Your children are not "your children"

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

~ Kahlil Gibran

When a child is a newborn it is fairly easy to delude yourself into thinking that the above poem doesn't apply to you.  You feel like you sarcrificed, you endured what you never dreamed you were capable of, you lost sleep, maybe you even lost your mind for a little while...but all the while you thought it was worth it because your baby, your son, that perfect little version of yourself and your love was yours forever.  As time marches on, it is easier and easier to see the truth.  As my son's 2nd birthday has just pased, I marvel that he is his own little man.  He is smart, he is kind, he is a gentle soul, he is funny, he is sometimes wild, he is unique...but he's not mine. I'm his mother and I will love, encourage, and support him until my last breath and beyond. But he has his own thoughts and potential and ideas...that will likely continue to diverge from my own with each passing year.  Regardless, being a mother and having a new soul come through you is a gift.

To my Hudson Aaron - Mommy loves you.

A birthday is just the start of another 365-day journey around the sun.  Enjoy the trip.  ~Author Unknown

Happy Birthday to my baby boy, 2 years old today!  It has been a wonderful, challenging, life changing joy of a journey and I can't wait for the next 365 days!

Persuit of Happiness 2011

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. ~ Elisabeth Gilbert

Hello 2011. I am sure happy to see you!  While 2010 certainly held some valuable lessons around acceptance of things beyond my control and unconditional love, I almost feel lighter with these 'lessons' being firmly housed in 'last year'.  This year, I am open to a lighter, more joyous persuit of happiness, with more time spent thinking about all the great things happening NOW. Rather than the good/bad/ugly stuff that happened before or that may be lurking around the corner.  I am going to keep swimming upward into the happiness and maybe with a little practice, this year it won't feel like so much work!

I hope the universe shows you and me both with it's infinite goodness and light this year.

Time Well Used

Now we wait. (Molly)

No. We Breathe. We Pulse. We Regenerate. Our hearts beat. Our minds create. Our souls ingest. Thirty-seven seconds, well used, is a lifetime. (Mr Magorium)


~ Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium


Todays quote is from a movie that came out in 2007. I only saw it once and I loved this line. They are waiting and Mr. Magorium in his wisdom illuminates the fact that no time is ever wasted and we can choose to make each and every second whatever we want.  Thirty-seven seconds, well used, is a lifetime.  I have taken hundreds of thousands of second for granted in my 33 years, yet some of the greatest things that have ever happened to me occur in only a few seconds. Like yesterday when we were grocery shopping and my son came running up shouting Mommy with the enthusiastic pure joy that only a 2 year old can manifest and gave me the biggest hug in the world, as though we had not seen one another in days, not minutes. And then the shared, knowing smile with the elderly woman buying her milk beside me, as she watched, likely remembering her own babies long grown.  It all took place in about 8.5 seconds...but they were well used variety.  My soul definitely ingested.

I am always complaining that I don't have enough time...but I am going to start using my spare 37 seconds more effectively. No more waiting.

Peace My Soul

AMAZING PEACE  by Maya Angelou

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft.   Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound.
We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war.   But true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, and comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace.  We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.


I am not really one for poetry, but I love this one by Maya Angelou.  We all crave peace, in our hearts, in our families, in our lives, in the world. We recognize it instantly when we feel and we want so badly to hold on to it, but can't.  But each time we offer love, a hand, a kind word, compassion or understanding we invite it in again. 

As Christmas inches closer and closer, I always feel at peace more often, even among the chaos of office Christmas party drama, holiday shopping and family celebrations.  I hope you do too this holiday season, no matter your faith or circumstance. Embrace it when you feel it and don't let go, and if you feel it slipping away, invite it in again. and again. and again.


Peace, My Brother
Peace, My Sister
Peace, My Soul

I am only one

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.  ~ Helen Keller

I have loved this quote for years, and it can apply to so many things and situations.  I watched a documentary on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last night and I was so sad at the horrible destruction caused by greed for money and cheap fuel, but I felt helpless to do anything about it. And then I remember this quote. Maybe I can't fix the oil spill, but my daily decisions make a difference. Odds are pretty good that I can't boycot oil and gas entirely, but I can choose to walk a bit more and drive a bit less.  Will that stop climate change or prevent more oil disasters, probably not, but it can't hurt.  I am still one and while I can't see myself becoming a tree-hugging, bike peddling, organic food growing, earth mother; I can see myself being a little bit greener in 2011.

The same holds true in other areas I care about. I can't solve world hunger and I admit I cry everytime I see those World Vision Infomercials on TV.  I can do something. I can buy an extra case of soup at the grocery store for the local food bank. I can buy my son four birthday presents instead of five and donate the extra money to charity.  It might not make a big difference in the statistics, but I like to believe that even the small acts of charity and kindness matter to the people on the receiving end.

As the old year comes to a close and new year is around the corner it is always a time for me to reflect on the past year and make plans, lay intentions and have hopes. (I don't like the term resolution, it so inflexible and permanent, which life never is!)  So in the new year, I am going to use my 'one' more effectively. Because I can't do everything, I refuse to be paralyzed with sadness, complacency or inaction. I will do something that I CAN do.

Blessings on you and your family this holiday season!

Tis' better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly ~ Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert

I am no Martha Stewart.  This is a painfully obvious fact. But I love my family and I love my home and I most of all, I love having people over to come and enjoy the two together. So tomorrow I am hosting my in-laws for an early Christmas and my own family next week-end. I spent the day shopping, cleaning, cooking (well, okay...more like preparing than actual cooking) and everything is coming together pretty nicely, if I do say so myself.  So the house isn't decorated in Sarah Richardson's high style, the food won't be 5 star restaurant quality, and the absurd amounts of tape used in the wrapping process is clearly visible on the gifts, but I have better things to do with my time than participate in the never ending quest to achieve someone else's idea of perfection. Like take a nap by a blazing fire on a cold winter afternoon...which I think I'll do now.

It may not be perfect according to some people's standards, but it's all mine and it's perfect to me!