"We are all wanderers on this earth...our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams." ~ Gypsy proverb

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Smiling and smitten

Everyday I find new reasons to love where I live. I make mental notes to remind myself of what they are so that I can tell you, but of course when I sit down to write them, my mental notes are useless.  The tiny details have spun into a flurry with all the other daily happenings that occupy my brain.

Luckily though, the things that I love recur on a daily basis, dancing, flaunting and flitting all around me, causing me to pinch myself so that I remember I am not visiting, this is really my home.

Friendship, kindness and an open door....

From the very first day we began unloading our things into this house that sits on a dead end street, that backs up to the community garden, that has a bike path that crosses our front door, we were welcomed with hellos from a family that lives across the street. Soon, within days actually, we met every single neighbor that I could see from my kitchen window.  This may seem uneventful/normal for some, but for us, it never happened before. People here want to know you. They invite you to BBQs, bring you champagne, and begin to write down on pieces of paper all the things we must do in our new hometown.

See the biker?




Outside, outside, outside....


Everyone is outside all. the. time. In the morning, afternoon and evening they are running, biking, walking their dogs, tending their gardens, talking to neighbors, going and coming back to work on their bikes. And before I know it, I am riding my bike to the post office, to the market, and planning hiking dates with new friends.

Kids everywhere...

Yesterday, as I sat on my front stoop, I watched my son play soccer, try to juggle and ride his bike with 3 other boys in the neighborhood. My daughter was upstairs in the house with another neighbor her age playing imaginary games with all the animals in her room.  If there ever was a playmate that was a soulmate for M., it is this darling girl named Ada. These neighborhood children are either at my house or in the front street playing with my children every day.  I have dreamed of this for my children. Only a few short months ago we were struggling, seeking, wishing for more consistent friendships. Dreams do come true, they do.

Dreaming big, dreaming loud...

Finally, space for creativity has begun to unseal and breathe after being boxed in by busyness for so many weeks. The desire to write, to draw, to photograph, and to dream even bigger has trickled back into the fluttering moments of my days. My knitting has remained silent and cold for now, but I expect that to change soon. And as if serendipity was watching my back again, I stumbled across a brochure a couple weeks ago, a brochure that in no way I could ignore.

What this means, I couldn't tell you. I just know that it has ignited some things including the wanderings of a hopeful mind that speaks "what if", "why" and "why not". It has also ignited the naysaying negative side of ego that says "you couldn't", "you're not good enough", and "in your dreams". And I think, exactly--in my dreams is where it should be--because that is where it has always begun. Everything here, began with a dream :).

And a beautiful Wednesday to you...
xoxo

24 comments:

  1. Your new home town sounds so nice MJ, I would love to visit!
    I hope you signed up for that class!
    Have a beautiful Wednesday my dear friend.

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  2. boulder is lovely. i've visited many times and i still have an old friend living there. i'm so happy to read of all the goodness and friendship that is populating your life right now - i can't imagine anyone more deserving.

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  3. Much love to you, MJ. My heart just glows with joy for this amazing community you're becoming a part of. So much joy. xoR

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  4. Oh new friends! How lovely. And that writing program sounds awesome. You should do it!

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  5. Ahh...I sort of remember predicting that Naropa thing.... :)

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  6. oh beautiful! i'm so happy your dreams are coming true and that you're still dreaming. you are amazingly talented. stop doubting yourself. i don't have time to read, but i read your blog. you are that good. and i like you. : ) hehe...

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    1. Aww, thanks Anushka, that is so sweet of you to say!!! I like you too :).
      xo

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  7. so so happy for you. so thankful that you feel your prayers are being answered for you and your family.

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  8. I think you have picked a great neighborhood and it is brimming with happiness. Sign up for the course and ignore the negativity-just to see what it's all about. Looks like fun!

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  9. all of this is beautiful mj,simply beautiful. i am so happy for you.

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  10. My knitting isn't getting any attention either, but my Vitamin D levels are through the roof once again. It's an ebb and flow. I've been sitting on front steps, too, watching babes flock to the lawn in laughter. It's like I'm paralyzed with job, to-do lists piling but time outside seems so essential now. So happy you've landed in a good spot. I love reading each post to know more about how you're feet are sinking into those mountains. xoxo

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  11. I remember one of my first thoughts after moving out West from Florida being...I can't believe how much people bike and walk. ;)

    Love how you and your family put a thought out to the Universe, and in return, how well it's treating all of you. Goodness.

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  12. Hooray! Naropa is a wonderful university. I had a serious look into their wilderness therapy program, until I decided on herbs. I love that the Universe is bringing good things and positive energies your way! :) xo

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  13. I see you've been at whole foods :) and the Summer Writing Program or SWP as it's often called around here is amazing. I did it a few years back.... looking forward to the days when I have more time to write... write... write.... write like I love to. To have my blog posts look like that of a writer and not just of a mother writing.

    :) again, welcome to Boulder!!!

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  14. nice MJ!
    so happy to get some "inside" views to your move and how you are settling. sounds as if the worst of the adjustment period is over and now you get to begin to bask in the joy of following your heart...
    XO
    C

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  15. Boulder is a great place....I grew up in Colorado and still have family there. It is a beautiful state. You neighborhood sounds great.

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  16. Sounds perfect! I'm so happy things are working out so well for you all.

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  17. You know what I thought when I read this, MJ? Just how much I wanted to move to exactly where you are, and be a part of what you have. Because it looks so, so beautiful—your house so inviting, the outside so crisp and clear, the people so lovely, the dream-living so fine. And then I realised…I felt this way when you were in Florida. Because you'd photograph these amazing trees, and snippets of the town you lived in, and the life you lived and the light, the light…I just wanted to be part of it. And…then it hit me: YOU make everywhere you are beautiful, MJ. Because you notice it all, appreciate it all, you take it in, and then share it. What a gift you give. It makes me feel moved to tears. THANK YOU.

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  18. So so happy for you MJ...it is the dreams that get us to where we are going now isn't it?

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  19. I smiled all while reading this :) I'm absolutely overjoyed for you. Boulder sounded so right when you said that was where you were headed, and it's beautiful to see that it *feels* right, too. That sense of community, and the fertile ground for strong friendships is so rare, and so exactly what your family deserves, because you have so very much to give!

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  20. Just as with your seemingly "drug referenced" post before, I so understand! It would be amazing and odd to have such friendly neighbors. That is just one part of our desire to "go country". Rural people are less pretentious than mid-upper class suburb people. Though I have to confess sometimes I wonder if my own lack of social-ness has led to stony neighbors. Oh well. So glad you are loving Bolder. There has to be a snug little nitch in the universe for every family right?
    And Happy Happy at your nervous, but exciting leap into a writing class. Go for it!
    Cheers,
    Leah

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“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
~ George Bernard Shaw