smitten!!!

A few things that make my heart go pitter-patter...
*creative inspiration, art journaling and storytelling. This pic. above is one of my latest art journal pages using the mixed media kit from Invincible Heart Co. Loving all the goodness emerging!
*spring!!! It's in the air...I can feel her coming! I simply can't wait to get out my flowery, lacy, printed skirts and dresses +  witness all the trees and flowers come into bloom. Not to mention the warmer weather...it's been a long winter, friends!

*fresh flowers!!! I always try to keep a vase (or two) of flowers in our home year round. Whether they are gorgeous roses or a sprig of something or other...they make our house come alive! I simply feel happier around flowers!
*this amazing blog right here! I stumbled upon it many years ago and immediately fell head over heels in love...her writing, photography and take on food (mixing up recipes with storytelling) had me hooked! So when I recently came upon this delicious breakfast (or anytime else!!) recipe...I decided to try it out because I love creamy, adore figs + when you add honey...well, what can I say???

*date night with my husband!!! It's been ages since Tim and I could sit and chat over a glass of wine...just relax and enjoy each other. So when it happens...I totally don't take it for granted. I am so very grateful...after all these years...I still think he's the most handsome, charming, interesting man...+ my best friend. He makes my heart go pitter-patter! Love.

*started a brand new journal last week...loving this one from Papaya! Filling up pages + pages with stories + dreams, hopes + ideas...it's the simple things, right??
*this word  right here...la cantadora. I first came across it many, many years ago in Women Who Run with the Wolves...but right now, at this time in my life...it just sends my heart racing! It means...keeper of the old stories...and Dr. Estes talks at length about the layers + layers of stories we all have hidden inside of us that need a voice, that simply have to come from a place of truth + vulnerability so we can connect...soul to soul. How amazing is this woman???? So very grateful for her presence, her works and her gracious spirit!!

*I had 3 hours alone in a coffee store with some fave. inspirational mags...heaven! Love paging through endless pics. + articles about everything creative...mixed media, studio spaces, art journaling, home decorating...colors + prints + paints...swoon.
*Lupita Nyongo!!!! She broke my heart and laid me bare in 12 years a Slave! Her beauty + brilliance is breathtaking; I can't take my eyes of this talented lady. Total girl crush!

*loving the wide open spaces here in Colorado...surrounded by mountains and endless skies...I can breathe! A lot of times as I go about my day...I am taken aback by the sheer rugged beauty of this place. It gives me pause...and makes everything right in the world.

*And my gorgeous, growing up waaaaay too fast girl...here she is just brimming with happiness...which makes mamma happy:) Mothering her has transformed me, has taken every single part of me and turned it upside down. Where I used to be closed off...now I am open. Where I used to be filled with trepidation...I now jump in with eyes closed! She has my heart, this sweet girl!

messages

(I saw this gorgeous message over the weekend)

"…that many things …propose… and bring creative life, healing, ideas, innovations, inventions, and solutions, to real down-to-earth issues and challenges. And these actually come out of the dark, from out of nowhere, seemingly, they come from over your shoulder. They come from just out of the corner of your eye. They come from the unconscious; they come from the part of the psyche that stores not just quirks and oddities and forgotten shreds of memory and so forth, but also stores of great gifts… insight, intuition, knowledge, that some people would call uncanny only because it doesn’t appear to come from the forefront of the mind. "-Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Mother Night

Living on the edges  is lonely...very difficult and can be overwhelming. On the fringes of society, our families and even...our very SELVES. But as I am listening to Mother Night (another amazing work by Dr. Estes)...I am reminded of the value in being an outsider. I am reminded of the fact that so many many of us are, in fact, outsiders. Dancing on the very edges; that's where we receive our gold. Our messages come from this place of...lost dreams and lost selves. Where do we get our ideas from? Anywhere and everywhere as long as we are open to it...maybe a line  in a book somewhere, an old photograph or journal ..or maybe a piece of art, a blog post I read this morning...a conversation with a friend.

I am remembering dreams I had (long forgotten or given up on) and making my way back to them. These dreams that were born in hope or fear or love or...even loss. I am going to give them space to breathe, write them down and see if they have wings to fly. Listening to the messages that are coming to me from everywhere these days.