So WHERE have I been that I am just now for the first time discovering this profound and incredibly relevant quote by one of the most-loved and remembered female celebrities of all time?

“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go,
things go wrong
so that you appreciate them when they're right,
you believe lies
so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes
good things fall apart
so better things can fall together.”

~ Marilyn Monroe

Can I just say....Hell yeah!

Life Is Too Important To Be Taken Seriously

This word arrived in my inbox this morning.  I studied it for a few minutes.  Read and re-read it.  Pondered. 

Then in occurred to me.....

Dionysian     

PRONUNCIATION:

(dy-uh-NISH-uhn, -NIS-ee-uhn)

MEANING:

adjective: Uninhibited; undisciplined; spontaneous; wild; orgiastic.

.......In my opinion, everyone needs just a WEEEE bit of this characteristic.

Obviously, in the literal sense of this word, being too
"dionysian" could (likely would) wreak havoc to one's life.  But a small dose of this now and then?  Yeah.  It appeals to me at least.   

Unbridled, unhibited spontaneity offers a sense of color to the "black and white," a refreshing balance when we tend to get caught up in the everyday monotony of must-do's, can't-have's, do-this-not-that, and countless other expectations within the norm of censured social restraint.

Given, there is a fine line between responsible and irresponsible.  But like everything else, it's always about balance.

So go ahead.  PLEASE!

UNLEASH!

Happy Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day, I wanted to bring together a mere sampling of my favorite quotes on love.  Though my list is actually endless, these are a good start for a single blog entry.  A heart fatally pierced by Cupid's arrow, my personality is living proof -- particularly obvious to those who know me, REALLY KNOW ME -- that I am an incurable romantic.  I suppose there could be worse labels; therefore I make no excuses.

But how did I get this way?  When did it begin?  Or WAS there a beginning?  Has it just always been, no beginning and no end?  How has my life been affected by these forces?  All questions which have riddled me for as long as I can remember.  Omg, my mind wanders ...smiling...a flashback to Barbie days...she was in love with GI Joe because he was a Man's Man and had the body to prove it.  Ken just never quite did it for her.


Indeed, being an incurable romantic 
is as much a curse as it is a blessing.

But for the one day out of the year when it's perfectly acceptable to be "over the edge" about love and romance without being noticed or judged or questioned, I can unleash the giddiness.

Happy Valentine's Day 

to all those who have been blessed by true love.

"For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. 

It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul." 

-Judy Garland

 Love is when you don't want to go to sleep

because reality is better than a dream.

- Unknown 

Love is running into his arms, colliding with his heart,

and exploding into his soul.

Love won't be tampered with, love won't go away.

Push it to one side, and it creeps to the other.

-Louise Erdrich

Love is the energy of the soul.

Love is what heals the personality.

There is nothing that cannot be healed by love.

- Gary Zukov

"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more,

that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.

And that's what you've given me.

That's what I hope to give to you forever.

I love you."

- The Notebook

"The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected.

Maybe they always have been and will be.

Maybe we've lived a thousand years before this one

and in each of them we've found each other.

And maybe each time we've been forced apart for the same reasons.

That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years

and a prelude to what will come."

- The Notebook

Love is giving someone the power to destroy you…

but trusting them not to.

Before you, my life was like a moonless night.  

Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. ….

And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. 

Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. 

When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, 

everything went black.  

Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. 

I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything.  

- Edward Cullen – New Moon

 

 White tulips.  Always white tulips.

Rice Krispie Treats Valentine For My Son

(Made His Heart Smile)

Good Enough - Evanescence

I Write. Therefore, I Am.

"I shall live badly if I do not write,

and I shall write badly if I do not live."

-Francoise Sagan,

playwright and novelist

1935-2004

(This blog post of several months ago now inadvertently "republished.")

I remember as a young teenager keeping diaries, journals, not a daily thing, but when the SPIRIT MOVED me to write. I would write about feelings, events, family, accomplishments, relationships; a potpourri of seasons of myself punctuated with poetry, letters, and lyrics.

