Pumpkins and slowing down.

When my son was about 2 years old he developed a gift for song writing. I like to think he got it from me. His lyrics were thoughtful, well-crafted beyond his years. My favorite of his compositions was The Punkin Song. I obviously can't convey the whole emotion of it without music, but here are the words:

Punkins Punkins
There's so much

to do.

(repeat endlessly)

Now that I think about it, I may have been more of an influence than I believed. I'm pretty sure the Punkins Punkins part was inspired by impending October holidays , but the last part...that was all me.

Since then, I've learned to slow down. sit. feel. let go. and breath. And I'm still learning. It's good.

Happy Halloween. :)

30 posts in 30 days

A few words

Inspiration
Art
Creativity
Spirit
Love
Water
Compassion
Laughter
Trees
Silence
Pain
Thank you
Stillness
Breath
Joy
Path
Yes.

I'll probably visit most of these words in the next 30 days. I hope you join me. :)

Saturday Morning Gush

Is it just me or does the fact that I can be in the middle of putting dishes away and have a surge of desire for my piano, leaving a handful of spoons awaiting my return, qualify me as easily distracted or easily moved? Am I scattered-brained or passionate? Probably a little bit of both. And I like it and I don't.

This is something that is so me that I've tried to change in my quest for responsible adulthood, in the process finding that I like the quirky me-ness of this little person who I am. I have learned at my best moments to laugh and love idiosyncrasies in my personality that might otherwise frustrate me. This is an honest evaluation of where I'm at right now.

At times I step back from an outside view and imagine my soul saying, "Wow, you are a funny little personality to work with." I know that sounds weird but I guess that's exactly what I mean. Of course my career choice allows me to be a bit more indulgent than people who work outside the home. I get to be the stay-home mom and all that entails while my amazing husband works his tail off to make sure I get a latte every Sunday afternoon. He may step back and ponder my funny personality every now and then too. Nobody, including myself, takes my writing endeavors too seriously yet, so I can't quite claim that as a job. It's more of a lifestyle and an evolution.

I have to admit that when I'm in true form, I am quite childlike. Is that okay? Everything gets done, but it gets done in my fashion. And I'm so much happier when I'm living like that than trying to fit myself into the model of what I have believed for so many years that I should be. Not that I don't have room for growth...I DO. The wonderful thing about this discovery is that I can push my way into someone else's idea of how I need to be OR I can love life as me and celebrate the challenge of facing my weaknesses and strengths in my own wonderful way. This is what I choose because it brings me joy. And joy is awesome inspiration for embracing challenges and change.

Inspiration

Chase joy, harness inspiration...........create joy out of the mundane, find inspiration in the everyday! I would love to read your experiences!

Everything

I've had a song by the band Lifehouse repeating on my i-pod for the last few days and now I get to share it with you. The song is called Everything. It's a bit like a crashing meteor to the gut that sends after shocks through your whole body and leaves you with a delicious achey feeling. It is beautiful and lucid and haunting. But one line in particular slams me inside out:

“How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?”

Those of you who love Smallville may have emotional baggage attached to this song. If you don't follow Smallville, let me create some for you:

I am walking along the path to a place I frequent on afternoons like this. I pass a young woman with two bright-faced little girls and greet them with a smile and friendly words. They are a radiant sight together at the water's edge.

"How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?”

Sitting beneath a foot bridge, I look up from my laptop and watch the glistening stream flow northward, northward. An autumnal leaf floats by, carried away by the rippling current.

"How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?”

I read a poem that that lays me flat, stand in a local antique and art market, eyes locked on a faded, earthy landscape. Thank you poet, thank you painter...

"How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?”

The door home opens to the smiles of five brilliant souls who fill my life with meaning. I get to journey with these beautiful growing people. My husband, my children....undefined, ever becoming...with me.

"How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?”

I sit, silent in numinous dark, candle glowing, heart open wide...

"How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?”

What moves you?

How has art moved you?

Why do we ask, “What is the way?”
For there are as many ways
as there are stars in the firmament. ~Gunilla Norris

A few days ago I opened a new book by Gunilla Norris, Simple Ways Towards the Sacred. I was stilled by these first words and found myself repeating them in slow, hushed breaths. How can words, in an unsuspecting instant, reach in and grip your core? And why did these words hold such sway in me? I felt melted and poured into those firmamental stars, spread over a thousand light-years. How can it be? The depths of human sentiment... how art does move us, does stir us, connect us.

Art is the essence
of human soul
laid bare
in longing
for....

How would you finish this statement?

How has art moved you? Have you ever had a moment like this either creating art or experiencing someone else's artwork?

I would love to read your thoughts.