Saturday, December 31, 2011

twenty twelve

well hello there twenty twelve.

oh man I have been thinking of this blog post for days. ever since my one little word for 2012 found me a couple weeks ago. I tend to start to think about it come December and this year was hard. I told Dave that I wanted to use Shine again which was the word for 2011. I mean it was a year where my word totally took shape and defined who I was. But I knew that there was something else for me...

See the amazing thing about choosing a word is how it will intertwine with your life. It can be a thought, or a feeling, or even an emotion. It can be something tangible or intangible. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. Open yourself up to the possiblities. I find it interesting that like last year my word didn't mean as much to me at the time.. it's like it found me and my heart spoke to me and I grew into it this last year. Doing things I never thought imaginable. I really feel like I was shining. Not always brightly but it helped shape me. I will be carrying last years word with me this year. I know I will.


My word for this year is AUTHENTICITY.

I found this and it describes it all... it's the desire I feel pulsing through my veins... It's going to be printed out and found all over my house. I want to wear this on my sleeve this year.


Caretake this moment
Immerse yourself in it's particulars
Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed.
Quit evasions
Stop giving yourself needless trouble.
It is time to really live;
to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in NOW.
~epictetus

Sunday, December 25, 2011

merry christmas

From our family to you. I pray you find magic in the discovery of the reason for the season.
The end of 2011 for me has been filled with reflection and discovering who I am in the midst of some pain and lots of beauty. I hope to be back in 2012 with more to say and as I reveal my one little word for 2012 I hope to be able to express myself more clearly and more deeply than ever before.

Out of clutter find Simplicity
From Discord find Harmony
In the middle of Difficulty lies Opportunity.

Thanks Albert.


Sunday, December 04, 2011

i rise


You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
~Maya Angelou