Rest is the best remedy

So, prior to Christmas Eve, I was sick as a dog; in the bed for literally two days straight, attempting to recharge my body through resting, plenty of fluids and some quiet time. My body ached, it shivered from cold, was hot to the touch from fever; and I was overwhelmed with exhaustion.Thank goodness for my mother who was there taking care of me like she did when I was five years old and illness would befall me; serving up iced ginger ale to cool my temperature, orange juice, water, tea and a plate of steaming hot collared greens cooked with red potatoes. My mother is old school and is a firm believer in her home remedies; and rightly so. I ate that bowl of greens; slowly savoring them and remembering the familiarity of their taste over the years; it hadn't changed a bit. It was the only meal I had had for the day as I just didn't have the will or energy to eat much at all; however I had smelled those delicious greens cooking and was roused out of my slumber to make myself eat them when they were ready. I had enough energy to bathe, change my clothes, and come downstairs to enjoy some moments with my mother.

 

It was Christmas Eve and I felt sad that she was watching movies, listening to songs and remembering her previous holiday seasons all alone. It was a struggle as I felt quite lethargic and moving my body from one room to another was such a task. But when I emerged down the stairs, my mother's smile warmed me from inside out and gave me incentive to keep pushing if I was to shake this sickness. She hugged me and I served myself up some of her yummy greens. I literally felt some of my strength returning after the first serving, and as a matter of fact I even had a second serving! My body enjoyed and relished what it received; and thanked me for giving it some home cooked love. My mother and I watched a play together, we talked, laughed a little and shared some memories. I came over to her, hugged her and thanked her for taking such good care of me; she responded with love as she always does when she knows deep inside how much she means to me. I was oh so appreciative that night as I settled in to sleep off the remaining hold this sickness had on me.

 

The next morning I felt noticeably more energetic and got up to shower and wash my hair; feeling more refreshed than the day before. Mentally I knew I had to remember to take it easy even though I was beginning to feel better as I have a tendency to jump right back in the swing of things instead of slowly getting back into the grind. So that is what I did; I ate small servings of hearty soups, salad and lots of fluids. I emerged from my cocoon; which is what it felt like as I had kept my blinds closed and barely any light entered into my windows as I slept through the nights and most of the days prior to Christmas. I noticed my skin had a glow to it; perhaps all of the sweating caused an internal cleansing because I even felt a little lighter; not so weighed down. I felt ready to begin the day, but at a slower pace than usual. I had a beautiful day surrounded by love, which in turned surrounded me with the strength I needed to fuel my body and feel better. While I am still not fully out of the woods; I can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's very hard for me to be unwell; but sometimes its during these times that I gain a new perspective; when I'm forced to slow down and rest. My mother said those very words; you need to just rest! I did just that and so much came to me; my mind was clearer, and my Spirit shined brightly through as my body played catch up.

End of year goodbyes; New year rise

December 2013 is finally upon us and boy did this year fly by! 2013 was an amazing year; a year of book releases, poems written, new friendships and connections, and seeing my life in a new light. Viewing my life in a new light has really helped me with seeing others in their own unique light as well. The ways in which I navigate through my life are mine and mine alone but it doesn't make them right for everyone else.

Forgiveness abounded in my heart as I reassessed relationships that I thought were okay in the state they were in but was sadly mistaken. For example; I haven't been as close to my older sister as I could have been over the years and I had been holding on to many grudges from the past. My mother, whom I love as dearly as life itself, but don't always agree with; shared some thoughts with me and I saw things through her light. It's not always easy to forgive, but doing it emptied my heart of resentment and unnecessary pain. Who needs to carry such things into a brand new year? Needless to say, I am very excited about what 2014 has in store for me, my family, loved ones and the writing adventures I will be going on. Not only do I feel undoubtedly excited about what's in store for my life; but I feel more prepared for it. I have an end of the year ritual that I follow and it's quite simple; I cleanse my home, life and mind of whatever is taking up unnecessary space. And as this physical cleansing takes place; an emotional and mental cleanse follows and helps me to have more peace within.

