Spin Your Story : Farewell To Military Service & A Sister's Wish

Guest post by Sylvia Hall.

Farewell To Military Service & A Sister's Wish

My brother Sergeant Isaac Rodriguez has served 8 years in the United States Marine Corps. Today he bids farewell.

He is a recipient of two Purple Hearts
and memories to last a lifetime.
Soon after the dreadful 9/11 horror my baby brother, my parent's only son, unexpectedly decided to join the Marines. I felt an enormous amount of pride but also selfishly wished someone else would volunteer instead. Someone else's baby brother.

Basic training. When he came home we greeted him at the airport with applause and loud cheers. People gathered around us to join in and we were incredibly proud. He was different, but the same. He was stationed in California and soon after deployed for his first time. I had numerous long conversations with my Mom as I helped her prepare for his deployment. One minute I was fine and the next minute I was fighting back the "what ifs".

Reality hit. Hard. I struggled with watching the news like a hawk to not wanting to see any of it because I would fantasize the worst. I'd talk on the phone with my family and act optimistic and brave when I sensed worry in their voice. Yet, I would hang up the phone and secretly cry my eyes out. We would send him care packages and cards wrapped with love.

Staying in touch. We would receive emails and pictures from him and it meant the world to us. We'd have three-way calls to use his time wisely. Then, he sent a long email explaining his vehicle had been hit by an improvised explosive device. He assured us he was okay. He finished his deployment and came home. We all took a deep breath.

The dreadful call. During his second deployment, Dad received a call that my brother was in the hospital. Dad was in the middle of heavy traffic and coudn't concentrate so he memorized the number and called asking me to call them back. I remember feeling numb and my heart pounding as I dialed the number. The young Marine on the other line gave me the details and I quickly wrote them down: vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device, he was blown out of the vehicle, had a concussion, in a hospital but okay. I told the young Marine that I HAD to talk to my brother. He explained that it wasn't possible but I was not taking no for an answer. There was no way in hell I was going to have my parents go to bed that evening without speaking to him. The Marine must have heard the fear and pain in my voice and calmly promised to do the best he could to accommodate my request. My brother was on the phone within ten long minutes. I had a long conversation with God that evening.

Third deployment. It came and went faster than the first two. It wasn't that we were accustomed to it (you don't get accustomed to having a loved one in harms way). I think we just dealt with it differently; more calmly and with more faith. Video chats kept us in touch and he returned home.

Not forgotten. I believe the most difficult trial for him has not been his own injuries, but loosing fellow Marines. The loss has been wide and deep. They are lost but not forgotten.

Continued pride. Many of his brothers are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some are home for now knowing they may be deployed again. Let's not forget all the brave men and women who continue to serve our country.

Cause for celebration. Today marks a new beginning. He will marry his fiance within a few months and embark on a new chapter. A life that will be completely different than the last eight years. A life that is like a new canvas, waiting to be painted with brand new experiences and adventures.

My wish. Little brother, I wish you heaps of love and happiness. You have a clean slate. Take the journey of filling your heart with everything that brings you joy. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

I am extremely proud of you and love you very much!

My name is Sylvia Hall. I grew up in Texas and have lived in Washington State for ten years. I am inspired by the power of family, love and connection. I have been married to my husband Teddy for seventeen years. I love photography, crafting, delicious books and am a quote nut. As a relatively new blogger, I am enjoying the journey of expressing and excavating feelings from my heart and putting them to words.

Pin It

love is the law of life

untitled by jgroepper.

The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a glowing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing, it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of Divine accident.
—
Sir Hugh Walpole




| Register here : Be Gentle, Be Love : 30 Days of Cultivating Your Virtues with Creativity |

Pin It

Spin Your Story : And Kindness Ruled the Day

Guest post by Susan M.

Untitled by sammmizzle

And Kindness Ruled the Day

Today a very bad tax appointment evolved into a giddy gratitude high.

I'll start by saying that my husband and I are financial morons. We are completely out to lunch financially. Smoke a lot of pot and you make a lot of bad financial decisions. That said, when tax time comes around we get excited about our refund and more than a little money drunk. We expected a refund again this year but it wasn't in the cards.

We go to H and R Block every year. It's close, convenient, and we aren't picky as long as we get a couple thousand bucks back each year. So we arrive and the tax man is delightful, funny, and nice to our daughter. He goes to find our last year's records but they are nowhere to be found. Not in the system, not anywhere. He keeps asking, "Are you sure you had your taxes done here last year?" "Yes, yes, yes", we keep answering.

