In the Land of the Lovelies

December Sounds:: Duet 2009*

2009-12-23T22:18:00.005-05:00

Wishing you & yours peace, love and joy this holiday season.xo

December Views:: The Four*

2009-12-16T10:40:00.005-05:00

"No my friend, darkness is not everywhere, for here and there I find faces illuminated from within;

paper lanterns among the dark trees." ~ Carol Borges~

See all *FOUR*

December Views:: 2009*

2009-12-14T15:56:00.003-05:00

December Views:: 2009*

2009-12-11T23:38:00.003-05:00

December Views:: 2009*

2009-12-08T21:21:00.010-05:00

I'm a little worried you may have forgotten me...

a little scared that the silence resulting from my absence could prove deafening.

But I'm determined to bump my december views from last year off this main page.

I'm determined to pick up momentum for the coming year....

because I've missed you and this space very much indeed.xox

Love and blessings,

Kirsten Michelle*

Daily Practice

2009-08-26T09:53:00.003-04:00

"The real essence of art turned out to be not something high up and far off ~ it was right inside my ordinary daily self ~ if a musician wants to become a finer artist, he must first become a finer person."

Shinichi Suzuki

Spring Equinox:: Emerging

2009-03-20T14:10:00.012-04:00

Where are you at, on this first day of Spring?

January Days

2009-01-28T20:10:00.005-05:00

I really shouldn't be surprised that this New Year is unfolding in ways I never expected. It's been a difficult month, but as it comes to a close there is great clarity. I have much to share and look forward to doing so.

In the meantime, I'm excited to be a part a brand new collaboration over at The Four and was beyond flattered when the lovely gem asked me to participate in her beautiful inHERview project. I hope you'll link over and visit with me and other talented lovelies in these spaces...I'll be back in this one very, very soon!

New Year:: Day 8

2009-01-08T17:10:00.006-05:00

Well, here we are Day 8 of this brand New Year.
There must be something about the 8th day, the last time I posted it was the 8th day of December.
Hmmmm, interesting?

Yes, eight days in and I still don't have a WORD or a THEME or A LIST...
and believe me the gremlins are just lovin' that!!!!!!!
Oh yes, they've been nattering on quite incessantly these past few days...
***
"What NO WORD! NO THEME! NO DIRECTION!"
"Still thinking instead of doing, are we???"
"Floundering already???"
"Tick~Tock. Tick~Tock. Tick~Tock"
"What a waste of a perfectly good year."
"So much for that clean slate."
"So much for getting things done."
"Tick~ Tock. Tick~Tock. Tick~Tock."
"You still haven't sent that card to *** or that gift to *** or ordered those prints for *** ...
weren't you going to do all that by the end of last week!!!"
"Oh well dear, there's always next year to shine"
"What still NO WORD! NO THEME! NO LEAPING!!!!!"
"Tick~tock. Tick~tock. Tick~tock."

***
Lucky for me Day 8 coincided with a timely Love Thursday post by the ever~inspiring Jen Lemen entitled Making Peace with a Noisy Gremlin ;-) It comes with a virtual big hug, a healthy dose of hope and suggestions for those of us looking for a little bit of quiet from the nattering!
Tonight, I'm giving this suggestion a try::
Promise yourself you will sit in your chair and make something, no matter how ugly or imperfect or strange or far from your far flung dreams.
It's true, I may not have a word, or a theme or list...
but I've got card stock and an alphabet of letters THAT SPARKLE.
Tonight, I'm going to make something and mail it off with a kiss...

and before I head to bed I'll hit publish on this post.

We'll just see what those gremlins have to say tomorrow!

Happy New Year, 2009!

with love, Kirsten xo

December Views:: I Want a Hippopatamus for Christmas

2008-12-08T10:22:00.003-05:00

December Views:: Hark the Herald Angels Sing

2008-12-02T20:21:00.005-05:00

December Views:: Old Toy Trains

2008-12-01T20:50:00.013-05:00

From the Heart

2008-11-29T15:01:00.001-05:00

I had posted this and taken it down...

having tried hard, but unsuccessfully, to find the perfect words of my own to accompany it.

When a dear friend emailed me, thankful to have found it in her bloglines this afternoon,

I realized I didn't need to say anything at all.