 I recently completed a photo project in which I framed and hung up black and white photographs of my family and friends in my living room; it felt great as I had been planning to do this for the longest time. Every nook and cranny in my home has been getting some extra attention; bookshelves, cupboards, under beds, closets and rooms all included. I also went through my journals, notebooks and other collections of mine to gauge where I am with my writing. There is always a sense of completion and a loud exhale from my lungs when I follow my end of year ritual. The best part of this ritual is opening up to welcome and receive the newness of the coming year. Spring cleaning is a wonderful process as well, but I can't wait until Spring arrives! Winter, although sunny where I am, is the best time to review, reassess and revive my spirit of "old" patterns, items, and ideas that helped me along in my life but are no longer needed.

So, what will all of this cleaning out and releasing prepare me for in the coming year? Well, I will have more clarity, less confusion, less clutter, and more space in my heart, mind and soul for what lies ahead. I started writing down affirmations, my goals and dreams for this unknown yet exciting time to come. I plan to utilize sage to cleanse out my living space and the stagnant energy that has collected over the year on the very last day of 2013, I will open the windows to my home and watch as the smoke floats through them. I will most definitely treasure the memories made, lessons learned, and I will remember what made me smile, laugh and even cry this year; because tears are extremely cleansing to the soul! May the ending of this year be the beginning of a most blissful year for this world and all it's inhabitants.

Plugging on!

So, I have really been out of the loop for the past week as I had one of the most detrimental things happen to me!!! My laptop died on me and I had no way to revive it due to a faulty wire. For those who may have thought something was terribly wrong, I didn't mean to alarm you...I'm happy, I'm safe, I'm loved and I'm going to keep on plugging on! Pun intended!! Needless to say, I haven't been able to accomplish much writing this past week with this minor, yet major inconvenience. Writing hasn't ceased completely for me as I still have my pens, paper, journals and more to keep me going, but it's different when I wake up in the middle of the night with a story burning on my mind and can't type it right away!

The good news is that where there's a will, there is always a way! As a matter of fact, I put in my order to receive a new cord this week and I am at the library typing this up and so I still have an outlet, maybe not at the middle of the night, but this works! Also, I have been coming up with all sorts of ideas, subjects, poems and more to share with my beloved audience, I have missed you! Look for me though this week, as I will still be in your midst with thoughtful posts on my blogs...I am currently working on a weekly self help blog for my readers as well as tweaking my parenting and music blog; basically showing them love by committing to adding at least 2 to 3 posts per week. I am looking forward to the challenge and I know it can be done, especially with all of the momentum I have been gaining lately. It won't be long!

I'm thankful for what truly matters

I thought about the things I am truly thankful for and most of the things I came up with cannot be purchased in a store; black Friday has nothing on what I get for free every day; Love. Love surrounds me in the form of the people in my life who are my family and friends, love greets me in the morning as the Creator pours sunshine through my window over my resting frame; love looks me in my eyes with sincere smiles and laughter from my daughters. I am thankful for who I am, my path in this life, my ability to hear music that strengthens my soul. Music in the form of singing, dancing, instruments and bands are lovely, but I am also thankful for the sound of solitude.

I love the sound of trees blowing in the wind, the sound of water flowing in a lake; taking gratitude on another level for me. I am thankful for the sound of a loved one's voice on the other end of my phone or in person as I face them and give my all in an embrace with them. I am thankful for the peace in my heart, for the newness that each day brings for me to release whatever I need to release in preparation for what lies ahead. I'm thankful for my thinking pattern, for what we think about is energy in one of the highest forms. For the most part, I attempt to clear my head of frivolous and draining thoughts; also known as worry. I do have my moments when I'm not so strong, and I will openly acknowledge that my tears flow, my energy level slumps and I just don't have all of the answers. But something inside of me; my spirit perhaps, reminds me of how fleeting this life is; how having just one more moment to live, laugh and love is what matters in the end. 

