L'Amour Toujours

Siren

Something about her is just so charming

Off to Pretty Places

Got a map on my wall of a world I've never seen, not much of, really. It's lined, labeled,demarcated and annotated. Lot of good it does me. Just places in a picture, latitudes and longitudes, mountains, rivers and seas. Where would I go if I got out and went? Wandering, just wandering.

So if I'm not on a ship or a plane making my way to some culturally intriguing destination then I must rely on my imagination to get me where I want to be. There's a world so much bigger than the globe where I have creative control and I don't need a ticket to get on board.

It's national poetry writing month and I only learned of it about a week in and somehow didn't motivate myself to do much about it. The month has ticked by with barely a poetic peep out of me but now I'm thinking it's time for a trip to the inside of my mind, a promenade down the path of promise and a dance through the garden of my imaginings.

Directional

The curves are dangerous
I hear this in the back of my mind
and I find
that the downfall is the straight line
that unwavering path
the push and the dash
towards a fixed destination
I'm more comfortable in corners
more relaxed in switchbacks
moving right and then left
like a warp and a weft
I steer clear of all fear
and laugh knowing danger has passed

Tinkering

Tinkering with things tonight, with ideas, beliefs, truths. I am tinkering with space, with time, with dimensions. I am tinkering with my own mind, with electromagnetic pulses, with lucid dreams.
The dictionary definition of tinker aligns it with the phrase mucking about. Yes, I'm doing a lot of mucking about lately. Shaking it up and flinging it around. Patterns will be broken, pendulums will swing in the opposite direction for without balance we are lost. Too long we have walked in a straight line and now we follow a star on a curving path, past all manner of delights. We are free to dance and spin and the journey is not a race. We can take as long as we like and trust that we shall still arrive. There are no doors closing upon us. They open like flowers to the sun, windows to the sea breeze and the destination is laughter...sweet, simple and free.

The Pink House on Sprague Street

It's big, it's bold, it's begging to be noticed and on most days I might gloss over it but tonight I saw it standing pink and proud. I wonder who would choose such a color? Most would think, perhaps, that it's a very poor choice, stemming from overweening ego, exceptionally bad taste or an inability to actually see what color that is. Tonight I preferred to believe that the homeowner is simply filled with enough joy to paint their home a color they love and that they don't care a fig what anyone else thinks of it. Tomorrow I'll probably revert to the exceptionally bad taste theory but it's nice to put judgment on hold for a while.

The Great Run On

The ink in the well, the wellspring of my muse, the source begetting the void, bringer of all, birthing the beginning, setting eternal clocks ticking and I spin on the center of the wheel, trying to feel my way back through time, separating space, or moving it together, pushing or pulling, the maker, the made, the earth in the shade and the sea is a shadow of mist, distilling the bliss and listening to wind in the trees, a sky split asunder, the grass that grows under, a sun melting into the sea.

This Makes Me Happy

Overcoming Obstacles

So while I was in the shower today I suddenly began to sing the song Three Blind Mice. Don't know why, or what would have triggered it (I love a mystery) but there it was. Seems such a brutal children's song and the mice really get the short end of the stick. Following that thought was The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Now he faces some adversity, certainly, but after the rain washes him out, he is at least able to stage a comeback and it's not because he is a cute, cuddly creature. You don't see that kind of optimism in Three Blind Mice and they aren't that bad to look at. So the mice can't see the danger they are headed for and in they end they are both blind and butchered. If I'm looking for the bright side I suppose they at least have eachother.

Red, Red, RED!

What is my fascination with, my passion for this color? Sometimes I stray but never stay far from a box of the bright delight. There were auburn's dark and burgundies and even ginger snap - which let's face it, is really orange. Now is the time for phoenix flames to rise. This week the search is on for the color of my dreams - the spark of LIFE - the crimson crown. Can you believe I once wanted to be blonde? Me neither!!

On A Good Day

All That's Old Is New Again

There's a phrase I came up with long ago that I was really focused on this morning which is "to see with new eyes". I have always loved seeing new things even if its as simple as driving down different streets to get to the store or to work. I don't have to be in a far away land to be able to appreciate experiencing something new. To see with new eyes takes this a bit further and applies it to the everyday and the familiar.

So this means that while driving down the same streets I take most days, I suddenly take notice of elements I haven't focused on before. Today on my drive to work I caught myself paying attention to things I had not seen before - or perhaps I have always seen them but not acknowledged them. Driving past the Golden Lion I really looked at the sign and there is a huge head of a golden lion atop the sign. I mean HUGE. How had I missed this? I also noticed the colors painted on buildings and saw things like the scoreboard at the end of the high school field and the decoration on the sign for an apartment complex. What I saw was pleasing, as if my eyes were drawn to what I wanted to see and not what I considered ordinary, mundane or boringly familiair. Just a little reminder to me that there is always something good to see out there, everyday, it's all new if you're really looking and wanting to see something good. See with new eyes and see what you want to see.

Goes Ding When There's Stuff

Alerts.
We have them on our cell phones to let us know when we have email, texts or a missed call. The microwave beeps when it's done as does the coffee maker. The car dings at you when you leave your lights on or the door is ajar. So many items in our daily lives have indicators of something that needs our attention, it only makes sense that as beings navigating our way through life, we should also have alerts, signs to point us in the direction of what is best for us, what makes us happy - what we desire. What are these signs? Well its our emotions. If it feels good, do it - if it feels bad, don't. There's a bit more to it but those are the basics. Pay attention to your feelings, they have a lot to tell you about where you are going.

Sugar Spun Whirlwind

Lev-i-ty

n.

1. Lightness of manner or speech; frivolity

2. Inconstancy; changeableness

3. The state or quality of being light; buoyancy

4. A force, opposed to gravity, once believed to be a property inherent in certain bodies or materials

So here I am, intending to be all that is lighthearted, jovial, uplifting and fun. What more could one ask to be in life? One big, shiny, helium filled balloon that a child has lost hold of and now floats free up in the sky with the potential to land anywhere. Of course at that point there might be some deflation involved but I’m sure levity could still win the day. You may be wondering why I am so concerned with all that is light and airy and while I’m sure I could spout a plausible explanation I think it’s more important that we just grab hold of the idea of it, the feeling it inspires, so we can just feel good. I want to feel good and I think there might be a lot of other people that want to feel good too. The explanation might just unroll itself in the process. Let’s give it a go shall we?