Welcome it in...

The Gift

This is the gift - to have the wonderful capacity
 to appreciate again and again,

freshly and naively,
the basic good of life, with awe, pleasure,
wonder, and even ecstasy.

- Abraham Maslow

Sometimes it is so pure to - without reservation - put your hands up in the air and welcome all the basic goodness that is there for you - right there - ready for you to simply welcome it in...



100 Pennies

Pennies of Hope

"Few people know so clearly what they want.

Most people can't even think what to hope for when

they throw a penny in a fountain."

-Barbara Kingsolver

Next time you think to toss a small penny into a fountain's waters... you might take a moment to glance at the inscription cast therein, and notice the curved etching of the "In God We Trust"... and maybe you will also notice an unspoken gratefulness in your heart for our country and for those who call this place home...

Or... perhaps like me, you will now also remember the kind woman on the evening news who within the clutch of her tiny aged hand held a single worn and crumpled dollar bill that she had found amongst the post-tornado rubble of her entirely demolished Missouri home... she was in her home at the time of the rampaging tornado's torment and mass destruction... but she had survived...with her hair askew and the shock of it all still fraying the edges of her speech, she held up her valuable dollar bill to the camera...and there in her hollow, weathered face a small smile of gratitude lifted the edges of her soul...why?... these are what I remember of her words, "each penny means an angel is watching over you...and I have found 100 in this dollar bill... 100 angels have been watching over me..."

Indeed, she had been divinely protected...

My heart and prayers go out to all of those who are being touched so deeply and profoundly by the tornado devastation... the rebuilding will be long and take courage and support...and trust...and hope...

Of course, my hope is for a hundred pennies...for each one of them...

Thanks for The Versatile Blogger Award

My Thanks!

A heartfelt thank you to Linda from Delight (Link here) for giving "Simply Inspired" the honor of the The Versatile Blogger Award - which I happily accept!

The rules that go along with accepting The Versatile Blogger Award are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.

2. Tell 7 things about yourself.

3. Pay it forward and award the Versatile Blogger to your recently discovered new bloggers.

Here goes... # 2...

7 Things About Me

1) My nickname (thanks to my sister):

“Southern California gal with a blue jean heart”

2) I love my family… oh-so-much!

3) I find both the Pacific Ocean and Montana irresistible!

4) Photography is making my heart sing…

I hope to get better and better!

(This has been refreshingly sparked by my blogging

& by inspiration from my talented “blog-friends”!)

5) Creating Collages makes me so cheerful!

 6) I love to Write… love it… love it…love it…

and have for a very long time.

7) I do know the “Heart of Life Is Good”

Listen Here for Music...

(and I am so very grateful for my beautiful ever-widening

“circle of friends who defend the silver lining”)

thanks for the song, sarah

I am passing on this delightful award to:

•  Far Away In the Sunshine link here  (Anyes is a writer doing a beautiful job of blooming right now… )

• Cowparsley link here (I have absolutely no idea how I recently stumbled upon Cowparsley... but her collages are brilliant!)

In this treasured place of blogging, I feel like I am coming home to a community that perfectly understands the joy of what it feels like to open up your blog page and dashboard, and therein discover a whole magical world of heart-felt exchanges! Such a blessing!

My thanks,

karen

- xok 

Surfer Steps

Surfer Steps

"Infinite riches are all around you if you will open your mental eyes

and behold the treasure house of infinity within you."

- Joseph Murray

Details of a day...

Today, I am still in "next step" mode, which is probably why I began to notice the varied barefooted steps surfers were taking as they entered the immense ocean... I appreciated what I learned...

The traditional overcast weather - it is called "May Gray" in these parts - along with the cold water temps, requires surfers to suit up with the protection of black seal-skin wetsuits. There were so many different surfer-step techniques - and I imagine that it changes day to day. Some surfers practiced zen offerings (it appeared to be an honoring of the divine); others did yoga stretches in preparation (some more demonstrative and convoluted than others); the most exuberant surfers rushed right into the water, splashing with abandon, throwing down their board like a black-jack table winning, securing the tie around their ankle, and confidently racing out to meet the waves without even one look back (they were making good on that well-turned phrase: come hell or high water!). Some entered the ocean in groups of six or seven - some members vibrant, some more subdued - but seemingly bolstered by the sense of community. And then there were those who looked back... often...waving at those on the shore seeking encouragement, and smiling at the interactions. What seemed to matter most about the techniques is that the surfers were comfortable with the way they were taking the steps to enter the ocean - they were being true to themselves (there was no clearly defined right way or wrong way).

I am grateful that I picked up a couple of ideas from today's surfers...
and particularly liked their lesson that the "next step" has a lot to do with simply being comfortable with (and claiming) your own "seal-skin" style as you move into the waters ahead...

Next Step



"Change starts when someone sees the next step."

- William Drayton

So much about this week has been about questioning the next step...I have heard it from others, and the echoes have also resonated for me. My conclusion is that we simply begin. It is important to be brave enough to take what seems like a pretty good next step, and then check it out... if it does not work out well, at least you know that it isn't really the next step that is good for you at this time (which is nice because then you are no longer left guessing - or worse, regretting that you never tried). Either way, it helps you get on with "the next step" to the upward climb... the sky is the limit...

Wishing you the courage to simply begin...and to be grateful for God's supporting breeze of grace...

"Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works.

You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it.

Then you do something else.

The trick is the doing something else."

- Leonardo da Vinci