the mysteries of repose
August has been a busy month. A month of puzzle-piecing bits of time together, trying to get it all done.
My living room is freshly painted, though not yet completely put back together, and the back of the house has a new coat of paint as well.
There’s been jewelry making, getting ready for our show next weekend.
There has been work, and that’s always a good thing.
And there has been writing. Every morning, writing and writing and writing on a story that’s been with me for over a year. I start each day with this story, and it’s become a part of my life. A part of my life that feels real, these people don’t feel like characters, they feel like family. Their story keeps making me cry.
There hasn’t been much repose, but winter is coming, and then there will be nights before the fire.
A is for August, and also accomplishment. A few small ones, at least.
My garden, well, my garden is a mess. That same beautiful mess it becomes every year at this time, the moment when I throw my hands in the air and let it be messy.
Outside my window, the forest of kiss me over the garden gate has an understory of love lies bleeding.
The snails keep whispering.
And that is my fairy tale.
zeniths and nadirs
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AugustMoon2013:
Where have the highlights and low points been for you so far in 2013?
Where are you now? How would you like your year to end?
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Zeniths and nadirs. Two fabulous words.
This year, I’ve come to think of these things not as peaks and valleys, high and lows, good and bad, but as opposites on the same circle.
The circle of life.
Two words that can wave to each other across the ocean of existence. Two words that can swim towards each other and meet in the middle for perfect balance, mellow medium.
Two words that can only make sense by the existence of the other.
And the truth is, most of life happens somewhere in the middle. We hang out there most often, treading water, staying afloat.
Most days we slip off center, just a little. Some days we go off the deep end, other days we make it to the shallows and regain a little footing.
And then some days, we make it all the way to the horizon. But regardless of which side we end up on, those extremes only exist on the edges. And you can only hang out there for just so long. And then you need to swim again.
Life says so.
And I find this comforting.
At 50, I’m learning new things about life. It doesn’t run like a line on a graph, where standing on a peak doesn’t allow you to see into the valley. It runs full circle, it’s all connected, we’re all connected, and even when you do end up somewhere out there on one of those far edges, you can always see the other side on the horizon.
Just keep paddling.
Soak it up.
Drink it in.
Get your feet wet again and again.
.
Diving into life.
That’s how I’d like my year to end.
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This post is part of AugustMoon2013. You can find out more about the project here.
susan dresses for dinner
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AugustMoon2013:
If you didn’t choose a guiding word, what word sums up your year so far?
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I didn’t choose a word this year. I waited, instead, to see if a word would choose me.
There have been a few that walked right up to me, looked me up and down, asked if I wanted to try them on for size.
“Magic.” “Small things.” “Permission.”
I liked them all, and the fit was pretty good, but then this month, acceptance walked up, gave me a big hug, and wrapped herself around my shoulders.
Settled in for a nice long chat.
And just like that, I had my word.
Acceptance.
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She and Susan and I have been spending lots of time together, out in the garden beneath a perfect gypsy sky. And don’t tell her I said this, but Susan is such a show off this year.
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This post is part of AugustMoon2013. You can find out more about the project here.
to infinity and beyond
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AugustMoon2013:
Count the blessings you’ve had to be grateful for this year.
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Blessings. This is one thing I’m good at counting.
A while ago I saw a movie called
Happythankyoumoreplease
(with no spaces, just like that)
And while it wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen (though it wasn’t awful, either), I fell in love with this phrase and the idea behind it.
The idea behind it went something like this… “Happythankyoumoreplease,” is a way of looking at both the good and the bad and asking for more. “Don’t just say thank you, say ‘more, please.’”
And it fit right into to what I said the other day about waking up every morning and just being glad to be here, alive, for another day.
Another day to get the chance to say a funny little phrase: Happythankyoumoreplease.
So, count my blessings?
You bet I do.
I have a wonderful family, fabulous friends, a roof over my head, pets that I love, tea to drink every morning, books to read, chocolate, a very messy garden filled with life and lesson, good health, and also, you: the lovely people I’ve met through this blog who come here to actually read the words that never seem to stop pouring from my fingers.
Is my life perfect? Not by a long shot. That roof over my head has a leak in it, making a living as an artist is a constant struggle, and blah, blah, blah, I could make another whole list in this vein, just as long as the first one.
But I’m not going to.
I’m going to just say Happythankyoumoreplease and focus on the first list.
The good one.
The one that keeps me going when the second one tries to stand in my way.
Life is a rich tapestry of good and bad, light and dark, ugly and beautiful, joy and sadness.
And I am in love with all of it.
All of it.
That’s how many blessings I have.
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