Heart Stones or Remaining Open to Love

As I prepare to close my eyes on another busy day, I take a few minutes to look through a bowl of heart stones which I have collected during my travels along the beach.  Each one represents a journey along the shoreline and each one reminds me of a moment of mindfulness in which something caught my eye and I bent down to examine it.  Whether it was a walk with my wonderful husband, a family outing with my Angel Daughters or a meditative walk alone, each stone stands for something different and unique.  Each one caused me to pause.  Each one allowed me to focus on how nature is able sculpt ordinary objects into works of absolute beauty.  Each one reminded me to give pause and to offer a silent prayer for those who own a piece of my heart.
For no matter how hard life may become.  No matter how our souls can be battered and bruised by the difficulties and disappointments.  No matter how many empty spaces still need to be filled within our spirits, the heart can remain open to love as long as we allow it to.
Life may shape or mold us many different times throughout the journey, but only we can determine whether to love or wither.  The choice is up to us and although it is not always easy, and it does not always end up the way that it should, may you always choose love.
Every person you meet, every heart that connects with yours, has had to contend with heartache and difficulty and pain.  But if you are lucky, the one thing that remains a constant is your ability to love...and to be loved.

Wandering into the Lives of a Few Blogging Friends

Sometimes when I am wandering around with my camera in hand, I spot things that remind me of some of my blogging friends.  In the time that I have been blogging, I have come to consider so many of you as my friends.  I pop in to check on you, as you do me.  We read about each other's days.  We laugh at each other's jokes.(thank you, Ms. TJ)  Our hearts ache with one another's pain.  As I was going through some of the photos that I recently shot, I found some that were taken with a particular blogging friend in mind.  I am going to share some of those with you here.  This is something that I hope to do more of in the future, as you all mean so very much to me.

This first image was taken a few days ago from the front yard of my beach house.  It is a picture of Catalina Island at dusk.  I cannot always see it as there is usually a lot of marine layer(fog) which hides the island from view.  Catalina Island is off the coast of Southern California.  It is a tourist destination, but much of the island is uninhabited.  The small town of Avalon is filled with small shops, restaurants and other sight-seeing opportunities.  The only way to get to Catalina is by boat or helicopter which makes it fairly remote.  This photo was taken with JoJo

in mind.  She once wrote about her "bucket list" and how she would like to take her husband to Catalina Island.  I snapped this picture with JoJo in mind, but I am posting it for anyone who has ever wished that they could run off to a remote island.(even for just a few hours!)
As I was wandering around the quaint streets of San Juan Capistrano, I spotted this beautiful Madonna statue.  Although I am Jewish, I admire the iconic beauty of various religious figures and what they stand for.  One of my dear blogging friends, Kathleen, often refers to her connection with the Madonna.  When I spotted this one, I just had to take a picture of it.  I felt a sense of calmness just looking at it.  

This photo was also taken in San Juan Capistrano.  There are so many lovely, old homes lining the streets of the Los Rios district.  When I stopped to admire the color, shadows of light and the angles on this home, I was reminded of the wonderful paintings that Catherine Holman creates.  Cathie's creations and her stories illicit a sense of calmness in this often crazy world that we live in.  Looking at this little house made me stop and think about Catherine.  She paints such lovely places to hideaway inside of.
Another one of my favorite bloggers recently wrote about shells and butterfly wings.  I recently spotted this beautiful Monarch butterfly, perching on a plant.  It was kind enough to pose for a quick photo.  It made me stop and think about Roxanne at River Garden Studio, and how she constantly inspires me to be more creative.
And finally, there is this gorgeous little lady.  Mark and I saw her flitting her way down the street in Laguna Beach.  She went from one shop to another, collecting her daily snacks from the shop keepers.  Please check out her toenails.
I swear her owner was wearing the same color nail polish on his toes.  I suppose that's what love is all about.
Ness, Hallie and all of my other Doxie loving blogging friends, this little baby is for you.  There aren't many people that I think about when I see a Doxie in a pink-leopard tutu with matching pearls.  That is a category all unto itself.

These are just a few of my wonderful blogging buddies.  There are so many more.  I have linked the sites of these special people up to their names.  If you get a free moment, stop by and say hello.  It's interesting because I find that all good bloggers are connected to one another, somehow, so you may already know these lovely individuals.  I feel very lucky to have connected with each and every one of you.  If I wasn't able to include a picture that made me think about you, I will in the future.  Friendship is like that.  The simplest things can cause us to stop and think about someone we care about when we least expect it.  It's always a welcome surprise!

