Live Lightly

Inspired by the psalmists, Live Lightly echoes the pulse of a collection of poems I wrote from June-August about regaining balance and rest in a world that woos my attention with media, self-absorption, input, information, tension, and busyness. Also, it is a re-launching pad for keeping my heart free and clean from offense, hurt and loss and awakening to life, beauty, and vitality.

Quietness and being still before God, being in God’s amazing creation, keeping short accounts regarding forgiveness and taking responsibility for my own sinful responses, not being so busy that there’s no time for spontaneity, meditating on scripture, worshipping my Maker and returning to places of joy/doing things that are life-giving have created a place for me to LIVE more LIGHTLY. I am in process and haven’t arrived, but I see tire marks in the dirt from places I previously treaded…. Time to steady on.

These art pieces are part of LIVING LIGHTLY.  Each piece has gel prints of botanicals and flowers I picked while hiking at Hitchcock Nature Center. The artwork is a bit muted with some contrasting color palettes. The focal points do not have a large scale (size) nor do they boldly pop out at you. They are more subtle. This reflects that LIVING LIGHLTY is a process. There is purpose in the process. Artwork is for sale!

The Kaleidoscope of a Cloud        

The visceral vein of an ominous vapor that is floating in ease while glory provides a gentle touch. The pale, white puff wants to peek through but resists the temptation… perhaps a longing for lingering… for another gaze that lasts longer than sixty seconds. Silence woos an invitation. A bird dances like a speck of dust on high. It’s free then it disappears… still ingesting as the tug of a schedule pulls me in… until tomorrow…

Inch Worm

That blade of grass has just been cut. It cannot bend or sway.  Constricted veins keep it in place afraid to grow again.  Pain and desire go hand in hand awaiting to be faced.  An inch worm becomes my movement and paves the way.

Space for Spontaneity 

Eraser to calendar
No muscles exercised
Accepting invitations
A welcomed surprise
Heart beat is at bay
Pulse a steady 60
Calling a friend
Maybe she will meet me
Peanut butter ice cream
Strolling through the park
Memories and laughter
are not sewn apart
Head hits pillow
Gentle smile released
This can be a way of life
New boundaries in place

Selah (quietly pause and take in)

As the psalmist bellows and echoes the churning and yearning of his heart
I gasp for a word or phrase to sojourn with throughout the day
Rolling it over and over in my mind till it is stained in my heart
Space to discuss…breath to ingest… silence to resist the clamoring world

Quicksand Dismantled 

The sludge and grainy weight were at my shoulders
The oppression took its seat center stage
Chronic pain pulsed and radiated to my extremities
Grief was cascading like The Upper Falls Waterfall in Yellowstone
The battlefield of the mind was waging war to push the play button
The cry of worship was the weapon of warfare
The title echoed was Peace
The fruit that arose was peace
The Prince of Peace came to the rescue

A Timely Fasting Taste

The  power of community for a consecrated cause
comes at price where our gaze subdues the cross         
Goodbye to social media and to the humm of culture’s voices
A bit of rattling in our cages and impulses revealed
The silence is golden with a crave for more servings
Abiding is not second place as the prowler wants to feast
Contending for heart and mind through the pages of each psalm
The sword of the spirit resounds, aligning what’s been lost
On our faces; on our knees. Having a change of mind. 
Turning a 360 in record time
Refresh Renew your bride Take these red, soiled garments
You make them white as snow as you continue to reveal to us the weeds that are overgrown

Tipped   

Tugging at the bones from my phalanges to occipital
A luminous ,7am, kapow orange-pink sunrise won the battle
Briefly turning to put on sneakers
I returned to a soft, blush, orange palette sky
Dangling as oppression wants to steal the whispers from my Maker,
the movement for my heart and vitality for my soul
My spirit is revived and ready to absorb the tender beauty of a late August day

Reflective Questions:
-Which poem impacted you the most and why?
-What is one step you can take this week to LIVE more LIGHTLY?

Little Wonders~ Tiny Happenings

In this painting, I made the focal point highlighting the dancers face.  Notice how the light lands right over the ballerinas face;  Her focus is important.  It’s intentional.  It has taken stamina and perseverance to get to this position.

Being more present in the moment takes intention and time.  Time is a commodity.  Busyness pulls us in like a magnet if we aren’t aware.  This message continues to be on a yield sign once again. Rob Thomas, lead singer of the band Matchbox 20, sings the song Little Wonders (Small Hours)… His lyrics say…Our lives are made in these small hours these little wonders.  We sure can miss God, His mark of beauty all around us, and that still small voice… if we are moving too fast to not slow down.

Yielding and saying yes to the little wonders and tiny happenings each day~

In February, the pellet-like snow was dancing through the air in sheets.  Instead of just looking at it through my blinds, I opened the whole blind to simply watch it in silence with great awe and wonder.  In April, instead of looking at the shouting red buds smiling on the tips of the branches, I stopped to touch them and really look at their ever-changing shapes. In May, instead of reading past John 15:4… Abide in me and I in you,  I stopped to ingest and study what the text says… and I gasp at the depth of that passage.  LITTLE WONDERS …They are all around!

A simple practice Emily P. Feeman (author, podcast host, and spiritual director) does daily is called above and below.  She takes a photo of her feet and then the sky and puts them in a file on her phone.  She likes to see the different places she treads and how the seasons change along with gazing at creation and thinking about the eternal, God, as her guide. TINY HAPPENINGS

A thousand miles starts with one step.  Changes come one step at a time.  If you are a Type A,  a perfectionist or have a hard time living in the gray (black and white thinkers/behaviors), TINY HAPPENINGS, could be for you.  Small movements do accumulate like snow ready to be sledded on, like rain that produces a rainbow, like red-orange, fall leaves that are gathered in a heap ready to be jumped in, like a dancer starting to move to Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky… and by the end it takes your breath away.  The invitation is always before us.  Every day is a new day.  His mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Who or what is your gaze upon today? 

Just like the ballerina, lift your face and allow His light and love to shine, to warm, to move your heart toward the gentle yet strong hands of The Almighty.

Encouragement~  Do something for the sake of doing it. It could be a simple pleasure.  Try not to do something that is work, “producing or performance” related.  This is about freedom of heart. When you feel rushed, come against that, pause in the moment and take in the LITTLE WONDERS and TINY HAPPENINGS.  The small things are big things.  God is in the details of life.

Psalm 113:3  From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised.

Amanda Cooke sings…
May we never lose our wonder
Wide eyed and mystified
May we be just like a child
Staring at the beauty of our King
Fill us with wonder
May we never lose our wonder
Cause you are beautiful in all your ways
King of Kings
You are beautiful in all your ways.