stand in the place where you live

i tend to avoid the ubiquitous.  one exception is the foot photo/standing-here self-portrait, which i have been doing for several years.  i love taking these photos because 1. they provide space and time to stand still and be present and 2. create a lovely end-of-year snapshot of where i've been.  if you'd like, you can see previous years' collections here (just scroll past this current one).

a few things about 2013:

• i happily became accustomed to a slower pace of life, with more precious space and time
• i became a better traveler, mainly due to the gypsy job
• i fell in love (again) with nyc
• i spent a lot of time barefoot
• ditto staring at the sky
• i struggled with being vegetarian and had to balance nourishing my body with my strong opinions on meat-production (ultimately reintroducing organic/local/humanely-produced animal products, which turns out to not be a lot around here)
• i embraced meditation
• i avoided most crowds, too much noise, those personalities that drive me over the edge (passive-aggressive people, narcissists, fear-and-rage-mongers) to the extent possible 
• i had a lot of time to think, daydream, plan and try new things
• i wasted a lot of that time learned the value of doing nothing

as i reflect on the year, i consider it to have been really good overall, if not somewhat non-eventful...a resting year.

now face north.

may your own light return

a brighter version.

sunday grace

is found in the littlest moments:

• poetry read aloud
• a house that smells like blooming paperwhites and spruce and cardamom coffee cake (christmas house!)
• tiny bonfires
• a blue sky after yesterday's gray
• a warm bed
• gazing upon the talent of friends

all is calm. all is brite.

in these early and mid days of december, there are so many opportunities to practice mindfulness amid the hustle and over-stimulation.

i intend to experience december as warm silence punctuated with color and glow.

a gypsy birthday

my birthday was earlier this week and i was on the road teaching.  i was staying in a little mountain town by myself.  the day started off a bit sad, with mediocre pancakes at a highway diner (and not a highway diner that in any way begs for its photograph to be taken).  with some encouragement from instagram and facebook friends, i made a conscious effort to improve the day.  and it worked.

here is what happened:

• i discovered that the person i was working with that day (which is totally a random assignment) had their birthday the exact same day.  
• i played sirius xm 1st wave all day long and it was like hearing the soundtrack to my life.  i was lost in remembering beautiful moments and people who helped make me who i am.
• also, i still know all the words to all the songs!  and i sang loudly and badly because i was in the car by myself.  i'm pretty proud of this.
• a strawberry birthday cupcake with a candle to blow out after my wish.
• a little bag of confetti at the bottom of my purse (inspired by hulaseventy).  it was thrown.
• i left hotel housekeeping a big tip because i got a bit carried away with the confetti enthusiasm.  it was everywhere.  i know it must have sucked to have to vacuum it up, but i also hope it made her smile momentarily.
• a girl on the street told me i looked like carrie brownstein on portlandia.  thank you very much.
• i went for a walk in the tiny downtown beautifully lit up for christmas.  i stumbled across the greatest little dress shop with colorful stars that hung from the ceiling and the best music playing.
• while in the shop i was quietly singing along to the smiths when a total stranger began singing too.  we both looked at each other and smiled and continued to sing the rest of the song together.  it was awesome.
• i got an early gift from mr. parks and they are the best birthday gift ever:  vintage floral dr. martens.  it's good to be known.