Music Monday Offerings...

(This one needs to be turned up loud...)

God,
Won't you
Won't you fill me up with it
Why don't you fill me up with it
Won't you fill me!


My heart is full today
I pour it out to you...
Be filled
Be whole
Be Loved


Love and Light

This morning....

Early Sunday morning, doing a little blog visiting and I came across the following at the sweet Cara's space...

(I hope you take the 20 minutes to watch it as it is so relevant.....)


For myself, this came at the perfect time.
Today I go for lunch to my mom's where my older sister will be...we have been estranged...not seeing one another for over two years. The reasons for this are not important. What is important is that I stop what I am doing to contribute to this estrangement and take responsibility for my part of the relationship. This very visit is a key part in my journey towards complete Forgiveness....a journey to heal an unexpected wound.
I go today with the knowledge that Vulnerability will be at my side. That this visit will be a place where Shame has no place for any of us. And where Love is all that matters.

I am willing to be vulnerable
I am willing to forgive
I am willing to be whole


How do you define vulnerability?
What is it that makes you vulnerable?
I would love to hear from you....


Love and Light

The Wisdom Club

Welcome to the Wisdom Club.

A group of diverse women who come together to discuss literature.

The choice this gathering:

The Birth House

by Ami McKay

The place:

my house

Simple Food

HerbTea

and 

Groaning Cake

The Birth House is Ami MacKay's debut novel and was a number one Canadian bestseller. Winning three CBA Libris Awards and nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, this book has become a favourite in book clubs around the world. For me, Th Birth House runs in the same circles as great female-based novels, such as The Red Tent and The Secret Life of Bees. 

McKay is a talented storyteller, whose writing can inspire notions o wanting to go back to a time when women depended only on their instincts, each other and Mother Earth to navigate through life. She is able to intertwine fictional characters into historical fact so smoothly that you might just walk away from this book ready to give up all your modern conveniences to be able to live an authentic life as her characters do.

This earth 20th Century story is set in a small fishing town found off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada by the name of Scats Bay. It is in the hills of Scots Bay where we meet the heroin of the story, who is a young woman named Dora Rare. Dora is the first female in five generations of Rares and this act has often made her the topic of gossip amongst some of the superstitious village folk - she is labeled  as odd and different, with some going as far to say she is a witch. These tales only intensify when the local midwife, Miss Babineau, takes Dora on as her apprentice.

Miss B is a strong-spirited Acadian woman with a great gift for storytelling and knowing exactly what Mother Earth has to offer in way of medicinal remedies. With Dora at her side, Miss B. uses her knowledge to help the villagers around her with their aliments - infertility, difficult labours, breech birth, and even unwanted pregnancies- asking nothing in return.

from the book  pg 37 ~

"This here's the willow Book." She closed her eyes and stroked it's cracked leather cover. "We put things here we don"t want to forget. The moon owns the Willow."

She untied the thick pieces of twine that was holding it's loose, yellowed pages together, thumbing through until she found what she was looking for. "Thank you sweet Mary. Here is it is: coltsfoot. Some likes to call it the son-brfore-the-father 'cause it sends up it's flowers before the leaves. Just the thing for an angry throat. You write your name down in the corner of the page Dora, So's you remember to remember." 

But times are changing and the modern world comes to Scots Bay threatening Dora's new way of life. This disruptive change comes in the form of a chauvinistic, brash medical doctor named Gilbert Thomas. Dr. Thomas opens a Maternity Home down the mountain in another village and comes to entice the women of Scots Bay with the promise of sterile and painless childbirths if they would see fit to give up other luxuries to pay for the fee of his service. He is successful in drawing some women to his facility; even to the point of having some of them question the midwives methods. These questions lead to gossip, accusations and recriminations which are only  intensified when a local woman dies after being treated by Dora.

Dora has to dig deep within herself to find out who she really is and what truth she lives by. Then and only then is she able to stand up to the determined Dr. Thomas

"My house became the birth house. That's what the women called it, knocking on the door, ripe with child, water breaking on the porch. First-time mothers full of questions, young girls in trouble, and seasoned women with a brood already at hoe. They all c0me to the house, wailing and kenning their babies into the world. I wiped the feverish nicks with cool mist cloths, spooned porridge and hot tea into their tired bodies, talked them back from outside of themselves." pg IX ~Dora

This is us

The Wisdom Club

9 of the 12

Discussing

Sharing

Doing life through books that inspire.

Women truly are, amazing creatures!

This post is dedicated to my dear friend Anna and her partner Dave, who gave birth to their first child this past week.

Welcome Marco Robert 

I had the immense pleasure and honour of photographing Marco 30 minutes after he entered this world.

It brought back all the emotions and memories from my own births and for a moment I thought I could do it again : ) ...

just for a moment...

Thank you Anna, Thank you Dave for allowing me to share this time with you.

xo

*This book finds a permanent home on my shelf.

Ami Mc Kay just released her new novel

"The Virgin Cure"

Love and Light

Storytelling...

I met a lonely man
who liked to talk
He didn't understand me
or
my way of thought
Yet
he talked to me...continually
He was looking for an explanation
Why I was the way I was.


Why do you sit here and write?
He asked me with a look 
that said things with him weren't right
Yet he saw in me
something
he once was...
something 
he had let go of.