Next the tax man said: "I think you have your sweater on inside out." I reply."No, it's just like this." He looks curious and says, "Then why is the tag showing in the back?" I stand up, look at my sweater and say, "Oh yea, I do this all the time." I’m sure he won’t believe a thing I say now.

So he goes ahead and enters all our numbers asking about IRAs and cafeteria plans. Here is how the conversation went: "Whose name was first on the return?" "Um, don't know." "Did you itemize your deductions?" "Um, don't know." "Was this money taken out pre-tax?" "I think it was that deferral plan thingy." And so forth. In the end he says we owe money this year.

OWE? How can that be? Not much has changed in our financial status, so we decide to look at last year's tax return and compare. I say: "I'll run home and get the hard copy and be right back". Go home, search high and low for hard copy, can’t find it. I find every other fucking tax year (in the laundry room). I'm really cranky at this point and swearing at my husband, furious with H and R block, embarrassed I don't have a better organizational system.

Eventually I find it, we drive back. In the car I look again and see it actually is not the right year. Uggggg...... While waiting for the tax man in the lobby we see all the signs for various discounts on the wall. When he meets us I say: "We'd like the discount for the financially inept." He laughs. We laugh. Energy has shifted and from then on we are all punch-drunk silly. We sit down; explain we couldn't find the return. Giggles ensue.

So, happy tax man returns to searching the database for the records, all the other tax people in the office saying, "never seen this happen before in all my years of doing taxes." Heads are scratched, other offices are called, multiple computers are used - they even search the e-file records to no avail. All our records have disappeared into a Financial Bermuda Triangle.

At this point I am starting to question my sanity. Finally I say out loud. "Am I crazy? I know we came here last year. I remember you opened late that day and we had to wait outside." Tax man is saying he believes us, he believes us. In the end we DO end up owing taxes because of many reasons I won't go into.

He is, ironically, able to give us the 25 dollar New User Discount because "we didn't use H and R Block" last year. Then he asks if we would like to buy the Peace of Mind Protection Plan (which we bought last year) and we all burst out laughing. When filling out the section to remember us for next year's appointment he writes - Clients whose records got lost in the Twilight Zone. He tells us he wants us to come back next year to see him because our tax appointment was so much fun.

Finally, when we leave I tell him "Thanks for nothing". I get a big grin.

Walking to the car, I say to my husband, "I'm glad he didn't ask us why we adopted because the answer would have been: we forgot to have kids." (Which is sort of true but a whole other story.) At this point, driving the car is dangerous because we are both laughing so hard.

This is when we both feel the peace of true wealth.

True wealth was that moment, laughing, out 2 thousand bucks - and not caring. We let that money go so fast it makes my head spin. And we did need that money. But we recognized how amazing it was that we rebounded so fast with grace and perspective. The sky blue, children selling Girl Scout cookies on the side walk, low riders booming, giving the street some life. Us: together, safe, happy, grateful. What a holy awakening.

Maybe the tax guy was inept; maybe we should get someone else to do our taxes. But: Nope. I like that guy. I like the easy joy he had, the infectious grace -easily worth the money. He might be an Angel or a Bodhisattva. Or a Financial Moron.

I am reminded of this poem by Hafiz.


I Knew We Would be Friends

As soon as you opened your mouth
And I heard your soft
Sounds.

I knew we would be
Friends.

The first time, dear pilgrim, I heard
You laugh.

I knew it would not take me long
To turn you back into
God.


Not only did my husband, the tax man, and I, refuse to get ugly and adversarial, as Hafiz says, we turned each other into God. We coaxed the holiness in us to come to light. Divine laughter couldn't be stopped. We inspired everyone in that office. We turned the very particles of air into kindness, each cell of our bodies into generosity.

I already feel like I've been doubly repaid the money I lost.

How I lived today is how I want to live every day, letting Kindness trump everything, letting Kindness guide my every breath, spinning all of the world’s pain into Joy.

I am a 47 year old Kindness Junkie. Oh, I also happen to be in recovery. I write at Writing My Way Sober.

(If you'd like to Spin Your Story get the specs here, I'd love to have you!)

Pin It

Sponsor Love : Conscious | Cool | Chic

Conscious | Cool | Chic

Over the past 4 years, everything in my life has changed greatly. In 2007, I was counting my second year of living in Paris, finishing graduate school, traveling around Europe, in love with a sexy Turkish man, and thought This Dream Life was all coming together perfectly.

