Monday, January 19, 2015

The Beauty of Balance In Life And Writing


Oops... My apologies... The post you came to find was not supposed to be published...yet! It was still in draft form.  I've been working to update old posts and create new ones, and I accidentally hit publish instead of save. Rats in a poke.

We are still away for a few more days.... perhaps this lovely winter sunrise will fit as a small substitute while the other post gets completed and reposted.
  
Hugs,
Brenda
xox


Sunday, January 04, 2015

Dormant


No clicking or clattering
No fancy pen dipping in antique inkwell

No ideas budding into words just now

All is dormant
Peaceful
Quiet as a wintry garden outside

Just as trees have gathered life down deep under frozen landscape
so this soul feels drawn to hibernate a while.

Be still
Be still and know
Know

To everything there is a season

Now is time to come away.
Rest. Dream. Ruminate.
Fill creative well.

Rest. Be still. Know.

The time will come.
With new life...
New words too.

We shall return.
Refreshed.
Ready to share again.

Thinking fond thoughts of you, Dear Ones!

Hugs,
Brenda
xox 



Wednesday, December 31, 2014

It's A New Year

Dear Beautiful Friends,

I type these three little words "Happy New Year" -- such a simple phrase, one that hardly seems to say anything.

Yet, if I were to assure you that I'm offering this well known phrase to you with all the fullness of affection and love that I have in my heart for you at this very moment in time, would your heart feel that I really do want you to have a happy new year? A year in which you'll be healthy and well in every cell of your being, that you'll have joy full and running over, good friends to hug and fuss over you occasionally, and to have not just enough, but more than enough of what you need and truly desire.

I'd also want your heart and mind to be at peace, where fear doesn't make itself to home in your thoughts, but that perfect love, which casts out all fear, will abide there instead.

In our up-side-down world, there certainly are trials and events around the globe that send our peace skittering for cover. But when we glance backward into history, every age and era has had its dark, darker, and darkest moments. Many hardly bear thinking of. Today, alas, is no different.

If you do find yourself fretting -- or looking forward with some anxiety trying to see into this new year -- perhaps you will find a measure of comfort and restored peace as you read this old saying I share below, written by St. Francis de Sales centuries ago.

I find it encouraging, for if people who lived through their dark historical eras can hand down such hopeful thoughts, then surely it's also possible for us, in our world today, to take heart – and hope -- as well.


Do Not Look Forward To What May Happen Tomorrow

The same God who cares for you today
will take care of you tomorrow and every day.
Either God will shield you from suffering,
or God will give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace, then;
put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.

St. Francis de Sales,1567 - 1622 



And so I do wish you with joy and hope --
Happy New Year!


With a gentle kiss atop thy heads,
Brenda
xox



Saturday, December 27, 2014

Take Joy In Your World


Put your coat on ... and go out into your world today. Take your dog for a walk. Commune with nature a little -- let its restorative beauty bring a sense of peace to your mind and re-connect your heart to the One who designed it all in the first place.




Notice how red the berries look. Or how the ice or snow forms over them. Laugh at the magpies when they lecture from a tree top because you forgot to set out their daily peanut portion.




Watch how the blue shadows shift on piles of snow or how fog patches settle in low places. Greet the cheery snowman. Listen to the wind sough through evergreen boughs. Pay attention to how the evening shadows fall and the way the winter sunset barely tinges the sky that peachy pink.


Go out into your world today. And take joy in it.
Hugs,
Brenda and Snowflake
xox




Wednesday, December 24, 2014

It's Almost Christmas!

Gerard van Honthorst, circa 1620 "Adoration of the Child"

  "OH, COME LET US ADORE HIM"


It's almost here! I want to take a moment to wish you and your loved ones a wonder-filled Christmas in which ever way you choose to celebrate!

May there be the sound of joy rustling amongst the leaves of tissue paper and may there be lots of love nestled in every parcel.

With hugs and a gentle kiss atop thy head,
 Brenda and Snowflake
xox