He was empty
He was sad
He was alone
Yet,
he tried to smile
to find a purpose
He tried to face...
to face Life


He finally fell silent
as my pen
continued to move.

Love and Light

linking up with Sadee here

Music Monday Offering...

Music Monday was something I used to do in my "other space" but that space has come to an end due to other projects in my life...including this one, where things just get a little more personal and my Boyz get to have a little more anonymity.
I wanted to bring the music over as I have a deep deep love for this form of expression, as you would have noticed in my last post.
Usually I pick a song that is reflective of what is going on in my heart, or a song that is speaking to me at that specific time.
Today is no exception.
I have been walking the Path of Forgiveness this last little while....

...as the picture suggests this path is filled with many a level.
But Faith allows it to be clearly marked and well defined. Grace provides me with surroundings that are safe and familiar...God is good.

Forgiveness is a time of great growth and expansion..letting go, breaking off ~ breaking through. This journey was unexpected, but so necessary for my wholeness. 
It is a time filled with tears and vulnerability, joy of release and the pain of resurfacing...and pieces...pieces of me that are falling away.

The Love and Light is ever present and I am grateful for this time...to Come Clean.
This is my music offering to you today...be blessed.

Love and Light

Tonight...it's time to Rise Up

Tonight I heard a song bird sing
The song she sang came from deep with in 
The place we usually hide from the world
A place we don't want others to go
But bravely she stands
Singing her songs of truth
For those who have the courage to hear
She bears her heart so she can live
She reminds us that the path is not always easy
That sometimes we feel lost
Yet in that brokenness, there is beauty...
Beauty that is Divine


Tonight I heard a song bird sing
So beautiful the tears poured down
Her voice carried us all to the place
Where Glory can be found
She sang of Grace
She sang of Love
She say of Goodness
that comes from above
Gifted is the word that comes to mind...
I told her so tonight
To think this gift was a sleep for so long
Thank God it came back to life


Tonight I heard a song bird sing
It was beautiful, raw and real
I feel blessed to have been there
in that place
with her...


She is Cathy AJ Hardy, you can find her here


I wanted to pick the perfect song that showcased Cathy's talent..it was a hard to narrow it down to one...
So I picked the one that I feel suits this space the best.
I hope you take the time to listen and give Cathy a visit of encouragement...

Love and Light my lovelies... Rise Up!

She let go...

She let go...

of Self Doubt 

~God Doubt~

Embracing

her

overly Sensitive

Acute

Self Awareness

She is you...She is me.... She is every woman pushing past her fears and doubts; pushing past the self criticism. 

She is fierce.

A fierceness that is neither loud nor soft.

She does it her way.

Her strength can be seen in a look, a movement, a single word. It is also seen in a passionate speech, a grand gesture, and a world wide movement.

She knows she will stumble.

She knows she will make mistakes.

She knows she still has things to learn...

and She embraces the opportunity to do so.

She is focused

driven by The Higher Good

and a desire to make a difference

contribute to growth

plant a seed.

Even when She stumbles and doesn't quite understand,

her resolve is to continue on...

She believes in Trust

She believes in something that is bigger than herself.

She loves big and gives her heart freely

expecting nothing in return but the warmth giving gives her.

She is a seeker, a teacher, a lover, a friend.

She is a sister, a mother, a daughter.

She stands in the rain for a loved one

She holds the flame when others can not

She gives, even when it is not wanted

She believes her heart

She is you

She is me

She is fearless.

She Let go,

forging a hole through the air,

as she screamed past her limitations.

linking up with Sadee here

Maybe I'm just a Little Girl...

...a Little Girl with great BIG plans!

Love and Light

Life's Gifts

On this road of life I am a seeker, always looking to learn, stretch and grow. A great many things have come to light in the last little while; I wanted to take them here to reflect upon and share...maybe some of them look familiar to you.

~Gifts added to meaningful need brings an outcome of feeling on purpose.

~There are three kinds of basic characteristics for all people:

     1) the need for approval

     2) the need for security

     3) the need for control

~Living from your heart takes courage

~Once you get it you wont forget it

~Life requires you to participate

~Approval is not the same as Love

~Love does not need Approval

~Sometimes we find old wounds alive and well in other places

~Letting go is about Trust, in God

~Conflict is a forum to grow
~In order to keep your vision you must talk about it
~The Creators amazing glory can always been found

~To be rooted, one must surrender in to the Trust

~When in prayer one needs/can be bold and clear

~God is not, and can not be, offended

~Forgiveness frees us all

~Real power is measured by how much you can let things be

~When you shift your vision from what your bank statement says to what your soul statement say, Lack dissolves and Abundance reveals itself

~Two people can be looking at the same thing and see something completely differently

~Trust is a muscle that needs to be worked out

~Judgment poisons the wounded

~The devil did not create desire. The devil only created fear of it.

~If it makes you come alive you should do it, for the world need more people who are alive

~When one heals we all heal

~We are here to love, not to fix

~Real friends challenge you

~It is our choice to hear The Call 

~We all have something to offer

~Everyone holds beauty

~Those who seem to know more truth than you simply reflect the part of you that has forgotten. They are your touchstones to remember

~It is wise not to attach ourselves to the outcome of things
~Pray, then move your feet

~This, truly, is a good life

Love and Light