What if...

You are enough.


Stop striving, stop trying to reach perfection- you are losing yourself in the process.

In your endless quest for prefection you have given up the opportunity to deeply drink from life, you have bypassed joy because it didn't come packaged how you thought it would, you have missed out on love that was right in front of you because it wasn't wrapped in a pretty bow.

What if you stopped- stopped reaching, stopped emptying yourself saying it was your repsonsibilty to fill another.

What if you were able to simply focus on nourishing you, what if you loved yourself in the same way you love your child, your partner, your best friend.

What if you treated yourself with such kindness, with such love, with such compassion.

What if you were able to forgive yourself for what you had done, what if you could forgive yourself for what you hadn't done...

What if you gave yourself extravagant love...

What if your love was contagious, what if it was so full, so beautiful, so full of light that people couldn't help but want to be around it, what if it was so contagious that it spilled over onto whoever shared your presence.

What if you made coming alive with love a priority?

What if you decided to seek out beauty like it was your mission in life?

What if you shared the gifts that you were given for the sheer joy of it?

What if you held yourself and your heart more gently?

What if you were able to see the beauty I see in you?

What if...

Musings on beauty, purpose and me...

A friend sent me a beautiful journal prompt yesterday:

"If you had to answer what type of mark you would like your time here to imprint on your life,
your soul, your spirit...what would you say? What in this life do you just want to experience for you, for your heart, just for Erica to be able to say...that filled me, my heart sang, I was, and I am....what do you want just for you?

... and I realized that as a Social Worker to the core, I don't often spend time with that question of nourishing me... it all to often turns external and towards helping others.  I have been trying to answer that question more frequently for myself recently and turns out it makes a huge difference in the ease of what I can offer others.  I have always told other people that you can't give what you don't have, but I haven't taken that to heart myself.  I haven't truly integrated that into every cell of my being.  So that has been my intention as of late, to deeply nourish me, my soul, to find what brings me joy... and to let go of the "shoulds" of the "buts" of all of those voices who keep me from joy.  So this was some of my response.

I think what brings me joy and what makes my heart sing is collecting moments of beauty... and being able to bring out beauty in people, in situations, in words... even it if is only for me. I love to live more deeply, to bring out the richness in life. To find the extraordinary in the ordinary.



To find the words that will add texture and life, to find the picture that will enhance the words...


I have also been reminded how much I like a guitar, a soulful voice and an authentic human being being lit from within with the passion and excitement for what they are doing. Being a part of that, being able to applaud and witness something so intimate.


All of these things make my heart sing... to sit here and weave words, to be able to pour out exactly where I am at any given point in time... that is something that makes my heart sing, that I crave... the time to really listen to my writers soul... to honor that deep need that I have to make sense of life on paper.

Believe in the Power of Your Dreams...

Photo by Desiree Quinlan

Listen to that small voice,
you know the one,
it is insistant,
but in such a gentle way that it can be easy to miss,
especially if you fill your life with noise...
there is fullness, and laughter, and joy that can sing...
but then there is noise...
the stuff that you know deep down you are only doing because you know to listen to your dreams is to make some changes...
and sometimes we will do anything to keep something from changing,
even when it constricts us, makes us small and tired.

I dare you..
make time for your dreams,
listen to them, let them unfold.
Sometimes it is so simple...
a new dress, a little time for you,
a cup of tea each night,
a poem that is waiting to be written,
a picture waiting to be taken,
but sometimes it does require bravery,
it requires courage,
it requires all the power you can muster...
I dare you.
You won't regret it.

Struck by beauty...

Two years ago I was given a camera, one of the best presents I have ever received- since then I have been a bit obsessed.

I have been taking pictures... of the ordinary, of the extraordinary and everything inbetween. And of course there is Facebook to share them on, Shutterfly to put them in beautiful books and Wal-Mart and Walgreens to print them out for a mere 12 cents to adorn my refrigerator door.

But it was more than that. Part of it is that I have been reminded of how fragile life is... people aren't in our lives forever, memories fade, usually faster than we would like them to, and life changes... and unfortunately as much as I cling to the safety of the known and beg life not to change, it just keeps changing. So the next best thing, I want to document it. I want to live my life fully and to have these little reminders of how amazing it truly was/is. To be reminded of the people, places and things that bring such meaning, joy and beauty into my life.

But lately as summer fades into fall I have been obsessed with pictures of the leaves with their vibrant yellows, of the brilliant reds and oranges that seem to be lit on fire in the setting sun.

And I have realized that is why I have continued to be obessesed with taking pictures... I feel like beauty is the footprint, the fingerprint, the mark of the Divine, and I want to capture it, I want to share the beauty that surrounds us at all times... I want people to be able to see what I see through the eyes of love... to be able to say, this is how I see the world... and perhaps that is why I write too... to try to do the same thing... to capture the beauty of love in a little square to pull out and enjoy time and time again.

Pitching Perfect...

I am posting this photo in honor of the Perfect Protest.

An author, speaker and all around amazing woman that I adore just released a book that I am excited about getting: The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown

I am going to see her speak later on this month and I can't wait.
You can read more here.

Just imagine.
If we were able to let go of being perfect and instead were able to embrace who we really are... how much power would that unleash in the world? How much more compassion, love and healing could we focus on? How much more joy, peace and laughter we could partake in... how we could delight in life instead of comparing, contrasting and finding fault.

Just the other night I wrote this after a conversation with a friend...

Permission...

Whose permission are you waiting for?
go out on the dance floor,
write that book and stop the words from rolling around in your heart,
paint that picture that has been burning in your soul,
take that picture that you can see in your minds eye,
sing the song that is unsung in your heart,
create that thing that only you can see,
Live your life!

Give yourself permission.
Talk back to the fear.
Say NO when doubt whispers in your ear.
When you thinking, "but everyone else can do it so much better/prettier/more creatively/sexier/more authentically"....
STOP.

You are not everyone.
You are YOU.
Wonderfully, authentically, beautifully you.
Created to experience joy,
share love,
and to delight in all of the things we have been given.

Give yourself permission...
The world is waiting!



So... What would you do? How would your life be different?
What are you waiting for!?!?!!?

What I wish for you...

I originally wrote this for a friend... but realized there probably wasn't a heart that didn't need to be reminded of these things...


What I wish for you...

I wish for you peace, in this place of not knowing and of the shifting sands, I wish for you the knowledge that you are never alone, that you are held.

You are a child of God, loved, cherished and always looked out for.

I wish for you strength when yours is wearing thin,
hope when yours has been misplaced, and love to replace the fear.

You are a woman of integrity, of great passion and fierce tenacity.

You will be okay... it will require tears, prayers, soul searching, the love of friends and family and the grace of God, but all of these things you have, and you will be given exactly what you need.

I trust in this for you.

I see to the heart of you- and there is nothing but beauty and love.

These things I promise…

It won’t feel like this forever.

Somehow a path will be found,

the way will be made

~ even if it looks impossible now.

Remember impossible can also be I’m Possible.