Until it all crumbled, ended, fell apart at the sole (soul) of my Zara high heels. And all I could do was...surrender (ugh, the tears & questions!).

After a big ride through light, dark, love and hope, Conscious|Cool|Chic is my new introspective outlet for this *fresh* moment & place in time where everything is possible...again.

The regular soul-level offerings include reflective essays & musings… inspiring thoughts...travel stories...affirmations...books...energy & astrological messages...conscious-seeking people... and of course, pretty things! Travel Tuesdays spotlights fabulous locales - Paris, Prague & Amsterdam are up! Every Thursday is Soul Growth Adventures where an inspiring conscious-seeker answers a "big life question." You’ll feel the heart connection with these souls, big time.

I’m ecstatic to share that in the past year my heart has found a bigger love and a bigger dream to follow. And I’ve never been more ready to be vulnerable, courageous, and inspired again. Can you relate at all? Then let’s follow this path together over at Conscious|Cool|Chic.

We are brand new on Facebook and could use some Like love if you have some to spare!

Hope to see you (and your heart) soon!

Molly


Heaps of gratitude & love for sponsoring KOM Madelyn!


Pin It

here is my wish for you

Ausblick by vampire-carmen

Here is my wish for you and every other child, woman, and man on the face of the earth: Spend one week saying only kind, caring things to yourself. Say thank you at least ten times an hour, direct five toward yourself and five to the world at large. Compliment yourself (and others) each time an effort is made. Notice all the wonderful qualities and characteristics about yourself and those around you. One week. You will never go back. And your whole life will be a glorious meditation.
—
Cheri Huber




My e-course | Be Gentle, Be Love : 30 Days of Cultivating Your Virtues with Creativity | is always open for registration. Unfold your story & create meaningful, life-shifting art.

Pin It

Seven Souls One Musing : Volume 3

Seven Souls One Musing is a new interview series here on KOM. I will be asking 5-6 creative personalities (sometimes including myself) plus 1-2 random Twitter or Facebook followers to reflect on 1 theme (be sure to watch for my random call-outs to be involved!)

This theme was so. much. fun. I will definitely be returning to it in the future with a different panel of lovelies!


Tell us about one of the funniest experiences of your life, like one that made your whole body laugh.

Genna McWhinnie

My work colleagues & I had been on a great night out, so I offered to get prints of the photos. I transferred them to my usb key & headed for the print shop. I walked into the tres busy shop & jumped over to the ‘order prints yourself’ computer. As the computer started to autoload, my delight soon turned to sheer, violent humiliation when, some rather smutty images, that I had long forgotten about & had NO idea were on the usb key, started to flash up, FULL SCREEN on the monitor which was pointing out, for the whole shop to see. I quit the software & sped out the shop and down two city blocks before feeling the laughter building & bursting out of me. I laughed so hard I cried & my make up was so smudged my colleagues thought I had been attacked. Needless to say, the story completely cracked them up too & we spent the rest of day making jokes about me & my smutty photos.

Joy Charde Creative Mamma

Laugh - one of my favorite verbs... I seem to laugh at the silliest things, but I've never experienced the "whole body laugh" as much as I do now with my kids. I seem to burst into laughter all day from the things that my toddler says to the scrapes that he gets himself into. The sweet coos and smiles that my little newborn gives, make me just want to laugh out loud! A lot of those moments are "you had to be there" types of moments, so it's hard to pin point a specific time... Here's one: Who needs fancy toys? Throughout my day, I try to take a "tickle break" with my kids (even my husband sometimes) - because life is way too short not to take time to really laugh! By the way, "whole body laughs" are the best kind!

Lori Portka

My husband and I process things very differently. In a nutshell; he is fast, I am slow. Example: We are in Baden-Baden, Germany at an amazing spa. It's all going well, soaking in whirlpools, mineral springs and saunas, until we see a spiral staircase. My husband walks up - I follow. Where does this lead? We walk in and I scan the situation. Steam. Naked bodies. White towels. Everyone is calm, cool, collected like walking around naked is totally normal. Oh my God. A Roman Bath! Cubbies for bathing suits. Rack with white towels. Now what? Still processing, panicking. I look over at my husband. He is standing in all his glory, chest out, head up, towel in hand, ready for the sauna. It wasn’t funny at the time because I was too nervous about wanting to be a relaxed European, but feeling like an old school puritan. Afterward we couldn't stop laughing at how fast he whipped off his clothes and joined the spa party before I even understood where in the world we were.

