peace is pretty

Tags

art, beauty, child, Dylan, earth, peace, pretty, rainbow

Blogging heaven

Tags

blog, blogger, blogging, choosing beauty, e-course, heaven, how to build a blog you truly love, il bel far niente, liv lane, magic wand collective, noemi photography, rachel, writing

I began writing this blog on January 21, 2010.

Never, ever, ever could I have imagined how much I would enjoy sharing my life with all of you in this uniquely-me space.

I now have 273 posts under my belt (274 as soon as I hit “publish” on this one.) Writing is a challenge some days. But most of the time I am simply grateful for this incredibly creative place to call my own. And for the privilege of being read, understood, appreciated, fulfilled.

I’m excited about the prospect of even more blogging heaven over the next 6 weeks. Through Liv Lane’s (Choosing Beauty) guidance and the inspiration of a circle of incredible (also blogging) women, I’m hoping to be pushed even further: new inspiration, fresh perspectives and creative self-exploration.

I’ve registered for the following e-course:

How To Build a Blog You Truly Love is a brand new, six-week e-course for those ready to create or renovate their blogs. Starting June 5th, you’ll be lovingly guided through an in-depth {and totally fun!} process of developing YOUR unique blogging blueprint.

I know that right now some of you are out there shaking your heads at how busy I already am. You might even be considering putting out an APB for my sanity–The Magic Wand Collective is pretty much my dream job and it’s nearly full-time at the moment, and I have other clients to boot–because taking on one more thing right now is probably not extremely wise. But when I get the feeling that something is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it’s hard for me to say no. And this seems pretty clearly to be one of those.

Seriously, the only way I can even consider this is that it is a self study e-course:

…which means you can follow along with the course lessons as they are posted or you can catch up later. 

This bulk of this e-course is not about the technical side of blogging – we won’t be walking you through logistics like setting up a post, learning HTML code, choosing keywords, etc. This is about the pre-work – the emotional and spiritual groundwork that goes into creating or renovating a blog to ensure it’s fulfilling for you, reflects you perfectly and has staying power. So many people jump into blogging with very little forethought or self-reflection. It’s like building a house without a foundation – destined to crumble!

My extremely talented sister-in-law Noemi has been added to this course as a contributor; she’ll be sharing her well of knowledge about photography. Being able to take good photos on-the-spot is a pretty essential skill for most bloggers, wouldn’t you agree? Good thing she offers classes–online and off–that direct us toward images with impact! Check out her workshops here.

If you are a regular reader here you know that I’m an entrepreneur, a marketing and fundraising consultant, a graphic designer and writer, an organizer and supporter of women in general and women small business owners specifically, an avid gardener, new-ish 5K runner, mom, friend, wife, empathic and adventurous soul. I am attracted to beauty and strength and authenticity and kindness.  And I think that all of this is already reflected to a large extent in my blog.  If you read the “about” tab, you’ll understand why I chose to give my blog its Italian name, “il bel far niente…”

I am not planning to change any of this, and I hope that makes you smile. But, I would love to take my self-expression within this medium to the next level. Don’t you see? I need this kind of inspiration and companionship to set myself on fire, to keep me writing nearly every day.

As always, I’m grateful.

Today, I’m also excited.

Dreamer

Tags

change, difference, dream, dreamer, harriet tubman, impact, passion, patience, reach, stars, strength, world

rg2011

Walking each other home

Tags

community, Minneapolis, tornado, Urban Homeworks

There were severe storms on Sunday, all over the Midwest.

As you likely heard, there was a record-setting tornado in Joplin, Missouri. I truly cannot imagine the scope of the devastation caused by that multi-vortex twister.

But you may not know that Minneapolis suffered several very grave and devastating hits as well (see National Weather Service notice from Sunday, below.) Even within our close circle of acquaintances, we personally know two families who lost parts of their homes and/or big areas of their neighborhoods.

We drove right through some very ominous weather on our way to Marlene’s wedding at Columbia Manor (33o0 Central Ave N for those of you who know Minneapolis.) We arrived at the wedding around 2:20 p.m. and everyone was immediately ushered to the basement, including the bride, protocol notwithstanding.

The tornado struck our city around 3:30.

For more details, follow this link.

Many, many, many low-income families living in rental properties lost everything they owned.

Now this exceptionally generous city is rallying to help in very tangible ways. Catch just a glimpse of what’s happening here, thanks to the leadership and members of our community.  Playing a key role in the recovery efforts is a superb organization called Urban Homeworks. If you want to make a donation somewhere and be assured that your gift will make a difference to these families, Urban Homeworks are great stewards of what they receive.

I love the way that my community cares. And it’s as it should be.

After all, aren’t we all just walking each other home?

