“Life is the messy bits.” I love this quote from Letters to Juliet!

The messiness of life is inevitable. And it’s needed! During my first writing course, I can’t tell you how often my instructor asked, “Where’s the conflict?” I didn’t want bad things to happen to my characters, any more than I wanted bad things to happen to my daughter, or any loved one.

But a life without conflict is a life without victories. It’s in the messy bits of life that we find

Strength we never…

And if only we arrange our life according to that principle which counsels us that we must always hold to the difficult, then that which now seems to us the most alien will become what we most trust and find most faithful. How should we be able to forget those ancient myths that are at the beginning of all peoples, the myths about dragons that at the last moment turn into princesses; perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and…

I can feel it sucking at me

Dragging its clawed hand down my spine

Seeking to pull me back into the pit.

I do not let go

My ankles, they bleed from the talons which encircle them

A ring of fire around my spirit

Beckoning me to descend again

It is a form of comfort

To let go

To stop fighting

To free fall to the bottom

But I have gained each bloody foot

It has cost me

I will not let go

I claw harder at the gritty…

Okay I am WAAYYY behind on the January writing prompts!

I am still doing the writing prompts with BloggyMoms and I found one that I can resonate with which is:

What is your health commitment this year?

I have so many things I WANT to do!

Lose 40-50 lbs.

Run 30 minutes straight…

Is your Soul pushing you to take a leap? Don’t run and hide. Crossroads are a prelude to transformation.

There have been many crossroads in my life and it wasn’t always easy to live up to the expectations of my Soul. At each crossroad you have to stop and re-evaluate the script of your life. Start by asking yourself two questions:

*  Where am I going?

*  Is this path aligned with my Soul’s…

Intuitive, gut, fearless, spontaneous….call it what you may, this is how I paint.

Random, eccentric, questionable, ugly, amazing, deep, healing, reflective.

It all comes out in my art.

Yesterday, I painted a dinosaur in my art journal.

A DINOSAUR?

Yep.  It’s…

What does it take to make your dream come true?

Last week I was in Holland, and my love for my country came back as soon as I swung myself in the saddle of my bike and rode along the little winding streets in the old part of Amsterdam. It brought back a lot of nostalgic…

Have you ever been called out of your mind? All my life-changing decisions have been made when I was out of my mind. 

What does it mean to be out of your mind? It means that you don’t listen to the stories that keep you stuck in fear and stop you from taking inspired (in spirit) action. The path of the Soul is NOT the path of the mind. To integrate both is an art we have yet to learn… 

“It’s time to leave,” I hear my Soul’s voice loud and clear. I walk to the…

Have you ever had a great idea, but you stopped before you even started?

Maybe you thought you weren’t good enough, or that it was never going to work out, or that you didn’t have the means to do it, or you feared that everybody would think you were crazy?

Or you wished you were…

Today is a new day, and a new start.  I have made a promise to myself to lose weight.  I would love to lose at least 15 pounds before I get pregnant again, but since we are trying already, I do not know if that will happen.  I am going to try my hardest though.

I have decided to weigh-in every Monday on my blog.  This is to put it out there in the public, so I am being held accountable.  I am also going to take a picture of myself every week, or every other week, to show…

What’s the ONE thing you’re dreaming about? That thing you want so badly and that you know would change your life forever if you had it?

For you, it might be that you’ve always wanted to write a book. Or maybe you deeply want to find true love; or perhaps you’re ready for a career change;…

As I wake up this morning, I can't believe it’s really happened. It almost feels surreal. The house feels empty and so do I.

When I walk into the bathroom, the emptiness strikes me like an unexpected punch in the stomach. I don’t stumble over hairdryers, make-up, or piles of laundry. All signs of my daughter are gone. I turn around and go downstairs. In the fridge is her vegetable juice that from now on will never be…

The Lion's Whiskers blog gives you 5-minute workouts for helping your children get comfortable exploring their world at every age -- toddler through teen.

Enjoy watching your child look outward to the world!

The Lion's Whiskers blog is about teaching courage to our children through the use of traditional tales, true life stories, "5-Minute Courage Workouts" and "Courage Challenges."  We have concluded that there are six types of courage -- physical, social, emotional, moral, intellectual and spiritual -- each with their own characteristics.  By helping our kids develop their courage in all six areas, we think they'll be ready to…

In these troubled times & during this holiday weekend of remembering sacrifices made, I thought this was a nice poem.

With a Little Hope