day 7 {best book of 2014}

Mine wasn't a book I read but one I created...a vision book. 

Creating this book under Hannah Marcotti's guidance 

took me on quite a journey this year for which I'm so deeply grateful.

This wordless page prompt led me to this poem:

“Love After Love"

The time will come 

when, with elation 

you will greet yourself arriving 

at your own door, in your own mirror 

and each will smile at the other's welcome, 

and say, sit here. Eat. 

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart 

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you 

all your life, whom you ignored 

for another, who knows you by heart. 

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, 

the photographs, the desperate notes, 

peel your own image from the mirror. 

Sit. Feast on your life.”

~ Derek Walcott

{day 4} heard

Today...a full moon on Friday the 13th - there is some kind of magic in the air!

I have been noticing some people doing a 100 days of happy challenge and it started the wheels turning in my head.  I thought I'd do an 100 day photo challenge leading up to my 50th birthday.  I wanted the focus to be on GRACE as that word really speaks to me right now.  Then today happened!

I posted this photo in my Magic Making Circle for our "today I shall be" prompts.  An accumulation of things this week has me looking at how much I hold back what I have to say.  Sometimes my words scare me as it feels so vulnerable to speak my truth and reveal my thoughts.  I have moved away from writing here on my blog...starting today that changes!

Instead of doing the 100 days, the number 108 popped in my head today...and guess what?  It is 108 days until my 50th birthday.  Coincidental?  I think not.  So I looked for a meaning of 108.

Number 108 is a combination of the attributes and energies of number 1, 0 and number 8.  

Number 1 lends its vibrations of new beginnings, vivacity, stepping out of your comfort zone, intuition and insight, striving for success, attainment and happiness.  

Number 0 carries the vibration of the ‘God force’ and Universal Energies, and its energies emphasize and amplify the attributes of the numbers it appears with.  Number 0 a message to do with developing one’s spiritual aspects and is considered to represent the beginning of a spiritual journey and highlights the uncertainties that may entail.  It suggests that you listen to your intuition and higher-self as this is where you will find your answers. 

Number 8 resonates with manifesting positive abundance, personal power and authority, a desire for peace and a love of humanity and world transformation, giving and receiving and the Universal Spiritual Law of Cause and Effect – karma.  Number 8 is a ‘power’ number.

For 108 days I will be exploring my world through the eyes of grace.  

And, I will be writing more along with the photos...using my voice!

{Day 3} home

Day 3: Today I shall be...{home}

A word wasn't coming to me today. Then I was at home during lunch 

and my son's cat was laying there without a care in the world....

not regretting yesterday or worrying about tomorrow - just in full relaxation mode. 

I began thinking about how comforting it is to be at home, which has so many connotations.

Then I found this:

 Your true home is in the here and the now. 

Your true home is not an abstract idea;

 it is something you can touch and live in every moment. 

With mindfulness and concentration, 

you can find your true home 

in the full relaxation 

of your mind and body

 in the present moment.

 ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

{Day 2} gratitude

Today is shall be...{gratitude) - giving thanks for what was, what is & what is to come.

“You pray in your distress and in your need; 

would that you might pray also 

in the fullness of your joy 

and in your days of abundance.” 

― Khalil Gibran

{Day 1} grace

What is grace?   I know until you ask me; 

when you ask me, I do not know.

~ Saint Augustine

I have been drawn to the word GRACE lately.  I have been trying to figure out the FEELING of grace...not just a definition.  How do you live you life in grace?  So, today I chose to be grace.  I shall flow with the Universe knowing All is working on my behalf and accepting that I am part of the Whole.  I shall feel the freedom this knowing brings and allow harmony to flow through me.

My prayer for today is to let the grace of wonderment flood into me. 

Life is filled with Divine wonders and extraordinary calculations. 

One prayer can make all the difference. 

Invisible power is a mustard seed against the visible mountains in our lives.

~ Caroline Myss

{to feel} e.e. cummings

home {sweet} home

{taking time to notice bits of beauty around my home}

{my secret message}

{my secret message within my altar}

{my altar}

the beginnings of my altar

with a found treasures from our trip to Florida

the beach & ocean just feel like home.

{I crave}

Tonight I went by the church around the corner from my house. I take a lot of photos there.

 A place I can see the sun set. In the summer, there is a meadow with lots of wild flowers. 

 A pond that reflects the sky. A beautiful garden with waterfalls and fountains. 

 All year long they have soft music playing in their outdoor sanctuary.

A few years ago I started my blog and began I journey of taking pictures to notice the beauty surrounding me every single day. This simple act made me take notice and appreciate so many things 

I would have overlooked otherwise.

It is with awe that I admire these every day happenings which leads me to acknowledge 

the magnificence & beauty of creation.

{the spaces in between}

“Love After Love"

The time will come 

when, with elation 

you will greet yourself arriving 

at your own door, in your own mirror 

and each will smile at the other's welcome, 

and say, sit here. Eat. 

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart 

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you 

all your life, whom you ignored 

for another, who knows you by heart. 

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, 

the photographs, the desperate notes, 

peel your own image from the mirror. 

Sit. Feast on your life.”

― Derek Walcott

{treasure mapping}

I took some time this morning to do the treasure mapping using the nine baguas. A first for me. 

I kept them small to not get overwhelmed at the task. 

One thing I seem to be learning...small bites work so much better for me. 

I would normally take on too much and feel overwhelmed which many times has led to doing nothing.