the beauty that is everywhere

my love notes to the world

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The Foxfire Books: How to Make Moonshine, Rain and Fiddles
My friend Katie, who grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, mentioned the "hippy Foxfire Books" at our book club today. Our conversation was around self-sufficiency and being attuned to the earth and the land around us, and she said that she grew up with these books and loved to read through them when she was back home. As you can see from the cover, you can learn such intriguing things as hog dressing, ...
Being Tree-like
You may not seem to be doing anything much in the way of production, like clocking work hours or acquiring goods, or writing Pulitzer Prize winning books. Imagine, though, that there are qualities in you that are very tree-like. You stand with roots deep in the ground, soaking up water, soaking up earth energy, with your branches spread out and taking in light. You are producing oxygen that others need in order to take in ...
Overhearing
A child, walking by my window: "Mmmm, nice little wind, wind!"
Animal, you, animal, me
These images by Gregory Colbert in his exhibit, Ashes and Snow, make me feel completely weepy. Just go look. Feel all the peace pouring from the animals, from the you and the me? This is what we're meant for, my dear ones. This is where we're going. Right...about...now. Image by Gregory Colbert, Ashes and Snow
Breathing
You know about breathing. Breathing in and out. So what I am saying to you is breathe in air. Let that be one of the things you do, and build cities around it, countries. Breathe in Boise, Idaho, the church in London, the flowers from your father’s birthday, your daughter’s first laugh. Breathe in a tree somewhere, birds, a circle of rabbits moving through the yard. Then breathe out. Add your own air to the world.
Remember your joy: where to begin
Just in case you've forgotten, and you don't know where to start remembering: Start anywhere. Maybe you have been lying there, watching movies, unable to move? Do whatever you can talk yourself into doing. Breathe in and out. Become aware of your breathing as you breathe. Become aware. You may feel sad because you have started to believe you have lost your way, that you’ve lost your tribe. You haven’t. You are already home, asleep in your bed. Now wake. And ...
Corie Does My Hair
Every day, fresh wonder from Corie. I'm just loving #moviehairoftheweek, which I find hilarious and satisfying, all at the same time. And I don't think it's just because I'm her mother. www.coriedoesmyhair.com
How about awesome?
Awesome people hanging out together: an awesome Tumblr blog. This will cheer you up if you need cheering. Which I do. Image of Elton John, Lady Gaga and Sting by http://awesomepeoplehangingouttogether.tumblr.com/
Get High Now
This is rather a wondrous book by James Nestor, filled with practical and often hilarious advice on being-ness. The full title of the book is "Get High Now *without drugs" and has, according to the book cover, "over 175 sensory trips and tricks for visual stimulation, compressing time, lucid dreaming, meditation and more." I am getting a copy for all of the dreamers I love. I should mention that the book's website offers an extravaganza ...
Tibetan Sound Healing (VIDEO)
Enjoy this pure love...
Magic Wands are Regular
I love moving my car to a new spot every two hours. Because it means a small adventure, regularly scheduled. What will it be? Today it is a trip to the yoga studio to check it out and pick up a schedule, a little pink card I can hold in my hands. Then I wander over to the cafe for a salmon and egg croissant, and I slide by a woman sitting at her table with ...
bloom: the creative process by artist suzanne l. vinson
Suzanne Vinson is a wonder of love and vitality being expressed through creativity. To walk in to her studio in the Ginter Park Community Center in the north side of RVA is to walk in to a place where ALL THE LIGHTS ARE ON. I am grateful for her and people like her. Here's a post from her blog: life in motherhood, ministry, and the arts: bloom :: the creative process. Image by Suzanne Vinson
Remember your joy: being Aunt Bea
Walk into the place where you live and see if it is dark. See if the tv is on, if the dishes are stacked in the sink. Smile at the room, as though you are Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith show and are about to fix everything. If you have an apron, this would be an excellent time to put it on. If you don’t have one, and you think it may prove handy, get ...
Feeding Myself Healthy Food
My feeling is this: our bodies are complete miracles. And probably we are wise to feed our bodies more miracles, like plant-based nutrients that are as close to their natural state as possible. And when we think of feeding our bodies, we probably want to expand that notion to include everything that our bodies take in, whether through our mouths, or our skin, or our lungs. So we can, with great delight, think of what ...
Illinois [video]