That the song speaks, from and to the heart, of where I'm at.

xoxoxox

Standing Still

2008-10-21T12:24:00.010-04:00

Sometimes, all I need is to stand still and take one deep breath.

Just long enough::

to allow the crispness of the air to awaken my soul

to feel the sun on my face & hear the leaves dancing on the wind

to let the richness of my life soak in.

Sometimes, all I need is to stand still::

and remind myself that my life is rooted in possibility

changing as quickly as the seasons

and full beyond measure.

I invite you to stand still and take one deep breath in the midst of your busy life today?

Falling Back In

2008-10-14T13:33:00.000-04:00

I'm falling back in

without apology

or explanation

without promises

or expectations

of for how long

or how often

without feeling the need to begin again

or do any better

I'm

completely

imperfectly

falling back in.

Creating the Life I Want

2008-09-22T10:49:00.010-04:00

Squam Art Workshops:: Earth Project with Penelope Dullaghan

She decided to free herself, dance into the wind, create a new language. And birds fluttered around her, writing "yes" in the sky.

~Monique Duval~

Daisies

2008-07-14T20:54:00.005-04:00

DAISIES

It is possible, I suppose that sometime

we will learn everything

there is to learn: what the world is, for example,

and what it means. I think this as I am crossing

from one field to another, in summer, and the

mockingbird is mocking me, as one who either

knows enough already or knows enough to be

perfectly content not knowing. Song being born

of quest he knows this: he must turn silent

were he suddenly assaulted with answers. Instead

oh hear his wild, caustic, tender warbling ceaselessly

unanswered. At my feet the white-petalled daisies display

the small suns of their center piece, their -- if you don't

mind my saying so -- their hearts. Of course

I could be wrong, perhaps their hearts are pale and

narrow and hidden in the roots. What do I know?

But this: it is heaven itself to take what is given,

to see what is plain; what the sun lights up willingly;

for example -- I think this

as I reach down, not to pick but merely to touch --

the suitability of the field for the daisies, and the

daisies for the field.

~ Mary Oliver ~

Strawberry Fields Forever

2008-07-06T23:19:00.014-04:00

Happy Canada Day!

2008-07-01T17:37:00.009-04:00

~Wishing my Canadian readers, at home and abroad, a very Happy Canada Day!!!~

*Face paint by the AMAZING Kromatik

Stepping into My Second Year...

2008-06-23T11:43:00.008-04:00

I wrote my last post on the eve of my son's 9th birthday, in the midst of planning and preparations. I wanted so very much to mark the occasion, despite being distracted...despite not having the time to write all that I wanted to say. Even now, I can't honestly find the words to express what this space and all of you have come to mean in my life. It's been one year since I published my first post and I am forever changed by the experience. I never imagined how much loveliness I would find here, how much support and loving encouragement would flow into my life. Last week, I said YES to being a part of this amazing adventure and I'm so looking forward to meeting hug to hug those of you attending that I've connected with heart to heart already. The most amazing part of this journey has also been the hardest...connecting with so many lovely women...with so many, many miles between us that sometimes it hardly seems fair. I'm hopeful, that our physical paths will cross, as it is with all things, when the time is right.

The other day I thanked you for believing in me, but more importantly I want to thank you for reminding me to believe in myself. I want to thank you for taking such gentle care of my heart, for nurturing and inspiring mine when I had long since given up on listening to it myself.

The winter of 2008 was particularly long here and it's taken me all of spring to pull myself out of its darkness and quiet. I'm back now, just in time for summer, and ready to return to this space on a more regular basis. I thank you for your patience in sticking by me, for your comments and emails that reminded me that even in my quiet...I wasn't alone...that you had never left.

I dedicate this song to YOU and this brand new season.

It's summertime~xo

Girl, put your records on, tell me your favourite song

You go ahead, let your hair down

Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,

Just go ahead, let your hair down.

You're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow.

~Corrine Bailey Rae:: Put Your Records On

A Year

2008-06-20T19:35:00.009-04:00

Little tiny dreams, Kirsten, require little tiny thoughts and little tiny steps.

Great big dreams require great big thoughts and little tiny steps.

Do I paint a clear picture?

The Universe

One year ago today I published my very first post.

To those of you who are journeying alongside me, I thank you for your guidance, your support, your encouragement, your patience and your friendship.

