Aug 22, 2018 | Do The Hard Thing, Encouragement |
I am tempted.
Tempted to
turn inward.
Tempted to shield my face from light
and get comfortable in the dark.
There’s a part of me that is ready to fight
and there’s a part of me
that just wants to watch dumb TV and eat chips.
There’s so much happening in the world
and in my home, that my heart sometimes just
goes in circles
wondering where to start,
wondering where it all stops.
Have you been there?
When your eyes flit from headline to headline
and you just aren’t sure how to absorb it all
and so it all just slides off of you
and piles onto the floor.
When you wake up you realize
you are sleeping on an island.
You are surrounded by the issues
that you left lay –
the concerns that you refuse to
enter into are queued up on the floor
waiting for your slumber to end.
I am tempted.
Tempted to think that
what I say
what I do
doesn’t even matter.
There’s so much pain,
so much wrong
so much inequality.
I am tempted to think
that what happens
has little to do with me.
But truth draws me towards light,
asks tough questions
and implores me to move
off my island.
Truth reveals me to myself and gives
light to the situations in my world and in
the world at large.
What I do, matters.
What you do, matters.
What you say, matters.
In big and in small ways, it matters.
And so it is up to us to find ways
to speak and move.
To keep the light.
Share the light.
Searching for kindling:
- Are you on an island trying to stay asleep?
- What issue are you avoiding?
- What truth are you hiding from?
- Waking up and diving into the issues that we try to ignore will help us realize that what we do matters. What can you do?
Aug 15, 2018 | Encouragement |
There’s a house I pass several times a day.
I stopped to say ‘Hi’ and learned that they’ve
been in the neighborhood quite awhile.
Since 1954.
They grow sunflowers each summer.
They stand at attention
guarding the rest of the garden from the traffic on the road.
I stopped to tell them how much I enjoy the flowers he plants each year and
thanked him for planting the little rays of sunshine.
We talked about the generous garden and I asked why he planted sunflowers.
He said, “Because the neighbors like them.”
The sunflowers are sort of a gauge for summer.
May – Quick, exciting start
June – Stretching for the sky
July – Blooming, yellow gold
August – sun-scorched and wilted
I enjoy almost every stage.
Except August.
I get sad that the sunflowers are done
because that means that summer is done too.
As I sat down to write of my sadness because the
sunflower show has ended,
the thought occurred to me –
there are other flowers blooming right now.
What.
There are other blooms rocking August.
The world is not devoid of flowers now that the sunflowers are gone.
And the world does not have to be devoid of enjoyment and frivolity
just because it is August.
There’s good in August too.
Let’s cultivate it and seek it.
What if I had missed the beauty of August completely?
Now that might be something to be sad about…
Searching For Kindling
Where can you cultivate good? How can you create space to seek out frivolity? For yourself. For your kids. For your significant other. For your friends. There’s good in August!
Jul 27, 2018 | Encouragement, Enough |
I am new to wearing out-there earrings.
Statement earrings that say:
“Look at me!”
I had stuck with the same pair of earrings for years and years
due to sensitive ears.
At least that was my reasoning.
But now at 40 I can’t help but wonder
if it was more than that.
If there was a bit of hiding going on.
Please, don’t look at me.
I want to be seen…
but not fully.
And now?
I now own some bold earrings
and they each have a story.
Connection with others makes me brave
and that is what these earrings represent.
People, stories, and reminders.
When I wear these earrings I walk a little taller.
Fringe earrings are what started it all.
I got these on a birthday trip from my hubby
with three of my biggest encouragers.
These earrings remind me that its okay to be fierce.
One pair of earrings is from my husband
and one pair I made.
The hoops make me think of love and the
jade globes remind me to give voice to my creativity.
One pair reminds me of the shop owner who said,
“You are a great momma.”
The copper teardrop pair are from a friend who sees the best in me.
The macrame ones my sister also owns
because we both fell in love with them. #Sisters
I wear them and think of her and
remember to be authentically myself.
And to maybe give her a call.
It’s such a small thing.
But we all need reminders.
To be strong,
be brave
to be creative
and to be our most authentic selves.
Which earrings shall I wear today?
Which reminder do I need?
Searching For Kindling.
What reminds you of who you truly are?
What helps you remember to be brave?
What are the stories that remind you to be authentic?
Share in the comments!
Jul 5, 2018 | Encouragement, Grow
If you are new here…
Welcome to this safe place where I invite you to pursue with me what it looks like to live as our best selves. I search for kindling to fuel joy, growth and understanding. I find kindling in the silliness of my kids, in a conversation with my sister, in a laugh with a friend, and in a brave flower flaunting its outrageous beauty. Kindling is at every turn and can be found even in the hard moments. Sometimes we have to train our eyes for it and when we find it we can use it to be our very best, yet imperfect selves. What more can anyone ask for? Let’s be perfectly, imperfect.
