To fully appreciate life, and the small wonders of the world.
It takes a certain kind of innocence.
It takes a certain quiet and laughter.
It takes simultaneous awareness and carelessness.
Not everyone can pull this off gracefully.
You can tell these people by the way they are in their skin.
They are not comfortable with their being.
They itch to the tune of discontent.
They are so unaware it doesn’t even occur to them to be unaware.
Like the beauty in the sunset, or the scenery, or even the time of day.
To grasp this, they simply agree and move on to the next preoccupation.
It is not their fault – they simply don’t know how to live in admiration.
Breathe deeply.
It truly takes an understanding of life and death alike to marvel at creation.
Do not steep yourself too deeply phenomenon.
Because just like tea, it can get too strong and you won’t want to drink it after all.
Be open to beauty and the possibility of acknowledging it in everything.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
How Do You Play?
Sitting here, with my mother, I think about what she asked me a few weeks ago. It was the question, “How do you play?”
At that moment in time I found it extremely difficult to answer her question. How DO I play, I wondered? Am I really that out of touch with childish amusement? Have a lost my ability to play altogether. Or is it just hard to find that sweet surrender when I am not around children?
Sure, each of us can let loose when we’re WITH kids – making mud pies, playing spies, or building sand mermaids. But can we find it in ourselves to enjoy, I mean really play, when that innocent influence is NOT near by? How can we continue to cultivate that feeling of childish inhibition and enthusiasm when we are alone or even with our peers.
When I thought about it and finally sorted my thoughts, I realized that I really DON’T play. Not that I didn’t know how, but just that I had not taken the time to play in that lovable way. That’s when I also decided that that would need to change.
I started that very day by buying some sparkly, gold eye shadow and wearing it everyday, even to work. Then, that weekend, I played “Dinosaurs” with my neighbor. She’s 26. I also drew some pictures. With finger paint.
Each day I try and find some way to play – to do something for fun, not just in earnest.
At any age, I pose to you this question: How do YOU play? What makes you smile and enjoy and feel completely at home in your skin?
Thanks Mom, for reminding me to play.
At that moment in time I found it extremely difficult to answer her question. How DO I play, I wondered? Am I really that out of touch with childish amusement? Have a lost my ability to play altogether. Or is it just hard to find that sweet surrender when I am not around children?
Sure, each of us can let loose when we’re WITH kids – making mud pies, playing spies, or building sand mermaids. But can we find it in ourselves to enjoy, I mean really play, when that innocent influence is NOT near by? How can we continue to cultivate that feeling of childish inhibition and enthusiasm when we are alone or even with our peers.
When I thought about it and finally sorted my thoughts, I realized that I really DON’T play. Not that I didn’t know how, but just that I had not taken the time to play in that lovable way. That’s when I also decided that that would need to change.
I started that very day by buying some sparkly, gold eye shadow and wearing it everyday, even to work. Then, that weekend, I played “Dinosaurs” with my neighbor. She’s 26. I also drew some pictures. With finger paint.
Each day I try and find some way to play – to do something for fun, not just in earnest.
At any age, I pose to you this question: How do YOU play? What makes you smile and enjoy and feel completely at home in your skin?
