermanence, that focuses on the awareness of the fleeting nature of things and a sense of wistful nostalgia at their passing.

 

To honor these breathtaking harbingers of spring, and their deep ephemeral symbolism, the Japanese have created this gathering with food, friends and celebration, beneath the blossoming Sakura.

I loved discovering that the practice of Hanami has been around for centuries. Originally the Japanese used the Sakura to bless the year’s harvest and to announce the beginning of rice- planting season. Through many traditions, poems have been written in honor and admiration of the breathtaking blossoms and their beautiful, yet wistful reminder that all things fade away.

 

 

 

Saigyó Hōshi, a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period wrote many verses about this melancholic longing for the spirit of the cherry blossoms. Here is one of his famous verses below that many refer to when talking about the concept that spring-like, magical, joyful moments in life are fleeting.

 

 

 

Ne-ga-wa-ku wa (I would die in the spring,)
ha-na no shi-ta ni te (under the blossoms,)
ha-ru shi-na-mu (in the second month)
so-no ki-sa-ra-gi no (at the time of)
mo-chi-zu-ki no ko-ro (the full moon

 

 

 

 

In early Japan, the people believed in “kami,“ known as the spirits or forces of nature dwelling in the trees.” The people gathered around the sacred trees to honor and pay tribute to them. Originally Hanami was practiced by only the wealthy. The emperors would hold “flower viewing parties” in their courts.

 

 

 

Over time, farmers began the tradition of climbing the mountains nearby in the spring and eating their lunch under the blossoms. This practice called the “Spring Mountain Trip,” combined with the elite gatherings, formed the tradition and practice of Hanami that is celebrated today.

I love the practice of Hanami and the honoring of the breathtaking Sakura. However, I do not believe that the deep, rich moments of creativity, love, laughter and incredible joy in life are fleeting, and confined to only one season. In every moment we are literally breathing a new birth and a death of the passing moment before and with each new moment we have the possibility of renewal.

I believe that our deeply succulent lives are more than just a “Spring Mountain Trip!” Our lives are waiting for us to climb down from the mountain tops, where we are merely observing from a distance, and we are being called to Join The Dance!!

I realize now that on that sunny mystical day in Virginia Beach, I remembered an ancient part of my soul. The beautiful woven tapestry of the “MAGIC CARPET” of life was reignited within me! I didn’t leave it on the beach that day… I gathered up the light warmth of the sun and that feeling of being in love with life and carried it with me in the soles of my feet and in my heart.

I realize that I am here on this planet to spread an endless supply of love, creativity, laughter, adventure and sunshiny joy to others… and to sing out with the news that our lives are a beautiful woven mosaic of wonder just waiting for us to jump on the “Magic Carpet Ride.”

The contagious renewal of the flow of life and love that springtime brings, is inside all of us. We are reminded of its gifts in every sunset, misty rainstorm, in every child’s laugh, in the full moon, and for me in a favorite bowl of my dad’s homemade raspberry pecan ice cream!

 

This expression of joy, love and creation doesn’t leave when the blossoms die, or when the tide flows in, or when the winter comes. It is reignited in each moment by our breath and our willingness to accept and share it.

 

We do go through ebbs and flows in life like the ocean tide, riding the waves in and out and following the flow of days where we are feeling sad or down. The low tide is also part of the beauty of the ocean and assists with the gathering of energy so that the waves can rise and break upon the shore once again.

 

“JOY is a state of GRACE. It is the art of being in love with your life! It is the understanding that your unique existence is like a splendid thread of silk that is continuously weaving itself into the MAGIC CARPET of life.” (Mystic Angels inspiration cards)

This “GRACE-FUL” state of being in love with life is part of our birthright on this earth. We exist and therefore we are deserving of love, joy and light!

It is up to each of us. Do we choose to believe that our joy resides only in the vibrant seasons of our life while on a “Spring Mountain Trip” and is momentarily fleeting like the Sakura? We have another choice!

We can tune into the deeply witnessed place of God inside of all of us. The divine is in each and every moment as long as we are present and listening. I love this quote below from Iyanla Vanzant.

