Saturday, May 24, 2014

coming home

 i havent written on this for a while.  ive made several different excuses up in my head.  some are the obvious- too busy, too much stress, broken keyboard, blah blah blah.  even though these are all valid excuses, the biggest one was that i was LIVING.  
finally- I have a home.  

this is a very sensitive subject for me to touch and that could be the biggest (and most valid) excuse that i have. 
i grew up in a small house with my three sisters and parents for the majority of my life.  close to a small airport and even closer to a railroad line.  the sounds and sights of planes cutting through the air and the vibrations of the windows and loud sounding horn blasts of the trains have always comforted me in a way.  we would play with the nighborhood kids on our bikes during summer days then have campouts in the backyard at night.  my sisters and i made up games outside- they always involved using our imaginations and made us feel free.  the roof leaked, all four of us shared one bedroom most of the time and one bathroom.  yep- four girls, one bathroom.  there was a red brick fireplace in the livingroom that was prime real estate in the winter time.  we didnt have a basement so you were always near someone.  it was our home.
when my dad had his accident, for reasons my sisters and i fought whole heartedly and in the end had no control over, we lost our home.  there were very few things we were able to retain except the most valuable thing we had: the memories we built together there.  
before we lost it, most of my sisters and i had moved out.  grown up. and begun finding our own places to build our own stories.  my dad always kept the doors open to us if we ever needed to come back though.  it was all of our home- he made sure that we knew that.
when i got married, we bought our first home just over a year later.  it was perfect.  small, charming, cozy and ours.  we worked on small projects; painted every room, installed new lights, grew a garden, had a patio and a back yard for our dogs then started a family to share it wiith.  i put love in every decoration i placed on a shelf and was proud to call it ours.
again, for reasons i had little control over, i had to leave my home.
i found a place and moved out in three weeks.  it was a scramble of what i was trying to live through day to day and at the same time start fresh on my own.  i found an apartment on the opposite end of town, moved what i could with the help of a few close friends, set up a bedroom for the kids and made it work.  when my lease was up a year later- even though i knew it would be tough, i also knew that it was time to stop surviving through what i cant control and make my own home.  
i searched for a while and was picky.  its kinda my thing.  then- i found it....


this is my home.
I'm here and im happy.   
this is my life and i am taking charge of it. 
decor and all.  


Sunday, January 26, 2014

photographic memories


I have aspirations of captuing beauty like this...

http://instagram.com/b3njamin

i always thought it was strange that when i was seeing or experiencing something that i didnt want to forget or that i felt a deep connection to, i would close my eyes, open them, and then close them again.  
i was taking a mental picture of that moment.  
making sure to use all my senses at once. 
listening to the ocean with my eles closed.
taking a deep, body filling breath and capturing the smell of the air.  
feeling the temperature of the air on my skin. 
listening to the music with your whole body.  
feeling what was intended on being brought to the surface through someone elses talents and passions.  
in the last year, in all the difficult moments, ive also had some incredibly powerful, beautiful and progressive moments.  im trying to hold on to those mental pictures.  
remembering the emotional relics that have reawakened a determination to be happy in myself.  unapologetically.   
nurturing those things may seem selfish at times, but i see it as strengthening. 
being strong has always been my core. 
now its time to build off what has made that core solid.  

Sunday, January 5, 2014

flaws and all


"you have the right to be selfish with your heart."

"there are times when you need to just stand your ground"

"you are so much more than you give yourself credit for."

"you deserve more."

this was some pretty honest advice/feedback that i heard from a dear friend of mine on a long overdue coffee, pastry and catch up date.   
she knows ME. 
she knows that i DESERVE to be happy.  
she has been there through the ups and downs and never ran away when things got tough.
she is one of the people in my life that i can come to, no matter how long its been since the last time we saw eachother, and she will give me the ear and voice that i need.    
but for some reason, i just cant pull the trigger.  
i cant just STOP.  
i havent allowed myself to see what she has seen in me.
im not one of those people that makes a decison, says something or feels a certain way,  on a whim or becuse its convenient.  
i truely FEEL.  
i have only recently figured out that this isnt how all people do things.
it took too much to get to this point but i finally did.  what i do now is the hard part.
maybe its because my dad drove into my head to be YOU.  to be honest and intentional with what you say and who you associate with..... 
this is one of the hardest things for me to just DO.  
to just stop allowing others to control how i feel. 
everyone needs to have boundaries, to know where your limits are and when to step in and PROTECT yourself.  
but you have to become strong enough to stand alone.  
i know that i am a fighter and why not fight to be "enough".  
yes, im impatient, but i also know that i deserve to know that i am enough right now.  

flaws and all.

i just have to buy into it too.





Tuesday, December 17, 2013

maps

"MAPS" Yeah Yeah Yeahs

the meaning behind my favorite YYYs song:

Fact: Karen O wrote this song about her then boyfriend, Angus Andrew. MAPS is an acronym for MAngus Please Stay. Angus was set to leave and accept a job offer and this was Karen O’s inspiration for the song.

Another Fact: In this music video, according to an interview with Karen O, she said her tears were real and the reason for this:

"They were real tears. My boyfriend at the time was supposed to come to the shoot – he was three hours late and I was just about to leave for tour.
I didn’t think he was even going to come and this was the song that was written for him…”

I had heard this song so many times before i knew anything behind the meaning of it and liked it.  but just enough to not be annoyed by its catchy, repetitive and obviously sad sound.  then someone pointed out that there was more to the song than what it had to offer at face value..and i fell in love with it.  

how many times do we take something at face value, not really thinking about how it came to be?   how many times do we think we know about something or even someone and come to find nothing but a beautiful moment shared with a stranger?

too many times.

slow down.  breathe.  take the time to know who/what is around you and why you are putting energy into it.  

listen to the story behind the words.  

fall in love with this moment.

http://youtu.be/oIIxlgcuQRU


Saturday, November 30, 2013