Tag: soul

Five Minute Friday – Home

deep fragile graceLeave a comment

I’m doing this 5 minute writing challenge again..and late. About a week late, this one is.

Same old song and dance, just sort of new move in the dance each week.  And this one, in my opinion, is not my best writing not my best dance moves, but it’s the practice of it all that makes me come back for more each time. More practice, more hope at getting to be a better writer.  So hence this, only about a week late.

And a reminder in case you’ve missed it, this is the Friday Five Minute writing challenge, and the details are below in case  you want to play sometime…

This is a weekly writing “game”  from my bloggy friend Lisa-Jo Baker, who blogs (and writes heart-breakingly, beautiful words and stories) at http://lisajobaker.com/

So, here’s the challenge, should you accept it: you write for 5 minutes with freedom like you have no fear or shame.  And then you have to be brave (or at least pretend to be) and link up to her blog. Encouraging the writer who links up before you is part of the deal, too.  This last rule is crucial, as we all need to encourage others. Why encourage another writer? Because at one point or another in our lives, we all need encouraging too.

Each week is a new word, a new thought starter, and you have 5 minutes to write….and are you ready? go-

Home

thanks to Witthaya Phonsawat for the image.
thanks to Witthaya Phonsawat for the image.

Home is the place you come back to, time after time, in a place and in your soul.

It’s the place, the one place you finally exhale for the day, leave the bags at the door all askew and messy and whisper a silent thank you to God for, a retreat, a place away, a literal and figurative closed-door on the other sometimes loud and rude pieces of the day.

Home is comforting, loving, trying.  Just like family.  It’s the place you run to, the place you run away from, the odd place you just want to be, even if that means trying to figure out the logic of a toddler, and how she’s determined that in fact, her doll’s own home is not in her room or the doll’s bed but indeed in the drawer, laying cozy with the shorts.

Home is at once a place of rest and peace, and a place where our soul is on fire; a place of endless frustration and in dire need of organization, and yet one where all of life uncoordinated rhythms and mistakes are loved, welcomed, and of course, at home.

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Five Minute Friday – Voice

deep fragile grace6 Comments

Hi Again-

I’m doing this 5 minute writing challenge again..and late. Again.  Honestly, October has taken the wind out of my sails, in a good way of course.  But, it just means that while being intentional in real life, I am sometimes late here. Oh well.  Such is life.  I believe close to January it swings back the other way, and life becomes a little more quiet and laid back, which in turn means I have better, clearer thoughts and there is actually time to express them.

So. Late to the party, again, but hey, a party nonetheless.

So, a reminder in case you’ve missed it, here’s what this challenge is all about…or, in case maybe you want to play too, some time-

This is a weekly writing “game”  from my bloggy friend Lisa-Jo Baker, who blogs (and writes heart-breakingly, beautiful words and stories) at http://lisajobaker.com/

So, here’s the challenge, should you accept it: you write for 5 minutes, free, like you have no fear or shame or no editor inside your head (all are hard for me)…and then you link up to her blog, and encourage the writer who links up before you.  This last piece is crucial, as we need to encourage others.

Each week is a new word, a new thought starter, and you have 5 minutes to write….and are you ready? go-

Voice

I struggle with my voice sometimes.  Most times, actually. It’s too loud when it should be a whisper, like in church; it’s soft when it needs to speak out, like over all the negativity and undercutting remarks in the so-called mommy wars.

It’s a daily struggle: when do I hold back? When do I scream the truth from the mountaintops?

And I’ve been reminded this week about voice, and it’s power.  We can use it for positivity or for negativity; it’s one of the very few things within our control.

But if we talk out of both sides of our mouth…which, I believe is a Proverbs? verse (or maybe New Testament, the memory here in this 5 minutes is fuzzy) it reminds us that we should not talk out of both sides of our mouth.

Meaning, mean what you say.  Meaning, if you have something to say, say it.

But don’t add your voice to the clutter of the world just to hear the beauty of your own ego talking.

And remember this: when you double-speak, out of both sides of your mouth,  you become doubly ineffective with your voice.

Words and voice have undisputed power.  Palpable, tangible power.  A good reminder for myself to remember this when using my voice.

Struggle

deep fragile graceLeave a comment

Hi There-

I’m struggling right now, with this quote below.  Ironically, this hangs in our house, and something I’ve been thinking about for days now.  But I still somehow don’t get it; if only osmosis happened in my daily life.

In the meantime, please pray for my ego.  It’s being crushed, and that’s not a bad thing.  Seriously!

But I need to remember that, and daily. So, if you’re a praying person, please pray that I learn something from the crushing.

My struggle. Right now.

Thanks, friends.

Five Minute Friday, err, Saturday – Look

deep fragile grace6 Comments

Hi Again-

I’m doing this 5 minute writing challenge again..and late. We had a date night last night (the last one I can remember in eons, a bit shameful about that fact), but I wanted to “be here, now” with my hubby, to fully engage and do that thing called eye contact and talking about something other than parenting that we so often miss in the midst of raising a family, a child, a life.

So, I’m hoping you understand that sometimes my blog takes a backseat for the life happening in front of my eyes.  But, good news is I don’t stay away for too long; I really just can’t help myself, to be quite honest.  I love writing, and sharing, and you all-all of you, a whooping 7 or so odd of you, so here I am!  Late to the party, but hey, a party nonetheless.

So, a reminder in case you’ve missed it, here’s what this challenge is all about…or, in case maybe you want to play too, some time-

This is a weekly writing “game”  from my bloggy friend Lisa-Jo Baker, who blogs (and writes heart-breakingly, beautiful words and stories) at http://lisajobaker.com/

So, here’s the challenge, should you accept it: you write for 5 minutes, free, like you have no fear or shame or no editor inside your head (all are hard for me)…and then you link up to her blog, and encourage the writer who links up before you.  This last piece is crucial, as we need to encourage others.

Each week is a new word, a new thought starter, and you have 5 minutes to write….and are you ready? go-

Look

Sometimes I look at something, think I understand it, but really all I’m doing is just scanning. Just glazing over, glancing over something, not looking at a friend’s need to connect, or poverty, or another’s need for comfort. I also glaze over my own frivolous nature, my perspective being all askew by the trappings of a middle-income suburban life.

The washing machine not getting all of our clothes clean is not a world-shattering problem.  Most days I rarely see this perspective.

I see, don’t look too closely; into other’s lives, closets, eyes.  I don’t avoid eyes like the plague, but I don’t engage wholly, my family’s eyes a tell-tale sign. I looked up one night to silence, to see his piercing, clear and patient eyes, and her same colored eyes, a mix of fierce intensity and innocence, the look of all children’s eyes: inquisitive, passionate, innocent. And I came to the conclusion: I see, I do not look, I do not immerse enough, I do not understand, I still do not get it.  At least not yet.

When in reality, I need to look beyond my own pretense and the social status and the hype and see the heart. I need to look beyond me.

I need to look, drink deeply into others.  And in this: I’ve only begun to see.