And…If you’ve been here before but haven’t heard of my friend Shea O’Connor – allow me to introduce you to a delightful talent.
For once, I am speechless. This organic collaboration with Shea of @designed.by.shea was an absolute joy. She shared one of the illustrations on her instagram and I decided to write a story about it. I shared it with her and she decided to draw more illustrations. SO FUN. It’s kind of like seeing your heart and mind in full-color. Nothing like it. Head over to Shea O’Connor’s instagram and hit follow to see her work. Shea was recently interviewed (read the whole article here) about her work and here’s how she describes her work.
“I create whimsical and glamorous illustrations of women. I make sure that the women I draw are a positive influence on others. I draw females from the past and present… some are well known and others aren’t (but should be). I strive to include all ages, ethnicities, and body types.”
So if you are looking for a dose of lighthearted fun, empowerment and encouragement to see the beauty in us all, well then you can’t go wrong in following the talented Shea. And if you love her work as much as I do, you might just want to visit her Etsy shop.
Jun 28, 2018 | Encouragement, Grow, Motherhood |
Sometimes, as a mom,
I feel as though the trip to the grocery store, to the beach,
to pick blueberries, etc. is a colossal disaster.
For example when we picked blueberries
Here’s what I experienced:
Arguments.
I repeated myself a million times.
There were complaints about the heat.
Complaints about being hungry.
There was whining about what a sibling said or did.
I mean, sure, we walked out with a giant
bag of gorgeous fresh blueberries that we picked
but I felt as though I had
sold my soul to get them.
That’s some expensive blueberries.
And so I second-guessed the wisdom in
bringing a friend with us to experience
“Chaos in the Blueberry Patch”.
I questioned my sanity for sure.
I looked at the plump blueberries
with disdain and wondered,
“Were you even worth it?”
And then later that afternoon
my friend sent me some
pictures she had taken of
“Chaos in the Blueberry Patch”.
She is a talented photographer,
of that there’s no question,
but her camera revealed
an experience I was too stressed,
too tense,
too focused on managing
the big personalities around me
to have been able to see
what happening before my eyes.
I saw
joy, deep breath, satisfaction, fun and
I saw that we actually enjoyed ourselves.
I didn’t know that we did.
Honestly, I didn’t.
But her photographs told a different story.
A story I didn’t know was true.
Remember the polaroid photos that would
develop before your eyes?
That’s what happened for me
in my heart in this digital age.
A full picture developed before my eyes.
And so I am learning…
I need to look beyond what I feel in the moment sometimes.
Tension doesn’t have to mar my experiences.
I can choose to not allow stress or my expectations to
render moments fuzzy and void of any positive value.
I’d like to be able to train my heart to see what is developing
in the moment and to not be sidetracked and derailed
by what isn’t going right.
Because…
well, then that is all that I see.
I’d like to see beyond what my heart
believes it can experience.
I’d like to be a part of the experience
instead of managing the experience.
I’d like to train my heart to develop the
joy, love and fun first.
I want to see the whole picture.
Searching For Kindling:
1) What are some phrases you can say to yourself to remember to see the whole picture?
One of mine is: “See past what you think and feel.”
Jun 14, 2018 | Community, Encouragement, Motherhood |
My baby girl got a doll for her birthday.
A life-like doll.
It’s like we have a new member of the family.
Today, I heard her ask her brother to hold her baby
so that she could run upstairs.
He asked why she couldn’t take the baby with her. She said,
“I need to do something that doesn’t involve the baby.”
So. She needed her brother to care for the baby.
I kind of loved this little exchange.
It was a simple answer that
needed no further explanation.
I need to do something and I can’t do it
while I am holding a baby.
So I need some help.
Why do we make it complicated?
Why do we unnecessarily involve
guilt and shame when a mom says,
“I need to do something that doesn’t involve the baby.”
It could be she wants to take a six-mile run or perhaps
she is a doctor, a creative, or maybe she is CEO of an architect firm.
Why do we question motives and values when
a mom wants to use the gifts God has given her?
I mean, seriously, why?
Yes, there’s a cost if we pursue our gifts in ways that
take us away from our families.
There’s also a cost that is accrued when
we don’t pursue opportunities to use our talents.
Which costs more?
It’s up to each individual person and
each individual family has to weigh the costs.
And so most of the time,
99% of the time –
that doesn’t include you or me.
When a mom needs to do something
and she needs to do it with her hands free
to serve, work, love, heal, teach.
Cheer her on.
Support her.
Encourage her.
Don’t question her love for her children.
Don’t project on to her burdens that
she doesn’t carry.
She’s given a simple answer.
Sometimes she needs her hands free
to give the world what has been put
within her heart and mind.
It’s a simple answer –
let’s not complicate it.
