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Archive for the category “Writing”

12 Aug 2013

life changing words

there are words strung together
in such beauty
in such a way
they touch secret places
of pain so deep
they have had no words
they almost don’t exist
they are so deep
so shadowy scarred and twisted
so nameless I can’t acknowledge them
because they might possibly be ghosts, or demons
and why would I disturb alien creatures,
when there is quite enough pain
right here in plain sight
to try to heal and deal with?

until these thoughts appear,
shadows become real,
in these words of another
because the other
has felt
has written
has sung
has wrestled and wrangled with
this too
and the words they have mined
from these dark, broken quarries
touch that wispy, pain-filled place
inside of me
with delicate fingers
and declare they are so,
and make them alright,
binding and healing
my broken bones
my hidden stab wounds
my almost too pain-filled to be real
merely by sharing them
and my soul says, aha!
and the roses in my heart
turn from blush to deepest crimson
and birds come and rest in these trees,
which declare every moment that
Yahweh is always gracious,
and the morning wakes up
new and alive
and love burns seven times hotter
than I ever thought possible
and I count gift after gift
of never-before-seen riches at my fingertips
as I step into a life
that matters
because I am beloved
because I understand myself better
and the meaning of,
It is what it is,
and,
the truth shall set you free
become my praise songs
because I am
with every word
and I grin and say,
You aren’t much,
and I belly laugh
because it is true
and I laugh even harder because,
truth is also,
I am everything I need to be
hallelujah
glory be!

AL 8/12/13

a special thank you to my favorite writers today! So very grateful for words written and shared!
Steve Garnaas-Holmes, Mary Oliver, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Kathy Galloway, Wendell Berry, Walt Whitman, Paulo Coelho, Ann Voskamp, Mark Buchanan, Kyle Idleman, Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning, John O’Donohue, Audrey Assad, Janet Paschal, and so many, many others who have touched and inspired me over the years…these are exceptional amazing, inspiring people of words! Thank you for your gifts to me!

Posted in awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, grace, Gratitude, healing, inspiration, laugh, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, Poetry, Smile, soul and spirit, thankfulness, Writing

04 Jul 2013

1 Comment

we are here to share, live and love with each other

What can we hope for?

The wisest man ever once said,
All is vanity
He also said, There is a time for every season.
My four year old nephew figures it out,
asking his mom,
So we just keep getting older
and then we die?
The response is,
Yes, that about covers it.
To which he replies,
Oh man.

An 83 year old loses her mental capacities.
She asks, Why are there cowboys and Indians in the yard?
She curses the surgeon who allows her to continue walking.
I wonder, Has he done her a favor?
She asks me,
Can I borrow your scissors to slit my throat?
When I say, No
She responds,
Awwww man.

In this world we are assured
we will have trouble.
There will also be intensely good,
even great, moments.
Life is our gift.
We choose to make it better or bitter.
We live.
We die.
We seek.
We find.

Why are we here?
That question has been asked by many.
Answered in a variety of ways and meanings.

All I have personally found true is:
We are here for love.
To find it.
To give it.
To receive it.
To allow it to flow in us,
around us,
through us,
to us.
We are here to help each other.
To share love and life with one another.
We are all a part of one.
We are all beloved.

Who am I to judge how we each find this love?
Have I, at long last, become enlightened?
My response to this amazing question,
Oh my!

AL 6/16/13

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, Blessing, courage, Death, find art at pinterest, laugh, Letting Go, Life, Love, People, Writing

01 Nov 2012

Happy Mindful Writing Day: Nov 1st

Writing Small Stones is just downright good!
A tiny song within a thoughtful poem of well-placed words
strung together like a ribbon of twinkle lights
calling us to the party –
there will be dancing

http://www.writingourwayhome.com/
http://www.ahandfulofstones.com/

Posted in beauty, create, Dancing, Encouragement, Happy Holiday!, home, music, Poetry, Thoughts, Today, words, Writing | Leave a comment

02 Aug 2012

1 Comment

a poem on poems

A simple line of black words
On a white background
Like stars hung in white space
I catch myself
Breathless
from the beauty.
That so few words
can carry this much content
A complete story told
Within a few well-placed letters
Feeding my soul
(My cup runneth over)

