Blessed

I've been blessed with so many lovely friends throughout my life.  Some have been in my life since the '76 bicentennial, and very big 80's hair.  Some are no longer in my life, but they are no less important in my journey through the years.  Some of my newest friends I would have never known if not for the personal struggles in common we face.  I wouldn't change a thing.

This is a little leather key chain my dad and I made for one of my very new friends, inspired by a necklace that brought us together. 

Make time for friends... have tea, take a walk, make some art, laugh your butt off...

love, e

eenie, meenie, miney...

 
Hello?  Is it spring yet??

I am trying to come out of a late winter funk.  I know I could use a good healing soup, and maybe a big colorful energizing salad.

However, today, I am feeling a little bit devilish...

Be back soon!
love e

photos (and recipes!): www.jamieoliver.com

They Had Me in Stitches

The morning sun came flooding through the bedroom window, a Saturday morning, my favorite morning... usually this would put in me in a pretty happy place.  I was having a hard time for some reason, I woke up feeling pretty blue and could not shake it.  Blue, blue, blue...so many shades of blue, clouding my day.   

"Snap out of it!" I said to myself.  So I made some French toast, even though I didn't much feel like it.  The maple syrup tasted so good.  I put on some sneaks and went for a walk, even though I didn't have much energy.  The sun felt so warm, the air so refreshing.  I did a little yoga, even though my bones were aching.  My body felt so much better.  The blueness was fading.  Lighter, and lighter.  Pale, misty blue.

Then my family came over.  My parents, the dog, my husband's parents, his sister, his brother, his brother's wife, his little sister...they all just showed up.  It wasn't really planned... we made dinner, we talked, we ate, we laughed, we watched a movie, we had crumb cake, they told me my new hair was pretty... before I knew it, the blue was a happy sky blue.  Wedding dress blue.  And as the sun went down... there was purple, and pink, and yellow, and orange. Lovely perfect orange.  We laughed for hours.  They had me in stitches... and I forgot about the sad shades of blue that had earlier clouded my day.

Blue can certainly be a happy color... if we know where to look.

love, e

Do Your Plies!

photo: The Basic Principals of Classical Ballet, Vaganova

In my studio, the music playing... dancing, stretching, tree posing, doing plies.  I often think, who I would be now, had I not gone to all those ballet classes? .... classes that so many nights I did NOT want to show up for.  From age 7 to my late teens, and even throughout my twenties.. I showed up again and again.  Why?  Most days it seemed like torture.  But I couldn't not go.  "Ugh... paleeezze mom...don't make me go" I would think, nearly every time.  I felt sick during the opening plies, especially if I didn't get my desired place at the barre, thinking I would never make it through the 1 1/2 hours that lay before me.   I somehow got through it, though.  Cramping calves, bloody toes and all.  I was addicted to the way I felt when it was over... when we stretched, and it didn't hurt anymore.  I'd surely show up again tomorrow, and face the torturous hours once again.  I did after all, love dance.

Thousands of plies later...I feel like no matter what is happening in my life, this will forever be a part of me... dancing, escaping through movement, enjoying the ability to move with purpose.   My gratitude for this experience is even more evident now... healing from multiple surgeries, dealing with the pain and fatigue of chemotherapy, having lost control of so much of my physical self... it is empowering to still find control in my muscles and movements.  Later in life I happily discovered there are other types of dance out there besides ballet, that I feel is more comfortable for my body and didn't hurt so much (hooray for belly dance!).  But thank goodness I stayed the course, and did my plies.  I still do them.  And they are fantastic.  I just do them now to drum music... instead of Tchaikovsky.

Even without a childhood full of plies and dance classes, anyone can find joy and healing in movement.  It doesn't require sweat or pain... just whatever type of music you're in the mood for, some comfy clothes, and maybe some lipstick or a flower in your hair.   And it helps to have a happy little place in your home with some candles, a mirror, and a yoga mat...  where noone is looking.

love, e

A Granny Square of Joy

I Crochet!  I Crochet!  I've been wanting to say that for so many years.  I finally made it to one of those adult ed classes tonight, and I'm doing it!!  And here I am, sitting on the couch with my cat and my little 'robin's egg blue' crocheted thing, doing the one stitch I know.  Now, I can't stop.

These photos of yarn found on Etsy make me think of my hair, that now sits in a basket in the corner.  Pretty, isn't it?  Ok, I want to buy it.

photos: http://www.etsy.com/shop/SpinSpanSpun