Love Your Life!!!

In Need of Inspiration

Well, I made a commitment to post weekly to this blog, and now I am not certain that I am going to be able to stick with it.  I am unsure about exactly where I want to take the blog.  I am also lacking inspiration to write -- even though I am grateful for many things in my life, for whatever reason, I just don't feel like writing about it.  And, of course, I know that I don't have very many readers at this point, so the blog is feeling a bit like a fruitless exercise.

But I have decided to accept where I am with the process, and maybe I can even find something to appreciate about it! 

Because I am lacking my own inspiration, I have decided to share part of one of my favorite poems.  It is entitled Saint Francis and the Sow, by Galway Kinnell:

The bud

stands for all things,

even for those things that don’t flower,

for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;   

though sometimes it is necessary

to reteach a thing its loveliness,

to put a hand on its brow

of the flower

and retell it in words and in touch

it is lovely

until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing . . . .

Hello 2011!!

I hope that 2011 has been treating you well so far and that the new year has given you many things to be grateful for already!

The year did not start out in the best way for me -- I caught a cold on January 1st!   But it was a pretty fast mover, so I am feeling almost back to 100% today.

Even with the cold, I have had a lot to appreciate this week.   Here are just a few of the things that I am grateful for in this first week of 2011:

• ringing in the new year at a "Holiday Hootenanny" hosted by my dear friend Kelly.  It was a dessert party, and there were enough cakes, pies, cookies, candy and other goodies to feed a small army!

• sticking to my goal of working out 5x a week.  I actually worked out every day this week, and I think it actually helped in fighting my cold.

• getting good news with respect to a medical test I had to have done this week -- whew!

• enjoying a yummy clam concoction (maybe clams casino??) several nights this week courtesy of Kelly's mom Pat -- delish!

• a great vegetarian meal last night at an Irish pub in downtown Raleigh, Tir Na Nog.  Who knew that an Irish pub could have so many veggie items on their menu?  Tom and I hadn't eaten there in years before last night, but we will defiinitely be back!

• I am super-psyched to be starting Mondo Beyondo's Dream Lab with Brene Brown on Monday, January 10th.  There's still time for you to sign up!

• and finally, I am extremely appreciative of one of my newest friends in the blogosphere, Fur Elisse, who I "met" as part of the Reverb 10 challenge.  She literally gave a New Year's shout out to every single person who commented on her blog in 2010.  I certainly wasn't expecting the recognition when I went to her site, and it was very touching.  Thanks Fur Elisse -- I appreciate you and your blog!!

What are you greatful for in the early days of 2011?  I'd love to hear from you!!