the dreaming Press.

Heed the script of your little inner scribe.

 
This is the view from a lovely lady's living room sofa.  Well, at least in 2009 it was the view.  Since then she has married, had a baby boy, and her life is totally not the same anymore of that I'm sure.  But for a few endearing nights this flat in Greenwich Village was home to my two sisters-in-law and I.  We marvelled at what a glorious job Jo did decorating her place so simply and yet so stylishly.  I fondly look back at New York now and cannot wait to return to eat more pizza, snap more photos, and drink in so much of the abundant art, food & culture that buzzes around each corner there. Who wants to join me?

I look back upon past vacations fondly, whether they consisted of long stays at a beach or quick apartment rentals in major U.S. cities.  Each has offered me a small chunk of my life's story, each has contributed to the development of who I am as a person.  You see no experience is too grand or too tiny to do just that...to contribute to your story.  Each nugget of your existence is worth so vastly much at the end of the day. 

People shape us, whether they know it or not.  Strangers even, with their kindnesses- such as the couple I met on Broadway in a restaurant the first time I travelled to New York.  They knew I was alone and offered to share cheesecake with me.  We did.  I will not ever forget those people.  Simple kindnesses.  Such an easy thing to offer the world.  Wow I guess I'm feeling nostalgic again.  Those nostalgias get me through sometimes...you know, the dull parts.  The parts of life that maybe aren't as dazzling as a train trip to New York City.  Sigh....

Okay that is enough lecturing out of me today is going to be downright exciting! At the little spa we have a wonderful gal coming to our girls night event to teach us a thing or two; I'm decorating a new manicure room and that in itself presents another opportunity to flex my creative muscles...for everything I do is done on a shoestring because that is all the budget entails (but that is *fun!*); and I'm in the midst of creating my own font! {*Yes! My own!*}  Oh my just the thought of that makes me want to boogie on down & dance!  I love fonts, typeface, calligraphy...anything to do with the written and/or printed word.  I'm making my own because well, why not? I need a signature font. I think everyone does.  Don't you? Of course you do.

I'm following "the call" of my calling.  Heeding the script of the little voice within {I hear you, tiny scribe-let's make some magic!}.  Honouring myself, and my deepest wishes.  {It feels mighty good.}

Go have the best day! Sending you a wish on the breeze...catch it, kiss it, then toss it back out for the next guy will you?

xoxo

p.s. Do you just love this? Woodland jewellery. Tiny terrariums.  What could be finer?

It's Show Time!

All the world is a stage.

 

Colours, starry curtains, fir trees. 

Sensing a common theme here? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  This set was designed by a five year old girl.  My five year old girl, who loves the woods and colourful houses and starry curtains.

I love this old cereal box stage she created last week. I sit eagerly awaiting the big show. All I know is, it features a pig and a popsicle stick man.

I've got my drink,

 
a refreshing cola.

I've got my snack,

 
a wee bucket of popcorn.

I'll let you know how the show went.  Hopefully I'll return with rave reviews!

xoxo

a love story~

 

A long long time ago a geeky girl met a great guy. {They were made for each other.}

A whirlwind courtship ensued for four years. {This taught them the value of spontaneity.}

They broke up in order to grow up, for three whole years. Each relegated to their own living quarters, she in her large one bedroom terra cotta apartment with its sparkling purple kitchen countertops and  three cats to keep her company. Their names-Cassiopeia, Felix and Jones.  Not really a girl to date much, she often times just hung out with her married friends, thank goodness each of those couples had a spare room with her name on it for those occasions when she just couldn't stand to stay alone in her wonderfully charming yet awfully lonely apartment.  {This taught her the value of true friendship.} 

They hooked up again thirteen years ago this coming March.  {This taught her the value of patience, and non-compromise.}

They then became home owners together. {This taught them the value of financial strain.}

They then adopted a delightful Jack Russell Terrier.  Then *surprise!* they had a darling blonde haired, green eyed baby girl.  A tough act to follow was that little miss, but along came (finally! after four years trying) a sister for her, a new baby girl with brown hair and brown eyes.  Double trouble.  {These three taught them the value of putting others first in life.}

And so came the time one day {when the young man who had built his career, built a solid foundation for a family, became a father to two delightful human daughters and one sweet canine daughter,} that he would propose to his long time love, who he had put up with lovingly so for nineteen years. 

{Though she often lost her temper, ate a lot of cheese, got way too deep into conversation sometimes that he thought he needed a psych degree just to relate to what she had to offer, she slept late and stayed up even later, she had the yearning to globe-trot, see lots of concerts, often freakishly change her hair so dramatically that he could only just get used to one look before she did a switcheroo on him...he still asked.  Bless his sweet soul.}

She said YES. 

Which brings us to this day.  When just over two years of being engaged has even the children asking, "When are we getting married?"

