all you need is love
“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.”
~ Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai LamaCoz
peace can be found in the face of a cat. zola, our amazing cat, provides us with endless moments of peace and love...usually just when we need it, too. snuggling with her, i am reminded that her love is unconditional. perhaps i have a few things to learn from zola.
the past few nights have been cozy ones at home. perfect. andmy love and i have been sharing peace with each other. these last two nights have reminded me that sometimes we are given a gift - the feeling of peace from another person, a place, a moment. but, perhaps true peace is not found in something we look for, but in something we do. maybe peace is a way of being. not something we seek out, but a way of life. and perhaps in giving love, we receive true peace.
so, light a candle, cuddle with an animal, share love with another.
spread peace.
make-over:IKEA style
we did it! we've been dreamin' and wishin' for about a year now. we've planned and planned, designed and discussed. how awesome would it be if we could get some furniture from IKEA and add it to our apartment?! well, as a result of our 2 spontaneous trips to IKEA this weekend, we did just that! my love and i spent all evening and night putting together new furniture, taking apart old furniture, organizing, arranging, and decorating our apartment. and it looks amazing! love it.
can't wait to share it with others! wish everyone could come over. the door's open! stop by anytime!! we wanna share our home.
pics to come soon.
can't wait to share it with others! wish everyone could come over. the door's open! stop by anytime!! we wanna share our home.
pics to come soon.
peace.
what do you wanna do today?
it all started with that simple little question. and it ended with a road trip to IKEA in charlotte, a 5 hour shopping spree, a late-night return home (with new furniture in tow!), and a restful night. and then, this morning...a phone call with an invitation to another road trip BACK to IKEA! am i up for it? oh yeah.
so, we are off again! a rainy day won't keep us down. see ya late tonight. who knows what will happen?! love it!
so, we are off again! a rainy day won't keep us down. see ya late tonight. who knows what will happen?! love it!
IKEA - Charlotte
busy making notes on what we like/need...
peace.
beauty
i stayed home today. i didn't feel great. and i needed sleep. so, i slept. and rested. my love did school work, zola (our cat) slept under the bed. i ate some, and now i'm gonna sleep some more after eating a little.
but i did do one productive thing today. i read a book. becoming chloe. and it inspired me. it was the story of a homeless, young man who meets and cares for a very troubled young woman. after living with an old man for a year, they take off across the country - in search of beauty. jordy's challenge is to prove to chloe that the world is beautiful. she has always lived in the midst of darkness and ugliness. now, they are on the road pointing out all the grand and simple beautiful things. what an amazing story of love and beauty!
wouldn't it be a great idea to write down, as chloe did, all of the beauty we see in a day?!
the beauty today:
- a cat sleeping cozy in my love's lap
- a loving phone call
- a long nap in the afternoon
you are beautiful
it was one of those days where everything around me seemed dark. there was so much violence and fear. students told me stories about how they have seen their parents shot or killed. some are suspected gang members. one experienced abuse and loneliness this weekend due to a bad decision he made. another cried because he feels so misunderstood. and another one told me how much he misses his mom who was killed. everywhere i turned at work there were people hurting.
how i wish they felt love. so, tonight, this song is for all of my kids. for all people all around the world who are suffering. who feel unloved. scared. lonely. abandoned. helpless. hopeless. you are beautiful.
becoming
it's true. i'm indecisive. and i have been changing my blog about a million times. the design. the address. everything. but, nothing was what i wanted and i was trapped by the pre-planned designs of the websites i was using. what to do, what to do...
well, lina has an amazing blog that she has been in the process of redesigning. now it looks really amazing! (click on her name on the left side of my blog to check it out). turns out nothing could be better than to have my own personal blog designer! that's right. in my desperate attempt to express myself and my continuous failure to find the right image to capture "me", i turned to my love to help me out in my time of need. and i am satisfied. no. not satisfied...esctatic! thrilled! now my blog feels like home. feels like me. love it.
so, welcome!
i chose the style and the title after being inspired by a book, Becoming Chloe. the more i thought about it, though, the more i realized that this style, this design, this image is me. it is about becoming. i have often said that my faith centers around the belief that we all are created in the image of the Divine. every human. and what is more important in life, than discovering little by little, moment by moment, who we are and who we are created to be. and as we discover this on our journeys in life, we are inspired by and inspire others. as we contemplate who we are, we discover that we are not alone. and we realize exactly how we are all connected.
life is our journey of becoming. and this blog, is a way for me to first, reflect for myself on who i am and who i am becoming through all of the moments of my life. and it is, second, my invitation for you to journey with me, not discovering who i am (though i am sure you will discover things about me), but discovering for yourself who you are.
it's time, today, to live life. to feel the wind in our hair. to laugh deeply. to love unconditionally. to enjoy every moment. to be. to become.
so, welcome!
i chose the style and the title after being inspired by a book, Becoming Chloe. the more i thought about it, though, the more i realized that this style, this design, this image is me. it is about becoming. i have often said that my faith centers around the belief that we all are created in the image of the Divine. every human. and what is more important in life, than discovering little by little, moment by moment, who we are and who we are created to be. and as we discover this on our journeys in life, we are inspired by and inspire others. as we contemplate who we are, we discover that we are not alone. and we realize exactly how we are all connected.
life is our journey of becoming. and this blog, is a way for me to first, reflect for myself on who i am and who i am becoming through all of the moments of my life. and it is, second, my invitation for you to journey with me, not discovering who i am (though i am sure you will discover things about me), but discovering for yourself who you are.
it's time, today, to live life. to feel the wind in our hair. to laugh deeply. to love unconditionally. to enjoy every moment. to be. to become.