Giving my writing the love it deserves

I could write nonstop from sun up to sun down; flowing on a trail of endless inspiration, especially when it hits me! But alas, I don't reside in the solitude of the mountains or on a secluded island, at least, not yet! While my girls are super awesome about giving me uninterrupted writing time, I need them to know that I am indeed here with them; even with the sometime engrossing process of writing.  I love that I can look out of my window to see the beautiful sky and how it changes from morning until evening. It tends to inspire me, as does the trees blowing a relaxing breeze through my windows. I really don't require much to feel that buzz, I am quite versatile when it comes to expressing my thoughts on paper; however, natural settings tend to heighten my creativity. Therefore; the beach, parks, and lakes get my creative juices flowing! I suppose it has to do with the serenity of such places.

Many times; I've been hit with an appealing idea to write about or an intriguing poem that forms perfectly in my mind and I'm scrambling to get it recorded while it's slowly but surely forming; line by line. I've often relied on memory to write down what I had been thinking just moments before, only to forget it when I finally do have paper and pen or my laptop in front of me! So I came up with a solution for my often unpredictable bouts of inspiration. I didn't have very many journals to record my thoughts in until recently; I have accumulated more writing materials since experiencing a surge in my blogging and book-writing. I did an inventory of all the journals, notebooks, drawing and writing pads that I owned and decided that I had enough of them to place in inconspicuous places around my house. A journal on the bottom shelf of my living room bookcase, a notebook behind my cookbooks in the kitchen, and of course a writing pad on my night desk for those dreams to record that are fresh in my head upon waking.

I used to draw often and had a lot of drawing pads that were given to me as gifts and now I use them for writing out my poetry. The endless space on those large sheets of paper are excellent for writing more than one poem or even longer pieces. As a writer, I never know when I will be taken to a place that guides me to write something and I enjoy making provisions to ensure that I can do so. What also helps me is knowing that the poem or idea I was thinking of is actually recorded in one of my books! Bookmarks also help me to save the page I wrote on for the day as well as little sticky tabs. And later, when all is quiet and I have some down time, I will type what I have on my laptop. I can view it, play around with it, change it up or leave what I wrote just the way it is. Writing is a way of life for me; I navigate through situations with it; I feel it in my spirit and it is my calling, it needs nurturing and love!

That beautiful feeling of completion

I just completed two major milestones in my life; writing and publishing two ebooks on Amazon. Although I haven't made millions over night, I have indeed become richer in my spirit. Knowing that I touched on parts of my life that held me captive emotionally has opened my heart to healing in amazing ways. My first book is titled; "The day I heard my father's voice" and is about me making an attempt to reconnect with my father after thirty years of estrangement. The small single memory I had of seeing him only once at age 3 created within me a story involving the unforgettable climax of how things transpired the day I talked with him. We honestly don't know how deeply we are affected by our emotions until we have times in our lives that force us to release those pent up feelings. And this was a story of triumph.

My other story, titled; "The silence of my baby's cries" was also a story of healing from the stillbirth of my son in 2009. I am thankful for the hearts that were touched by this book and for the courage that it took for me to share this part of myself with the world. I chose to use my son's picture as the cover of my book; and that was a huge step for me. I wasn't even able to look at his pictures for so long without crying and wishing I had him in my life. But one day, I took them out and looked over each one, and as I completed my story; I decided I would commemorate his memory by using his beautiful face as the cover of my book. I celebrated his short life by remembering him in my book and I also celebrate this final stage in the grieving process. 

I look forward to connecting with people through the books I have written as well as the books I am planning to write. We can all find solace in knowing someone else has been "there." It heals the spirit to share and be accepted for who you are and what you have overcome. Writing my books has set the ball rolling for many opportunities and I am open to wherever this road takes me. I look forward to writing more about my life, my triumphs, my struggles and how it all fits in the grand scheme of things.

My life in stories, poetry and pictures.: Less is certainly not more

My life in stories, poetry and pictures.: Less is certainly not more: For many years, I have lived my life thinking that less is more. I have had to relinquish these perpetual thoughts in my head and embr...