So she found a venue.

She found a dress. (Shhhh!~don't tell him.)

Now, if she can find two matching wedding bands she'll be all set.

:)

At one time she wanted to marry in tents beneath starry skies, in a red saree, and with everyone in attendance.  Beaches with sand would have been nice, or old expansive properties chock full of cows and chickens (seriously!). 

But she has settled on what her spirit wants the most, an outdoor wedding amidst the firs and pines, with a campfire.  Beer.  The Tragically Hip, The Weepies and Deadmau5 playing on in the background {cause she loves to boogie on down}. Loved ones.  Simplicity.  {He agrees, whole heartedly.}

So in the summer of 2011, they shall finally tie the knot.  *Tink!* here is to them not dragging their heels any longer.  {This taught them the value of waiting for things.}

xoxo

Whole lotta lovin.

Embracing my bodaciousness. My curves.  Forget skinny.  {Skinny is for those who cannot help it, but there is beauty in that, too.} 

I read last night in "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle that we are all just manifestations of consciousness.  That when we die we don't die perse, but experience simply a "dissolution of form".

Hmmm.

I wondered briefly how many people beat themselves up daily about their appearance, when they chose to look the way they do, simply to experience that aspect of themselves? 

Bottom line, there is no fat.  Eat up girls.  We chose this. :)

Pass the dips, sisters. Oh, and a song to celebrate the advent of a new group.  Do join.

xoxo

Hippy Weekend~!

  Olivia's stardust henna

I listen to a station based out of Toronto on the radio, I'm not even sure what it is called...but they rock the "Super 70's Weekend".  I listen to America, Steely Dan and of course my favourite (when I'm not listening to the Top 100 Pop charts!) Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac.  Sigh.  I will always and forever love the 70's for the music. I saw America in concert once, and they rock.  Love em.  They make me want to take a road trip, in a convertible. And Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young make me wanna hop on a VW bus and hit the road....!

Happy {hippy} weekend! What will you be listening to?

xo

Finally, awakened.

As of approximately yesterday...no kidding-I feel like I'm awake after a long, drawn out, foggy sleep.  Figuratively speaking.  These last few weeks held little if any promise at all.  I was trudging along just doing the required bare minimum.  Totally lacking "mojo".  I was "mojo-less."

I worried during these last few weeks how my mood was affecting those around me.  No one seemed to notice. Then I said something about it. Unbeknownst to me those around me were walking about in their own fogs of different calibres.  {We each have our own demons and our own worries that keep us awake at night.} In fact some people around me shared the same thoughts as I did, and when it was mentioned I heard a "Me too!", or a "I thought I was the only one!"

The 'no mojo' thing stemmed from having a lack of defined purpose. I suppose it was always there, but don't we get blind to things that are "everyday" sometimes? Funny how purpose plays into our lives.  I recently rediscovered mine.  It is a neatly packaged gift that I deliver to those around me each day.  It's in the meal preparations.  It's in the sharp tuck of a bedsheet.  The windows get thrown open and fresh air spills into the room.  It is a simple phrase or a gentle encouragement. 

I rediscovered it. Thank goodness! {And for awhile I think I was looking too hard for answers.  Solutions.  Magic bullets.}

The answer came when I...let go.

I dropped my expectations. {Letting go produces a myriad of results.}  The answers pop up where you least expect them.  Then dawnings of thought occur when sitting still within the quiet moments.  As well, driving the car {alone!} produces a nugget or two of wisdom.  {It is times like these when fingers can't scrawl fast enough, pencil on paper too laborious. It is then that a small recording device would come in handy. It is also much safer for other drivers on the road~!}

Which brings us to today.  Today O fetched the mail.  She hands me a beautiful flowered silver envelope.  Postmarked from Santa Monica.  A delightful and hilarious surprise spilled out and made me laugh for a good five minutes.  Blessings fly in like owl mail sometimes.  When you least expect them to.  Which is the way it happens...because as we discussed looking too hard for things makes them not come. It's kind of a Murphy's Law of sorts.

So keep on not looking for your happiness!! 

It's bound to drop through the chimney at some point.  Then and only then shall you laugh yourself silly knowing that the Universe has bigger plans for you than you know.

xoxo

Keep up the dreamin'.

 

Get lost...

...in a book.

Forget your dishes.  Your bed needs to be made? So.  So what I say.

Grab that book.  That tome.  That special edition hard cover.  That fourth in a series of five that you can't put down.

Embark upon a grand adventure.  Live vicariously through the words of others.  {Squeeze every drop of its succulent fruit.} 

A little disengagement is required of us anyhow.  For if we go uninspired-then how will future books get written?

xoxo

p.s. I was honoured to be asked to guest post on my passions at Relyn's blog, come sit by my fire... 

In search of lost time-insha'Allah.