“Your story keeps you distracted from your greatness. Can you believe or are you willing to consider that right where you are, God is… Can you believe or are you willing to consider that God wants your perfect happiness? So right where you are and perfect happiness is right here. What is stopping you from stepping into that perfect life? How you treat yourself is how you treat God because you are the representative of God in your life… In your life, you have to be as good to you as you want to be to God if you want to be of service to others in the world.”

What brings you closer to Falling in LOVE with your LIFE?
What is SINGING through your “SOLES” today?
Are you LISTENING?

Moments pour in
Experience weaving her silk layers
Like dark earth prayers
Echoes of story gently lifted
Deeply rooted core restored as history’s dust is sifted
Senses heightened voices streaming
Fields of joyful stillness streaming
~Rebecca Holt 

 

The beauty and profound messages of our lives are unleashed in the silence of our curiosity… once we let go and accept the mystery in the unknown…

 

 

 

I love these poetic words by Mary Oliver…

Let me
Keep my mind on what matters
Which is my work,
Which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished… 

People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.
–St. Augustine

 

How can we find more acceptance in the daily, what seem like ordinary, moments of our lives? How can we trust in the mystery, and that we are being divinely guided and supported? This question lives on my heart.

I love how the poet Rainer Maria Rilke prompts us to ‘live in the question, that is where the answer lies.’

When we are trusting in the mystery, we are moving out of our own way and allowing the beauty and support of all that is around us to assist. We are allowing God to answer the questions that we may never know the answers to.

 

A very wise mentor of mine, Tawny Avonne recently said…

Tune in, and listen for guidance…”Guidance-God and I dance.”

I read a posting today on www.lifebyme.com about Georgie Gwynne Gruber. The brief tagline next to her name was ‘rapper, screen writer, devotee.’ I love words, and today the word devotee popped out at me. I have never thought too much about the word devotion until I read this post. I think I have often seen it more like an obsession, or being overly intrigued with something or someone. Lifebyme.com one of my favorite websites that showcases different people living life passionately and sharing their lives, expression, hearts, gifts and love with the world to make a difference. She described her journey of being sentenced to prison when she was younger for drugs and when she came through that experience she became fascinated with the art and science of devotion in all of its forms and that if she was going to be truly happy, she must live devoted.

The secret of devotion seems to be a heart willing to surrender to The Great Mystery. When I remember to feel and breathe the Mystery and to be the Mystery, I’m happy, and all kinds of more-than-wonderful events occur. And when I feel happy, I’m in a much better position to help and love others. To be happy and to love … what greater joy is there?
~Georgia Gwynne Gruber

Rumi says-wake up, do something you love…“There are never too many ways to kneel and kiss the earth”

I am in awe and deep appreciation for the miracles and support that are all around me. I continue to be amazed just when I start to feel a little shaky and out of my comfort zone, the showers of light and support pour in. When I am doing what I love, the light pours in and dissolves the shadows.

 

Two of my closest companions right now that assist me to feel the grace and to internally arrive in each moment are my favorite tree, “Emma,” and my camera.

 

 

 

 

My camera is one of my best mates when it comes to viewing the unknown edges and seeing life from all different angles. When I started taking photos every day, I began seeing life each day through a different lens, I began to breathe more deeply and each moment of my life was like a photo frame with its vivid colors.

 

I remember one particular night on July 4th, this summer, where my senses were heightened and the mountains, the rain, the colors all around me felt like they were whispering to me that the mystery, adventure and joy of life is all around me. I drove home along the scenic route, Wasatch Rd., one of my favorite tranquil drives on the way to my house.

I literally had to pull over because of the breathtaking beauty. I was watching the rain earlier and the night sky and it was as if the sky was speaking to me. I grabbed my camera and began to take photos of the many facets and changes in the colors of the sunset.

 

 

 

 

I took photos for over an hour of the misty, smoky mountains with their high grey peaks… majestic and beautiful and mysterious just like life.

 

 

 

 

 

I sat and watched the flashing lights and bright bursting smoke of the distant fireworks and I decided to really listen to the sky and feel the messages that it had to share.

 

 

On this night, the drive really seemed to match me. I was overwhelmed with so much gratitude and love for this planet, for god, for the beauty all around me… for the gifts of all that is undiscovered in my heart, mind, and life.