I remember buying hardbound journals at office supply stores for my writings, illustrating them from time to time with sketches, photos, mementos, ticket stubs, even pressed dried flowers.

From my early years, somehow I knew that "words" -- writing, in one form or another -- would become a meaningful and lasting part of my future, both in my personal life as well as my professional life. I seemed to have an insatiable desire to write, to document, to capture, preserve...

A means with which to memorialize the events of my life with a permanency.

As a mom to three sons, I suspect that I have become more introverted over the years. Gone is the urgency to converse, express, share or release outwardly. Let’s face it.  Guys don't say a lot.  They are often monosyllabic in their communication attempts.  Brevity is the objective.  The less you say, the better.   The necessity to talk just to fill the void of silence?  Nah.  To speak just to "take the stage?"  Nah.  No need.  In our house, if you don't have something really important to say, then you just don't say much at all.   Details are the clashing cymbals of conversation.

I will often compare my reticence to other women. Regardless of their age, they all seem to prattle on far more than I care to. Fascinating.  At times it seems their loquaciousness goes on and on and on... And on.

I frequently will find myself scrambling to process in cliff-note fashion their circuitous conversations.

It can be challenging.  It's all I can do to suppress the urge to say:  "Hold up! Hold up...."

Just give me the gist.

Is there a point to any of this?

Am I supposed to be impressed by that?

Do you have something to say? Really?

Or do you just, um, enjoy hearing yourself talk?

Maybe that is why writing has evolved into an even stronger release for me.

I don't need anyone to "hear" me.  Or to listen particularly.  Or to pass judgment, compliment, criticize, or compare.  I just want to get my thoughts out of my brain, my head, my heart, and onto paper. Unleashed into a repository.  I just need to write it down.  Freedom to purge.

Cleansed. Emptied. Defragged.  It lends a sharper focus to my inner perspectives.

Fast-forward to the 21st century.  My journaling now is done via the World Wide Web.
I'm a blogger.
(I've never liked that word.)

Writer

Scribe
Reporter
Wordsmith

Okay.  All of these work too.

writer - n.

1. A person who composes with language.

2. A person engaged in writing books, articles, stories; a clerk, scribe or the like

3. A person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing.

All that matters is that I write. I write; therefore I am ...

 

Potty Room Facelift: JAZZED!

I'M JAZZED!  I recently repainted my downstairs half-bath.  It's now a deep rich brick red, "Fireweed."  I finished the project with polishing touches of word art stenciled around the door facing, down the wall, and around again...the words taking on a life of their own as they seem to dance with THE MUSIC.  Framed music quotes hung here and there.  And the only things left to do -- free hand a music score behind one of the prints, an abstract display, trailing out either end of a sax print...then stencil a repeated chorus of "I've Got the Music in Me" in smaller print around the baseboards of the room.   

It all began with my inspiration piece, purchased well over a year ago, hanging out in room after room, looking for a resting place, a home.  Over and over it kept speaking to me---better stated:  IT WOULD SING TO ME.  And it never quit singing as time passed.  The music just kept getting louder, begging for my attention.

YOU KNOW YOU LOVE ME.  SO DO SOMETHING WITH ME ALREADY!

AND WHILE I WAIT...I'LL JUST KEEP THE MUSIC PLAYING....







And then I stumbled across another steal  on clearance at a local discount chain, the PERFECT complement to my inspiration piece...

 

CURRENT FORECAST: Fair, Fine-n-Dandy Friday!

I'm headed here in minutes to grab a brew and some of the best pizza in town.  It will be my "cheat meal" of the week, having kept it to very low carbs all week until now.

 


My nose has been to the grind stone all day, getting transcripts out, coming up only for water and coffee refills and pee breaks.  I've glanced at the clock all day long, counting the minutes till I can head out on this fabulous mild & sunny Friday afternoon and take in this great little pizza place that's gotten rave reviews.... an extensive beer and pizza menu... And they even serve Rioja wine!

Outta here....!