Karma ran over my Dogma

So I try to keep my blog pretty up beat and positive.  There are too many  other places to find negativity if you want to find it.
Not today.
For the last few weeks my up beat has been beat down.  My skin is raw from being dragged over the broken glass called LIFE.  No, nothing really major happened, except maybe me breaking my fall with my face~ yes it did hurt as much as it looked like it did~ but really it's the little things that are building up to look like mount Fuji:

1~ my great neighbors moved to Italy (yea for new adventures for them)
2~ the living room TV decided to die
3~ my computer has been rebelling
4~ got a call from the camp counselor because our son decided to throw a dodge ball at a kids face (on purpose)
5~ our middle monkey dropped ice cream all over the freshly mopped floor~ not just ice cream but the little bits of flash frozen dip-n-dots that melted all over the floor in about 1.2 seconds
6~ the soccer mom mobile has been acting up
7~ summer is only half over~ that's a double edged sword right there, and I have no more summer adventure ideas left for the monkeys!
8~ and about a hundred other little things flying around like little swarms of gnats irritating the crap out of me...

 I know that this is all just part of life's dips and turns, and tomorrow I'll try to find the silver lining, the rainbow after the storm and whatever other little trite saying there is, but for today all I really want to do is check into a hotel, order room service, watch tv and lay around in my pajamas and let someone else worry about all the little things that are driving my crazy lately.

Dear Photograph

I stumbled across this site DearPhotograph.com an I loved the idea and artistry of it.  Taking a photograph of a photograph; reliving the memories, feeling the change from then through now.  It also made me a bit sad.  I wish I had that one constant place in my life.  Part of my envies those who have.  My husbands family still live in the same house he grew up in.  His family has roots that go deep; my family, well not so much.  The pictures also made me long.  A longing for the innocence and joy the past always seems to hold.  

Check the site, it's beautiful.

under the same moon and stars,
ibs

p.s.  disclaimer: none of the photos are mine in anyway legaleeze legaleeze legaleeze....

Do you believe in fate?

do you believe in fate? destiny?  are you pre-destined? or do you make your own destiny?  I like to believe that we have at least some say in how and where our lives end up.  No, you don't have to climb mount everest, or travel the world, unless that is where your heart is.  If living your day to day life~ laughing with your friends and family is enough, then it is enough.  Our lives change, and so do our aspirations for ourselves.  Live your life on your terms and let Fate fend for itself.  

Fate

That you are fair or wise is vain,

Or strong, or rich, or generous;

You must have also the untaught strain

That sheds beauty on the rose.

There is a melody born of melody,

Which melts the world into a sea.

Toil could never compass it,

Art its height could never hit,

It came never out of wit,

But a music music-born

Well may Jove and Juno scorn.

Thy beauty, if it lack the fire

Which drives me mad with sweet desire,

What boots it? what the soldier's mail,

Unless he conquer and prevail?

What all the goods thy pride which lift,

If thou pine for another's gift?

Alas! that one is born in blight,

Victim of perpetual slight;—

When thou lookest in his face,

Thy heart saith, Brother! go thy ways!

None shall ask thee what thou doest,

Or care a rush for what thou knowest,

Or listen when thou repliest,

Or remember where thou liest,

Or how thy supper is sodden,—

And another is born

To make the sun forgotten.

Surely he carries a talisman

Under his tongue;

Broad are his shoulders, and strong,

And his eye is scornful,

Threatening, and young.

I hold it of little matter,

Whether your jewel be of pure water,

A rose diamond or a white,—

But whether it dazzle me with light.

I care not how you are drest,

In the coarsest, or in the best,

Nor whether your name is base or brave,

Nor tor the fashion of your behavior,—

But whether you charm me,

Bid my bread feed, and my fire warm me,

And dress up nature in your favor.

One thing is forever good,

That one thing is success,—

Dear to the Eumenides,

And to all the heavenly brood.

Who bides at home, nor looks abroad,

Carries the eagles, and masters the sword.

The Magical Thinking Project #2

Magical thinkers were asked to write a manifesto; this is mine.

WHY

Because Life is SHORT and NOTHING is guaranteed.  

Because existing is NOT enough.  

Because it’s not a race to the finish.  

Because it IS about the EXPERIENCE.  

Because this will not last FOREVER.  

Because ONE life is the flap of the butterflies wings.  

Because you DON’T get another Chance. 

Because the BAD is as much a part of the story as the GOOD.  

Because living vicariously is NOT really living.  

Because we all need each other.  

Because LOVE.  

Because I AM ONE.  

Because one IS the beginning.  

Because I don’t have all the answers.  

Because of this wonderful thing called LIVING.  

Because of all of this and more I wilL BE and DO and WISH and DREAM and ACT and 

EMBRACE IT ALL.  

under the same moon and stars,

ibs

The Invitation

The Invitation 

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,

And if you dare to dream of meeting

Your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool

For love, for your dream,

For the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. 

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,

If you have been opened by life’s betrayals,

Or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, 

Mine or your own,
Without moving 

To hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy,

Mine or your own,

If you can dance with wildness

and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes

Without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic,

or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,

If you can bear the accusation on betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty

Even when it is not pretty every day,

And if you can source your life 

From its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, 

Yours and mine,

And still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,

“Yes!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,

Weary and bruised to the bone,

And do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you are, how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand 

In the center of the fire with me

And not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you

From the inside

When all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone

With yourself,

And if you truly like the company you keep

In the empty moments.  

just a man and his will to survive~ it's the EYE OF THE TIGER

a little inspiration,
roar,
ibs

Know What I like About You?

The other day I picked up this months copy of home life. In it was the article by Marie Armenia "Know What I like about you?"  and I liked the article so much I wanted to share.  In it she talked about how her husband and she had been so busy that she realized that she hadn't said anything nice to him in a long time.  So she turns to him and says, " Know what I like about you?" He looked at her, and she finished with, "you always smell so good."  No, it wasn't anything earth shattering, just something simple and nice.  But it was something that made her husband feel good.  "Know what I like about you?" has become something, a way for them to just connect with each other.  In the crazyness of life we can use all the help we can get to connect with the people that are special in our lives; our spouse, our children, our friends.  I'm not a terrible mushy person, but I think I can handle doing this.  So, I am going to give "know what I like about you?" a try.

under the same moon and stars,
ibs