This was a very different sunrise over corn. First it started flashing me its color behind the St. Louis arch. Then over the Missouri River and into Illinois where the colors of the sun spreading across the enormous sky and the fields and the road were all I wanted in the world. Soundtrack to this particular wonder was Sun Kil Moon singing "the universe works on a math equation/never never never ending."
Wyoming, further
The land flattens out, stretches further. Yarrow grows at the roadside. Treeless, here where you'd have to go so deep for water. Scattered cattle ranches, the continental divide. Ethereal, butter-colored place.
Into the mystic (VIDEO)
Ah, it's played at last. No road trip would be complete without it.
Being Grateful
I've started to notice that there is something about being grateful that seems to change my way of being in the world. And it seems to me to be another aspect of this notion of having a choice. I can find something or someone to be grateful for. Even if it's just a regular everyday thing, like breakfast. I can think or say to myself: "I'm so grateful for this delicious breakfast." And of course, I ...
On Grocery Stores
To me, the true test of an excellent grocery store is this: if you walked in smiling (and I hope you were), were you smiling when you came out? If you’re all frustrated when you come out then conjure up a lovely grocery store to go to. It will very likely have the following: an enormous produce section. with lots of pretty colors. wax bags iron-on patchettes (assorted) bottle brushes Rit dye shoe laces (variety) Duraflame Long Stem Matches (ideal for lighting birthday ...
Radio silence (Sedona/beauty/road trip)
Here is a post from a few days ago I thought I had published... "Heading toward Sedona now. Just saw an elk jerky roadside stand. The sign said "really good." I believe them...." You will note the radio silence since just before entering Sedona. Meet me there, all my beloveds reading this, in the beauty.
Loving Kindness
Send love into your body -- your heart, your cheekbones, your belly. Know that you are love in human form. Beam out love to everyone you have ever met. This kind of love you will beam needs nothing back; it needs nothing more than to make its way from your heart out into the world.
The Healthy Apple's Healthy Food Shopping List
This is a really thoughtful healthy food shopping list put together by Amie Valpone of The Healthy Apple: Your Guide to Clean Eating. I am a new fan! With a list like this, you and your shopping cart will feel so very beautiful. Image courtesy of Amie Valpone, The Healthy Apple.com.
Stranger than Fiction
Do you ever feel as though your life is being narrated? Or as though you may want to turn to Dustin Hoffman for metaphysical advice? Then this little gem of a movie is one of your new best friends. The luminous beings that appear in this movie are: Will Farrell, Tony Hale, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Queen Latifah!! I mean. And another major character of the luminous being variety? Sixties architecture. Yum.
Hello Art Lovers!
Mary Poppins and Bert really had it going on, don't you think? There is nothing like jumping into a sidewalk chalk landscape to while away the day.
What happens if the power goes out?
Just pose the question to yourself, whether or not there's an impending weather event. What happens? Have you got excellent flashlights, fondue pots, Viewmaster sets and drawers full of good candles? Gallons of clean water, Sterno, batteries? It’s a comforting thing to have provisions. But still more comforting to know that even in total darkness you, yourself, are pure light. If you are very clever, you can take preemptive action and sneak down to the circuit ...
Collect stories
When someone speaks to you, let everything slow down, and listen very closely. This is how you will get a glimpse of someone's true spirit, and maybe share a little of yours with them. You can practice this at first with people you already really like, and then as you get better you can even try this with people who initially seem very annoying. Let me know what you find out. Image courtesy of State Library ...
Let the Mystery Be - Iris Dement (VIDEO)
I could listen to this forever. "Everybody is wondering what and where they all came from. Everybody's worrying where they're going to go when the whole thing's done. No one knows for certain, so if it's all the same to me, I think I'll just let the mystery be."
Expecting Adam
This is one of those books that filled me with light. Martha Beck writes about her pregnancy with her son Adam, a Downs Syndrome child, in a way that is hilarious, practical, enlightening and heart-wrenching all at once. Brilliant.
Ode to My Friend Kathryn (Speaking of Fun)
Here is a note that my dear friend and fellow surreal poetess Kathryn sent me this week: LJC! I had a dream last night that you were getting married. You were moving out of one dwelling and into another, and I was helping you, but I didn’t realize you were getting married. Should I buy a dress? I wrote her back: Buy the dress. We will find the guy to match the dream. Kathryn is the kind of friend who not ...
Goodwater
Kenny told me once when he was little that he'd been drinking godwater from flowers. Goodwater/Godwater. Same/same.