Thanks Mom, for reminding me to play.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Just keep coming back
What is it about the Southwest
It’s mystery
It’s majesty
It’s magnificence
What is it about the Southwest
That makes us want to run out into the open
Throw our arms around it, and squeeze
Never letting go
What is it about the Southwest
We all just keep coming back
It’s in our blood
The air, the sun, the dirt, the water or lack there of
What is it about the Southwest
Is it the history
War upon the people
A sense of freedom and peace
What is it about the Southwest
A soup bowel full of stars
Predictable summer weather
Sunshine with a chance of scattered sunshine
What is it about the Southwest
A dry, rough, prickly exterior
With an array of color and creatures
Water at its heart – an oasis of beauty
What is it about the Southwest
What makes it a parody of love and hate
Friend and foe
Home and home – in all senses of the word
What is it about the Southwest
Serenity
Complexity
Its coarse edges, and its smooth
What is it about the Southwest
Some people visit and say pretty
Others live and say heaven
Some do both and never can make up their minds
What is it about the Southwest
Makes me tick
Makes me breathe
Makes me want to be alive
It’s mystery
It’s majesty
It’s magnificence
What is it about the Southwest
That makes us want to run out into the open
Throw our arms around it, and squeeze
Never letting go
What is it about the Southwest
We all just keep coming back
It’s in our blood
The air, the sun, the dirt, the water or lack there of
What is it about the Southwest
Is it the history
War upon the people
A sense of freedom and peace
What is it about the Southwest
A soup bowel full of stars
Predictable summer weather
Sunshine with a chance of scattered sunshine
What is it about the Southwest
A dry, rough, prickly exterior
With an array of color and creatures
Water at its heart – an oasis of beauty
What is it about the Southwest
What makes it a parody of love and hate
Friend and foe
Home and home – in all senses of the word
What is it about the Southwest
Serenity
Complexity
Its coarse edges, and its smooth
What is it about the Southwest
Some people visit and say pretty
Others live and say heaven
Some do both and never can make up their minds
What is it about the Southwest
Makes me tick
Makes me breathe
Makes me want to be alive
Saturday, September 13, 2008
martini with a twist of billy
33 shots of whisky
a date with a blond
that ended in a dry run
toe tappin’
crowd turning
lip lickin’
kind o’ fun
slicked-back hair
stand-up bass
rollllllled cuffs
these guys were smooth
I mean smoooooth
three cheers for the beer drinkers
and one for the birthday girl with the caramel apple martini
big smile
de-bon-air, debonair
making love to the microphone
they had them captivated
enthralled
and left me laughing – lovin’ it
body singing the Psych-o-billy, Rock-a-billy
lovin’ life
we were
grooving on the sound of a white guitar
a date with a blond
that ended in a dry run
toe tappin’
crowd turning
lip lickin’
kind o’ fun
slicked-back hair
stand-up bass
rollllllled cuffs
these guys were smooth
I mean smoooooth
three cheers for the beer drinkers
and one for the birthday girl with the caramel apple martini
big smile
de-bon-air, debonair
making love to the microphone
they had them captivated
enthralled
and left me laughing – lovin’ it
body singing the Psych-o-billy, Rock-a-billy
lovin’ life
we were
grooving on the sound of a white guitar
Thursday, September 4, 2008
On my way home this evening
On my way home this evening,
I saw a red pick-up truck with ladders on top
And I thought of You.
I watched a couple as they savored and indulged in two identical ice cream cones
And I thought of you.
I heard a child laugh with innocence and pure pleasure
And I thought of YOU.
When I stepped through my door, I found Janis, I turned her up loud
And I thought of you.
Reading the newspaper, as I rifled through to the cooking section
And I thought of you.
Sitting here, writing this,
And I thought of you.
You are my guide, my brick wall, my stead-fast pillar of knowing.
you are the one who knows me and my life, we share and play and talk and I am here for you and you are there for me, no matter what.
YOU are my blood, my other half, the letters after my name, in my heart forever and always.
you are my cocoon and my warmth, you are me and I am you.
you are the one I am getting to know as a well as I know my other half.
you will always be and always have been my aspiration and mold of inspiration, the one with the light and dark, to find and be found, to hold and be held by those who love.
I saw a red pick-up truck with ladders on top
And I thought of You.
I watched a couple as they savored and indulged in two identical ice cream cones
And I thought of you.
I heard a child laugh with innocence and pure pleasure
And I thought of YOU.
When I stepped through my door, I found Janis, I turned her up loud
And I thought of you.
Reading the newspaper, as I rifled through to the cooking section
And I thought of you.
Sitting here, writing this,
And I thought of you.
You are my guide, my brick wall, my stead-fast pillar of knowing.
you are the one who knows me and my life, we share and play and talk and I am here for you and you are there for me, no matter what.
YOU are my blood, my other half, the letters after my name, in my heart forever and always.
you are my cocoon and my warmth, you are me and I am you.
you are the one I am getting to know as a well as I know my other half.
you will always be and always have been my aspiration and mold of inspiration, the one with the light and dark, to find and be found, to hold and be held by those who love.
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