This space holds words of love written just for you. Here you'll find the faces of creativity, beauty, love, kindness, abundance, receptivity and and a flourishing search for joy. "Love.. focuses on the goodness of life in all its expressions and augments that which is positive. Loving is a state of being. It is a way of relating to the world that is forgiving, nurturing, and supportive. Love is not intellectual and does not proceed from the mind. Love emanates from the heart. It has the capacity to lift others and accomplish great feats because of its purity of motive." David Hawkins My Story.. At one time in my life, change was something I longed for. Loving everything that was new and different, I would seek out ways to rework my life. I made so many new friends, traveled, went back to school, changed careers and homes, sometimes moving as often as every two years. As a student and then a school teacher, the fall had that familiar allure of a fresh new start, new scribblers, and sharpened pencils. With time, my life began to settle, tuck in, and become steadily more predictable. There was a calm feeling surrounding this illusion of permanence and a freedom available in consistency that I had never known before. Children brought with them a busy but stable and peaceful life. However, the only thing that one can ever know for certain is that nothing ever stays the same. People move, families shift and separate, and loved ones pass away. This very lack of permanence in life is what makes every fleeting, joyful moment so precious. At this stage in my life, change carries with it a sense of uncertainty and sometimes even the fear of loss. What was once so reliable has become much less so. My last move to a new home was made with the heartfelt mindset that this was a positive change toward a beautiful new life. Every small detail was carefully considered, each interior and exterior decor item, piece of furniture, and work of art was selected with the intent that it would reflect on the outside the new person that I had become on the inside. Yet, despite having lovingly created this new home, once finished I experienced an unexpected sense of anxiety and fear. I’ve learned that all major life changes, even positive ones, bring with them a requisite emotional shift that can’t be escaped. In the midst of these new life circumstances, how does one recapture that sense of peace and confidence? After countless pages read, I’ve found that the only way I’ve been able to recapture that sense of peace is by celebrating each moment in life and taking the time to appreciate small moments that I once took for granted. Breathing deeply, sitting next to my warm puppy while watching the sunrise in magical tones, enables me to renew that feeling of being grounded again. Simple gratitude meditation on what one can see and feel at a moment in time sharpens the camera’s lens on this truth: The only certainty we ever really have is in the here and now. Anxiety is founded on fear of the future and longing looks with regret at the past. It is only by anchoring ourselves firmly in the moment, rejoicing in what we have right now, that we can truly be free. For only deep within each of us is the permanence, stability, and peace we crave. Only by looking within that can one get back in touch with a calm resonance that is lasting and unshakable; one must truly find and love one’s self. I don’t know what will come next; with each melting winter’s snow I only know that a new and vibrant spring is unfolding. What this new season will bring with it I can never know for certain, but I’m facing forward with eager anticipation, knowing I can either embrace or withstand everything that comes my way. What do I know for certain? That the love I have for my family, my friends, and, most of all, myself is at the core of the truth that I seek. Love xx Barbara

The Journey

the path
from here
to
there
is time-worn
with travellers
who went
ahead

angel
sentinels,
they are the
trees that
contour
our trails,
shelter and
map
our way

through
hemlock
spruce,
aspen and
pine
the sweet
pitched
passages
beckon

wildflowers
scent
the beautiful
highs and
shadowed
crevices,
the whispered
lows

so it
is with
this
life
and the journey
within

we
can only
wander
our own
path-
create
what moves us
so
inspired
imagination
becomes
reality

come walk
with
me a
while..

Barbara Barry - August 2016

 

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