Loosened from the mud, I find myself floating in a world of possibility.

So can you.



attitude of gratitude: strange frenzy

There is a strange frenzy in my head,
of birds flying,
each particle circulating on its own.
Is the one I love everywhere? -- Rumi

(105)

I started having visions of Lotus Bud's future. This is a first for me. I imagined her with her own child and the thing that brought a huge smile to my face was the words "Grandpa Dave." More revelations came quickly thereafter. My mother had an "arranged marriage" and while I was growing up there was a lot of talk about "arranged marriages" and "love marriages." That was followed quickly by the idea that I would also have an arranged marriage. Is it no wonder then that I eloped with my man? I married for love and never looked back. I reached out and took that which was denied to me in my childhood: love. Now I think when my little one grows up she will have the chance to understand what it is to love oneself above all else. This is important to me as I struggle to not only love myself but also to be my own friend. This is what generations are for, are they not? The opportunity to seek out what was denied in the previous generation.

Truth is I wonder every day whether I can love my child as much as I love my husband. But it has taken me twenty years to realize the intensity of love I have for my man so I will cut myself some slack and have faith in the fact that the love I feel for my child grows steadily everyday. And for that understanding I am grateful.

Because I know that my capacity to love and to know love is as great as the sun and the moon and the stars, the first few shared favorites of this week have to do with the sun and the moon and the stars.

What if the other planets were as close as the moon?

Eclipse fest for the next 18 months....yeah, talk about strange frenzy.

Fresh Tiger Stripes on Saturn's Moon

And my favorite pins about The Sky and The Stars 

I've decided that after I'm done with board service I am going to focus on my love of bookmaking with some classes at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. But first I'm going to try my hand at some diy paper-making AND binding my journals in leather. Any ideas about where to start with the paper-making?

"Books make you a glutton for life."

In my role as board president I compile monthly reading lists and on those list I always include some "mind candy." This is one I will include for May: The bizarre world of chicken beauty pageants. 

I got a real kick out of this Judgmental Map of Minneapolis but as you can see from the comments, not everyone appreciates this sort of humor. My friends in the area labeled "Compton of the North" thought the map was hilarious and I would just like to point out that the Lotus Bud and I hang out once a week at a park on the Mississippi that is in an area "too scary to investigate." Good, stay out of my park!

One step at a Time

This reminds me of my early twenties.

My Spring photo series is quickly becoming a meditation on Rumi.

One step forward, two giant steps back - the most apt description of Spring in Minnesota. We woke today to temps in the twenties and we are facing yet another snow dump this week, followed by a week in the seventies? Oh well. At least there's green poking out the ground now so the snow can't last long. I hope!



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