A childhood memory share:

When I was 12, my mother started giving me a little space in the kitchen to make dinner ahead of her arrival home from work.  My dad worked an evening shift and my sister was 2 at the time so this was fun for me and (debatably) a win for her.  I wasn’t assigned to the task — I asked to be there.  I liked everything about the kitchen and even better when my mother wasn’t there because I could pull the spices down and mix different ones together.  I did this unabashedly with her there at first but because she prefers simple seasoning, she told me to stick to the recipes she left me. I continued to sneak in oregano, garlic, and cumin anyhow.

One day I decided it would be fun to venture off into baking and we had fresh peaches on the table.  My mother suggested a cobbler when I called her at work to ask about it and that I take it to an elderly neighbor down the street who was on our church shut-in list.  Okay and okay, that was checking off two things I liked, solo kitchen time and meeting someone new.  I made the cobbler and felt quite proud of it when I walked it about seven houses down.  The neighbor smiled at me and took a long look at the peach cobbler when I handed it to her, “Oh my, this looks so lovely.  Won’t you come in for a few minutes.”  I did go in but I have no recollection now of what we spoke about.  I do, however, remember walking home and feeling very neighborly.  Later that night my mom asked me about how the cobbler turned out and how the visit went.  I said, “It was really fun.  She smiled a lot when I gave her the cobbler and she thought it looked lovely.”  My mom was putting something away in the cabinet at the same time and she saw a bag of marshmallows that I had left untied there, “What happened to these marshmallows!? There was a whole bag this morning.”  I went in to tie them off, “Oh! I decided it would be tasty to add those to the cobbler.  I covered the whole top with them!”  My mom’s eyes grew as she rolled them to the side, “I bet she did smile a lot while she was trying to figure out what kind of cobbler you made her.  Oh goodness, I wonder how it tastes.”  She shook her head at me, “You just have to add your own special touch, don’t you?”  I beamed and nodded to the truth of her words.

I still think we should all add our special touch to things in whatever way calls to us.  I hope you’ll think of something to make your mark on some part of everyday whether that’s dotting i’s and crossing t’s with precision or sprinkling marshmallows on cobbler; no matter how insignificant that may look or feel, letting yourself BE exactly as you are is integral to all.

This very moment is the perfect teacher. – Pema Chodron 

What is being shown to you? 💙✨

This is a wonderful day, I have never seen this one before.  – Maya Angelou 

Find three positives about today and talk or write about them!  Let gratitude for this day guide you closer to your bliss.  🌸💕

We live within a veil of illusion,

collecting scores of records on accounts by and 

for something that may always elude us.

We are drawn in and yet — in is out,

though reversal may seem skewed to the

unstirred practitioner.

A far away voice calls;

the creek rattles against the rocks;

the sunset flashes through the extremities 

of a starkly clad fellow,

or so it seems.

And in a dream

and in a poem we may know to

consider the underpinning of the verse.

Can we look too on the world as such

in the dissection of the universe composed

through our senses?

Can we hear how it sings,

answers, laughs and cries with us?

How dense is the language of men to distract

us from the symphony in the trees?

The words are

at the same time

too little and too much.

We have time, a certain amount and you do not get to know how much.  I heard recently that the most healing thing you can do is to sit down, in quiet and simply BE.  No distractions, no music, podcasts or tv.  To BE with you and the world that happens to BE around you.  To accept it and find Joy past the tapping foot, past the grocery list, past irritation and memories of that last meeting at work.

Sit, or go out with no earbuds and BE in the world for a bit.  Listen, walk, ride.  Listen.  If it is hard you may just need it the most.  There is healing in the present moment of nature – YOU are nature.

The only thing that I want to say today is that balsamic glaze makes everything a little happier in my world.  From avocado toast to veggies to baked fruit.  It can even classy UP a hot dog.

Better.  Happier.  Positivity.

excerpt from Tosha Silver’s Change Me Prayers:

Change Me into someone who can feel wildly open to receiving.
Let me know my own value, beauty and
worthiness without question.
Let me allow others the supreme pleasure of giving to me.
Let me feel worthy to receive in every possible way.

And let me extend kindness to all who need,
feeling compassion and understanding
in even the hardest situations.

Change me into One who can fully love, forgive
and accept myself…
so I may carry Light without restriction.

Let everything that needs to go, go.
Let everything that needs to come, come.

I do not think the sky takes storms personally.

I do not think it mopes or mourns over unorganized configurations.

I do not think it praises itself for a clear day or the perfect wind for birds to play.

I believe it lives, breathes, laughs, cries, has ‘fits’ of anger and joy without judgement or remorse.

I believe it lives fully and we watch a show of perfect expression.

Let me have that ease.