One year ago

Watching you from the kitchen while I wait for the coffee to finish and I drop into a moment from a year ago.

One year ago I had very little direction, something I wasn’t used to. My future seemed very unclear. The job I had disappeared and I faced a lot of uncertainties. I applied and applied. I was consumed with searching for work. It was the first time in many, many years that I had nowhere to go and no where to be.

You pass by the window where I am sitting and I think about what triggered me to come to this moment and space. It is how I feel and see myself now. And of course the way you see me, the way you love me and the random kiss in line at the store.

One year ago I never thought the life I live now was even possible. I look at my picture and I am not even the same person I was then. I was unhappy and trying to figure it out.

With the reassurance from friends, long time and recent. I picked up and filled my days with work, the gym and what little life I held together. Not really living, but existing.

I know now more than ever that I am a survivor and I have strength that a few never gave me credit for.

There was a particular conversation where I was told, “I promise you something better will be on the other side of this”. Those words will stay with me for the rest of my days and I pass them on when I can.

So the other side of this was certainty, stability, a job I love, a man who I love more and more every day. A quiet, easy balance to life that I have never felt before.

Sometimes we stay up too late and sleep in

And sometimes we talk a lot or not at all, but there is always, always something to say or share

We drive to Boulder City for breakfast and it doesn’t work out

But we are so present, in everything

So when you stuck your head in the back door I had already dropped into the moment of gratitude for the life I have now and the life I have with you.

So this life is a better life than one year ago…

Always remember that whatever struggles you experience in your life something better will be on the other side of them ….

To give…

Last week I unloaded a Buddha from the trunk of my car for a young woman I work with. We have similar interests and beliefs. For some reason the buddha statue that stood in my hallway spoke her name.

In the moment that I opened the car and she laid eyes on it I thought of what an honor it is to give with a free heart. I also thought about a woman who gave me a few things when I started out on my own six years ago. I remember feeling like I owed her or needed to do something for her. Not taking into account the Mala I had tied specifically for her, or the infinity scarf I made her. Everything is an exchange in some form or another. Either between the two people, the giver and the recipient, or the echos of kindness they bestow upon each other and others in their lives.

To see someone smile or happy because of a simple act is more than enough for me. I believe what we give in this life, we receive in some form.

So as I prepare for the new part of my life, there are items from the past that no longer have a place with me. So many variations of items I picked up along the way, be it a gift or some random item I purchased. I have held onto to the most important items. Some may stay in a box, only to be removed in a quiet moment, touched and replaced.

I guess tonight is about giving, kindness and paying it forward in life.

Be kind ❤ what you give you will receive

The fabric of life

I am standing in front of your side of the closet, delicately touching each shirt as I go. I know the feel of what I am looking for. And there it is, my favorite shirt of yours. You smile when I find you in the kitchen and there we were……

Sometimes it’s hard for me to share some of the layers of my life with you, not that they are a secret, but because they are reminder of the tenderness that still remains. I had been trying to tell you for some time and finally found the words, or my voice in Saturday’s morning hours.

For many, instead of dealing with pain, it is easier to bury than acknowledge. So it is buried. Some people never touch it again and some people have no choice in order to heal. I uncovered it and worked on it, through it and beyond it. I learned some valuable lessons in the process. Allowing the poor behavior of others to back step my healing process once again. Another lesson in the book of life. I was finally getting it.

I know now that the lessons I received were to remind me of who I am and my strength. But most importantly to know exactly what I deserve in this life.

I have always carefully thought through my actions and words towards others. “How would I react?” “Are my actions considerate?” “Are my words kind?” “How would I feel?”. I believe where I come from, the things I have experienced throughout life, made me more mindful of others and their feelings. I have experienced situations where someone has subjected me to harsh words and actions and then wondered why I lashed out in anger or eventually just walked away from them.

My favorite shirt, because it feels of you, the way you calm me and the way you stir me. You make me sure of myself and of you. You are the quiet comfort in the middle of the night and the sweet sunlight that floods the morning. You get it where others don’t, the same as I do you.

So I have come to realize that we all heal in our own time. We all heal differently. Even though some have done the self-work and have been on the path of healing, it doesn’t mean that the tender layers, in the core, don’t exist. It may just means we can touch them some days more than others. Some bury the past better than others, and some dont. I always think about the saying “you never know what someone is going through”, and we really dont.

So this is the fabric of life….

My favorite shirt of yours… because of our lessons and continuous growth. The patient people we are with each other and the impatient people we are with ourselves. The worn and tattered layers we came together with and the threads we are weaving together now to create the fabric of this life. Our new life.

Peace for your Sunday ❤

Broken people….

We talk about people who hurt people, sometimes…

I have been thinking a lot about broken people today. Left unhealed or unwilling to do self-work and practice self love, they continue to break others. I know many women and men who have been broken and have given up on the thought of finding someone they can love and will love them in return.