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Feeding Myself Healthy Food
My feeling is this: our bodies are complete miracles. And probably we are…
EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database
Have you heard about this database of beauty products? You can look up the…
Quantum Physics and the fundamental unity of life
When science bears witness to love. When Russell Brand narrates our…
Breathing
You know about breathing. Breathing in and out. So what I am saying to…
Loving Kindness
Send love into your body -- your heart, your cheekbones, your belly. Know…

Clean: The Beginning of a Four-Week Detox
This week, I've started a cleanse, after going back to this book Clean, by Alejandro Junger.…
The Foxfire Books: How to Make Moonshine, Rain and Fiddles
My friend Katie, who grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, mentioned the "hippy Foxfire…
The Happiness Project
And while we are on the subject of happiness this week, let's give a shout out to The Happiness…
Link Love: Michael Pollan's Food Rules Animated (VIDEO)
Posted by BrainPickings.com, "Michael Pollan's Food Rules Animated in Stop-Motion" Just lovely. …
Get High Now
This is rather a wondrous book by James Nestor, filled with practical and often hilarious advice on…
Expecting Adam
This is one of those books that filled me with light. Martha Beck writes about her pregnancy with…
Ordinary Life
A quote from Jan Frazier, "When Fear Falls Away: The Story of a Sudden Awakening" --What do I want…
No One Belongs Here More Than You
Miranda July made this website a few years back for her book, "No One Belongs Here More Than You."…
"Glad No Matter What:" A Book by SARK
I am reading this really lovely book by Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy (aka SARK), called Glad No…

Stranger than Fiction
Do you ever feel as though your life is being narrated? Or as though you may…
Darjeeling Limited
Pretty, pretty movie, the Darjeeling Limited. That's just how Wes Anderson…
It was always about the dance
You know that, don't you, Scott Hastings? Maybe the Ballroom Dancing…
Take Polaroids of Your TV Screen
Take Polaroids of your tv screen while Lucas dances, black eyes, black hair,…
Little Miss Sunshine
I just had my Little Miss Sunshine moment with some lovely adobe colored…

In the garden
Radish harvest morning. Also bunny spotting. Also gloriously beautiful. Also camera batteries…
Sprouts
There's a garden that grows in the backyard, sprouts coming up from seeds. Every morning, more…
How about awesome?
Awesome people hanging out together: an awesome Tumblr blog. This will cheer you up if you need…
Little Portals
Sometimes I want to give you everything. Yes, you, reading this now. I sit in the morning darkened…
Being Happy and Being Inspired Makes Happy Inspired Art
My dear friend and amazing human being Liz Sheehan is the director of Partners in the Arts, a…
Being Grateful
I've started to notice that there is something about being grateful that seems to change my way of…
Angels in plain sight
Imagine that everywhere you go, there are angels in plain sight. Your waiter, for…
What if?
What if no job or house or car or ideal weight or ideal husband is what is going to make you…
Loving Kindness
Send love into your body -- your heart, your cheekbones, your belly. Know that you are love in…
Take a train
Take a train in the morning. Sit on the side where the sun is and watch it light the trees, the…

Yesterday On the River
My darling son Kenny was in town this weekend and we went to the James River, by way of what's…
My Planet: Healing with Whales and Other Stories
My dear and lovely friend Leah Lamb has launched My-Planet.org, and with it brings to life her…
Animal, you, animal, me
These images by Gregory Colbert in his exhibit, Ashes and Snow, make me feel completely weepy. Just…
Link Love: Michael Pollan's Food Rules Animated (VIDEO)
Posted by BrainPickings.com, "Michael Pollan's Food Rules Animated in Stop-Motion" Just lovely. …
Being Tree-like
You may not seem to be doing anything much in the way of production, like clocking work hours or…
Still
I was walking by the ocean today with some dear and lovely friends and found myself thinking of…
One Love, One Heart (VIDEO)
This video, a compilation piece performed by musicians all around adding their part, had me…
Aurora Borealis in Finnish Lapland 2011
I found this on laughingsquid.com. Such a lovely place to find delight. Aurora Borealis in…
Utah's salt flats
Just surreal. That white you see is…
This makes me want to learn how to knit. For real this time...
...and to learn more about these fabulous people at Fibershed. Here's an excerpt from the Etsy…