a sweet deal

01 Friday Jun 2012

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i’m adding a quick second post today because i want to share a sweet deal with you…

i’ve written here before about susannah…she’s lovely, she’s talented, she’s real.  i’ve worked through two of her unravelling e-courses and am currently working through an e-book version of one of her courses.  she’s totally fabulous.  so here’s the thing.  she has recently birthed two {yes two!} books into the world.  this is know is a solo venture; instant love was co-authored with jenifer altman and amanda gilligan.  let me tell me here that they are both brilliant books.

okay, so the sweet deal…
if you pre-order susannah’s this i know before june 4, you will receive her e-course exploring the senses for free…yes, free!  click here for details.

honestly, without the freebie attached, getting the book is worth it alone.  it is infused with susannah’s love and her gorgeous images.  it’s such a gentle read, and tugged on my heart the whole way through.

sending a little love your way {for the second time today!}, m

:: noticing the moments ::

31 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in noticing the moments

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taking some time to reflect upon my week…

:: mangoes

:: touched and quite pleased that this illustration struck a chord with so many of you; thank you *all* for your lovely, lovely comments.  they…you…warmed my heart

:: winding down our schedule and looking forward to more open hours of summertime fun

:: slip n’ slide !!!

:: enjoying my husband at home with us for an extra long weekend

:: knowing i can wipe the slate clean, reset, start again…witnessing my children learn that they have the power to do the same.  a less-than-pleasant exchange shifts to time spent privately shifts to acknowledgement of what has passed shifts to an embrace of new direction taken.  wipe the slate clean, reset, start again

:: can i tell you how happy my heart is right now?  that as i type these moments from my week, my children are sitting on the couch beside me noting their own moments in their journals…i heart that

hoping you enjoyed special moments in your week.  feel free to share some your moments…

sending a little love your way, m

 

a story of persistence

31 Thursday May 2012

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photo taken by michael matuczinski

persistence:  the quality or act of persisting; tenacity; or a continued effort or existence.

i wrote about persistence last week…how my son matter-of-factly held me accountable.  how he indirectly called me to step up to the plate.
it’s easy to put things off for another day, another week, month, year.  especially when those things are dreams and passions that may or may not be valued or understood by others.

over the weekend, i was thinking about someone i know who is persisting in his artistic passions…my cousin, michael matuczinski, who is a member of the band a curio vis along with marty csencsits.  first touched by the music bug back in his early teenage years, michael is currently working hard to make a go with his passion.  a curio vis‘  first album, titled drawn onward, speaks of cycles and circles. “Day and night, young and old, microcosm and macrocosm are things that seem very far apart until you realize there ultimately isn’t much separating them.”  the title of their album is a palindrome {meaning it reads the same both forwards and back}, further hinting at the circular theme.  also interesting to note:  the songs on the album chronicle a story about one character’s entire life.  as the character ages, the song styles change…lots of layers.

i love this idea of things cycling round and round, of everything being connected.  it’s maybe why after a life of viewing my younger cousin as just that…younger…we’ve come to a place in our lives where birth order doesn’t mean a whole lot, a place in our lives where i can admire him for the work he’s got going on, a place where i can feel inspired by his holding true to himself.  there’s a connection.

a curio vis is hard at work on their sophomore album.  in the meantime, you can listen to their first album by clicking on the image below.

and you can read an article about the band published in the express times here.
and one more tidbit:  michael said he gets asked about the band’s name all the time.  it’s a scramble of the word vicarious.  another layer.

persistence…
do you have a story of persistence?

sending a little love your way, m

 

:: noticing the moments ::

25 Friday May 2012

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taking some time to reflect upon my week…

::  puddle stompin’ and rope jumpin’

:: my kids’ violin recital…i love that i am able to accompany them on the piano each time…so fun

:: beginning to catch up on my project mentioned here

:: appreciating the way technology can connect us with people with whom we might otherwise not connect…i’ve had some heart-warming exchanges lately via blog comments, email, flickr, and instagram…feeling so good

:: blooms {i shared this one with bella at 52 photo projects this week} and bouquets

hoping you enjoyed special moments in your week.  feel free to share some moments {i love hearing from you} and/or link to your blog in the comments section.

sending a little love your way, m


lessons in persistence from my eleven year old son

24 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in art, reflections

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backstory:  i decided at the beginning of this year that i would take {at least} one photograph each day and make a short journal entry about that photo.  simple in theory.  but i’ve slipped…

so the conversation went something like this:

me:  oh, i am so behind in my photo project!

my son:  why are you so behind?

me:  because i skipped a day here and there.  and then i started skipping more and more.  and here we are at the end of may, and i’m way behind documenting my photos.{they’re all taken, mind you.  just not noted in my project journal.}

my son:  in a very gentle voice…well, it should only take you a few minutes each day if you do it.

me:  um…ah…um…mmmm.
you know what?  you’re absolutely right.  it just means a few minutes out of each day.  i have no excuse really.  i’ve just got to start again and get moving with it.  you are totally right…thanks, honey.

it really bothers me when i do things like this…let things slip.  i’m very aware of what i’m doing…or not doing.  and i make myself a little nuts when i do things like this.  but i do it.  it’s a pattern i’ve developed in my life, a habit.  but i do not want my life to be defined by this type of action, or in-action as the case may be.

i need to step up to the plate.   i have more than kept up with the photography end of things, but i am the one who needs to get pen to paper each day, honoring the commitment i set for myself back at the beginning of the year.  i owe this to myself.  i’m good enough to do this.  no one is going to do it for me; it’s my thing.

and so i begin again.  persisting in the manifestation of my creative projects…persisting in the manifestation of the life i am meant to live.

will you persist in the manifestations of your blessings, your gifts, your life?

sending a little love your way, m

 

tucking away some magic

22 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in family, nature

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some time was spent this past weekend getting the final things into our vegetable garden.  as the weeks progress, we’ll be adding here and there…like butternut squash following the sugar snap peas.  but, for now, the seeds and seedlings are all nestled into our garden.

i didn’t get around to starting our tomatoes or peppers indoors {i’ll try for that next year} so i’ve been waiting for our local nursery to get their supply of those seedlings.  over the weekend, my daughter and i visited the nursery, and before picking out our plants, we wandered through the nursery a bit.  it was a beautifully sunny, not-too-warm, not-too-cool morning.  the flowers in the greenhouse were lovely, the glazed gardening pots like rainbows of clay.  but my favorite part of our nursery stroll was through the plants, shrubs, and saplings.  there were close walkways among all the lush greenery and these little paths carried with them a hint of magic.  it felt like we were walking on secret paths.

my daughter was skipping along, pausing to show me this and that.  we noted the yellowy greens, the red-tinged greens, the silvery greens.  we noted soft and pointy.  tall and short.  slender, wide.  it wasn’t a long walk through the nursery.  but it was a walk filled with sweetness.  my daughter skipped and smiled, filled with a simple and pure joy.  and i followed her…not skipping, but smiling…and filled with a simple and pure joy.

so we brought home a wee bit of that magic, i hope…lovingly placed some of it in our garden and lovingly tucked a bit of it away in our hearts.

whatever your weekend held for you, i hope there were bits of joy, bits of magic tucked in there for you.

sending a little love your way, m

 

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