Melissa Jo Hill

I have a tattoo on my lower right rib to commemorate a time in my early twenties that I cracked that bone in a fit of laughter. I can't recall what was so funny now - it was just a silly joke made in the company of good friends – and then a pop. I do recall being doubled over in pain and my friends driving me to the ER, like good friends should. Afterward, I was in pain and they felt like the best course of action would be to tell jokes to cheer me up. They were sweet, but not very helpful. The tattoo that followed says simply, "Break me". Most people think it's some kind of masochist invitation – or an angst-filled daring declaration. It's really neither. It's an invocation to the kind of easy company, random hilarity and good feelings that make me vulnerable enough to laugh. And laugh with every bone of my body shaking in that kind of bone-shaking laughter. I now take calcium tablets just in case.

Raven Chitalo

I traveled to South Luangwa National Park, in Zambia, with three other Peace Corps volunteers. We were camping (in tree stands, so the hippos didn’t trample us as we slept). On the campfire, we cooked our pasta dinner and then left the hot pot on the table, with a rock to hold the lid on, and went down to see the sunset over the river. We came back half an hour later to quite a surprise. Sitting around the picnic table, family style, were 7 monkeys. The largest monkey had the pot in front of him, lid off. The others were waiting patiently, like well behaved dinner guests. He reached into the pot, scooped some out, and tossed it around to the others. It looked like he was juggling and the others were calmly catching their share and eating. We were absolutely shocked by the whole scene, but we chased them off and then all night we were laughing hysterically about interrupting the monkey dinner party. Thinking about it still makes me laugh.

Tracey Selingo Twisted Pinky

It was early December. My husband and I were planning to get our Christmas tree over the weekend. More than 60 friends were coming to our annual party in a week. A major snow storm started. I panicked. How would I get the house ready? I called my dad to help me get a tree, suited up my boys and ventured out. My dad insists on starting trips with a full tank of gas. He noticed my barely-there fuel level and freaked. The 40-minute drive to a gas station was a blur. By the time we arrived at the tree farm I was stressed. I wrestled my boys into snow gear and we made our way into the woods. The wind was whipping cold. My boys fumbled through the woods. All of a sudden my 3-year-old stopped and cried, "This was a baaaad idea." My dad and I just looked at each other. We both started laughing like two little kids, well aware of just how bad of an idea it was...

Tricia Huffman Your Joyologist

This is a challenging question for me because I laugh a lot, full body, fall down on the floor laughing. I could win records for my laughing. So, here is a moment from this week that moved me to snorting and tears. I was saying goodbye to a dear friend’s girlfriend who I have only met twice before for very short periods. We hugged and were expressing our abundant love for each other even though we really don’t know each other. Somehow, perhaps because I have expressive eyebrows and she noticed, we started to repeat the same sentence back and forth to each other being as expressive with our eyebrows as possible. I was dying of laughter. I paused to take deep centering breaths before each of my turns. Oddly when reaching my eyebrows as high as possible it forced me to take on a monotone creepy voice. Soon, the entire bar was trying it out. I love humor. I love laughing. Life is funny. I laugh at it all.

So now, we are turning the question on you:

Tell us about one of the funniest experiences of your life.

Leave your answers in the comments, we can't wait to read them!
xox




Pin It

Sponsor Love : The Art of Living Cheerfully

The Art of Living Cheerfully
by Madelyn Mulvaney
Living a happy, loving, impassioned and creative life!

For a most fabulous helping of sunny side up happiness, I have created The Art of Living Cheerfully. The Art of Living Cheerfully is a lighthearted online course designed to uplift your spirits by showcasing how joy combined with love and artistic self expression is the soul of happiness.

We will explore personal definitions of happiness in a seven week class by leaping into the following...

• learning how to live a creative, extraordinary, impassioned and happier life
• awaken our artistic natures by realizing creativity extends beyond our art
  into the very way we live our daily life
• leap into the art of the self portrait through simple photography
• storyboard our photos into a vision of daring to imagine a more vibrant life
• rejuvenate studios and living spaces
• invigorate our bodies, mind and spirit by learning healthful ways of living through food, meditation, and exercise
• blaze new trails of self expression by celebrating what makes us special
  and beautifully unique

The Art of Living Cheerfully encourages you to greet each new day with delight, realizing that the characteristics of our nature are far more important than life circumstances.

I will also share creative links, music, journal prompts, photography, recipes and delightful enthusiasms in a daily ‘happy email’ greeting you each morning five days a week throughout the course.

What's not to love about that?

