Browsing Tag

beauty

Finding the Magic, I AM

This is Me.

April 22, 2017
plumeria

 

The work that was happening on our home site has now stopped. Part of the challenge of having a builder that builds pre-fab houses is that a lot of the ‘fab’ happens in his workshop. Apparently walls and roof frames are being created somewhere and will be brought over when they are ready. For me this means I am feeling a bit caged. I want to see more happening!

It’s all good though, because now that it is raining, we can shift our attention to planting!

One of the growing things that I love the most is plumeria. I saw it for the first time when I was on the Caribbean island of Grenada and I fell in love. The scent, the delicacy, the whimsy all combined to make it a must have for the new land.

So today we met with a man who grows and propagates plumeria. As soon as we showed that we had a bit of interest, he started talking about all of the different options and scents and colours and sizes.

single plumeriaAs I was standing there, I thought about the grinch’s heart – because mine own grew three sizes while we were talking to this man!  As we were leaving, we apologised for taking up his time.  He just laughed and said, ‘What else it time for? This is me!’

This is me.

How many of us can say that with such conviction? How many of us can smile with our passion showing and say, ‘this is me’? Everything about that inspired me.

We bought so many plumeria, we will be showered with blossoms in a few years, and I love that now, every time I look at them, I will be reminded to embrace and follow and embody my passion 

Because when we allow our light to shine, we become such an inspiration to others, even when we don’t even know we are doing it.

xo

 


What Else is Going On?

 in cahootsThis is the last week to sign up for In Cahoots.

I sat down this week and made a video about the course and what it’s about. I hope you enjoy it!

Registration closes on Friday, so please sign up now!


MM one to oneI also have a new offering and a new way to work one-on-one with me. The new version of Magical Mornings combines my original course with a Skype call and the opportunity to do it as a three-day virtual retreat. It’s all of my favourite things, all rolled up into one! I also make a video all about it. You can see it here.

xo

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food, Plenty

The Missing Ingredient

November 19, 2012

“I just couldn’t get away from the siren call of the kitchen that is an inherent part of me. The kitchen of which I speak is both literal and metaphoric. It’s the sum of what I’ve learnt so far, and am still learning.” – Sophie Dahl, Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights.

DSC00377

I have a confession to make: I hate cooking. I hate it. It literally makes me itch. Now, like a lot of things in my life, if I was okay with hating cooking, then all would be well, but I don’t want to hate cooking.

The weird thing is that I love the idea of cooking. New cookbooks make me drool. I pre-ordered Sophie Dahl’s new cookbook months ago and lovingly caress the covers of Risotto with Nettles and Plenty every time I am in a bookstore. I open the pages of Heidi’s books and something in my soul feels better – just owning them nourishes me – but I have yet to cook anything from them.

In my dreams I stand rosy cheeked and happy beside a stove while cooking something delectable. Stirring fresh basil into my sauce, I create magic just like Vianne in Chocolat. In reality, my back starts to ache and my teeth grind against one another in barely contained tension. It’s so bad that my husband (who cooks nearly all of our meals) completely avoids the kitchen when I am making dinner.

What is it – the missing ingredient that links desire and reality?

I know that I love beautiful things and that good food can be exquisitely beautiful. I love the whimsy and the theatricality of ingredients and their presentation. I love the alchemy that is involved in something going on its journey from seed to plate. I can be the most rapt and appreciative dinner guest – but it loses all magic when I am the one having to do the work.

So there is the challenge: learn how to find the exquisite in the preparation instead of just the outcome. See the beauty that lies in the work. Delight in the journey.

Or just get someone else to cook for me.

I am completely open to invitations.

xo

beauty, fire, Quotes, Sacred Feminine

Words that Enchant – Grammar

September 30, 2011

“Beautifully crafted words have the power to captivate the mind of anybody.” – Sam Veda

 

There are poems, quotes, collections of words that haunt me. I read them once and they take up residence in my head, echoing through at the strangest times. I’ll simply be walking along a street and a specific line or phrase will come to me, repeating itself until I have to whisper it aloud or stop a moment and think it clearly.

This is one of those poems. I have shared it before on my old blog, but it wanted to be shared again. I hope that whoever it is who needs to hear it comes for a visit.

When she walks into the room,
everybody turns:

Some kind of light is coming from her head.
Even the geraniums look curious…
We’re all attracted to the perfume
of fermenting joy,

We’ve all tried to start a fire,
and one day maybe it will blaze up on its own.
In the meantime, she is the one today among us
most able to bear the idea of her own beauty,
and when we see it, what we do is natural:
we take our burned hands
out of our pockets,
and clap.

-Tony Hoagland, from ‘Grammar’