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/122529019.html

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/122529019.html

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
505 PM CDT TUE MAY 24 2011

...STRONG EF-1 RATING ASSIGNED TO THE TORNADO THAT HIT NORTH
MINNEAPOLIS AND OTHER AREAS...

WINDS OF 100 TO 110 MPH WERE PRODUCED BY THE TORNADO THAT HIT NORTH
MINNEAPOLIS...ST. LOUIS PARK...GOLDEN VALLEY...FRIDLEY...MOUNDS VIEW
AND BLAINE. IT WAS ON THE GROUND FOR SIX AND ONE QUARTER MILES IN
HENNEPIN COUNTY...PLUS AN ADDITIONAL EIGHT MILES ACROSS ANOKA AND
RAMSEY COUNTIES AS THE TORNADO WENT THROUGH PARTS OF FRIDLEY...
MOUNDS VIEW...AND BLAINE.

THE TOTAL PATH LENGTH WAS 14 AND 1/4 MILES.  THE TORNADO WAS ABOUT
1/2 MILE WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT.  THE TIME OF TOUCHDOWN WAS
APPROXIMATELY 215 PM...BUT THIS WILL BE FINE TUNED IN THE DAYS TO
COME AS MORE EVIDENCE IS GATHERED.  ACCORDING TO VARIOUS SECURITY
CAMERAS...THE TORNADO MOVED INTO FRIDLEY AT 222 PM.

THE INITIAL TOUCHDOWN IN ST. LOUIS PARK WAS 3/4 OF A MILE
SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF INTERSTATE 394 AND HIGHWAY
100 WHERE TWO BUSINESSES SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE.  THE TORNADO MOVED
NORTHEAST...CROSSING HIGHWAY 100 WHERE IT HIT THE FIRST RESIDENCES
ALONG CEDAR LAKE ROAD. IT THEN ENTERED THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF
GOLDEN VALLEY...CROSSED INTERSTATE 394 AND HEADED FOR THEODORE WIRTH
PARK.  DURING THIS TIME IT TOOK A BIT OF A NORTHWARD TURN AND BEGAN
MOVING TO THE NORTH-NORTHEAST.

THE TORNADO MOVED ACROSS WIRTH LAKE AND ENTERED THE CITY OF
MINNEAPOLIS BETWEEN GLENWOOD AVENUE AND 16TH AVENUE.  UP TO THIS
POINT...DAMAGE WAS EF-0 WITH THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE DAMAGE BEING
DOWNED TREES ATOP BUILDINGS AND VEHICLES.  AS THE TORNADO ENTERED
MINNEAPOLIS, IT STRENGTHENED TO EF-1...AND BEGAN DEMOLISHING
GARAGES...SHEDS...AND PARTIALLY REMOVING ROOFS. THERE WAS A HOUSE
HERE OR THERE THAT HAD THEIR ROOFS COMPLETELY REMOVED...BUT ADJACENT
HOUSES AND OTHER NEARBY STRUCTURES AND TREES DID NOT SUPPORT RAISING
THE LEVEL TO EF-2.

THE TORNADO HEADED FOR THE AREA AROUND PENN AVENUE AND BROADWAY
AVENUE...THEN LOWRY AVENUE AND LOGAN AVENUE...THEN TO 42ND AVENUE
AND LYNDALE AVENUE.  IT CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER JUST NORTH OF
THE CAMDEN BRIDGE...AND BEGAN CAUSING DAMAGE IN ANOKA COUNTY.

IT MOVED ACROSS THE MINNEAPOLIS WATER INTAKE FACILITY. AT THE WATER
TREATMENT FACILITY...A FREE STANDING STORAGE GARAGE WAS COMPLETELY
DESTROYED...WITH NUMEROUS COTTONWOOD TREES ON THE GROUNDS UPROOTED
OR HAVING LARGE LIMBS SNAPPED OFF.

FROM THE WATER FACILITY...THE TORNADO TRACKED NORTHEAST TO A RAIL
YARD AND A LARGE INDUSTRIAL FACILITY...WHERE A LARGE METAL BUILDING
ON THE GROUNDS HAD PARTS OF TWO WALLS RIPPED OFF AND A LARGE SECTION
OF THE ROOF BLOWN OFF.

AT THE RAIL YARD...EIGHT TRAIN CARS WERE TIPPED OVER. THIS CAN BE
DONE BY WINDS LESS THAN 110 MPH. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RAIL
YARD...MORE INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES AND WAREHOUSES SUSTAINED DAMAGE
ALONG MIAMI STREET...THE WORST BEING A WAREHOUSE THAT LOST PART OF
ITS ROOFING.

THE STRONGER EF-1 DAMAGE OCCURRED IN THE AREA BETWEEN PENN AND
BROADWAY AND THE CAMDEN BRIDGE.

