all images and stories are the property of Catherine Beerda-Basso and are not to be used without given permission...thank you

Thursday 1 December 2011

Storytelling and Birthdays...


Age amplifies both your qualities and your shortcomings -- your qualities so they can shine, and your shortcomings so they can be healed.  
--  Alan Cohen


This is 43...





me...today...43.
I like it,
this getting older thing has been good to me.
There is a few more wrinkles, even some white hair sparkling in my curls here and there...


Over at A Picture book Life for storytelling this week Sadee posed this question: How do you live your best life in this moment, while still honouring the past?


Feels like such a timely question for me as I reflect over my 43 years...
and as I look at the woman I have become...
I am amazed
I am full of gratitude
and I am deeply rooted in who I am.




The road has offered many a land scape,
Some more beautiful then others
Yet each one relative to contributing to the woman 
I am today...and the one I will become tomorrow.
How do I live, my best life, in this moment while honouring my past?
I choose to live my Truth and My truth can be found in this song that God herself hummed over me this past weekend as I dwelt in Silence...





Shalom Daughter



Shalom
Mighty are you, with wisdom from within
The ages are yours to speak of
In your hands you hold my Truth
When the time is right
You will set it free
Daughter,
You are a Wild Woman of The Wood
the Ocean is your Sister
and caresses your cheeks
She gives you the courage to return to the forest
again and again
walking the paths
finding the souls
bringing the Hope
Daughter,
My Light goes before you
and behind
My Love pours into you
Your spirit is wild
Just as I have meant it to be
You walk with the ancients
And your gifts are from Me
do not be afraid


Smell the earth 
See the sky
Know that I am here in it all
The darkness of the forest 
is nothing to fear my Daughter
I have armed you
Stitched into you armour, 
secret armour
made by my own hands
Trust me Daughter
Trust me.

~Catherine Beerda-Basso

painting by Donna Smallenberg

This song is not just for me...
it is for all women 
for The Women of the Wood
The Sisters of the Seas
The Ladies of the Lands
Together
this song
is for us all

If ever there comes a time 
when women of the world come together
purely and simply for the benefit of 
mankind,
it will be a force such as the world has never known
~Matthew Arnold
nineteenth-century British Poet and Phiosopher

This for me is living my best life, in this moment, while honouring my past...I can't wait to see whats next.



Love and Light

joining here

15 comments:

  1. so beautiful you.
    today is your birthday?
    (shhh...mine is this weekend. :-) )
    lovely song...
    happy birthday, dear friend. may this day bring unexpected joy.
    and may this year bring your forth even further into love and light.

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  2. That song is beautiful.
    Happy Birthday dear sweet daughter of the earth and sister of heart. May you have many more years to give your sweet spirit.

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  3. Happy birthday you.
    I still get confused whether its the first or second of dec... MUST remember your first my second!!
    Hope your day is awesome xoxo

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  4. Happy Birthday - 43 looks luminous on you :)

    xoxox,
    Allison

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  5. happy birthday, sweet friend. :) you are so beautiful.

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  6. Happy Birthday beautiful Cat xxxx

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  7. Happy (Belated) Birthday!! You're gorgeous and this post is beautiful. *holds out a cupcake* Celebrating with you!! :)

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  8. Happy, happy Birthday, Truth & Time glow beautiful as You.

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  9. That is an amazing song (its not the one I had a copy of). It makes me feel powerful as a woman. And the picture of the woman releasing the dove...perfect!

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  10. What a beautiful and poignant post to celebrate your birthday! The photos with the red umbrella are wonderful--love seeing your smiling face. The way you "walk with the ancients" is inspiring--I always find such beautiful mystery in your writing and a deep connection with the "wildness" of God.

    Happy birthday (sorry I'm a couple days late!)--thank you for always linking up and for sharing this week. :)

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  11. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I'm forty three as well...and I am loving it! This is a lovely way to celebrate your birthday. I hope you are celebrated both in your virtual and real worlds!!

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  12. Happy Birthday Beautiful You! Hope the day was wonderful!

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  13. 43 looks beyond lovely on you... it radiates from the inside out.
    I pray this year to come will be filled with even more beautiful discovery!

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  14. Cat, lovely woman!
    Happy Birthday to my Sister and Friend!!
    I love those photo you took; the umbrella...
    you are beautiful outside and inside.
    One year older than me.
    Its nice to have a freind close to my age!
    Much love and hugs... and sorry this is a late birthday wish {blog reading has been low on my list lately}

    love and light to YOU
    Lovely Cat
    xx

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  15. Happy birthday Cat! Lots of love coming your way xxx

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Your voice is welcome here, your connection appreciated. Love and Light