“The Journey,” by David Whyte, illustrates eloquently the art of arriving in and loving the mystery…

Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again

Painting their black silhouettes
on an open sky

Sometimes  everything
has to be
inscribed across
the heavens

So you can find
the one line
already written inside you.

Sometimes it takes
a great sky
to find that
small, bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.

Sometimes with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone out

Someone has written
something new
in the ashes of your life

You are not leaving
you are arriving. 

I am deeply devoted to my own journey of arriving, and devouring each mysterious, magical moment and breathing in its messages. I continue to “find myself still and astonished.”

Living in the Mystery
Woe is me
or wondrous be
Majesty and wonder here
Diving in no drown from fear
Look ahead… I dread
Look behind…. I’m blind
In this moment
MONUMOMENT
I am breathing
I am
I
~RHolt

 

In the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness
~Erich Fromm

When I found this quote it felt like music to me. I have been contemplating lately the deep place inside of each of us, where our gifts that we offer out into the world ignite and shine light on our inner purpose. It is in these edges between the moments where our passion lies. The more I listen for those moments of grace where I can offer gifts of love, service, expression, I feel more connected to everyone and everything, which makes me feel more ALIVE!

Recently I was talking with a very wise friend and mentor about the principle of making an offering with no expectation.The beautiful thing about the gift of expression in its pure form is that we send our offering out into the world with life, blessings, and love and then we let go of receiving something in return.

 

My friend shared a simple, yet profound example with me of her ritual of “Simply feeding the Blue Jays.” Every few days she looks forward to filling her bird feeder and she loves watching the birds curiously moving into and away from her yard.

 

She does not watch to see if they like the food, if they turn their nose at it,  or if one bird devours the whole feeder in one sitting. Once she fills the feeder, she enjoys the pure exchange of energy and the feeling of providing sustenance for the birds and the beauty that they bring to her yard and to her heart when they come to eat.

I love the beautiful symbol that her story provides of listening to and noticing the ways that we can make an offering with love and blessing and then let go. In her own process, she looks for no approval, validation, feedback or gift in return.

 

She simply feeds the blue jays.”

 

These words have been echoing in my mind and heart since I heard them. I believe that all gifts when given with genuine heart come from the same place within us and they spring forth life inside both the giver and the receiver.

 

 

 

Recently I was fortunate to go on a trip to Kauai with my dear friend Tresa and an amazing group of friends and colleagues. We did a six-hour hike one day up to Makaleah Falls, led by Danny Hashimoto, an outdoor guide and nature enthusiast, native to Kauai.

 

Once we got up the mountain a ways and hit the first turn, we came to a large, mystical bamboo forest, and just before the bamboo was a giant rock larger than all of us combined. Danny stopped and said that he wanted to bless and give his offering of gratitude to this amazing loving rock. I could feel the peace and reverence and spirit of this rock. I felt this deep sense of the ‘love in the land’ all day, and the respect and gratitude that Danny had for this mountain, the rocks, trees and sacred water falls there.

Danny hugged the rock and we all followed with our own offering and deep reverence and love to our “dear rock friend.”

We got to really take our time on the hike exploring the mountain, swimming and experiencing the falls. Danny took special care and time to gather, prepare, and share the natural fruits of the island, cacao and coconut to prepare us a beautiful offering. It was so delicious.

 

He put this amazing display together for our group with so much love. He is giving the gift of the island that he loves to everyone he comes in contact with. What an amazing example to me he was of offering himself and his love of the island to us, to the land, and to all people and, plants and creatures that he comes into contact with.

A Huge MAHALO to you Danny!

Aristotle says of inner purpose: “Where talents and the needs of the world cross, therein lies your vocation.”

Recently I synchronistically picked up an old book that someone had given me. One of my favorite books about living our lives passionately on purpose, “I Will Not Live An Undied Life,” by Dawna Markova.

 

She describes “inner passion” as:

“The natural life energy that exists inside of each of us, urging growth. A deep and natural pulse that tells us to live from the inside out, to reach in and reach out, for all that is possible to know, to contribute, and to receive.”

We begin to uncover our inner passion and purpose by practicing and aligning our gifts, intuition and talents with the needs of those around us. The more we combine doing what we love with unconditional service for others, we are creating a beautiful tapestry of passion and purpose for ourselves.