Line by line
Condensed
Full
Sharp
Brilliant
Precise
Dripping
Creating images in my mind –
Inspiring me to try it for myself

The people so different –
Hayden Carruth
Ann Voskamp
Kathy Galloway
Steve Garness-Holmes
The Psalmist
Wendell Barry
Rumi
Robert Frost
Emily Dickenson
– My list is ever growing
The search for beauty will never be completed in this lifetime
There are infinite possibilities –
Just like the the people and the words
they are infinite and unique

They fill me
saturating me with
so much more than I can express
Some old
Some new
All calling me
Inspiring me
Challenging me
To find my own voice
To add my own lovely word-jewelry to the mix
Inviting me
To change the world

No comparisons needed
each one stands alone
joy
these words
Put together by brave people
speaking simply from their own place of being
Humble and grand
experiences
Blend in harmony –
It is humanity

Such different voices
Yet each so clear
connected
Graciously allowing me to find my own place among them
In this jewelry box of words
Beginning with a thought
Poured on blank pages
To feed the hungry souls
Searching

The ones
In need on new thoughts and
Ideas
Inspiration and
learning
In this ever-always, wide-open, universe of the unending
Yes, all connected
Here, there and everywhere
From beginning to end
The Word (and we) endure
For ever and ever
Amen AL 8/1/12

Posted in awareness, beauty, Blessing, create, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, inspiration, Life, Love, Passion, People, Poetry, soul and spirit, Thoughts, Today, words, Writing

26 Jul 2012

…feel it deeply…but don’t get stuck…

Dealing with Disappointment
A Bridge to Acceptance
by Madisyn Taylor

The gift of disappointment is to bring us into reality so we don’t get stuck in the realm of how things might have been.

Whenever we do something in life with an expectation of how we’d like it to turn out, we risk experiencing disappointment. When things don’t go the way we had envisioned, we may feel a range of emotions from slightly let down to depressed or even angry. We might direct our feelings inward toward ourselves, or outward toward other people or the universe in general. Whether we feel disappointed by ourselves, a friend, or life in general, disappointment is always a tough feeling to experience. Still, it is a natural part of life, and there are many ways of dealing with it when we find ourselves in its presence.

As with any feeling, disappointment has come to us for a reason, and we don’t need to fear acknowledging it or feeling it. The more we are able to accept how we are feeling and process it, the sooner we will move into new emotional territory. As we sit down to allow ourselves to feel our disappointment, we might want to write about the experience of being disappointed—the situation that preceded it, what we were hoping would happen, and what did happen. The gift of disappointment is its ability to bring us into alignment with reality so that we don’t get stuck for too long in the realm of how things might have been.

As we consider other disappointments in our life and how we have moved past them, we may even see that in some cases what happened was actually better in the long run than what we had wanted to happen. Disappointment often leaves us feeling deflated with its message that things don’t always turn out the way we want. The beauty of disappointment, though, is that it provides us a bridge to its other side where the acceptance of reality, wisdom, and the energy to begin again can be found.

www.dailyom.com

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, beloved, Burnign Bridges, Change, Choice, courage, determination, Dreams, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Grieving, healing, inspiration, Letting Go, Life, Lonely, Losing, Love, People, Prayer, Quotes, Relationships, Respect, soul and spirit, Tears, thankfulness, Thoughts, Today, truth, Writing | Leave a comment

06 Jun 2012

life is made up of tiny stories, fairy tales and great adventures

Posted in Adventure, art, attitude, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, create, determination, do, Dreams, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, fun, Gratitude, Imagine, Impossible, inspiration, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, Newsletter, Passion, People, Quotes, Reality, Reflection, Relationships, Songs from the Valley, soul and spirit, strength, success, thankfulness, truth, Winning, words, Writing | Leave a comment

21 Feb 2012

In the willing hands of the believing, the emptiness can sing. He means to fill our emptiness with song. – Ann Voskamp

In Lent, as we fast from rich, sweet foods, we fast from our rich, sweet Alleluia. On Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras, in French) an old tradition is to use up all the fat — the milk, eggs and butter in the house (usually in pancakes). And we use up all the alleluias. A liturgical tradition for this day includes burying the alleluias,carrying a small casket out of the church and interring it, as we would for someone we love. It’s a tender moment.

