Join In

Let me be honest with ya'll. My Facebook feed is full of beautiful words that I did not write. Every day I am bombarded with link after link of gorgeously written, meaningful posts. People write about marriages and friendships. About hatred, love, and loss. About humor and loveliness. And its not all posts, sometimes people capture their thoughts not only beautifully, but also concisely (something I've never been good at) to give us a one-sentence or so heart-capturing moment. And lately, I've felt lost. I lost track of the fact that I started writing for me and I've wondered why I even bother to blog. It seemed that every topic I got excited about would show up on my news feed within a few hours. It was already covered in such a heartfelt way that I could never compete. I even got so down about it I whined to my husband that I just wanted to inspire people, but that I had nothing inspiring to give. And his response: 

How do you know?

How important those words are. How do you know you're not inspiring someone? Just because they don't come to you and say, 'You know what? You are my inspiration!' doesn't mean they're not thinking it. And I wanted so badly to just dismiss his words (he's supposed to say things like that, right?), but I found that I couldn't. As much as I tried to blow it off, another part of me was screaming "Yes! That is so true!!" And as I did my best to continue to feel sorry for myself, for my pitiful words and my sporadic bloggings, I remembered this quote:

Image taken from here.

These words stuck with me from the moment I first read them because they are so true! It was like an opening was created in my heart just for those words, and finally reading them, they could be written where they belonged. It takes us all- the good, the bad, the ugly -to support one another. If only the very best bloggers took time to write their words, the internet would surely be a dead place. It would be unoriginal. We would all be left thinking the same things and feeling the same things. It would be silent and uninspiring. It is the diversity, the creativity, the millions of thoughts written and shared that wind up inspiring us all. So, may you take what talents you have, no matter if you are better then the guy to your right, or worse than the guy to your left, and allow yourself to put your heart into it. Let us support and inspire one another with the beauty of our own hearts.

Where do you find your inspiration? And, what do you do with it? 

#NoRegrets

Hey all, you can check out my #noregrets post over on Sofia's blog, Stars Unseen, where I am very pleased to be featured today. The honor is seriously all mine, and if you haven't checked out her #noregrets series yet, it's a must read! And while you're there, check out the rest of her blog, too. Awesome writer. Awesome topics. You won't regret it (haha, get it?) I promise! Seriously, though. Go check it out!

In The Most Unloving Of Ways

This quote has been going around teaching circles, parenting circles, Pinterest boards, and probably a variety of other 'circles'. And it is a great reminder to us all. But you know what? I think today we should take out the word "kids" and replace it with "humans". The humans who need the most love will ask for it in the most unloving of ways. Because, really, we silly humans, it's what we do. When we really need love, support, and encouragement, we bury ourselves in solitude. And while sometimes people really do just need that alone time, usually they can ask for it politely. They apologize, they explain, they ask. But, the best friend who just hollered at you to stay out of her life? She needs you. The sibling who rudely told you it's none of your business? He needs you. The classmate who  just cut you down? They need you. That person who just about killed you by telling you to get lost because they can live without you just fine? Yup, they are hurting you because they need you! Crazy, isn't it? The one who runs away, puts up walls, works hardest to avoid you-- They need you most! 

They need someone who will say, you know what? I'm not letting you run away from me. No matter how far, or how fast, or how long you run- I can keep up. And I'll be here. And you may not be ready to talk yet, but when you are, yep, you can turn to me. Until then, we can run in silence. I'm going where you're going, quietly. Not judging you, not begging you, not insisting that you open up to me, but just waiting to catch you when you trip. That wall you built? I'm gonna climb it. And maybe I can't quite reach the top. But at least then, when you feel lonely and look over the edge, you can spot me silently picking my way towards you and know you are loved. It's easy to allow their lashes to hurt us, to allow them to push us away because of it. But, when you know they are just shouting to be loved, we can set that hurt aside. We can be a bigger person than that. In our society we tend to think it's best to just watch someone run away. That when someone pushes us away we should give them space. That they will come around. That they will find us when they need us. But you know what? We're wrong. When they look around and see no one there they will feel alone and abandoned and unloved. So let's change this. Let's show them they are loved. Will you help me?

Have you used these tactics to push people away? And did it work?

Recovering From A Bad Night

We are often told that the phrase "I'm sorry" doesn't fix anything, but that one little phrase is actually quite powerful. While it may have originated as a reminder not to hurt one another, or perhaps it just meant that it's the feelings behind the words that count, it has been skewed almost to the point where we believe an apology can't and won't help in creating the change we want.

We had one of those nights in our home last week-you know the kind. The baby (Jumper) was crying and wouldn't go to sleep, there was music playing the the background and in the background of that the dishwasher was running and the air conditioner was on, and in the foreground Cheerio was asking way too many why questions for my brain to keep up, there were Lego's strewn on the floor and in the process of trying to avoid them I kept smashing cold cereal and crackers into the carpet. No one had eaten a real supper, and we were likely all hungry, but I couldn't figure out a reasonable meal between the crying and the asking and the mess. I had had too many late nights combined with too many early mornings- I was tired. My brain was shutting down and was annoyed that it had to keep coming up with 'because' responses until it finally just refused, and when it did, that's when it happened. I yelled. I hollered. I blew up. I lost it. I screamed at the top of my lungs something like "Just BECAUSE that's the way it IS! And DARN IT would you JUST GO TO SLEEP ALREADY!!!!" And I probably stomped my foot and I may have thrown things to the floor which sent Cheerio scampering off to hide in her bedroom like she does, and set the baby to crying louder and harder. And then I felt like a terrible person, I mean, who hollers at such sweet little kids? Certainly not the first time I've done it. In the past I have made a point to come back after I've calmed down and tell my children that I should not have gotten angry like that. That I was tired and hungry, that they caught me at a bad time, that I had a headache, whatever, but that it was not right for me to take it out on them. I say sorry. I tell them I love them. We snuggle and kiss and try to restore some small part of trust that was lost in our exchange. And I did it that night, but I forgot one small part that was glaringly obvious to my daughter. I came into my four year old's room and wrapped her in my arms and explained to her all that had gone wrong, what I had done wrong, how much I loved her and what a great, loving, inquisitive little girl she was. And then I tried to send her on her way. But, she instantly burst into tears. That was unusual, so back into my lap she came. "Oh, honey, whats wrong? Why are you still crying?" I asked. "It's okay!" I reassured her. "You don't need to cry."

"B-b-but, but, b-but....You didn't say I'm Sorry yet!" She sobbed.

And so I did. And so she dried her eyes, and accepted another hug, and picked up her dinosaur's and went off to play. So you see, my friends, "I'm sorry" really can fix everything. At least when you're four.


What do you do in your house to reconnect with your children after a bad night? Do you think saying "I'm Sorry" helps at all? 

A Last Poem From An Old Collection

The Night Sky

A wish for love....

A wish for peace...

A wish for family...

A wish for dreams...

A wish for just one hug...

A wish for a single butterfly kiss...

A wish for a soaring swing ride...

A wish for a day on the beach...

A wish for a frozen castle fortress...

A wish for melting ice cream....

A wish for a wiggling puppies bark...

A wish for flip flops in the rain...

each star captures a wish,

suspended.

But don't concentrate on the stars-

look at all the space between them,

wishes that have already come true.

2006

image taken from here