THE TORNADO THEN MOVED ACROSS RESIDENTIAL SECTIONS OF FRIDLEY...
WHERE EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE WAS DONE NORTHEAST OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL.
THE TORNADO THEN WEAKENED AS IT CONTINUED NORTHEAST ACROSS THE EAST
SIDE OF OF FRIDLEY TO SPRING LAKE...WHERE IT MOVED INTO THE
NORTHWEST SIDE OF MOUNDS VIEW. SPORADIC TREE DAMAGE OCCURRED DURING
THIS TIME FRAME.

THE LAST SIGNS OF DAMAGE WERE SEEN ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE
BLAINE-ANOKA COUNTY AIRPORT...WHERE A FEW HANGARS RECEIVED SOME
MINOR EXTERIOR DAMAGE.  THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR ABOUT 8
MILES FROM FRIDLEY TO BLAINE.

Wondering where the lions are

Tags

Bruce Cockburn, cedar cultural center, eternity, fear, forever, joy, lions, lyrics, music, peace

“And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together…” Isaiah 12.6

Bruce Cockburn asked me to sing “Wondering Where the Lions Are” along with him Monday night (OK maybe he didn’t ask only me, but still…)

My Baby and I were at the Cedar, about 15 rows behind the Barnhills, because our tickets told us we couldn’t sit in the privilege-laden white chairs. We were ok with this though, because–if seating assignments should correspond to the level of a fan’s adoration–Jimmy and Carla were absolutely in their rightful place, sitting smack dab in the middle of the front row.

But back to the song.

Many years ago, this song granted me one of my very first experiences of pure joy. And for this girl who felt like she was in the shadows a lot of time, that was a memorable feeling.

When I first heard these lyrics–in spite of the overwhelming sense of responsibility that I tended to carry around as a child–I nonetheless understood instinctively the phrase “some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.” I–for just a moment or two–also found myself wondering where the lions were.

With all of the talk this weekend of rapture and the world coming to an end, I was reminded of a time when I was literally terrified of being “left behind” while others–obviously more deserving than me–were carried off to the peace of a guaranteed place in heaven.

Now, as then, the world survived to another day. And all of the chatter and speculation and negativity and condemnation didn’t even enter my atmosphere.

It’s not that I don’t believe that the world could cease to exist one day–after all, anything’s possible. Plus, we are not doing a great job of taking care of this earth that sustains us.

And it’s not that I am unaware of the myriad scary things we face every day in this life–war, cancer, loss, hostility, tornadoes, murder and madness. All could be described as lions, creeping stealthily in the alleyways and lurking in the brush along the lakeshore.

But when I stop to consider God’s relentless love for us, when I notice that I am surrounded by glimpses of ecstasy and eternity, the lions are as if tranquilized. Big cats might still be hanging out in the neighborhood, but they are peace-seeking, even going so far as to lie down with much gentler creatures.

There is beauty to be seen, peace to be had, eternity to be experienced, even now. At this stage in my life, I gratefully acknowledge that the lions simply aren’t as frightening as they were before. You could even say that some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.

While living in Victoria, British Columbia in 1992, I remember being awakened one morning by a news story about a cougar that had made its way down from the mountains through the city in the dark of the night. The big cat had gotten lost and eventually ended up in the parking garage below the Empress Hotel. Imagine the shock of the parking attendant who came across it early in the morning! Actually, this was a fairly young male cougar and he was pretty frightened by the whole experience himself. He was tranquilized and safely returned to the mountains.

Just thinking about this powerful creature making its way through the city streets unseen by human eyes–perhaps crouched in the very bushes we had driven past on our way home from a movie–filled me with a sense of intense mystery and awe. But not of fear. This is the stuff of dreams and visions, just as my Canadian compatriot describes below in his quote about the song’s origins. There were lions at the door…

The verdict? The song is every bit as powerful and inspired as it was in 1976.  In fact, if Bruce would have been willing to hang out, I could have sung about lions and their hiding places for hours.

You can listen while watching the “two lion” mountain formations of British Columbia on video below. It was very moving listening to Bruce sing it in person of course.  Still: Close your eyes, ponder eternity for a moment, and think about how you see evidence of forever, everyday, all around you.

See if you can let that feeling of ecstasy get ahold of you too.