Before I really got to know my life partner, a young woman I know spoke powerful words to me. She said “you will meet someone someday who wont need you to fix them and they wont want to fix you”. Our conversation continued about fixing other people and about the broken continuing to break people. I often think about the men and women who treat each other poorly and my first thought is….”how would you feel if this was done to your child, family member or friend?”. So the partner cheats, would you want your son or daughter to experience the heartache of someone she loves treating him or her this way?

There are so many broken people in this world and they continue to break the innocent because in some warped sense they justify their actions. I have said it before and it just came to mind again, “If you wouldn’t like it or want it done to you, DON’T DO IT!”.

Acceptance….Risk….Happiness

Acceptance…….In order to accept others I think we need to truly accept ourselves, all of our darkness and all of our light. We need to look back at the past and take the lessons that have been presented and move forward with that knowledge. Every obstacle and triumph will teach you something if you are willing to look. Someone will treat you like you are irrelevant and unloved only to show you what you really deserve, someone will treat you like you are not intelligent because they are intimidated by your knowledge. Someone may hold you down until you have no choice but to come up for air, fighting for yourself. We are all human and all worthy of valuable, healthy relationships with people who appreciate us.

Risk….Without risk there will be no reward. Even though you have been hurt, betrayed or broken, however you want to define it, you must find the strength to move beyond it. Self-care. There was a time I painted, or created in some way, my steadfast method of self-care takes the form of writing. It always has and will always be where I find the medicine of life that heals me. Replenishes the layers that have been peeled away. There was a time I sat for hours tying Mala’s (prayer beads). Seems interesting now to realize I was healing while tying prayer beads, but for a time thats where I found peace. I think we need to find an outlet and in it we will find the inner peace that was interrupted by circumstances within and beyond our control. Once I felt like I had time to process and decompress from life’s little messes I was able to consider risking again. I made new friends, after losing trust in old ones, I dated again…after, well, just after. That was risk-taking again to me. Finding strength to trust others in the aftermath of so much pain.

Happiness……Finally. I have been presented with a tremendous amount of happiness. For the first time I really feel like I am living the life I deserve. I never really felt like I deserved good things, I am not sure why. I just felt like I didn’t. I have a lot of good now….just incredibly good. All the bad situations laid ground work and taught me important lessons. I really appreciate the sweetness of life. Unhealed people taught me how they can and will break you, because that is all they know. I think these lessons, however painful, are important. I have learned how to let go, how to risk, and how to trust again. I know how to love and I now know what it feels like to be loved for who I am.

Someday, if you experience broken people, you need to find the strength to try again after you have taken care of yourself. Meet your needs, put yourself first, discover who you are, and find inner peace. You will find them, your people, the ones who know what it feels like to be broken and who would never inflict the pain they have felt on another. You will find people who you can trust, who you can love and love in return, who wont hurt you. And most importantly, wont bleed on you.

Peace in your Saturday evening…..

My wish for you….

Over the last few days words keep coming to the surface and I think of things I want to write about. As we approach another new year all I could think of was people in my life or people that I have connected with on some level and what I wish for them. So this is my list:

My wish for you is that…..

• You realize that you are stronger than you think and capable of incredible things
• You never accept less than you deserve and never let anyone treat you poorly
• You will always know contentment and a deep inner peace
• You know my love is unconditional, steadfast, and true
• You listen to the quiet inner voice that guides you
• Your children realize what a good woman you are, how much you do for them, and that they are more patient with you
• You NEVER let anything hold you back
• You realize not all men/women are bad, and that sometimes extraordinary hellos can come after really hard goodbyes
• You start treating people better and learn to make meaningful connections
• Your heart heals
• You find what you are looking for
• You understand the pain you cause others, and that its no longer okay or acceptable
• You value yourself
• You love yourself
• Small things in life are meaningful, these are the true gifts
• You know what it feels like to be loved completely
• You stop waiting for someday, its up to you to reach for what you want and more so what you deserve
• You know that there are two sides to every story, and that some people aren’t as bad as you have been told

Just a few random wishes for some people I know….

Otherwise my wish for you is….a life you love, full of contentment and happiness.

Peace for your Tuesday evening ❤

The end of 2018

As this year comes to a close I can only feel gratitude for the many changes I have experienced. The heartaches and happiness, the highs and lows. Especially the challenges that made me aware of what I am made of and the strength I carry.

I think of the masks that fell away to reveal the true intentions of those I thought I knew so well. The sad goodbyes and amazing new hellos.

My days are now filled with happiness, a few small bumps here and there, as expected. But nothing I cant handle. I am more present than I have been in some time. Sometimes we need experiences to knock us off of our center in order to appreciate the important things in life, including ourselves. I was knocked off of my center several times over the last few years and forgot who I was. I tolerated situations and behavior I didn’t deserve. But things would change…..

I believe that people come into our lives for a reason, to teach us or for us to teach them. No matter what I have been handed I still believe in the goodness of people. Its true that the way a person treats you says nothing about you, but everything about them.

