My challenge

I challenge you to be really here

When you stand in front of me

To make the choice to look me in the eye

To bare your soul to me

and gift me with you presence.

I challenge you to let go of your distractions

The things that take your attention away

I want you to want to be completely there

To be raw and unfiltered.

I challenge you to tell me your unspoken dreams

The magic that breathes to you at night

To take in the moment that we share

However small it might be

And hold it gently against your soul.

I challenge you to make it count

So that when we take the next step of our journey

I will know you and will carry you with me.

~ LML June 2010

sunshine

J's favorite saying is that he is solar-powered. I love this statement! I am so solar-powered! I remember this every year when summer comes to Ottawa. The last few days of delicious heat that penetrates deep into my bones makes me so happy. My windows are open. My skimpy tops are on. My toes are free. I love the warmth on my skin. I love the feeling of being hot. My body limbers up, my mind relaxes, my soul, like a sunflower, turns me towards the light. It feels so good! Liking drinking in something soothing and contented.

I think some of this attraction may have started in my tween years when my Mom painted my room bright yellow. We lived in California and the sunshine was strong. My room faced the morning light and when the sun rose, at some crazy hour in the morning, the rays seemed to radiate and reflect off of the walls. "I am awake already!" I remember grumbling to the world. But secretly, I think I loved it. I loved waking up happy and bright. Seeing the cheerfulness that comes with light. It had a bounce to it, and I know I absorbed it.

Blessed be the cracked, for they let in the light!

tether

I love this word tether. I don't quite know why.
I picture the lifeline. The fragility of the connection.

How easily it can be picked up by the elements and carried off somewhere.

How, with a quick tear of teeth, it's broken.

How it can be plucked from a root and discarded.

But I also see the strength that such a small hold can have.

Imagine a string wrapped around your finger

and how it has the capacity to cut off your blood supply

Or the little stitch you pull that unravels the whole sweater.

And take this tether and braid it together -

like the coming together of friends and loved ones -

intertwining their lives together in laughter, love and shared adventures.

And, suddenly, you have a rope that strong and useful and capable of many things.