May this day spark thoughts of the people you care about.  May you find a way to tell them how much you care.

A Moment in Time. A Moment to Keep. A Moment to Dwell on.

I wasn't raised in a family that encouraged the power of positive thinking.  My dad can look past the bigger picture towards what is ultimately going to be fine, but my mother is another story.  Everything is "nag, nag, nag".  "I want what I want when I want it, which happens to be RIGHT NOW."  I suppose this is a small part, a very small part, a tinsy-winsy, itty-bitty little part of why they ended up divorcing.  And as I have explained to my dad over the course of the past several years, when he was ready to really hear it, he was able to divorce himself from my mother and marry someone who is a much better fit.  I, on the other hand, happened to remain irreversibly stuck with the hand that life dealt me.  My recently deceased brother chose a different journey in which he decided to remain estranged from our father, but I know that he had to live with his own demons because of the choice that he made.  They both did.  I couldn't, can't, won't do that with my mother unless I am left with no other choice.  And so far, I feel fairly comfortable with the choices that I have made when it comes to relationships.  I would much rather suffer some discomfort in a relationship, than make an irreversible choice by shutting someone out of my life permanently, whom I view as difficult.  To me, that would be missing the lesson, and Lord help me if I am forced to repeat some of these lessons again, in another place or at another time.  I would much rather complete the course now.

This past week brought with it a couple more "slams", and so, while taking the time to recover my bearings, I decided to take some time to dwell in the positive.  For as much as life tends to slam us, there is always, yes always, something good which can be unearthed.  For me those "somethings" are first and foremost, my husband and our Angel Daughters.  After that comes our dog, our kitties and yes, even our birds.  These are the things that remain steadfast and loyal in my life.

I was clicking through some pictures and came upon these which were taken a bit over a week ago.  Angel Daughter Number Three(my sixteen year old) was really itching to go on a mother/daughter adventure with me, and so we got into the car and began driving.  Having four makes it sometimes difficult to just steal away with only one angel at a time, so that made our outting even more special.  As we drove along, without any particular destination in mind, we turned the radio up loud and sang along to 70's and 80's songs that we both knew.  The more I allowed myself to relax and sing, the more we giggled.  By the time we arrived at our surprise destination, I felt almost like a teenager myself.  Looking at my daughter and how much she was enjoying our trip to "nowhere" allowed me to remember what it felt like to be sixteen, and for a little while, I was sixteen again, just hanging out with a friend!  How fun it was to go back in time with my own child!  We even sat in the parking lot until the song we were listening to was over.  When I turned the car off, I said to AD3, "Now you see what Mom might have been like at your age!  I was fun, too."  AD3 turned to me, smiling, and said, "Mom, you are always fun when you want to be."  A moment in time.  A moment to keep.  A moment to dwell on.

We decided to stop for an impromptu dinner at this interesting little place called The Gypsy Den.  We tasted one another's food and chatted freely about life, friends, and stuff.  The waitress noticed that I was taking pictures and asked if we would like her to take one of us together.  I am very glad that we said yes.  A moment in time.  A moment to keep.  A moment to dwell on.

There were some very interesting places to take pictures and so I convinced AD3, who doesn't usually enjoy having her picture taken, to "model" for me.  We also went shopping and I bought her and my other three angels, some fun stuff.  How joyous it was to think of nothing but food, fun and shopping for a few hours!
We both noticed these colorful, ornate bottles which were on a shelf in the restaurant that we ate at.  It struck me that objects which might look pretty, but quite ordinary alone, really created a beautiful display when grouped together.  It made me realize that each one of my angels, alone, is quite lovely and unique but as a group of four strong sisters, they are a dynamo.  A force to be reckoned with.  Special alone, but stronger when placed in the beautiful light of one another.  Reflecting off of each other in ways which only sisters can do.  I am the singleton, but they, they are sisters.  

And so, as a new week begins, I am choosing to dwell in the positive.  Yes, this has been an incredibly rough year, and yes, it continues to be one in ways that I once could not even fathom, but I am strong.  I have a choice and for now I would rather think about beautiful days with my angels and not funerals, lost nieces, hospital rooms where my father's health is being constantly challenged, and a "clinically depressed" mother who is clinging too tightly.  I am fighting to dwell in the positive, a place that has always felt much more at home to me than the alternative.

May the coming week bring you moments to keep and moments to dwell on.  May you share your own stories of "dwelling in the positive" with those who need to be reminded that there are always two sides to every coin.  We all need to be reminded.  I know that I do.