Hope

This New Day

/ Jodi / 23 Comments

January Sunrise – Invitation of Hope – Wexford, PA 1/9/2020 – Jodi McKinney

This New Day.

Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in the year.
He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day.
who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.

Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.

This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Collected Poems and Translations

This new day is too dear!

Too dear to not be grateful.
Too dear to wallow in negative energy.
Too dear to not see the beauty.
Too dear to not be joyful and kind and loving.
Too dear to be hard on ourselves.

This new day is too dear to waste!

May you own this day…
and all your days…
as the invitation of hope it is.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

What is the Answer?

/ Jodi / 71 Comments
Foggy Morning – Mars, PA – June 2018

What is the answer?

What are the questions?

Why is it happening?

What can we do?

The recent suicides of two very famous people last week – Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain  – have brought back a lot of memories for me and have had me thinking a lot.

Those of you who have been around here for a while may recall I lost my brother to suicide a year and a half ago.  He took his life two days after Christmas on December 27, 2016 by stepping in front of a train.  He left a note stating “no Clarence for me.”

There are moments – some clumped together in periods longer than others – that I dwell in the sorrow.

I want to have some magical answer…. some greatly insightful advice.

I don’t want to just talk about it.  I don’t want to just be sad.  I want to declare the solution.  I want to shout out the answer.  I want to rid the world of this grief.

But I can’t find it.

Except to say let’s love one another.

Let’s be there for one another.

Let’s hug.

Let’s listen.

Let’s support each other.

Let’s hold each other up… allow others to lean on us, and allow ourselves to lean on others.

Let’s embrace our humanity.

Let’s accept each other.

Let’s accept ourselves.

Let’s belong to each other and to this world.

We are each here for a purpose.

Let us seek and declare and own that.

You are loved.

Keep on keepin’ on.

Love,
Jodi

Unfurl

/ Jodi / 42 Comments

Young Fern in Spring, Mars, PA – May 2018

Unfurl.

Spread out your arms
and show your true beauty.

Open up your heart
and show your true love.

Unwind your mind
and show your creativity.

Unpack your burdens
and feel the lightness of hope.

Uncover your inhibitations
and welcome the unknown.

Reach beyond the tightness
and ease into peace.

Unfurl.

 

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Showing Your True Colors

/ Jodi / 54 Comments

Goldfinch – Mars, PA – April 2018

Showing Your True Colors.

If you could show your true color,
what color would you be?

Yellow is the color of sunshine, hope, and happiness.

Yellow stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honor, loyalty, and joy.

Bright yellow is an attention getting color, and when used in combination with black,  it creates one of the easiest color combinations to read and see from long distances. This is why school buses, taxi cabs, and traffic signs are painted yellow and black.

If you were a color – would you be yellow?

If I could be as beautiful as this goldfinch that visits our backyard, I sure would be.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

In Search of the Little Things

/ Jodi / 61 Comments
Daffodils Popping out of the Ground - February 20, 2018 - Mars, PA

Daffodils Popping out of the Ground – February 20, 2018 – Mars, PA

In Search of the Little Things.

Sometimes we need to get down low,

Forsythia Buds on Branches - February 20, 2018 - Mars, PA

Forsythia Buds on Branches – February 20, 2018 – Mars, PA

or look extra closely,

Grape Hyacinths Emerging - February 20, 2018 - Mars, PA

Grape Hyacinths Emerging – February 20, 2018 – Mars, PA

or push some other things out of the way,

Bleeding Hearts Emerging - February 20, 2018 - Mars, PA

Bleeding Hearts Emerging – February 20, 2018 – Mars, PA

or look for tiny changes.

Irises surfacing - February 20, 2018 - Mars, PA

Irises surfacing – February 20, 2018 – Mars, PA

The little things are there…
Little signs of change…
Little hints of what is about to happen.

As I walked around the yard late yesterday afternoon in bare feet on a record-breaking warm day for February in our area (we hit 80 degrees F!), I searched for little things.  I searched for tiny changes. I searched for little hints of Spring.

And they were everywhere!  Daffodils and hyacinths and irises popping through the earth.  Buds developing on forsythia branches.  Intricate formations of future bleeding hearts.

And it made me think…
Again…
On a topic that has not left my mind or my heart…

The mass shooting in Parkland, Florida last week where a 19 year old boy/man killed 17 innocent children at school.

As the days pass, details are being revealed.
Little hints of issues.
Little signs of change.

Didn’t anyone notice?
Wasn’t anyone paying attention?

Why was this troubled young man able to purchase military grade assault weapons?
For that matter – why is any civilian legally able to purchase military grade assault weapons?
That is certainly one important issue I feel needs addressed.

But we must also be diligent.
We must also be watching.
We must be paying attention
to our children.

We must be searching for and noticing the little things…
The little changes, the hints, the signs
happening with our children…

Before it is too late.

It is up to us.

Hugs,
Jodi

I Need to at Least do Something

/ Jodi / 59 Comments

I Need to at Least do Something.

Like so many
of you
my heart
has been heavy.

Heavy with grief
for the families
who have
lost a child.

A child whose life
was stolen
from the devastating act of violence
that has so sadly become commonplace.

A life
taken away
in the blink of a moment…
in the shot of a gun.

An innocent young life
with a future stolen
in an event that has become
too commonplace.

A young person
robbed
of the privilege
of growing old.

A mother’s heart shattered,
A fathers’ soul shook,
A grandparent
left horrified.

What can we do?

We all ask the question.

So let’s make it our goal –
our contribution
to life…
our demonstration of love.

Let’s do
at least
one
small thing.

Maybe a hug
or maybe
a shared
story

of how
it felt
to be
that one.

I once was
that one –
alone
without a friend.

But I
made
it
through.

And there
is so much
more
to life

Once we
get through
those difficult
years

When
we think
it is all
that matters.

Let’s tell
our stories.
Let’s share
our anguish.

And then
let’s share our joy.
Let’s share
our happiness.

Life is
so much more
than a
teenager believes.

They just
don’t know it
at the
moment.

But we can tell  them
there is hope
and there
is a future

Where
more matters
than what
a friend thinks.

Let’s teach
our children
the value
of life.

Let’s teach
our children
they are worthy
of love.

Is it enough?
I really don’t know.
But it is something
I can do.

And I need
to do something.
I need to at least
do something.

Hugs,

Jodi