On my mind.

The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.
~Don Williams Jr.

To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.
~Chinese Proverb

What people forget is a journey to nowhere starts with a single step, too.
~Chuck Palahniuk

Mornings like this one.

The alarm went off. The dog lazily peered up from the foot of the bed, her droopy eyes said it all. But alas, it was time. I stretched through to my toes and felt rested, ready to start. The usual routine unfolded - shower, dry, dress. I opened the children's room door and peeked in.
They lay in a peaceful slumber. The very thought of waking them made me want to just snuggle in instead. I readied their clothes then picked up the ones from the night before that didn't quite make it into the basket. I stopped as I heard the little one sigh in her sleep and thought me too. Ever so softly I called to them and to my surprise they began to stir. He stretched through to his toes while I stood smiling remembering how I had just done the very same. She buried deeper into her pillow and I nodded knowing that was on my mind as well.
A short while later we were brushing teeth, washing faces, combing hair and the other mundane tasks that are whisked into mornings. It looked like business as usual but it felt different.
There was an inexpicable magic this morning. Perhaps it was something in the way we woke (gently, calmly) or the softness of our steps (rather than the fast-paced stomps life so often fills up with) or the tone I made a concious effort to set. Maybe it was the tenderness that I paused to notice or that softness that children naturally have that caught me today.
I stopped and noticed the difference. I inhaled the moment then went about the day.

Dance.

Because it's Friday, get up and spin. Just let the music take over your heart.
Go!

On my mind.

Truth lifts the heart, like water refreshes thirst.
~Rumi

Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules.
~Unknown

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.
~Irish Proverb

How they grow.

Wasn't this just yesterday?

Have a seat.

Join me today, right here in this cozy corner of mine. Choose a traditional teacup from my collection. There are ones painted with yellow lace roses, ones kissed with pink buds almost in bloom and still more that have gold trim around the edges. Be careful as there are a few that are chipped yet I can't bring myself to letting them go just yet. Maybe some day just not right now. Let me warm your cup with a spot of my melancholy tea blend as I reminisce. Please excuse my tears when they fall.
Quite some time ago, today was a frigid day such that it seem the world itself was trying to freeze time. I was jolted awake from an unsettled sleep in the dead of night by a pain so intense I gasped. I begged for it all to be a nightmare. I pleaded with the universe to let me be wrong. I called a friend in desperation. She knew.
The day whirled around in a blur of beeps, buzzes, bracelets, charts and macabre images that have scarred me. Routine phrases were used by those who knew what they were defined as though many were foreign to my untainted ears. I didn't understand. I felt alone and scared and broken.
On this day, all those years ago, I felt a piece of me change. I didn't know then what I know now but I knew I would never be the same.
I know now that's it's ok...that I'm ok.

On my mind.

Angels, in the early morning
May be seen the Dews among,
Stooping -- plucking -- smiling -- flying --
Do the Buds to them belong?

Angels, when the sun is hottest
May be seen the sands among,
Stooping -- plucking -- sighing -- flying --
Parched the flowers they bear along.

~Emily Dickinson