Use up your alleluias today. Relish the word. Walk around singing it, saying it, praying it. Rejoice in being “shriven” —having confessed and been absolved (hence another name for today, “Shrove Tuesday”) — before you enter into a season when your freedom is still being worked out. Then tonight, bury yourAlleluias. Kiss them goodbye. Wish them well. They will go down into the darkness, into the silence, to be drowned out by the moans and the cries. Let them go. They have infinite life in them. They will arise again on Easter, having seen Hell and transfigured it, and returned, singing.

But today do not worry yourself about the dark journey to come. This is the day the Lord is creating. Let us rejoice and be glad. Alleluia!

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, Blessing, Blog, Change, Choice, courage, create, Dancing, determination, do, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, force, Freedom, fun, Gratitude, Growth, Habits, Happiness, Happy Holiday!, home, Hope, Imagine, Impossible, Joy, kindness, laugh, Letting Go, Life, light, Love, Miracles, music, Party, Passion, People, Prayer, Quotes, Reality, Reflection, Relationships, Smile, strength, Sweet, Tenderness, thankfulness, Thoughts, time, Today, Trust, Vulnerability, Winning, words, Writing | Leave a comment

16 Feb 2012

love sets free

Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. – C.S. Lewis

Today is a ‘Freedom Anniversary’ for me! It is a big deal! My life has been a progression of stepping towards freedom.

The battles have been long, dangerous and hard to win in order to free myself. Both physically and spiritually. I am not completely there yet – it is a life-long exploration and journey to free myself. The chains and bars in my prisons, because I find they are legion, are very strong. My Alcatraz type barren -rock islands were such a long way from shore, with many snipers, predators and sharp rocks in the water and on all sides of the shores. My guards were very alert and ready to shoot me, or keep me locked down and in solitary for my whole life. They were gleeful when I fell and happy over my pain and destruction.

And yet, the love, the words, and truth, of God were so much more powerful than any of these things, that no prison in this world could not hold me and, for 22 years now, I keep walking out of my prisons into the brilliant light and sunshine of the free!!!!

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage|
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.

http://songsfromthevalley.com/July-09-2-14-Freedom.pdf

Posted in Adventure, Alone, America, art, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, Blessing, Blog, Burnign Bridges, Career, Change, Choice, courage, create, Dancing, Death, determination, do, dominance, Dreams, Encouragement, force, Freedom, fun, Gratitude, Grieving, Growth, Habits, Happiness, Happy Holiday!, home, Hope, Imagine, Impossible, Joy, Judging, kindness, laugh, Leadership, Letting Go, Life, light, Lonely, Losing, Love, Miracles, Mother, music, Newsletter, Party, Passion, Peace, People, Poetry, politics, power, Prayer, Proof, Purpose, quiet, Quotes, Reality, Reflection, Relationships, Respect, Seasons, Smile, Solitude, Songs from the Valley, Spring, Stars and Moonlight, strength, success, Sweet, Tears, Tenderness, thankfulness, Thoughts, time, Today, Trust, Uncategorized, Vulnerability, Winning, words, worry, Writing | Leave a comment

14 Feb 2012

Knowing your heart

Did I really think that on Valentine’s Day, or any day, i would be satisfied with a silly post? Ha
The Alchemist is one of my very favorite books. So glad Paulo Coelho posted this today!!!

“Why do we have to listen to our hearts?” the boy asked, when they had made camp that day.

“Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure.”

“But my heart is agitated,” the boy said. “It has its dreams, it gets emotional, and it’s become passionate over a woman of the desert. It asks things of me, and it keeps me from sleeping many nights, when I’m thinking about her.”

“Well, that’s good. Your heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say.”

“My heart is a traitor,” the boy said to the alchemist, when they had paused to rest the horses. “It doesn’t want me to go on.”

“That makes sense. Naturally it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve on.”

“Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?”

“Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. ”

“You mean I should listen, even if it’s treasonous?”

“Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly. If you know your heart well, it will never be able to do that to you. Because you’ll know its dreams and wishes, and will know how to deal with them.

“My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer,” the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky.

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”

Paulo Coelho From “The Alchemist”

http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2012/02/14/our-hear/