 
Redintegration. Go ahead and look it up if  you need to.  I had to. 

 
"I had recognized the taste of the crumb of madeleine soaked in her concoction of lime-flowers which my aunt used to give to me. Immediately the old grey house upon the street, where her room was, rose up like the scenery of a theatre to attach itself to the little pavilion, opening on to the garden, which had been built out behind it for my parents."~Proust.  {Remembrances of Things Past.}

Retrieval.

It is said, that long term memories are stored in dream format.  What do you think?

I am inspired to paint again.  I am going to organize my materials and spill them out of my skull and onto the canvas.  Ideas have been bursting at the seams since my return from Jordan but alas life needs tending to.  Even my photography has taken a back seat to my career and other things.  I will pick up my camera today also-insha' Allah.

I need to be reading Proust I think.  I liked that snippet which I found today. This morning saw my daughter skipping off to fetch the mail- yes on a Sunday.  We leave it in the CMB all week and then gather it up all at once.  A happy yellow package was handed over to me. Thank you Christine, you put a big smile on my face while I sipped my Earl Grey and listened to the birds chirping.  You Are A Light. xoxo

Tea? Why, yes please....

If I invited you in for tea, would you accept?

Would you offer my child a sweet?  Ask him his name?

Would it matter to you that my second floor was absent? Waiting patiently for the second generation to build and move their family in, according to tradition....?

  
Will your children understand the level of patience and calm that our children afford them- in the face of no video games or television to distract them....?

When you stop to breathe in our landscape, will you allow us our space? That in which we have not built up in the name of commerce or gain?  We have precious things to offer the world that don't involve competing with larger cities or countries....!  We hold our own, thank you.

Would you join us for herbal tea?  Perchance in places where famous people were taking steps in their own journeys?  Tea with mint never tasted so nice!  Oh and beautiful Israel is just 15 feet away.  However, do not veer off the provided path, for land mines are located any which way, and cameras are trained on your every step-so going off the path could mean any number of troubles for you!  We are in a military zone, you see. (It is for your own protection, dear friends.)

My goodness the river is cold.  COLD.  See page 157 of the April 2010 National Geographic to see just exactly where a certain group of travellers stood, not three weeks ago.

If you feel enough at home then please accept our hospitality.  We'll be insulted if you do not. 

So-one lump or two? It would seem that in Jordan, sugar in your tea is the norm.  It is expected.  So if this sounds like your kind of place, do visit and stay for tea.  You won't regret a single moment of it.  xo

As usual click to enlarge the photos.  However, the shot of the little girl at Petra was out of focus, but she was so cute I couldn't stand not posting her, so forgive the photographers blunder. :)

dream sharing & evolutions of the soul

An e-mail conversation today shed some light on the evolution of my soul.  For that I am entirely grateful. You know how when something happens to you in life that you feel is unfair, then later on after the lesson is learned you are clear about the reasons why? Then you can't doubt that it was for the best? I had a moment like that today.  I was explaining a situation to someone and a lightbulb clicked.  I whispered a tiny prayer and shushed it out to the great wide Open.  {I almost burst with glee.} I am healing a deep wound.  It feels great.  We are all in charge of these things.  Repeated mistakes are by grand design-instead of playing victim, turn it around to your advantage.  {Have I told you I'm a warrior? I fight the good fight.}

My daughter had her own soul evolution today.  We worked through it, but she is hurting.  Only time will help her.  After our chat we watched the Olympic women's hockey.  (I explained to her that the USA team were crying because they wanted the gold medal, not the silver.  She thinks they will come to love the silver in time, and she is right.  She states: "Getting to the Olympics period is an achievement! They should be proud!" What a kid.)

Ah Petra.  I'm on my way. I relish seeing my good friend Tara again.  That globe trotting, head-squarely-on-her-shoulders good friend of mine.  I am fortunate & count my blessings to be able to see her in such a culture rich & beautiful setting.  I'll check my CMB¹ tomorrow for Susanna's *winged messengers*.  I only check my mail once every week or so, it is the height of laziness I assure you.  Tomorrow being the last mail day before I go, I'm hoping they will fly right out of the CMB to greet me with open wings! Pictured above are the wings Susanna sent me before.  I just love how they photograph.  If you follow me on FB², then you will have to check in and see any photos I post for you.  Wishing you well on your own soul journeys, both spiritual & physical.  Navigating this stuff can be challenging.  I know we can do it. {With each others help of course.  For how else can great things be achieved?}

xoxo

¹ community mail box

² Facebook

Is suffering really necessary? Yes and no.

If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you as a human being, no humility, no compassion. You would not be reading this now. Suffering cracks open the shell of ego, and then comes a point where it has served his purpose.

Suffering is necessary until you realize it is unnecessary.
*Eckhart Tolle*