I thank you for continuing to believe in and inspire me to follow my dreams.

In love and light,

Kirsten

Somewhere

2008-06-02T21:29:00.013-04:00

Today, I'm dreaming of somewhere, just a step beyond the rain...

how about you, what are you dreaming of...

Moving forward...

2008-05-28T20:50:00.015-04:00

So, I feel like I'm kind of jumping right back in here...

like I haven't been away forever.

And it's not that I don't want to fill in the blanks...it's just that I'm not sure I can...or I'm not sure I need to...or perhaps some combination of the two.

Today, I thought perhaps I'd just tell you what I was thinking about this afternoon and maybe we could just go from there...

***

We were heading out on a weekend road trip a few weeks back and we stopped, like we usually do, at the gas station on the way out to fill up with gas, check the tire pressure and pick up the coffees we're too disorganized to make at home before we leave. And as we're pulling out of the station, my husband says to me, "The tires on the passenger side were really low. You should make a point of checking them more often." Which I think must be code for...AT ALL... knowing full well he knows exactly how often I check the tire pressure:: read NEVER.

Still, I make a mental note to add that to the list of "Things To Do Once My Life is Running MUCH More Smoothly".. as it stands it's pretty near the bottom of the list. Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't think tire pressure is important. I understand the weight in my tires is very important to the optimum functioning of my vehicle, it's just not something I think about...not weekly or even monthly...just not EVER. Anyway...we continue for a short distance in silence. Me, contemplating the ever-growing list of things on my priority list and where exactly *occasionally check tire pressure* might fit in and him, contemplating I'm sure his next question...

"Can you tell, when they're really low?" he asks. "Like the whole car pulls to one side...can you not feel that when you're driving?"

And I pause for a moment, a mother who spends 90% of her time driving about with children who are either talking, singing or arguing simultaneously while en route to a class or an appointment or an event that we are most definitely running behind for and I look across at him, and I say..."No. No, I don't feel that." And even as the words come tumbling out of my mouth and I realize that I'm not about to instill much confidence in my ability to drive a motor vehicle that carries all he holds most dear, I add... "To be perfectly honest honey, and this might not be something you really want to know, but when I'm driving I just try to keep the car moving in the right direction...in between the lines, preferably of my own lane...at a speed that seems consistent with those around me...and I try not to hit anything. Moving or otherwise."

***

Our conversation continued for a short while after that...but that's the part I was thinking about this afternoon when I realized that the way I drive is pretty much the way I've been living my life lately. I'm just focusing my energies on moving forward, trying hard to stay the course, keep pace and avoid any major calamities.

1.5 hours

2008-05-07T23:56:00.010-04:00

Goat Cheese, Beets and Portobello Mushrooms with pesto, tomato and greens...grilled on Multigrain bread...yum!!!

Every Wednesday, this homeschooling mama gets 1.5 hours all to herself in the middle of the her day, in the middle of her week. It's truly amazing what you can accomplish in 1.5 hours; how much sanity can be restored in just 90 minutes.
Today, I spent some time at one of my favourite little hangouts having lunch with you, in a manner of speaking.
Thinking about all the places I'd love to take you if ever you found yourself in my neck of the woods.
Wondering about what we might do together, if ever I found myself in yours.
It's funny, how the world can seem so big and so small at the very same time.

Love Thursday:: A Ruby Anniversary

2008-04-24T12:16:00.000-04:00

My parents, March 23, 1968.

Theirs is a love story written over 4 decades, with many chapters still left to be penned.

Their love is the foundation of a family of four...a mother, a father and their two daughters.

They are the center of three separate families all intricately woven now...a growing clan that includes 2 son-in-laws and 4 beautiful grandchildren.

I see their relationship as a testament to a commitment so strong, a respect so deep and a love so great that it is, to me, a shining beacon of hope in a world of great uncertainty.

Looking at this photo and their wedding album a few weeks ago, I couldn't help but wonder on that day, all those years ago, how they thought it might all unfold...where they thought their love might take them..if they had any idea what a difference their love would make to the lives of so many others.

Forty years ago, two young adults trusted their hearts into another's keeping and cast forth their love into a world of possibility...how lucky for me.xo

Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

You are truly an inspiration and I am so very proud to be your daughter.

All my love,

Kirsten

*photos of our family celebration trickling in here...