One Rare Bird

Growing is Forever

This video says it all: Growing is forever. It's beautifully simple, and sometimes awefully hard, and always - always - worthwhile.

Crush of the Week: Joe Rychebosch

I first came across the work of Portland based artist Joe Rychebosch last December at Crafty Wonderland, and I'm ashamed of myself for not having shared his work sooner. I mean who doesn't love images of wildlife enhanced with antiquated architectural drafting tape in a myriad of colors? I want to step into one of these psychedelic nature scenes, set up camp and never leave. So all future crushes be warned: you have BIG shoes to fill with Joe Rychebosch on the loose!

Thank you Joe for being my Crush of the Week. I offically can't live without those caribou on my living room wall!

Dreaming Always

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed having this blog. It crazy to think it's been almost a year since I started this online journey, and I'm so glad I've had this place to share my many thoughts and the things I love - not to mention my many quirks. I'm especially happy with the connections I've made with new readers (and  myself), and for the things I've learned along the way. With that said, I think it's time for me to make some blog-related changes. I want to change some of what I do and talk about in this small corner of the cyberworld, but I haven't quite nailed down what that will be yet. For now this will be my last week of regularly scheduled posts, with a strong emphasis on dreams, nature, and growth - three things I hear calling my name this Fall. You haven't seen the last of me though, so feel free to keep stopping by. Happy Monday!

Dreams by Brandi Carlile

Dream by Priscilla Ahn

Dreams by The Cranberries

Happy Friday!!

Edubarba

Core Story

The Linden Tree

Prompt 31: Core Story _{^{{via Reverb 10}}}

"What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world?" (Author: Molly O’Neill)

The first thing that comes to mind is this poem I read recently by Oriah, called The Dance. I can't think of a better core story than this...

"I have sent you my invitation,the note inscribed on the palm of my hand by the fire of living. Don’t jump up and shout, "Yes, this is what I want! Let’s do it!" Just stand up quietly and dance with me.

Show me how you follow your deepest desires, spiralling down into the ache within the ache. And I will show you how I reach inward and open outward to feel the kiss of the Mystery, sweet lips on my own, everyday.

Don’t tell me you want to hold the whole world in your heart. Show me how you turn away from making another wrong without abandoning yourself when you are hurt and afraid of being unloved.

Tell me a story of who you are,
And see who I am in the stories I am living. And together we will remember that each of us always has a choice.

Don’t tell me how wonderful things will be . . . some day. Show me you can risk being completely at peace, truly OK with the way things are right now in this moment, and again in the next and the next and the next. . .

I have heard enough warrior stories of heroic daring. Tell me how you crumble when you hit the wall, the place you cannot go beyond by the strength of your own will. What carries you to the other side of that wall, to the fragile beauty of your own humanness?

And after we have shown each other how we have set and kept the clear, healthy boundaries that help us live side by side with each other, let us risk remembering that we never stop silently loving those we once loved out loud.

Take me to the places on the earth that teach you how to dance, the places where you can risk letting the world break your heart. And I will take you to the places where the earth beneath my feet and the stars overhead make my heart whole again and again.

Show me how you take care of business without letting business determine who you are. When the children are fed but still the voices within and around us shout that soul’s desires have too high a price, let us remind each other that it is never about the money.

Show me how you offer to your people and the world the stories and the songs you want our children’s children to remember, and I will show you how I struggle not to change the world, but to love it.

Sit beside me in long moments of shared solitude, knowing both our absolute aloneness and our undeniable belonging. Dance with me in the silence and in the sound of small daily words, holding neither against me at the end of the day.

And when the sound of all the declarations of our sincerest intentions has died away on the wind, dance with me in the infinite pause before the next great inhale of the breath that is breathing us all into being, not filling the emptiness from the outside or from within.

Don’t say, "Yes!"
Just take my hand and dance with me."

Bargain of the Week: Coffee & End Tables

I've been wanting a grown-up coffee table for quite some time now, and after I found this credenza at an estate sale a few months back I knew I had to start my search. It took a while, but my diligence finally paid off when I found this mid-century coffee table and two matching end tables on Craigslist for only $30. They are original Lane Furniture pieces from the 1950's and they fetch quite a price at the swanky vintage shops in SE Portland. They also happen to look very grown-up in my living room :)

Now I need just need a few more Coffee Table books!

Crush of the Week: Samantha French

I can't believe our end-of-summer vacation has already come and gone. I probably won't be sitting next to a pool again until next year, but that doesn't mean I can't still enjoy a little warm-weather fantasy from time to time, and that's where artist Samantha French comes in. I'm in love with everything I've ever seen of her work, but my very favorites are her underwater paintings. I'm not sure how she does it, but Samantha somehow keeps things abstract and modern while still evoking a strong sense of reality with her paintings. I could seriously live in one of these! Therefore Samantha's work has become my official go-to "happy place" all year round, not to mention one of my biggest crushes.

Thanks Samantha for being my Crush of the Week. If you ever need someone to model for you while floating in a pool, I'm your girl! xo

I'm Back From Outer Space

Music Monday is dedicated to two of my favorite female-powered soul songs and their equally awesome covers...

I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor

I Will Survive by Cake

I Say a Little Prayer by Aretha Franklin

I Say a Little Prayer from My Best Friends Wedding

Now that's what I call a homecoming. Happy Monday!

A Hop, Skip, and a Week

I'm off to the land of cool pools and fun-in-the-sun with my family next week, so I won't see you again until the following Monday. While I'm away don't do anything I wouldn't do!

Gift

Prompt 30: Gift _{^{{via Reverb 10}}}

"What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?" (Author: Holly Root)

At the risk of sounding needy, I can honestly say the best gifts I've received this year have been time and acceptance - from others as well as myself. In recent years it has come to my internal attention that I don't often assume I am lovable and worth giving time and attention to. It's extremely difficult for me to ask for help (though I don't mind giving it) and I tend to assume others have better things to do than spend time with me - especially given how neurotic I can be. But I'm realizing, that perhaps, I am lovable and worth giving time to. So given this recent revelation, having the love, time, and acceptance of someone I care for is something I deeply cherish and try not to take for granted.