two stories of a girl named spring

I want to tell a story about a girl and how she arrives. you know she's coming; you can feel it in the air. the light and color shift; subtly at first, then in a moment the air is charged with happy static. she is bearing all things bright and beautiful. she is holding possibility in her arms; posed to deliver it to the faithful and patient. she is the party, the music, the dance. she is draped in sparkly exuberance and the only word she knows is "yes".

I want to tell a story about a girl and how she arrives. she is unexpected but somehow you are not surprised when she appears. you know her and trust her. she has been quietly working backstage, content in her study of life and love and color. her homework is done and then some. she has the answers to your questions about growth and comfort and fulfillment. she is the nurturer, the secret-keeper, the confidant. she is celadon and wisteria and the gentle scent of honeysuckle. she tiptoes softly into the room and stands before you, arms wide open. she whispers, "yes".

oh hi there beautiful

can I say how delighted I am that you've arrived? we can always count on you to be the early bird, the first girl at the party. bedecked in your brilliant purpleblueness, you wipe away a winter's worth of dark and cold. your soft scent brings to mind a landscape of green meadow speckled with a rainbow of wildflowers. I can hear the happy song of the baby brown wrens in the distance as they dance in the branches, testing their courage and skill.

thank you for bringing me to this place.

five senses friday*

{see}

• a new vision for the family room...the colors of seaglass
• lonny magazine
• beautiful colorful functional bags for my camera and lenses and a new baby to look through? enter the best giveaway ever sponsored by epiphanie

{hear}

• the open road calling my name

{touch}

• anticipating the sun's debut this weekend with a giant stack of catalogs, magazines, gardening books...I can already feel the warmth on my winter-parched skin

{taste}

• to celebrate holi in my own little western way sans a colorfest, I improvised the traditional celebratory drink thandai: almond milk, honey, rose water, pistachios, cardamom, pepper, poppy and anise seeds. I threw it all in a blender with some ice and it is officially my new favorite thing

{smell}

• I woke this morning to the scent of coffee brewing mingling with the jasmine and hyacinth blooming on the window sill

for each of you, I'm wishing a beautiful day experienced with all five senses fully alive.

*five senses friday inspired by abby (I love to visit and swoon over her lavender blog banner).

the show

I think this is my theme song for march.

happy thursday beauties!

giving up the throne

ever since I was a child, people told me I was a natural leader. what I've learned since then is all this means is I have some energy, the ability to persuade people to do things and an instinctual bend toward being a total bossypants.

I've been an "official" leader for just over three years now. in that time, I've learned that there are three really distinct parts of leadership. I only excel at the first one: having and communicating a vision and team mobilization.

I'm currently working on the middle and most difficult phase of leadership: maintaining excellence and momentum. and I absolutely suck at this. once the excitement and newness of a "mission" has passed, the real work of team development and growth begins. this requires copious amounts of patience and acceptance of setbacks; not my strong suits. I am easily frustrated that people don't stick to the vision. and I have to say I've had my share of imperious "let them eat cake" moments. like I said, I'm working on it...

lately I've been thinking about the third phase of leadership: letting go of control and passing on the reins. the happiest moments of my work day are when staff show brilliance to the point that I'm confident they can one day take over and continue to move the team forward. so when I have those moments of dreaming about retirement or fantasizing about the perfect vision/mobilization-only job, I know that I can walk away in peace.

holi mosaic monday!

thank you all for your love and support during the month of love. I'm so happy to have friends visiting and always for the love and insight of your brilliant minds and hearts. we now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

and it's holi today!

I am hereby declaring that the western calendar is way too slow for me and choose to believe that today (TODAY!) is the first day of spring. let's make this week one of vibrant color and hopefulness, shall we?

and today, I have put this one on the list: participate in a holi festival. in india.

and did you see that hunk of glowing moon last night?

(please see my flickr faves for the holi photographers, in my excitement, I forgot to post the mosaic with credits!)