Monthly Archives: December 2009

Happy Holidays everyone!

holiday_balls.jpg

And because I am now obsessed with David Whyte… another poem for you.

SWEET DARKNESS

When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.
When your vision has gone
no part of the world can find you.
Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize it own.
There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.
The dark will be your womb
tonight.
The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.
You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.

– DAVID WHYTE –

The Opening of Eyes*


from the airplane, over Oakland, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

The Opening of Eyes

That day I saw beneath dark clouds
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then, as I had before
life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.
It is the opening of eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years
of secret conversing
speaking out loud in the clear air.
It is Moses in the desert
fallen to his knees before the lit bush.
It is the man throwing away his shoes
as if to enter heaven
and finding himself astonished,
opened at last,
fallen in love with solid ground.

– David Whyte
from Songs for Coming Home
©1984 Many Rivers Press

Last minute sale! Select beaded superhero necklaces*

As I go into my last couple days of production on necklaces, I want to offer a quickie sale on a few pieces still in my inventory. They are all ready to go out today! They are 79 dollars each.

Grass and Sky
Champagne
Angel
Pyrex
Passion

I only have one of each, so they’ll go fast. Just email me if you’d like one at the sale price! 79 dollars
[email protected]

Update: All the sale pieces are sold out now. Thank you!

Seattle scenes*


Ben pointing to his fave animal, the orca, Seattle, WA, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

Just got back from Seattle where I got to see family, one of my favorite people in the world, and met up with a new friend to see the Luminaria around Green Lake. The only thing I missed that I have to do next time for sure is eat at Delancey’s. (I have been reading Homemade Life and loved the idea of going to her wonderful restaurant.)

The highlight for Ben was meeting Bella, Kelly Rae’s dog. Ben played “Baby Bella” which involved stripping down naked, following her around and imitating her every move. We were almost hyperventilating with laughter when we looked under the dinner table and saw that Ben’s “paws” matched Bella’s perfectly. Seriously Ben, could you be any cuter?


Luminaria night, Green Lake, Seattle, WA, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

This is a shot of Green Lake on the night of the luminaria. So happy Tara Weaver told us about it… it was magic to walk around the lake. (Fits in beautifully with her incredible project called Stalking Wonder)

Excerpt from Momma Zen’s new book*

I have listened to this four times already this morning.

I can’t stop.

You can pre-order the book here: Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life

Completion Ritual for 2009*


It Felt Like a Kiss, SF, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

The new year is always an exciting time for me. I love wiping the slate clean, buying a new calendar and beginning again. It is also a ripe time for ritual, so if you you would like to join me in one now, I would like to invite you to be part of a Mondo Beyondo exercise for 2009.

The surest way to start fresh and move forward is to be at peace with what came before. You might have had an incredible year, a dull year, or a truly difficult year. Whatever happened, your aim is to celebrate what there is to celebrate about it and grieve what there is to grieve…

My challenge for you is to answer the following questions and declare 2009 complete. Rituals can be even more powerful when others can witness you. You are welcome to do this exercise privately, but I suggest sharing with a friend and/or posting your lists here. You are in good, safe company. (Feel free to post anonymously) 

1. What do you want to acknowledge yourself for in regard to 2009?
(What did you create? What challenges did you face with courage and strength? What promises did you keep to yourself? What brave choices did you make? What are you proud of?) 

2. What is there to grieve about 2009?
(What was disappointing? What was scary? What was hard? What can you forgive yourself for?) 

3. What else do you need to say about the year to declare it complete?
Okay, the next step is to say out loud, “I declare 2009 complete!” How do you feel? If you don’t feel quite right, there might be one more thing to say…

The final step is to consider your primary focus for the year to come. What is your primary intention or theme for 2009? Is it the year of joy? the year of self-care? the year of partnership? Stand up and say it proud, “2009 is my year of….”

Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: Moment of Peace + Happy Birthday Ben!


Ben, tub, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

Dear Ben,

I am sitting in the bathroom with you while you take a bath. It is our daily ritual and one of the most peaceful moments of our day. You in the hot, soapy water, me listening to you sing and talk to your animals. And then the occasional conversation between us:

Me: What was that?
Ben: A bubble fart!
Me: Wow!
Ben: Now I’m going pee pee.

It’s our one pause of the day, a rare moment when we have nowhere to go and we’re not rushing to the next thing. When will I ever learn to stop rushing to the next thing?