2018 has taught me a lot. Things change……jobs, relationships, friendships…nothing is permanent but change. Sometimes you have to hit bottom, be treated poorly by people you care for, lose a job and friends. Experience extreme sadness and grief, despair and hopelessness to realize whats truly important in life. Small gifts, your child’s smile, the voice of your Mother pushing you forward because she believes in your greatness and that you can handle anything you are dealt. That you have always figured shit out and that says a lot about who you are. The courage to let go of that which no longer serves you or makes you happy. To realize that “YOU DIDN’T FAIL, YOU SUCCEEDED”.

It also taught me that there is someone out there for all of us. My someone came after a strange night, for both of us. One was giving up and one was trying again…..and there we were. We took a chance and here we are. There are so many things I could say about him, but he knows my heart and intentions as I know his. I clearly know what falling in love feels like now. I fall in love with him in moments. Moments when he is talking intensely about his family or life, or sitting in silence, when he isn’t even with me or when he is sleeping soundly next to me. When he speaks to someone when we are out, when he laughs….every layer and every person he is…I love.

So I believe that life can only get better…. “Sunshine comes to all who feel rain”.

In my 49th year

In my 49 years of life I’ve learned a lot.

Age 5 : I learned that not all adults are kind and wont keep you safe from the monsters. Many times they are monsters.

Age 8: Abused children are predators too.

Age 12: Step parents aren’t always the best parents.

Age 13: Some friends will always be your friends.

Age 16: People continue to reiterate that they aren’t kind. Some lessons repeat themselves.

Age 18: Some things aren’t as significant as you think they are. Twenty years from 18 a lot of shit wont matter. Don’t give it too much thought or time.

Age 20: Black eyes still show through makeup

Age 22: You wait for 6 years

Age 28: The most amazing experience, I became a mom.

Times change, a lot happens, good and bad. Family will treat you terribly and you will tolerate it because, well, because they are supposed to be family.

Age 47 and 364 days: My boy leaves after 14 years with me. There will never be a time I will ever completely let go of him. Buster was my constant, unconditional love for 14 years….fourteen years. And then this year not one but three new brown-eyed boys show up and open the places in my heart I couldn’t feel and maybe didn’t want too. Animals heal.

Relationships change, people come and go, and so do we.

Age 48: Yes, I knew it would be different. I wasn’t sure how, but I knew. Sometimes I just didn’t even want to be here any more. It was enough, people you trust break you. Friends aren’t really, never really were, friends. So I ask my Creator for change, for something better, not realizing that the storm was coming. It took me a couple of months to come up for air. My Mom, my friends, the good in my life held fast. It was time to let the falseness fall away and some of those ties would hurt when they let loose. Time to get up. I never really laid down for long, just long enough to gather my breath and thoughts, to figure out what was coming next.

A new job comes. I am tested, and I swim. I love what I do and the people I work with. Sure there is stress and obstacles, but when isn’t there? We are a good community working for the betterment of human beings. And I am learning!!! Who could ask for more? Jobs change, sometimes abruptly without warning. You are left spinning, trying to figure out what’s next. Time ticks by and a new job appears, new friendships are weaved. Life starts looking better.

I want more and less, and more. So easy, more good…people, friends, happiness. Less unhappiness, self-doubt, judgement from those around me. And more. And. More. I was seeking, I just always knew…..someone would come. I just didn’t know when.

And its Friday and I look at you and my first thought is “How lucky am I to love this human?” There isn’t an answer that would tell the entire world what is in my heart for you. I have had time to reflect and I was thinking that, for the first time, in a long time, I don’t feel the need for a safe place. I know that with you I am safe, there is no fear of hurt or betrayal, no lies and no one else. I don’t have to wonder where you are when we aren’t together, what you are doing or if there is someone else. I know what it feels like to be loved without condition. You don’t want to control me and allow me the freedom to be exactly who I am without judgement. But most importantly we only expect from each other what we are willing to give. Gosh, I love you ❤ and everything about you. We are imperfectly perfect. You are my steady hand, constant heart and my Walk On the Wild Side. There have been many firsts with you and I look forward to many more.

Steady rhythms of life, growth, love…all of it.

So here is to my 49th year. Life just keeps getting better. I have been through a lot and wouldn’t trade one single moment of any of it for the place I am in now. It’s all been worth it just to get to this point.

So, um, yeah….49 looks good ❤

Peace

And I love you

Evening sets in

the day is almost over

the troubles of the day have fallen away

The silence echos in our night

and I love you

The stars and constellations speak to you

and you,

speak to me

The masks we wear, the people we have to be throughout the day

fall away

And we are left vulnerable and present

and I love you

We speak a language, foreign to others

A smile, a nod, a glance and we know

It’s always new, no matter how comfortable we become

The first person I want to share with

good things and bad

tears and laughter

my hopes and fears

Its you…

When it all falls away,

I love you

 

Couples

One half

Of two wholes

Together

Holding hands

Kissing at midnight

and

On rainy nights

Couples

the kind you look at and know they are in love

She matches his gaze

He holds her hand

everywhere

Their bubble

You know them together

even when they part

On sunny days

in the dead of night

and the crack of dawn

She finds her way perfectly into

the curve of his body

during the night

Their space

and they each

have space

Couples

the kind you look at and know they are in love

Yes, those kind of couples