“We feel cold, but we don’t mind it, because we will not come to harm. And if we wrapped up against the cold, we wouldn’t feel other things, like the bright tingle of the stars, or the music of the Aurora, or best of all the silky feeling of moonlight on our skin. It’s worth being cold for that.”

~ Philip Pullman, Northern Lights

hello, my dears!

if winter is hard on you (maybe it’s too long, too dark, too cold), i have a new offering ~ hope floats in winter ~ that i created just for someone like you.

it’s a twice-weekly note of inspiration, to help you find the beauty in the cold & the dark & the rain or the snow.

this is not going to be affirmations or forced positivity or “look on the bright side”.

this is just me, looking for the magic & wonder & blessing in the cold & the dark & the snow for myself, and sharing it with you, in the hope that it makes your winter easier and lighter.

details and registration are here.

and i would love love love for you (and your friends) to join me.

“I pick the prettiest part of the sky and I melt into the wing and then into the air, till I’m just soul on a sunbeam.”

~ Richard Bach

and just like that, just because you’re you, the world offers you its heart.

sometimes, life is a spiral.

i have been quiet here.

the truth is that it is not so much an inspired quietude as it is a combination of two things.

first, the words for all of the things that i want to write about are slow in arriving. you would not believe the number of posts that are in draft form.

second, i have been under a strange and new cloud of confusion related to the connection between my art and my life. the result of this is that i am second-guessing almost everything i want to write about. when i do this, i block my own flow, and no words come out at all.

yesterday, i was given a moment of clarity.

what i really want, what would bring me joy, is to be here with you.

i am spending so much time playing with my camera. so much time. i want to be sharing more of these photos with you.

what i really want is to return to the days when i posted pictures almost every day.

and so i am.

if i want to write, i will. if i don’t want to write, i won’t. and i will write about whatever it is that i am inspired to write about.

i feel so free.

today, i do want to share an article with you, in case you like questions to consider.

it’s from the poet david whyte, and it’s about the questions that we should be asking ourselves.

i keep thinking about something he said in the article.

“most people, i believe, are living four or five years behind the curve of their own transformation.”

there is something very compelling about the idea that this might be so.

i wonder: what am i ready to step into, that i don’t recognize because i think it is far out in front of me, when it is really the very next step.

i don’t know. but i am curious to find out.

if you want to ponder one or more of the questions with me, please do. i love thinking about things and then talking about them.

“I felt like lying down by the side of the trail and remembering it all. The woods do that to you, they always look familiar, long lost, like the face of a long-dead relative, like an old dream, like a piece of forgotten song drifting across the water, most of all like golden eternities of past childhood or past manhood and all the living and the dying and the heartbreak that went on a million years ago and the clouds as they pass overhead seem to testify (by their own lonesome familiarity) to this feeling.”

~ Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

{there is still a day or two to sign up for hope floats. if your heart is whispering yes, i would be honored to have you along, and you will be in good company.}

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence.”

– Robert Lynd

{there are still a few days left to sign up for hope floats. if your heart is whispering yes, i will be honored to have you along, and you will be in good company.}

yesterday, the enormity of the change i just made and the speed at which i made it sunk in. i feel wordless, and slightly off-center, and am having trouble connecting to my intuition.

so, i am going to be quiet for a while, as i turn to the things that always bring me back home: time in the woods and by the water, playtime with my camera, meditation, writing in my journal, naps with my beloved pup, and the simple pleasures of good conversation, good books, and good food. (particularly pie. there is a blueberry pie and a strawberry pie in the frig and i could not be happier.)

because i want to reconnect with my deep sense of hope & possibility & wonder, i am going to do a version of hope floats every day on the blog through the end of september. if it calls to you, you can sign up through the end of september.

there will be no time to miss atlas, as he will continue to share photos and stories on his facebook page.

today, i leave you with this thought:

allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to receive, whether it be support or love or generosity, can be a powerful and beautiful opportunity for inner growth.

may you know that you are supported and held.

“When you come to the edge of all the light you know,
and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown,
Faith is knowing one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid to stand on
or you will be taught how to fly.”

– Barbara J. Winter