Anyway Ben, you are three years old today. Three years old!! I am amazed by how much you know and how wise you are in the most important ways.


Ben, Dolores Park, SF, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

Your train phase is coming to a close and your sea creature phase has begun. More specifically, your whale obsession is in full effect. Every night you point to the creatures in our whale book and tell me the names: That’s a beluga, that’s a great whale (grey whale is the proper name but whatevs!) a pilot, a sperm whale, and that’s a whale shark. You are teaching me so much Ben! I didn’t even know whale sharks existed.

And then there’s the dinosaurs. Dinos! I am beginning to see how being the parent of a boy requires a sophisticated vocabulary of dinosaurs, trucks and wildlife. I am slowly learning my wart hog from my narwhal. My excavator from my digger. Oh, and I can recite all the names of the Thomas trains.

As always Ben, you have it bad for music. What you lack in technical skill you make up for in showmanship. You’ve got that rockstar thing down. It is almost alarming how good you look playing guitar.

Mostly Ben, I want to tell you that for me, there is one moment of the day that is always better than every other. It is the moment when I pick you up from school. You are usually playing outside and I look around the play area for you. When we spot each other, you face lights up in the biggest grin and you shout Mama!! and run full throttle towards me. Then we hug and smoosh our faces together and seriously Ben, it’s like the BEST THING EVER. The very best thing that happens to me all day. What could ever happen that could be better than that?

I just love you so much.

Happy Birthday my beautiful boy.

Love,
Mama

HOLIDAY SALE: Bullseye Superhero Pendant only 39-

Each week something new will be on sale! This week is the bullseye superhero pendant… The perfect gift for superhero girls!

Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: Best Restaurant moment

wallet commentary from andrea scher on Vimeo.

Just to give context to this little video! Someone told me once that if you want to draw a certain kind of abundance into your life, the type of wallet you carry is really important. At the time my wallet was used (by someone other than me first!) threadbare, and almost falling apart. As my friend would say, poverty wallet alert! Which I guess is like having bad feng shui of the wallet.

I treated myself to a gorgeous wallet soon after and still notice a totally different feeling every time I open it to purchase something. It makes me smile. And I think my finances have improved since then as well.

Anyway, I was sharing this story with Kelly Rae and Jen when this video began… Enjoy! This is part of the The Best of 2009 Challenge

The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: My Best Trip of 2009


Me jumping, by Kelly Rae Roberts, Berkeley, CACanon Digital Rebel XSi

((The fabulous Gwen Bell started The Best of 2009 Challenge through the month of December)) The first prompt is this: What was your best trip in 2009?

This is mine:

My best trip in 2009 was in January. It was a surprise- a gift I had never expected to receive- and I still marvel at the power of it and the depth of its kindness.

It all started back in December 2008 when a package arrives in the mail. It is a matted print, a photograph of me on one side, leaping in the air happily, the word “eternal” stenciled on the building behind me. On the other side of the print is a letter that I notice is from two of my dearest friends… my curiosity is piqued.

Let me back up by saying that I had been in a really dark place for months. Perhaps you know the kind of place I was in? crying nearly every day, down down down, up against my darkest stuff. I describe last year as being slammed into the pavement, feeling worthless and low, wondering if I was even worth being loved. (I know, I know, it sounds dramatic now) I spent endless months collapsed into myself this way, wondering what was wrong with me, if there was any way to fix all the ways I was broken, if I was even worth the work.

These friends were my lifeline. They reminded me of who I really am. They reminded me of my goodness. They sat on the other end of the phone through countless sobbing sessions. They didn’t roll their eyes and wish I would get over it, but let me tell my stories over and over again, until I was all wrung out. They were endlessly patient.

And then the letter came.

They told me how much they cared about me, all the ways I am a good friend to them, all the ways they love me. My eyes were so full of tears I could barely read the last paragraph explaining the airline ticket enclosed. They had arranged for all of us to rendezvous in New York City for a few days, all expenses paid, a little adventure to celebrate our friendship and to show how much they loved me. I was stunned. Matt, who opened it with me, was grinning. Turns out he was in on it too.

Something deep was healed in me that day. I didn’t even need the trip for that, although the trip was truly wonderful. The real gift was the extraordinary kindness of this act of love and friendship. As we strolled through the streets of New York in January, shopping, taking photos, having scandalous girl talk til all hours of the night, my heart was lifted in brand new ways.

My best trip of 2009 was a journey in friendship and a lesson in the healing power of love.