Wondering where the lions are

Sun’s up, uh huh, looks okay
The world survives into another day
And I’m thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren’t half as frightening as they were before
But I’m thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

Walls windows trees, waves coming through
You be in me and I’ll be in you
Together in eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

Up among the firs where it smells so sweet
Or down in the valley where the river used to be
I got my mind on eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

And I’m wondering where the lions are…
I’m wondering where the lions are…

Huge orange flying boat rises off a lake
Thousand-year-old petroglyphs doing a double take
Pointing a finger at eternity
I’m sitting in the middle of this ecstasy

Young men marching, helmets shining in the sun,
Polished as precise like the brain behind the gun
(Should be!) they got me thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

And I’m wondering where the lions are…
I’m wondering where the lions are…

Freighters on the nod on the surface of the bay
One of these days we’re going to sail away,
going to sail into eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

And I’m wondering where the lions are…
I’m wondering where the lions are…

Bruce Cockburn

“I have a relative who is involved in one of those kinds of government jobs where they can’t say what they do. The part you can say involves monitoring other people’s radio transmissions and breaking codes. At that time China and the Soviet Union were almost at war on their mutual border. And both of them had nuclear capabilities. I had dinner with this relative of mine and he said, “We could wake up tomorrow to a nuclear war.” Coming from him, it was a serious statement. So I woke up the next morning and it wasn’t a nuclear war. [Laughs] It was a real nice day and there was all this good stuff going on and I had a dream that night which is the dream that is referred to in the first verse of the song, where there were lions at the door, but they weren’t threatening, it was kind of a peaceful thing. And it reflected a previous dream that was a real nightmare where the lions were threatening.”– from “Closer to the Light with Bruce Cockburn” by Paul Zollo, SongTalk, vol. 4, issue 2, 1994. Submitted by Rob Caldwell.

Dear Tooth Fareiy

Tags

childhood, tooth fairy

Dylan lost his first front tooth on Saturday.

Goofy photo of Dylan and me in the photo booth at Marlene's wedding

We were all so tired from Jesse’s 14th birthday (surprise karaoke party) that Dylan forgot to put his tooth under the pillow that night.

So after Marlene’s wedding we came home last evening–yep, even more exhausted–and Dylan set to work busily writing a note on the bag holding his tooth.

He was obviously very interested in solving one of the great mysteries of childhood: Does the tooth fairy have wings?

Getting that rustle-y, crinkly little plastic bag out from under his pillow and putting it back without waking him up was a challenge, I can tell you.

Love that boy. And the other one we have too.

21

Tags

adventure, anniversary, thoreau, wedding, years

Yesterday was my 21st wedding anniversary.

Lucky me! (Really, I know that I am.)

The above Thoreau quote has always been one of my favorites, bringing vividly to mind the life that Jeremy and I have led so far:

Always seeking adventures, yet always finding ourselves safely at harbor at the end of the day.

Shared silence

Tags

anna dvorak, breakfast, friendship, le donne, mindfulness, peace, poem, power, retreat, silence, silent, women

Last weekend I attended another Anna Dvorak retreat, this time with seven of my Le Donne friends.

One of the key components of Anna’s retreats is silent breakfast.

We rise when we wish and Anna is up. She is already there, prepared to nurture us with her organic, fresh, nutritious foods and with our custom juice blends.

And as we start our day together, we move in silence. We share the silence, quietly living in the same space for approximately two hours. Some of us read, others write. We eat and drink at our own pace as the time set aside elapses. When the moment has come for the silence to be broken, Anna lightly taps a meditation bowl with a copper wand, creating a gentle ringing sound. Still, we are all reluctant to break the silence. It has become effortless.

What this experience offers–after one gets past the initial trepidation–is meaningful, peaceful and surprisingly potent. No pressure to speak or interact, yet in the deep companionship of beloved soul-friends.

I’m grateful that my friend Anne-Marie captured the essence of our shared silence in this poem. Even more, she has given me permission to share it in today’s blog post.

Thank you Anna, Anne-Marie, Erin, Sheila, Bev, Lizzie, and Molly

xo

The Silence, by Anne-Marie Wagener

Garden renewal

Tags

blossom, change, earth, flower, garden, gardener, grandeur, hope, human, joy, land, perfection, plant, planting, renewal, spirit, spring, storm, sun

I am hoping to do some planting today, playing hooky for an hour or two from my work in order to catch this great weather and save my little plants. And my mind–as is always the case this time of year–has turned to my garden and the joy it brings to my life.

Tending my little bit of land on this great vast earth has helped me to mend my spirit. Through my garden I am constantly participating in the renewal of myself and of the earth we share together.

Tending the Earth, Mending the Spirit

Everything grows and changes in a garden. Try to hold onto a beautiful blossom and it changes, almost as you’re watching it. Create the perfect design and it achieves its own perfection that wasn’t what you had in mind, or the seeds you planted never come up, or they come up in different places than where you sowed them.

Anything that lives where it would seem that nothing could live, enduring extremes of hot and cold, sunlight and storm, parching aridity and sudden cloudbursts, any such creature; beast, bird, or flower, testifies to the grandeur and heroism inherent in all forms of life. Including the human. Even in us.

Parking spaces

Tags

obstacles, parking, road, space, success small business inspiration, temptation

rg2011