 

Markova shares that passion is truly “expanded and experienced in relationship of ourselves to other people, things, moments, the rest of our lives. It is hidden in the seeds and roots of what we love and become devoted to.”

She poetically weaves spirals of stories about quieting our minds and lives enough so that we can begin to hear the subtle whisperings that lead us to the edges of passion and purpose inside of our deeply rooted selves.

 

 

I was born loving to explore and search out new places, people, and moments. In the past several years I have been on an internal quest to uncover and share my own passion and purpose. This has taken much cleaning out of the dusty corners and looking into cracks to pick out small pieces and tiny seeds, each one sacredly planted and now growing more of what I love.

The more I dig out these amazing pieces to the puzzle of my own passion, I want to share what moves and ignites joy, fire and life in me, in the hope that others will feel inspired and will feel more love both for themselves and for their own beautiful, amazing lives! I am deeply inspired by the devotion, creative expression, love, service, and passion that Markova’s stories and words continue to create.

Most things become more clear to me when I hear them in terms of music, rhythm, notes or sound. I wanted to include one last quote from Markova that struck the deepest chord inside of me.

Our passion ”lives in the rest in the place where music is born, the fertile void, the silence between notes. It emerges slowly as a sunrise, as we search through our gifts our darknesses, our losses and loves. Our lives are a work of art waiting to be completed.”

Maya Angelou said, “who and what are you serving?” I have made a new committment to ask this question to myself every day. There are days that I don’t feel inspired…that I don’t want to give to anyone or anything. These are the days that I know that a smile, a simple hello, an anonymous gift of a coffee paid for the next driver behind me in the drive through… can make someone’s entire day. We can begin with simple offerings and then when we are planting seeds that grow and the energy spreads.

 

We all have people in our lives who carry an abundant contagious giving energy. I have a friend named Jenee who makes me literally want to jump for joy and break into laughter whenever I see her! She is one of the most genuinely loving, giving, joy spreading souls that I know. She is always sharing abundance and joy, and genuinely serving so many around her through inclusion, invitation, information, intuition… (notice these are all acts of turning in before turning outward).
She truly walks the walk she talks.  I am inspired by her sparkly “pied piper” essence!

 

 

The times when I feel the most alive and connected is when I am out in nature. The desert of Southern Utah holds a sacred place in my heart for the times I have spent there in stillness going inside and discovering my own deep places inside that hold my desire to give and live!

 

 

The root of the word “spirit” is the Latin spirare, to breathe. Whatever lives on the breath, then, must have its spiritual dimension. -Jane Hirshfield

-SIMPLY FEED THE BLUE JAYS-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creation happens to us, burns into us, changes us, we tremble and swoon, we submit. Creation – we participate in it, we encounter the creator, offer ourselves to him, helpers and companions.
-Marin Bube 

 

It’s time to go beyond the sky!

Wandering facets of sunset
Finding your way early
Pouring the covers over my day
Tucking in the brilliant waves of now
Sheets of smoldering greys and pinks
Strokes of precision
Sky’s palette of vision

 

 

Paintings of possibility
Each moment blending into night
Moonlight brushing over the day’s canvas
Stars echoing the shimmer of dreams

I have always been intrigued with the magical, mysterious, soothing beauty and wonder of sunsets. The other night as I was watching the sun wind it’s way down through the sky, it was like watching a giant paint brush on canvas. I think I have taken more photos of sunsets than any person or thing. They always bring me such peace and inner expansion. The variety and number of shades and shapes of sunsets remind me of a prism with their many beautiful facets. In each moment the entire perspective and mood changes.

The sunset sky is such a truly beautiful canvas of creativity. While writing this post, I was reminded of the old phrase “The sky’s the limit.”

 

This is an interesting set of words. Obviously it was written and it’s widely used meaning is that we have limitless potential just as the sky seems infinite and never ending. For me, this phrase is tired and overused.

It is time to go beyond the sky and realize that we have an infinite universe that is our canvas of vision and possibility just waiting for us to take out our paint brush and begin.