The next session starts Sunday, May 16 and runs for seven weeks! Register here.

Find me here:
:: twitter :: ecourse :: journal :: facebook ::

Heaps of gratitude & love for sponsoring KOM Madelyn!

Pin It

allow yourself to feel the love & appreciation that already exists in your heart

Untitled by Esben Bøg

Practice for the New Millennium by the Dalai Lama

1. Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and be loved) and we are all connected to one another.

2. Spend 5 minutes breathing in, cherishing yourself; and, breathing out cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing, extend your cherishing to them anyway.

3. During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet. Practice cherishing the "simplest" person (clerks, attendants, etc) or people you dislike.

4. Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you.

These thoughts are very simple, inspiring and helpful. The practice of cherishing can be taken very deeply if done wordlessly, allowing yourself to feel the love and appreciation that already exists in your heart.





My e-course | Be Gentle, Be Love : 30 Days of Cultivating Your Virtues with Creativity | is always open for registration. Unfold your story & create meaningful, life-shifting art.

Pin It

First, Fill Your Own Glass with Michelle Nickolaisen

Happy Monday all! So excited to share Michelle Nickolaisen of Wicked Whimsy's Kind Kindred post with you today! Michelle is not new to writing for Kind Over Matter, she spun a beautiful story about Pain & Purpose at the beginning of this year & I am just over the moon about her being here again. She expresses that quantity can diminish quality & how important it is that you care for yourself first before caring for others. Plus, at the bottom of this post Michelle is giving away one of her Take Back Your Creativity kits AND giving Kind Over Matter's readers a kind discount code!! Thank you so much Michelle, it's such a pleasure to have you here on KOM again! Big Love to all of you, Amanda


First, Fill Your Own Glass

Water glass by Bohman

First, fill your own glass

Kindness is like water. We all need it to survive.

Imagine you're hosting a party. You're so excited to have all of these amazing people in your house, and things are going splendidly. Then you notice one guest has no water in their glass. You go to refill it, turn around, and see another glass that's almost empty. You refill that one too, and you're on your way back to the kitchen when you see yet another guest with an empty glass.

Some time - an hour? two? later, you're not feeling so great. You're so thirsty you can't pay attention to anything anyone is saying, and you're starting to get a headache from dehydration. You're sort of wishing everyone would go home already so you could get something to drink. This does not create the proper party atmosphere, and it doesn't make you look like a good host, either!

First, you need to fill your own glass - among other things, if you aren't taken care of, you can't help out anyone else.

People don't take being kind to themselves seriously, but it's so important. Someone else can't always take care of you, and even if someone does care for you from time to time, it doesn't replace self-care. It's outside care. Showing to yourself that you care about your life and happiness is a powerful message. It lets you know that no matter what, there's someone who will take care of you. You.

With self-care comes self-trust, and that adds a whole new level of comfort to your life. It opens up worlds to you. If you trust yourself and trust your intuition, new choices will show up - things you never would have seen before.

Here's some of my favorite ways to build self-care & self-trust:

Take a nap when you're tired. Don't set an alarm, just wake up when you want to.

Play. I frequently take breaks while writing to hula hoop or play a rousing game of hair-tie hockey with my kitty.

Seek laughter. Playing is a good way to do this, but if I'm especially down in the dumps I'll go out of my way to look up something funny & cheer myself up.

Make space. If I'm feeling frustrated and stuck, I look at what's stuck, what's stagnant, and what needs to go to make space for good stuff to come on in.

And one of the most important ways: make time for what's important for you. One of the things I suggest in Take Back Your Creativity is that, when feeling like you have no time for your creative practices, you can sit down and make a list of your priorities. The top four or five most time consuming priorities that you have - and then figure out a way to remove one of those priorities for one day, or even just a few hours, this week. Have someone else do your chores, or order in instead of cooking, or don't bring your work home with you. If you don't have the time, then make the time. It's worth it - trust me.

(Or better yet, trust yourself!)

I’m a 22 year old blue haired creative & writer living in Austin, TX. I’ve been painting, drawing, writing – you name it – pretty much since I could hold something to do it with! I write at Wicked Whimsy about the intersection of creativity, aesthetics, and productivity, and I want to help you take back your creativity.

---

Giveaway Alert!



Michelle is giving away one of her Take Back Your Creativity Kits to one of you AND offering KOM's readers a discount code!

Enter "kindovermatter" upon checkout for $10 off! Valid until midnight on April 8th.

