The difference between falling and flying...

Wings.

Sometimes...we all need to be reminded that we are something more.  

When the day to day bogs us down, and we feel like we are doing little more than muddling through, we just need someone to tell us that we Shine! That we are something greater, something better, something incredible. 

I've got a mountain to climb before i get over this hill

I've got a world to unwind before i ever sit still
I've got a hard row to hoe before my seed is sown
I've got a long way to get before i get back home 
~ Bob Schneider

Prompt #70: Write about that person or thing that reminds you that you are amazing.

change your mind...

"I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger as reason. I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I can not transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls."   

~ Anaïs Nin 

I'm a big fan of change.

If something isn't moving right it my life, a job, a town, a relationship, I make a change...exit quietly stage left and move on to the next role.

A year ago, when my son was 13, he decided to make a change in his life, thereby altering mine, and moved to Seattle to live with his father.

It wasn't entirely unexpected, it was just sooner than I would have chosen. I knew one day my child would grow up, move on and make a life of his own, but I thought I had a few more years before having to deal with it. I wanted more time.

It's been rough. ups and downs. lots of tears. I miss him every day that he's not with me. but I've had to adjust to it.

I made some changes of my own, in order to try to make my life "right" again. I moved (several times, trying to find what felt right to me) and landed, happily, back in Louisville, Kentucky - it's the first place that ever really felt like "home" to me...coming back was like stepping into an old photograph, a happy memory.

So, here I am. Getting my feet back under my weight. Discovering how hollow that empty nest can sometimes feel, and cherishing the moments I get to spend with my son during those not-quite-long-enough visits.

I'm adapting, simply because that is what I do. I'm pliable, but tough. stubborn. strong-willed. determined.

but man! I miss my kid when he's not here. 

Prompt #69: How pliable are you? do you embrace change or resist it? do you adapt easily, or fight tooth and nail when change invites itself in?

living on the air in Cincinnati...

Heading out to Cincinnati  for the day. Zoo and Aquarium, so today is a quick post. 

Today's blog and prompt are one in the same...borrowed from my friend, June.

Prompt #68: It's Monday. Do you know who you are, where you're going, what's important? It's never too late to find out.

diamonds on the sea...

What will it take for you to dare to live the way your soul craves… ~ Big Sparkly Life

We all have big dreams and aspirations. Sometimes, we follow through, and sometimes we let things slide. 

For me, there are certain dreams that keep coming back, and I wonder, "huh. why haven't I done that yet?" 

I don't want to miss out on the things I've always wanted. It's time for me to really dare...really do...really go after my goals. 

I mean, really, why wait? 

That's not to say I haven't done a lot of the things I've wanted to do, just that there is still so much more I want! and I want to do it all! does that make me greedy?

I'm the gold in the sunset and diamonds on the sea... ~ Bob Schneider 

Prompt #67: So, what will it take? for you?

Moments of kindness...

Because that's what kindness is.  It's not doing something for someone else because they can't, but because you can.  
~ Andrew Iskander


There are precious little moments that bring tears to my eyes, a lump to my throat, and a great big smile to my heart.

I have quietly witnessed the kindness of others. And it is something that never ceases to floor me.

Several years ago, I was working at a coffee bar & smoke shop in Texas, two of my regulars, (lets call them the baker and the butterfly) who had never met before, were having a conversation. Over many shots of espresso and a few cigars, they talked. for hours. somewhere in this conversation, I saw a piece of paper pass from one to the other, and the recipient began to cry. Later I learned that the butterfly had given the baker a check so that he could go put four new tires on his car, which was so desperately in need of new tires he couldn't drive safely anymore without them. The butterfly didn't do it for applause, she simply wrote a check, and quietly slipped it to the baker.

Because she could. and he couldn't.

Several weeks ago, I walked past a homeless man (we'll call him Albert) who told me he could tell me the secret to quitting smoking. I smiled and said thanks. he continued talking, to no one in particular, kind of rambling and mumbling. as I stood there finishing my cigarette, a girl I know (we'll call her Samantha) drove by, stopped her car, spoke with the man for a moment, handed him a folded bill, and drove away. Later, I mentioned to Sam what I had seen, and told her it was the sweetest moment of kindness I had witnessed in a long time. She said: Albert has never asked me for money. I just felt like he could use a blessing today."

This past Saturday, I was working at the bar, and had stepped outside for a ciggie. The door to the salon next door opened and a stylist gently pushed a woman in a wheelchair to her waiting ride. It struck me as one of those above-and-beyond moments that people sometimes do for others.

Simple. Kind. Human. Love.

#66: what are some of the beautiful moments you've been lucky enough to witness?