Picking Up The Pieces...

I have some big news :)

A few pieces actually...
You can learn more about all of them at my new website!
My latest blog post is about an e-book that features one of my poems from this blog.

And I have a new Facebook page too...
A few new places to hang out with me :)

I hope to "see" you there!

Gentle

North Shore Beauty ~ Summer 2011

Be gentle with yourself.

Yes, I mean you.

I hear the way you talk to you, the way you focus on one little itty bitty thing you don't like, the way you judge yourself, less than, too much, not enough, if only... stop it. 

Stop it now.

You are a radiant, glowing human being, deserving of radical kindness and abundant love. 

You deserve to be spoken to kindly by ALL who are in your presence- and that includes YOU!

Allow yourself the journey, if you were at the destination what fun would be left?  

Enjoy the process, be deeply human. 

You are a gift to the world.  

Your negative self-talk, your doubts are doing nothing but clouding your gifts... let your soul shine.  Sure, you will have moments of fear, or not enoughness... but from now on respond to them as though you were talking to your best friend.  

So be gentle today.  Learn, love and live fully.

And know that I love you.

Surrender

Surrender

There is a gentle power, a subtle shift, a sigh, 

when we surrender.

The time when we are able to release what we believe, what we hold dear, what we are fighting for.

We stand tall in the knowledge that they will remain until we are able to pack them up again.

Surrender to the fatigue, the tiredness, the exhaustion.

Release yourself of the idea that you are the only one, that you are the one that this fight depends on.

Relax into the gentle arms of the one that loves you, of the soft pillows upon your bed, feel yourself gently slip away into the sudsy warm water of a bath.

Let it go.

This is not yours to carry alone.

Stop fighting, stop struggling,

silence the chorus in your head.

Surrender.

Allow yourself the break, or the fatigue will break you.

For the moment just

          pause.

Restore.

Relax.

Rejuvenate.

Invigorate.

Find the strength in letting go.

You have permission. 

Hopes and wishes...

I wrote this birthday wish for a friend... but after rereading it I realize that it isn't just birthday's that we should share these sentiments and it isn't just "special" occasions that I hope these things for others... it is everyday. 

I hope that today you are simply soaking in all of the love and that you are finding lots of opportunities to laugh, to love and be loved deeply to the core of your being.

 

You are a bringer of light, a shining gem in the midst of the world... you are a treasure!

 

I hope you feel all the love that surrounds you today and every day!!!

Gossamer Threads...

Hold on to that feeling... 

that gossamer thread that holds you to the lightness of being... 

it is there... 

I promise. 

There are things that I know... 

That you are held, you are loved. 

That every fiber of your being is made with twinkling stardust, 

solid earth, life-giving water from the lake and the vast ocean, 

beautiful sunlight and the powerful wind... 

you are a part of it all... 

and it is all a part of you. 

That you will get through this... 

even though it doesn't feel like it now... 

your dawn will come... 

the dark night is intense, all-encompassing and so very real... 

but what you can't yet see is the glorious sunrise that is to come... 

the powerful sun of love that will gently rise bathing every cell of your being in the warmth and beauty of the new dawn... 

beautiful colors beyond your imagining holding, caressing and loving every inch of you, healing every hurt, mending every tear in your soul... 

leaving you full, at peace and lit from within. 

Of that I am sure.

The Work of a Lifetime...

It must just be that we mortals never really get life all figured out.  The brain may be overachieving and whip-smart, but the soul is a remedial, wayward student, forever forgetting yesterday’s lessons.  I’ve always known that one reason I write is to remind myself to do as I say.  Now, I’m also realizing that I have to keep learning and practicing the same things over and over again — silence, patience, acceptance, faith, gratitude for what is — until slowly, bit by bit, what I know to be true becomes who I am.  To say that it’s a process is an understatement.  

It is, I suppose, the work of a lifetime.

Katrina Kenison

I don't love you someday...

I don’t love you someday…

When you lose 10 pounds

When your house is cleaner

When your teeth are whiter

When you are wearing your best outfit with your new manicure and your roots just right

When you have it all “pulled together”

When you are whatever or wherever it is that you are striving for.

I love you now.



I love you now.

In the midst of your half done to do list

In the midst of your striving to be someone different than who you are at this moment.

In the midst of your valiant efforts to be a “better person” whatever that means.

In the midst of your beautiful, shining, sometimes pulled together, sometimes messy life.

In the midst of your teeth whitening, weight-losing, forever to-do list, whatever else frenzy.

I love you now.

Exactly as you are.

In this moment.

Without anything to change.

I don’t love you someday.

I love you now.

Holding...

A prayer for H~

May you be held in love.

In the moments when it feels as though you can't possibly continue let the love of your friends and family hold you until the next moment.

You will be faced with impossible decisions and moments in the coming days and months that most can't even imagine... and through it all there will be moments of grace to sustain you, love to hold you close when you feel your heart breaking open, and one breath after another to move you through to the next day.

And these days will string together, and somehow, you will get through this...
you will find solid ground again, you will get through this together. 

Holding a space for your pain, for your hope, for you.
With love,
Erica

Washing over...

So interesting how often when the loss washes over me in the very next breath I am held in love, and all of the blessings, all of the healing, all the love and the light that has been shared with me envelops me... such a sacred place.

Prayer...

Let all of your life be a prayer.

May joy surround you.
May love fill you.
May grace wash over you.
May hope shine its face brightly.
May peace hold you in it's gentle embrace.
May the light of love highlight all the blessings that surround you now and always.