In-Between Days

Ahhh, my favorite time of year. Cool, crisp mornings and afternoon skies of crystal clear blue.

Unfiltered November sky

 

These are the days of in-between, no need for air conditioning and just a little heat overnight to keep the chill from settling into your bones. 

They’re the days of cozy sweatshirts and house slippers, of waking slowly with a sweet cuppa coffee in a quiet kitchen, of warming yourself in the morning sun like a turtle on a rock. These are the days nature prepares for her long winter slumber and if you are a keen observer, you will witness this magical transformation—birds and bees, chipmunks and squirrels, trees and plants, all make haste to settle in for the cold days to come. 

These in-between days don’t last long. Soon enough it will be monochrome winter days on repeat, darkness saturating the landscape, every nook and cranny covered by 4:30 pm. I look forward to the days to come. 

Deep Presence and Awareness

Subtle changes in sunlight beaming through the kitchen window this morning, created an opportunity for me to be fully present, to fully appreciate minute shifts in brightness and shadow cast as the sun was rising through the trees. My heart celebrating the perfection, wonder, gratitude and joy of the moment—a little shimmer to start the day. 

Beauty is all around us. How much of it goes unnoticed because we are so preoccupied with the phone in our hand and the daily cacophony of fear mongering spewing from it?! That is not life, in fact it is the complete opposite, it’s a slow death by a thousand cuts. 

“Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist master, taught that mindfulness can be practiced throughout daily life, turning routine activities like washing the dishes or drinking tea into opportunities for deep presence and awareness.”

If you think doing dishes is drudgery, then it one hundred percent will be drudgery. If, while you are doing dishes, you hold gratitude in your heart for the roof over your head, for the hot water running freely from the tap, for the food you ate that made the dishes dirty, then before you know it dishes are done, kitchen is clean. Pro tip, I like to hum whilst cleaning—lots of benefits to humming! 

Present moment awareness and gratitude have fundamentally changed my life in every way for the better, and so I share my experiences hoping it will find the ones who need it. 

Be well. 

The Wolves are Howling

I believe the most important thing we need to be doing right now is protecting our energy. 

It doesn’t take an enlightened mind to look around and see all the ways we are being distracted, our attention pulled this way and that—breaking news, extreme weather, cost of living crisis, mass layoffs, finger pointing, fanaticism, fear. 

If you’re not mindful, it’s easy to get sucked into the vortex of negativity, trapped for hours in an endless doom scroll, freely giving your energy to the six inch scrying mirror in your hand.

Where focus goes, energy flows. 

You are an energetic being. A fractal of Divine Source Energy. This is the Truth you have been separated from, by design, to keep you fearful and obedient, to be good little worker bees, to be sheep. 

Put down the phone, turn off the tell-a-vision and literally go touch grass. Ground yourself, connect with Mother Earth. Recharge your battery, palms up to the sun. Speak positive affirmations into the ether. 

Reclaim your energy, stop giving it to vampires that drain you, keeping you under their power. 

Focus your energy on gratitude and present moment awareness, focus it on your connection to Source, focus on the LIGHTness of your being. Meditate. Practice this daily until it is habit and feel the energy shift, feel your reality shift.  

Look—the collective has awakened. 

We are tired of being sheep. 

Listen—we are wolves, howling. 

Days Like This

Cozy weather days are finally upon us. Overnight rainfall lingers, a damp chill, the kind that soaks deep into your bones, pairs perfectly with the low cloud ceiling, ghostly wisps of grey caressing the tree tops like a lover. 

It is a day for favorite sweaters and fuzzy slippers, for hot bevies and good books, for a crackling fire and a toasty warm blanket. It is a day for baking bread and slow simmering soup, for cat naps and dog cuddles. 

These small gratitudes help me stay present in this moment, living in the manner of which I’ve always dreamed—simple joys, peaceful mind, happy heart and an abundant life filled with infinite possibilities. There is so much magic in this moment and the entire Universe is just waiting for you to remember.

#rainydayvibes #cozysweater #sweaterweather #cozyblanket #soupweather #cozyathome #bakingbread #writerlife✎

In Losing my Libido, I Found the Truest Version of Me

I used to want

To be wanted, obsessively 

I used to want

To feel, loved 

I used to want

To be with someone 

I used to

No one prepares you for the time in your life when you slip quietly into frigidity. Not that I have an aversion to, what used to be, a very important part of my life. The desire is merely non existent. It melted away like a snow drift in Spring—slowly, gradually, until one day you no longer notice it’s there. It’s just gone. It’s a bittersweet parting of ways that opens up a whole new way of looking at life through a different lens. I’m forever grateful for all the years prior to this changing, they were not wasted.

#growingolder #growingold #growingoldgracefully #gratefulforthislife

Fk the Status Quo

The rat race, the grind, the hustle, keeping up, getting ahead, FOMO—we’ve been brainwashed into believing that if we work hard, we’ll be rewarded with a fat bag and a life full of nice things that will make us happy: the big house in the country club neighborhood, the ridiculously expensive whip, an impressive 401K, designer clothes, a gym fit body and an unrecognizable face full of toxins and fillers. That’s the dream we’ve been sold, right? Well, I call it a nightmare. I’ve had some of those things, the house, the car, the clothes, the body and I was about as far away from happy as one can be. 

Twenty some years down the road and I have never been more happy, more content or felt more at peace—Life is decluttered, simplified. Deeply connected to Source and fully present in the moment, my gratitude practice has fundamentally changed my life in every way. Life flows with more meaning, more vibrancy and more abundance.  There is an ease, an unhurried sweetness in each moment that I wouldn’t trade for anything in this world. 

Nah—you can keep your status quo. Give the Joneses my regards. You will find me in a cozy, tiny home, surrounded by mature shade trees, a babbling brook, wildlife, a cup of something warm, a cotton throw and a good book, wealthy beyond my wildest imaginings. Life, is a miracle. 

The Dream Home

Be well. 

Gratitude Practice

I’m grateful for my daughters
I’m grateful for my dog

I’m grateful for my home, my health, my job

That’s easy gratitude, that’s a constant, a given

Let’s go deeper into gratitude 

I’m grateful for my mistakes 

I’m grateful for my hardships 

I’m grateful for pain and suffering and darkness 

That’s better, flip side, but still too broad

Let’s niche down

Get really specific 

I’m grateful for the sunrise. First light, before it breaks the horizon line, when colors are still muted, waiting for rays of golden sunshine to reveal their splendor, when there is an anxious stillness preceding the imminent explosion of life all around me, when nothing is more important than greeting the day and honoring all of its potential. 

I’m grateful for dew kissed blades of grass where tiny toads shelter in July summer heat, hopping away in perfect sync and in every direction whenever the dog bounds into the yard—her nose not nearly quick enough for so many little jumpers. It’s a daily ritual that never fails to make me smile. 

I’m grateful for the beautiful owl feather I found recently, a little damp, easy to miss, but I knew instantly when I picked it up that it was special. Wispy, downy, nearly translucent, so unique in its appearance: long and wide, a base of light brownish amber with darker brown stripes and a shock of white through the center. It is magnificent and truly a gift from Uju. 

Yes. This is gratitude, life changing. 

Step into the fullness of your gratitude, this moment—indeed, you can begin right now! Practice this, every day and watch miracles unfold.