sunday something

In late April with May banging relentlessly at the door, this quotation rings so true for me:
"Life is all memory, except for the present moment that goes by you so quick that you hardly catch it going." ~Tennessee Williams
But every once in a while you do catch it...even if it's on film. 

(good) friday quotation

One of my favorite authors - Anne Lamott - reflecting on Good Friday in an NPR story:
"Well, it's the most profound holiday in the Christian tradition," Lamott says. "And I think two things really come to mind. One is something that the great writer Barbara Johnson said, which is that we are Easter people living in a Good Friday world. And I think that every year the world seems more of a Good Friday world. And it's excruciating, whether it's Japan, or Libya, or whether its your own best friends and their children who are sick, which is something that makes no sense when you think about a loving God. But it's a time when we get to remember that all the stuff that we think makes us of such value, all the time we spend burnishing our surfaces, is really not what God sees. God, he or she, loves us absolutely unconditionally, as is. It's a come as you are party."

Sunday something...

...it's an "April showers bring May flowers" here in Austin - for which I'm very grateful!
And these words from Hemingway (which make me think that it's time for me to re-visit some of his other classic writings - it's been too long) make me long for a true Spring in Austin, something which we sometimes speed by, racing in a ridiculous way to 90 degree weather and missing the beauty of what Hemingway describes here:

"When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest."

friday quotation

"What the river was showing her now was that she could flow beyond the brokenness, redeem herself, and fuse once more." ~Ursula Hegi

into my shell or sails unfurled?

Yoga is always a place of revelations for me.  Whether I'm discovering a new flexibility or new pose or whether I'm discovering a new sense of courage or vulnerability, a part of me is always moved by my time on the mat.  Today was no different.  It was a class about the basics.  Breathing.  Balancing.  Grounding.  Rounding up.  Stretching out.  And then those most basic of things were turned into a number of poses - most of which I barely stood a chance at achieving.  But the cool thing was that even if I couldn't get into scissor leg side crow (it's sort of crazy but sort of possible...one day), I could do parts of it. I could breathe.  I could balance.  I could push into the ground.  And then one day, with practice, I'll be able to round up from there and stretch out.  One day it will be time to unfurl the sails.  For now, it's a time to stretch out of my shell a little, but still find the comfort and security that is there.  Yes, my word for the year was courage.  And it still is.  But I'm learning that courage doesn't necessarily mean letting the sails out all at once and that I can inch out and then retreat and still call that brave.

friday quotation

"None of us knows what the future will hold.  And so we let ourselves move forward into it, clear-eyed about the limits of our certainty and invigorated by the adventure."
~ Leah Hager Cohen

sunday something

The hours rushed ahead and let me a bit behind...as in two days behind...like on Friday, when I should have posted this quotation. 

friday quotation

"The extraordinary is what is waiting quietly beneath the skin of all that is ordinary"

~ Mark Nepo

friday quotation on a saturday

Because sometimes this is just the way that the week goes...but perhaps it was meant to be because I came upon this today and it seemed just right.  I do love Anne Lamott!  
 
"And inspiration is when the really real in us gets through the chatter.  Not the drama and trauma addict with her Blanche DuBois inner storms, or the lawyer, and not the flight attendant, or the set director arranging people on the set we've created, with the sand that trucks hauled in, and beach chairs.  Just the child, and our animal selves, and an old but ageless person who takes it all in with a small smile, who has seen it all, who nibbles away on a bit of leftover scone, tends to the cats and the orchids." 

friday quotation

"Don't keep asking what you missed!  Show up so you don't miss out on life." 

(Some thoughts that I passed along to my students...maybe they'll hear it some day.) 

friday quotation

"gratitude, not understanding, is the secret to joy and equanimity."

- Anne Lamott

a bowl of abundance

I've written before how I'm a little obsessed with bowls.  And eating my meals out of bowls.  Which happens to be perfect when so many of your meals are soups (fall and winter), salads (spring and summer), or mixes of veggies and a grain.  Or at least I think it's perfect.  And evidently, I'm not the only one.  I happened upon this blog that mentioned a "winter abundance bowl" (pictured at the right...from the same website...my picture did not look appetizing...and it was delicious!) and, of course, I had to try it.  I loved the name first - the idea of a bowl of abundance, which is how I feel about every meal that I eat out of a bowl.  And then I loved the ingredients - broccoli, brown rice, lentils, sweet potato, purple cabbage (which I happened to have from my farmshare...it was meant to be!!).  You literally make the entire dish in one pot - love that, too. And just when I thought that was enough goodness, I read the final part of the dish - an amazing garlic-ginger pumpkin seed sauce.  I was a bit skeptical but OH MY GOSH.  It is delicious...and way too much for this one dish.  Which also seems just right so that I can have some left over.  It is indeed a warm bowl of abundance of all sorts on what is going to be a very chilly night in Austin - where again, I'm blessed with the abundance of heat, a warm place to lay my head, and a full belly.

welcome 2014!

For many years, I didn't set New Year's resolutions at all.  Then I switched to New Year's intentions.  My latest version of New Year's "non-resolutions" is choosing a word for the year.  Something that will guide me.  Something that I will put out into the universe so that it might come back to me and help me live the life that I want to be living more fully. Something that is like an intention and resolution all rolled up in one. 
My word for 2014 is courage.  The courage to try new things - whether it's in yoga class, in relationships, in my hobbies, in my job...just having the courage to step up, put myself out there, try something new.  The courage to take risks - to do things I've never done, to risk failing and succeeding, to recognize that growth happens when we put ourselves and our hearts and our beliefs on the line.  The courage to speak my peace - to use my voice, to stand up for others and to stand up for myself, to speak with compassion and confidence, to not swallow my words because I'm afraid I will disappoint others.  The courage to love more boldly - even if it means getting hurt somewhere along the way.  The courage to say "yes".  And the courage to say "no".  I think there are going to be endless opportunities to be bold and courageous this year...here's to this new adventure!  May 2014 bring joy, laughter, good health, peace, and love...in abundance...to one and all!