{The Serenity of Winter}

“Your relationship with God is the same as your relationship with the sun. If you hid from the sun for years and then chose to come out of your darkness, the sun would still be shining as if you had never left. You don’t need to apologize. You just pick your head up and look at the sun. It’s the same way when you decide to turn toward God—you just do it.” ― Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

When winter settles in, and I feel the silence and frost of the surroundings, I think. Reflect. Watch and sometimes it wells my heart so big, free tears of serenity dust my cheeks. Either I can let it pull me up or down...it's that easy. The choice. I prefer to feel my chest expand, the light fill my eyes and be grateful for the shakey breath that's holding it together all these days. And I am grateful. Photo walks, preferably above subzero, center me in the moment. The last few days I caught these moments. And this beautiful horse, out in Indiana Amish Country. My sister indulged me and pulled over so I could take a picture. Horses are sensitive souls and when they look in your eyes it's a universally sweet connections. (Dogs can do this to me too:)...) This stunning horse, stood solid. It was cold. The wind blew across the open plains of the road. The silence was loud. It's eyes were old. I could not give justice to the sweetness of the moment.

{Stardust in her hair}

“Desire demands only a constant attention to the unknown gravitational field which surrounds us and from which we can recharge ourselves every moment, as if breathing from the atmosphere of possibility itself. A life’s work is not a series of stepping-stones onto which we calmly place our feet, but more like an ocean crossing where there is no path, only a heading, a direction, which, of itself, is in conversation with the elements.” 

― David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity

{One of those days}

Somedays, 
I am the flower 
Somedays, 
I am the rain 
-pavana

{Thanks Given}

“It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.” ― Wendell Berry

I'm feeling you Wendell and I hope you are right!

{Devil's Daughter}

There are days my pain is so elaborate... that the salt of my tears tastes not of my own but like that of my ancestors- and the woman who dealt with the sorrow before me. -Segovia Amil Oh this poem just really spoke to me today. This year I've felt the collective energy of people and I suspect it is because, being an election year, there was anxiety about change. The last two months it's like walking through fire. The air, not just with the change of the season, feels crisper. The pressure changes bind tighter. If all we are is energy, this ball of energy is tired. Very tired. And now, with winter, cold.

{Today and Yesterday}

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. Gloria Steinem

This is what I remember. In college I saw Gloria Steinem speak. It by far was one of the most monumental experiences of my life. This woman is my heroine. There was a heckler in the audience and she handled him with such grace. I continued to just fixate and soak in every word she said. At the end of the lecture I approached her. Shaking, I spit out something along the lines of "I love you, you are amazing, blah blah ," She looked at me and smiled. Gave a polite thank you. Just wow. Now more than ever, I think of pulling out her books and re-reading her inspiring message. To dream. To plan.

{Fresh}

"Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through mountains, a torch flung to the trees"-Faith Baldwin