::note::

come back to me...

sunset self-portrait . gearhart, oregon . august 20, 2010

I come from quiet, storming stardust
I come from skipping stones on seven rivers
I come from reflected, reaching purple mountains
I come from the unafraid, soaring shadow of the heron's wing
I come from the moaning, oming whales

Shadow, bring me exploding courage
Bring me stretching, inward roots
Shadow, bring me sun-centered source

Come back to me stardust, fill me with delight
Come back to me skipping, plopping stones, bring me the stories
Come back to me
Shadow
Come back to me

*****

This evening, I spent time with a group of incredible women at a local doula meeting. I was the guest speaker, and they gave me the gift of letting me share some of my stories and then indulging me when I asked if we could write some poetry. My body is still vibrating a bit with the beauty that reveals itself when women share their stories and unearth the poems that live inside them.

As I drove home, I felt called to find a legal pad that sits under the pile of many things beside my bed. This paper houses the poems I have written at several workshops and the words that pushed me to begin this blog. As I read the poem above that I wrote in a 2008 workshop with (the goddess of life who is) Susan Wooldridge, I am struck by the truths it holds and deeply wish that someone had whispered my own words to me a year ago. There is beauty to be found in revisiting our writing and seeing ourselves reflected. In this moment, I am grateful to my younger self for her wisdom and bravery that would hold her through all that was to come.

week in the life {friday, saturday, sunday}

{friday}

{saturday}

{sunday}

*****

last week, i joined in with ali edwards' week in the life project. today, i am catching up with the last three days. we had family in town for a few days, and i found myself drawn to be more in the experience than document or take notes. altough, as usual, i took quite a few photos of ellie. our girl is moving moving moving, taking steps and spreading joy in just about every moment. 

(all my week in the life photos, including additional notes, can be seen in this flickr set.) 

week in the life {thursday}

notes from today:

paying attention to the light is changing how i take photos.
i wish i could work from my bed every morning
beginning and ending the day with mary oliver heals me
ellie jane's joyful way of living pushes me to let go 

*****

this week, i am joining in with ali edwards' week in the life project. i took quite a few photos yesterday but most of them were of ellie while she was walking, exploring, eating, and so on, which meant quite a few photos of the same scene and many blurry because she is so on.the.move. mostly i was distracted by work/life stuff yesterday and forgot to take photos. but the photos i did capture, especially me dancing with my shadow (more on that soon), really make me happy. there is a lesson here somewhere. always, always the lessons...

(all my week in the life photos, including additional notes, can be seen in this flickr set.) 

one more invitation to emerge...

On Monday, the Emerge ecourse with Jenna McGuiggan, Vivienne McMaster, and me begins! I am so excited about the course the three of us have created together. Collaborating with these two friends on the course material for Emerge has been, well, simply awesome. If you have been intrigued by my recent blog posts about having a daily practice and how these practices got me through "survival mode," I hope you will come along for this course because it will invite you to explore possible writing, photography, and accessible meditation practices to include in your own personal practice. The community aspect of an ecourse also gives you the environment to spend time connecting with like-minded souls as you embark on or continue your journey of seeing where you are on your path.

Jenna, Viv, and I have partnered with Live It to the Full to bring this course to you. Along with being delightful hosts with a vision the three of us believe in, Amy and Aleece have created a beautiful, user-friendly site for us to use on our adventure together. I hope you will join us as we share our personal stories of emerging from times of transition in our lives and provide you with creative tools to use as your face your own seasons of change. The course material will be available for an additional four weeks after the course ends, so you will have plenty of time to work through it even if you are taking a vacation or have other plans for parts of August.

If you have already signed up, please let me know! Can't wait to connect with you in my first ecourse teaching adventure!

week in the life {wednesday}

notes from today:

severely burning one's finger makes it much harder to seek joy in the everyday
somehow joy still appears in the form of her laughter and his silliness and collaboration and quiet truths
holding her when she falls asleep rarely happens anymore, but when it does, it feels like winning the lottery
she can cycle though happy to oh my goodness i am mad mad mad to giggling all in about one minute
i am going to be sad to see this summer end

*****

this week, i am joining in with ali edwards' week in the life project. today, after being deeply inspired by darrah's blog post, i played with the ISO a bit more. i have been shooting on AV for months now and have been adjusting the f-stop and light balance (ahhh...is that what it is called?). i even put the camera on manual for a bit. it.was.a.blast! usually i come up with excuses like "but i am working on a project, i can't play with the settings now!" but that didn't stop me today. it was refreshing. perhaps i knew i needed a distraction from my throbbing finger. burns are no fun at all. can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

(all my week in the life photos, including additional notes, can be seen in this flickr set.) 

week in the life {tuesday}

notes from today:

going outside centers me every time
(today was a day where centering + oreos helped)
after about 10 bites, ellie begins to share her food with millie
late night trips to target mean you buy more than just diapers
lavender lingers 
gratitude punctuated this day

*****

this week, i am joining in with ali edwards' week in the life project. at some point today i thought to myself, "are people really going to want to see all these photos of my family?" but then i remembered why i wanted to do this: to notice the rhythm of our days.
(all my week in the life photos can be seen in this flickr set.)

PS it looks like the mugs are all sold out, but here's a link to george takai's site. 

week in the life {monday}

notes from today:

working in bed while he plays with her down the hall
how her laughter fills the spaces between us
choosing to let things go and just be here
the discovery of splashing means she doesn't want to leave the tub
ending the day side by side remembering there is always love 

*****

this week, i am joining in with ali edwards' week in the life project. i love that ali encourages people to let this week be about whatever feels right for them. i kind of love it when there aren't any rules. my loose plan is to simply let each day unfold as it does and document what i find here. today, i felt moved to use my iphone to capture a few moments. i have to admit that i hope i take a lot more photos tomorrow (and plan to reread through ali's suggestions on her site).