Wishing you the freshness of morning dew,
the promise of bursting buds,
beauty and goodness in your surroundings and in your soul,
with colors as rich as the purple Rose of Sharon.
Moments to be cherished,
memories to be embraced,
a full life discovered…
at life in between.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Don’t fence me in…
Don’t make me stay inside “the lines.”
I must break free
to really be me.
True love… true freedom… true creativity… true thoughts… true peace
can only be achieved when they are chosen.
Let me choose.
Don’t fence me in.
On my way home yesterday afternoon, I took a different route. I was looking at the sights of the tall grass along side the road and stopped to take a photo. When I was done, I caught sight of this fence post with its broken wire rope on the other side of the road, and it kind of took my breath away. All I could think was, “Don’t fence me in,” and I took this shot.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
As some of you may recall, my “One Little Word” this year is Discover.
This is the year for me to Discover… more about myself… and more about the world around me.
I am honored and privileged to share a very special piece of artwork with you today from my friend Jo Freehand at Daily Record 365.
Jo created #Two Hundred Two: Discover just for me and my word!
I have been slowly taking it in since Jo kindly created and posted it several weeks ago; and every time I look it, I discover something new.
Here is how I first saw it:
The microscope is mammoth and massive and complex (like life), and it is examining the hole in the record (the “in between” part – the part where we have the freedom to do and be what we want). The lady is REACHING – almost as if for the stars and then embraces and takes in that light. And the microscope reminds me of the Discovery Satellite too – exploring the universe – and that is what the lady is seeing and feeling and it is filling her heart, and she is happy and excited and fascinated. And it is saying that what you see with your eyes (or at least on the surface or at first glance), might not be the “be all /end all.” You have to look closer, you have to feel it, you have to let it fill you, and it will bring you joy. There is a better view if you reach, stretch to look closer or look at a different way, and you need to look “in between.”
Jo elaborated:
Discovery is an individual experience. However this image speaks to you is right for you. For me, the microscope is focused on a watch, an everyday object. Or perhaps it represents time or a moment. She’s “reaching for a better view.” Does she realize the view right there beneath her skin? The entire universe right there? (Or has she been focused outwardly, watching hands move around the clock.) Can anyone else interpret her universe?
Deep stuff – eh??!! 🙂
What do you see when you look at it? What does it say to you? I would love to hear your thoughts.
And I urge you to discover Jo’s blog. It is always fun to see each Daily Record and interpret what it speaks to you. Comments are usually as diverse as the people sharing them, which make it that much more fun and interesting.
I hope you are discovering more about yourself and the world around you – every day – because there is a lot of “good stuff” in and out there!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Oh Little Log Cabin on the edge of the woods, what is your story?
What tales would you tell if you could
of life now and life then?
Are we doing it right?
You stand so solid and sturdy and beautiful.
You remind me to slow down, breathe deeply, gaze intently.
You do speak…
to my soul.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
My copy of “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran arrived a few days ago.
And what a treasure it is.
It is a book to be savored in small bits and pieces,
with words to be read over and over.
Several people told me about the section on Children, so it was the first place I went…
On Children by Kahlil Gibran
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
I love this.
I hope to think I have raised my boys this way…
respecting that they have their own thoughts…
not forcing mine on them.
It was the greatest privilege of my life to house their bodies,
but I will never own their souls.
I’m so proud of the men they have become.
Sometimes we have different opinions, sometimes we disagree, but I have, do, and will always respect them immensely…
and love them all the same.
This was not necessarily the way I was raised, but that only makes me feel all the more convicted about it.
I am honored to bend my bow with gladness, and shoot two blazing, sharp, strong arrows into the world.
May all of our children be as unique and individual as they desire, like each snowflake that falls and blows in the wind and catches on thistly bushes. And may we love them all and cherish their beauty.
With much love and pride to my Jake and Nick,
Your Mom
A dear friend shared this amazing piece with me yesterday, and I had to share it. It was in response to yesterday’s post, Untold Story.
And this photo I took on a brief walk yesterday afternoon seemed to perfectly align with the message in the poem.
On Joy and Sorrow
Kahlil Gibran
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
– Maya Angelou
the creative life in between 