Take Back Your Creativity is an ebook + workbook + audio kit, designed to help you integrate your creative life & daily life, increase your creative output, and navigate through & around creative blocks and burnout. The ebook has three modules, each one focused on one of these issues, and the workbook is chock full of interactive exercises to make sure you actually make changes in your life. There's also 128 minutes (or 42 pages) of interviews with creative gurus to get your motor revving & your gears turning. All in all, it's everything you need to take your creativity out of the box & get it working again.

How to enter:
Comment on this blog post with your email address & answer this question:

How do you make time in your life for your creativity?

We will randomly select a winner next Monday, April 4th & contact you via email. Thank you so much Michelle! Good Luck everyone!




-
My e-course | Be Gentle, Be Love : 30 Days of Cultivating Your Virtues with Creativity | is always open for registration. Unfold your story & create meaningful, life-shifting art.

Pin It

there is a path from me to you that I am constantly looking for

Two is the Second Loneliest Number, originally uploaded by JesseTSturgis.

A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.
—
Richard Bach



My e-course | Be Gentle, Be Love : 30 Days of Cultivating Your Virtues with Creativity | is always open for registration. Unfold your story & create meaningful, life-shifting art.

Pin It

Friday's Lovelies : 3.25.11

I've been loving all the posts from Nicola's fabulous Choose Happiness Week. The above video is by Fabeku Fatunmise & it's amazing. Just an awesome of mixture of whole, heavy & lightheartedness. I think him & his wife are so lucky to have each other.

Love Will Find You Out is one of the most beautiful pieces of poetry that I have ever read. Thank you Jen, I really needed your words this week.

I am magic (you are magic, too)

Creative Journaling when you are UPSET : beautiful video/post by Andrea about healing yourself through creativity.


Jamie launched Sparkles this week & I am a teacher! Please check it out, so, so awesome!

Waking up to this certain life : this resonated, big time, thank you Kate.




The above video is from the LGBT Voices project, which focuses on life stories from BU’s LGBT community. This project grabbed at my heart so hard. Just hang in there because everything that sucks today will make you stronger tomorrow.

Surround Yourself with Passionate People

Jamie say's : this has changed our lives! This has my kids so excited to do chores that I've had to give them MORE! : MY JOB CHART was created for the conscientious parent as a tool to help teach their children to work.

I know I mentioned these a few weeks ago, but they are soooo worth mentioning again. Do you get Bridget's Soul Notes? If not... give your soul a gift.

Springing Into Simplicity

Gorgeous Photos of our mama, wow. Life is truly a miracle, appreciate it.



Love; it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
-Mumford & Sons



make your life worth living print
found via Inspired Mess

Happy Weekend all,
see you Monday!



My e-course | Be Gentle, Be Love : 30 Days of Cultivating Your Virtues with Creativity | is always open for registration. Unfold your story & create meaningful, life-shifting art.

Pin It

Spinning My Story : Playing with Life

Play has been a huge part of my life, even before I was blessed with my boys. I've applied Play not only to my relationships but to my creativity. I use Play as a tool. Over the years I’ve unlocked different levels of my creativity by Playing. By Playing with paint or paper, creating poetry, entertaining myself with graphic & web design. Since having my children though, their creativity stretches mine in a way nothing else really can. Not only do they energize my creativity but Playing keeps our lives joyful.

The above video is one of the first stop motions I ever created, it is the direct result of me opening up iMovie & just Playing with it, teaching myself how to use it. I posted it today to give you a sense of what I mean by Play in both respects & to also redirect you over to my guest post on my friend Darrah Parker's beautiful blog. I am honored that she asked me to take part in her My Slice of Life series. Her e-course, The Slice of Life Project, opened so many doors for me, it was such a rich & love-filled experience.

Please, head on over to her space to see My Slice of Life photo collage where I dive into how I see play & the importance of it:

Playing with Life
Heaps of Gratitude & Love to you Darrah, I'm so blessed to have you in my life.




My e-course | Be Gentle, Be Love : 30 Days of Cultivating Your Virtues with Creativity | is always open for registration. Unfold your story & create meaningful, life-shifting art.

Pin It

it is the stillness that will save & transform the world

Untitled by TONY KATAI.

There is a core of conscious stillness in everything, even in this moment. To me, it feels like unconditional love.
—
Daniel Collinsworth
of Metta Drum




My e-course | Be Gentle, Be Love : 30 Days of Cultivating Your Virtues with Creativity | is always open for registration. Unfold your story & create meaningful, life-shifting art.

Pin It