I strongly believe in and have experienced the literal creative power of words and choosing them with clarity and intent. Therefore, I strive to choose my words wisely, clearly and creatively. Thus, the sky’s just the beginning for me… there is no limit! It is the blank canvas and spring board that I can start from. From there I can move out into the universe of possibilities. The sky’s my palette of infinite vision and creativity!

The words and stories we repeat impress images on our mind. These images and words create our boundaries and limits. The more time I take to clear my mind of worn out, overused, negative, limiting words, stories and beliefs that drag me through old experiences I have worked to let go of; then my body, mind and spirit are freed up for more creativity and possibility. I am then able to speak with more forethought and my words are more powerful in assisting me to create and attract more joy, peace, laughter, and abundance into my life.

Once using more clear, intuitive, concise words my sky’s “paintings” are more vivid, they are more like me.
I am more like me.
My truest self.

 

 

 

 

 

Wayne Dyer says…
“Clear your mind of limits, and move into spirit, whose presence, as Rumi tells us, is “more beautiful than the stars.”

 

The Garden of the world has no limits
Except in your mind
Its presence is more beautiful
than the stars
With more clarity
Than the polished mirror of your
heart.
-Rumi 

 

 

We are all made up of breathing cells waiting to be part of our creative expression. What false, negative, or overused words are you repeating or saying to yourself or others today that you want to change?

Move Beyond the Sky and pick up the paint brush of Possibility, Vision and Wonder!

“Truly to sing, that is a different breath.”

This is one of my favorite quotes from Austro-German lyric poet, Rainer Maria Rilke. He was considered one of the greatest lyric poets of modern Germany. The first time I read his poems I felt like I was moving in and out of each line like diving through ocean waves.

I have a true love and passion for singing and for poetry and I love how lyric poetry, when spoken out loud, floats on the tongue. There is a cadence that marries the words of each poem like a lullabye. There is an enchanting dance and rhythm to every unique rhyme. The words seem to rock the listener in and out of each moment.

I have always loved and been soothed by the sensation and movement of rocking and singing. These two things in combination are especially powerful for me! When I was a baby, my mom had this beautiful goldish green rocking chair that she would sit in and rock and nurse all of her children. From the time of my earliest memories… I felt like this green rocking chair held a special nurturing space, a sense of rocking love, singing, home and nurturing for me.

I wrote a song on the guitar about this chair for my mom when I was in college. When my parents moved out of our home in Las Vegas, I inherited the “great green rocking chair.” When I got the chair home, I began to notice how worn “she” was. Since this chair is over 40 years old, the corners were beginning to tear and some of the inner nuts and bolts were broken. Even though the wear and tear were signs of love, I was afraid the chair was on its last leg.

 

That year, my brother Jamey and his wife Julie had the chair reupholstered and the wood and inner workings fixed for my Christmas gift. I walked into the room to see this chair that was such a symbol to me of the rocking, and nurturing, heartful love of mom and home. I could see all of the truly thoughtful love and care that my brother and his wife put into restoring and renewing the “great green rocking chair.” I sat in the chair and just bawled.

I am sharing this story because I feel that my real love of rocking cadence, rhythm and song was inspired by the time I spent being nurtured, rocked, loved, sung to and held in this “great green rocking chair.”

To me poetry represents this magical combustion of breathing rhythms, cadence, song and words. The gift of poetry in my life is so profound that I am still discovering words to express it.

Poetry has literally put it’s hands into my soul, pulled out the wonder, the curiosity, the beauty, the notes, the song and spun them like the finest, silkiest, most deep rapture filled shade of pink yarn into a dance that has decorated my being!

The other day I woke up as I often do very early in the morning with words pouring into me. I began to jot them down as quickly as I could so that I would not miss any lines. I would love to share a few of those here. I had this familiar feeling as I got done writing them down that I had when I allowed my first poem to flow a few years ago while on an airplane on my way back home.

These are the words inspired by the “great green rocking chair”…

Poetry is falling into me
This angel is dipping his toe
into my souls ears and jumping inside

I started to cry because the words and thoughts were flowing like music! I remembered my first poems and how they carried me through a very heartbreaking time and into the next wave and over the next valley right back into the souls of my own feet!

While in the desert this year, I had this a’ha moment that poems came into my life at a time when I felt very disconnected from myself. I was going through some fearful health challenges and the poetry continued to nurture, confront, heal, warm and excite my soul! It was a type of healing balm to my heart, mind and spirit.

