I am enough: day #18

I have been struggling to this place where I am enough for a long long time. And often...there are stumbles and detours and breakdowns. It's like everything in life...once we make a conscious effort, the lessons and teachers are everywhere. Strangely enough, signing up for this blog challenge has been a teacher for me in this capacity. I realise that I can simply show up...as mySELF. I don't always have to be funny or articulate or deep or...I can just show up... with wholeHEART and ...I am here. I am me. I am enough.
So are we all. xxx

checking in with my word for the year

When I picked out my word for the year (dare!!) I was deeply influenced by this book right here and thought the word would guide me in doing more, accomplishing more, dare more...more more more!!!  What I am discovering so far is that this word has shown up in my life in quite the opposite way...but exactly in the way I need!!! Isn't it amazing how the Universe works??? So far...I am leaning into the wisdom of daring to do ...less!!! I am daring to relax, to take more time for me, for getting back to center.

I am daring to be seen. To be vulnerable (so so difficult for me, this one!!!), to be mySELF, to not apologize for who I am. So many times...we lose ourselves (in bits + pieces that add up over time) along the way. I am daring to stop...and gather those pieces, put them back together; repair + replenish. I am daring to shine...not by doing anything spectacular...but simply by being me!!! A few years ago...I never would have dared to even walk down the path of "I am enough"....but now it feels comfortable. It feels like I can stop doing so much ("hustling for worthiness" as Dr. Brene Brown says) and I can just enjoy the present moment.

"There are two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle."
                                                         -Albert Einstein
More and more...I am beginning to appreciate  the daily miracles in our lives. I am daring to be...
*happy
*present
*whole
Halfway through the year and this is what my word has revealed itself in my life. Did you pick  a word for the year? What has it revealed to you?

finding my way back to center

 

"Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished." -Mary Oliver, The Messenger  
*one of my fave poems!

Little by little... I am finding my way back to center...that place that is still, that is calm, that simply is. Sometimes...I stray away from what I know to be true and I get burnt out and overwhelmed. So these days I am falling into what I know works for me...surrounding mySELF with love, acceptance, gratitude, nature, books, reading poetry aloud, writing in my journal, eating healthy, walks, joy, laughter, sleep. Simply sitting and immersing myself into the grandeur around me. Filling mySELF up. 

 

Seeing the beauty that is within all of us...the grace that we can find living and breathing inside of each moment...if we pay attention to it. Maybe it's the laughter of a child...with eyes sparkling...or the rays of sun pouring through a window...or a warm and heartful hug. More + more...I am learning it's the ordinary stuff of life that fuels me.

I have been experimenting with mixed media pieces...little wall hangings I stitched up. This one here reads "Faith in her Path" and I used little pieces of fabric along with one of my prints. I love the way it turned out and am going to keep on trying out different combinations of found fabrics.

Practicing self kindness in my portraits. So important, don't you think? I absolutely want to take this class...I love the content and think it will open up a whole new direction with my photography.

Quiet time with a coffee + my journal

I have been rewriting my stories. You know...the ones that were not mine to begin with. The ones that keep me locked up. The ones I don't need anymore; I can write my own now, thank you very much.

 

And spending time with my family. Tara had a spa night at our library this weekend and she had such a blast!!! We are super involved with our library and this event was to promote early literacy...so they had tons of fun stuff for kids to do!!! Of course, as you can see,  Tara was in full princess mode...with crown, shoes and everything pink + sparkly.

I have been sketching with watercolors, graphites and pens. Experimenting with colors, shadows and skin tones. Love the freedom of my sketchbook and this little Moleskin goes with me everywhere!!!

 

 A simple walk...breathing in the trees + sky ...makes everything right with the world.

 

 

"Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again."

                                                                    -Joseph Campbell   

And this is a self portrait I took just a few minutes ago in my studio. I'm a little tired...and I need to pluck my eyebrows! Oh well...I am finding my way back to center.  Hello world...I am enough...and so are you:)

journey

(journey, mixed media, archival prints available here!)

she went to a place

deep deep inside of herSELF

where  her soul could bloom

and her spirit ...soar

long forgotten...no more

remembering...

"I am enough"

this is the journey

this is the journey