52 Photos Project~ 4/27

Welcome to the first installment of the lovely Bella's new offering, 52 Photos Project. Each week she designates a word prompt to be interpreted through the lens. Today, the word is "nourish".

This is, in part, how I nourish my being~ the written word, color and especially of late, whole, fresh foods.


For more nourishment, go here.

While Dreams And Whistles Waft

 I don't live close to train tracks, but there are precognitive winds blowing and I now hear train whistles morning and night announcing movement and change. I have been dreaming in the thin hours before dawn of awakenings; of a childhood friend held in suspended animation inside a clothes bag, hanging in a basement for one year, who suddenly unzipped the bag and walked out; of a lidless, ramshackle coffin sitting on a workbench, again in a basement, with the corpse of a man too big for its confines who began talking to me as I passed him by. He had decided it was time to get back to the business of living life. So he did.

And so, it seems, must I.

Stress has been stupefying. Words and wishes have been lost. Health, the first and only true wealth, has ridden the rails towards calamity. It's time to listen deeply to what my soul would choose if all possibilities lay shining at my feet.

In the movement and the changes to come, in the awakenings that bring me back to life, I will find the only true thing I have been missing while dreams and whistles waft~ the animating force of myself.

A Day For The Earth

I love you, Mother Earth.

Cold Rain In April

A weeping, cold rain in April.

Wind like March.

A nest,

not of soft grass and animal hair,

but of blankets.

In that nest,

under wet windows,

the weight of things that can no longer be born

are imagined to be lifted.

Ideas of new life

and new ways

of navigating uncertainty fall,

 drop by drop,

into a heart still holding its breath.

Rest. 

Nourish.

Breathe with certainty. 

Courage will come, 

weights will lift.

The rain and the wind

will give way to flight

in the perfumed skies of May.

The Soul In Bloom Is Blossoming

My magazine has begun to bloom.

Thank you to the generous souls who
took a chance on my offering.

My heart is filling rapidly.

From Lisa~

"Just received my copy of this today. One of the most beautifully written and elegantly photographed 'magazines' I've ever seen. More of a soft-cover book, really. I'm ordering several more to give as gifts as I certainly am not willing to part with my copy! I highly recommend this to everyone!"

From Skye~

"I just received my copy of The Soul in Bloom. So incredibly beautiful & nourishing!

Thank you for such a soul-full creation."

From Don~

"I just got my magazine. I love it, I love it, I love it."

To order a copy of The Soul In Bloom, spring edition~

go HERE.

Buffalo Botanical Society~ part 2

 How is it we don't believe in miracles, 

when miracles are all around us?

Buffalo Botanical Society~ part 1

The non-botanicals were just as intriguing.

The Warmth Of Grace

It's like waking from a fog, slowly. It's like living beneath the cold rays of an obscured sun, waiting for warmth, waiting for warmth. And one day, after 3 months of days with very few words and too little sparkle, there is a shift; small, still shrouded in feathers of fog, but notable.

One breath reaches the floor of the gut, lips upturn, and quietly, life renews.

It has been a productive time; angst and exhaustion leading deeper into the cold and mist where inhibitions rule and humor lies dead and the way out spirals ever downward until 3 spare inches from rock bottom, the cold sun casts a ray on 2 ancient words: let go.

In the letting go, there are things to be kept: compassion, trust and the warmth of grace.     

The Soul In Bloom~ issue #1

 

{visiting my aunt in the hospital~ 2 fresh blooms, 1 magazine}

Today, a dream is launched. After writing steadily on this blog for 5 years, I am taking my words and pictures into the 3rd dimension. I am indulging my love of magazines and creating my own. Today, I offer you The Soul In Bloom~ spring issue , the first in a 4 part series of keepsake magazines. There will be one issue for each season, based on the highlights of my 5 year odyssey here at Evenstar Art.

I have taken my most needful and broadly applicable essays and paired them with spring photographs. The pages of the magazine are uncluttered, fresh and easily readable. I want the messages of hope and love and encouragement to stand out. I want this magazine to uplift and give courage to any one who reads it or simply flips through the pages. I want this magazine to make a difference in how some one feels about life and themselves. I want it to be a reminder that love is ever-present, no matter what.

It is not a perfect offering. It is not a money-maker. It is a thread in my tapestry of wishing to add more beauty and goodness to this shared life. It is an antidote to the fear given center stage in our world. It is born of my need to contribute. I created this for you.

This is a print-on-demand magazine. It will cost $14.95 + shipping. I would be honored if you felt compelled to buy it. I would be fulfilled if you kept it and referred back to it in times of need. I would be grateful if you shared the magazine and the link to purchase it with others. 

To purchase a copy of The Soul In Bloom, go HERE.

{Thank you to Kelly Letky of The Blue Muse for her invaluable graphic design help in creating this first issue.}