"You teach best what you most need to learn." ~ Richard Bach

It's here :). Today, I celebrate the end of a decade and the start of a new. Today, I want to reflect and remember some of the things I have learned. Everyday is a day to celebrate who we are and the things we love, but when we realize that we know ourselves better than we ever have, it is truly a beautiful and magnificent day.

No, not from Seattle, but from right here in our own little town.

"Every person, all the events of your life are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you." ~ Richard Bach

Everything that I've done up to this point in my life, has not been in vain. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, no such thing as wasted time or experience. Everything means something, and everything and everyone has changed me in some way. I must remember this, every day.

"Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary, you'll be overwhelmed with what comes back." ~ Morrie Schwartz

M.'s The Rainbow Dance

My relationship with myself is undeniably and irrevocably connected to my relationships with everyone else. I must treat myself with kindness if I want to treat everyone else with kindness. I must forgive myself for all my imperfections in order to forgive all others.  This is true authenticity.  This, is being real.

Everything is better with music, dance, and nature.  These things, as well as creating, are cosmically connected to my spirit.  They fill me with passion, bringing vibrancy and color to all that surrounds me.  None of these things will ever deny me the happiness that I seek. The only thing in my way is my willingness to go to them.  By weaving them into my life daily, joy will find me around the next corner.

My children are not my life. They have a life of their own, and we are travelers together, learning and becoming different things, growing together but separate.  By honoring and trusting the light in them, they will find their way, they will...



"Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too-even when you are in the dark. Even when you're falling." ~ Morrie Schwartz

We are related you and I.  We are connected in ways beyond what we see.  Most of my young life I spent trying to separate myself from the rest. Chasing accomplishments, filling myself with possessions, and continually trying to prove my abilities.  I'm done.  What I want now, is to spend the rest of my life looking for ways that we are alike.  I want to celebrate all the things in you, that I see in me. And then I want to tell you how much I love those things in you, reflecting the love that I see in me.

Without dreams I have no direction. And the closer these dreams bring me to myself and who I know myself to be, the closer I am living the life that I have always wanted.  And these dreams don't need to be big.  They can be little dreams like dancing in the rain, or singing unabashedly in the car.  They can be painting something I have never painted or writing something I have never written. It doesn't matter. Live unapologetically. Love immensely. Be you, for you and for everyone else that has touched you in some way. Reflect, relearn, regain, and remember everyday, all the gifts that make up who you are.

much love, light, and joy
xx oo

"The grass is greener where you water it." ~ Unknown

There are benefits to living in Orlando. Within a 45 minute time frame, we can visit any local amusement park of our choice watching shows, riding rides or just running around, provided of course we have annual passes. For Sea World, we do, and we went twice last week. We spent most of our time in the children's area. You want to feel like Spiderman? This is where you go. By the way, I totally had the wrong shoes for this. Spiderman would have never made it with flip-flops.

I have been thinking, analyzing, and rethinking quite a bit these days about where we live and where we want to live. Unfortunately, they don't match up right now. In fact, for me, they haven't matched up for over 20 years. Don't we all do that at some point? I mean, I am not the only one right? As if living somewhere else just might change something, in us, or our situation. But, that implies that there is something wrong with the current situation, wouldn't it? Can I say that? Can I say that there is something wrong with our current situation? Well, there is and there isn't. 

I love my life. I love that my entire family is here in Orlando. I love that driving here in Otown is like 2nd nature to me and that I know all the little side streets that help me avoid traffic.  I love that the beach is within an hour's drive, I love that we live on a gorgeous bike trail within 3 miles of an adorable downtown. I love our house, with our pool, and I love that we have taken the idea of living in Florida to the maximum level of benefit that we had only imagined just a few short years ago.  We have watered our grass here and our roots run deep.  

So what is the problem? Just a gut wrenching realization and feeling that we have unanswered questions, hopes and ideas.  Questions, hopes and ideas that we have had for years and that we feel can't be answered here. There is no way to know for sure, absolutely no guarantee, these questions will be answered by moving and uprooting now. We know it's a risk, especially in this economy. We know we would give up comfort, familiarity, and security. Yet if we let fear guide our answers, the answers will always be the same. Well, we are ready for new answers. We are ready to take the risks. I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen, but one thing is for sure, I will be armed with my watering can :).