Words are so many different gifts to me in so many different moments…they are…
lovely, haunting, dreamy, flowing, silly, rapturous, angry, true, joyful, sparkly, wide, sensual, real, loyal, compassionate, painful, and heartful.

I want to share a few of my new lyric poems with you below.

My hope is that these words will hold and rock you with a sensation of that “different breath” the poet, Maria Rainer Rilke speaks of…

That they will remind you to listen to your heart, love your gifts and realize that you are enough right in this moment!

These words are my lullabye to you…

 

Drink all of the notes of your sorrows
Until your toes feel the quiet witness
Of your soul’s whisper

 

 

 

 

 

Deliver all of your mind’s chatter
Leave it here on the table
I will pour the juices of the world’s deepest silence
and watch it seep into the syllables of your being
Steeping nature’s stillness
Into the pink dissolve of your skin

 

 

Dream breathing light into your being
Wrap yourself with all of your senses
Kiss the souls of your feet
Winding around your own dance

 

 

 

 

Notice the eyes of your cells
They are glancing at the swells inside a most lovely kiss
Devour the fragrance of their dance
Delight in the enchantment of their swaying
You are seeping into now

 

 

 

Whirling twirling
Melting into the sun
Witness heightened
Meeting myself here
Between the edges of music

 

 

You are truly loved from the deepest sense of god!

Today I am feeling a deep sense of gratitude for all of the close relationships that enrich my life and for creativity, music and nature. I was reading an email from my sister Jill the other morning. Her son left last week for a two year service mission in Madagascar. She wrote of the experience as if she was watching her family and him from outside of herself and witnessing the amazing

connection, laughter, love that they all held for each other as they were spending time at the airport and saying their goodbyes. I could feel this deep connection and laughter and joy in her words and I just sat on the stairs in my home and cried.

I thought of Payton’s warm smile and quarky sense of humor and his huge heart and how I can see him loving and spending time with the families and the people in Madagascar. What a true gift.

All of the sudden after reading the email  I was reminded of this Tennesse Ernie Ford song that my dad used to play on a tape in his car when we were growing up.

For some reason we always chant a few lines from this song and it makes us laugh. We went to see T. E. Ford live at the Sahara Hotel while growing up in Las Vegas. My dad was the district Attorney there during that time and we got to go to some fun shows on the strip. This song always reminds me of the fun, carefree summer time and of the miracles and laughter in life.

 

I sat there singing the lyrics from that song and it made me laugh outloud in between tears….

“Miracles… Miracles… that’s what life’s about ….. we have made a Baby Son… and he looks like me…..”

Then I stopped and changed a few words in the last line to fit my sister’s story….
“We have made a Grown Up Son… and he looks like me”…

 

All of the sudden my heart jumped out of my chest and I started to laugh and cry at the same time. I texted the thought to Jill and she laughed back in text also…

Music has such powerful gifts in reminding us of moments and feelings and times that can sweep us right back into the mood and feeling of a person….a place… a time.

 

Last night my other sister Katy’s little family pug, Mei Mei passed away. She was a dear family member to them. She was one of the most precious, loving little dogs I know! Before Mei Mei.. I didn’t love little dogs, but I have grown a love for them through little “preshie” Mei Mei. Her name even means precious one in chinese. I had so many memories flushing in today of her snarfling into the room and snuggling people and sharing her love with everyone she came in contact with.

 

 

She truly graced all of us with her love and light and made us laugh so often! She gave so much to her family including loyal companionship, unconditional love, fun, a sense of friendship and home. Her family is aching right now and missing this little one.

 

 

Today this has moved me to reflect even more deeply on how grateful I am for the MIRACLES of precious connection in every moment of my life and not to let them pass by without honoring them.

In this moment I am loving the MIRACLE of my own family, the gifts that they all are to me of laughter, love and joy.

 

 

 

Now I am off to visit my beautiful friend tree “Emma” and feel my feet in the green grass under her light!

Miracles… Miracles that is what life is about-the daily miracle of witnessing and listening to my life from this deep place within…

From this place inside I can really feel the song of the Miracles rippling both in and out like waves.