The little things that make me happy

Waking up late on a quiet morning
Slowly starting the day
Seaside air filling the lungs
Fresh mint tea steaming in a green ceramic cup
Picking a handful of wild blueberries from the garden
Reading some pages from "The Signature of All Things"
Spotting a ladybug climbing on a sunflower

 

sliver of slice Saturday

Inspired by Sonja Schulz at Sassy Bibliophile


It is Saturday
No alarm clock day.
Family at home day.
Read and write day.
Slow and cozy day.
My hubby and I will go to a theater tonight.

Life is good.

So what does the apple tree think?

What does the apple tree think?
Does she think about past and present and future?
The snow, the cold, the blossoms, the sunshine, the leaves, the apples. 
Does she dream? Does she wonder?
I wish I could stretch as high as the sky.
Does she worry? Does she feel lonely?
Not enough. 
Does she know how beautiful she is?
Is she vain and self-absorbed?
Look at me! Look at me! I am the prettiest of all.
Or is she generous, reaching out to people who hurry by, lost in their task-filled heads?
Slow down! You are missing the moment. Pause. Stay with me.
Spring is short.
Be here.
Now.

A cup of tea for my daughter

Would you like a cup of tea?

A little red teapot. A blend of rose hip, raspberry, hibiscus, orange and coconut. Hot water. Two white cups with butterfly designs. A spoonful of honey.

Stir. Memories.  Dreams. Hopes. Happiness.

Slowing down time. Relaxing. Together.

Moment. Now.

Smile.

Day 22: Things I'd rather be doing right now

Created using Pic Collage app
Idea from Marit

Not writing is not an option

I should put the juice carton back in the fridge. (I will. As soon as I have finished writing.) I should read over my notes for tomorrow's workshop. (I will. Tomorrow.) I should go to bed already. (I will. In ten minutes.) I should copy my SOL draft from my journal. (I will. Another time, when I have revised it a bit more.) I should write and publish my SOL post today. I should....

Who says I should write?
I do.
Who says that not writing is not an option?
I do.
Why?
I don't know.
Do I really have to write today?
No.

I choose to write today. Even if it is just a little bit, merely thinking out loud, typing words quickly, not spending time revising and polishing, letting go of the need to write big and beautiful.

Now I choose to stop writing and go to bed. (After I have put the juice carton in the fridge.)

a theory

A little girl in red pajamas sits opposite from me and sighs so heavily that it can be heard through the walls.
"I think our bodies have changed," she reveals her newest theory.
"What do you mean?"
"Usually you are tired and can't do much in the evening. But now, I am tired and ready for bed, and you keep writing and writing and writing." (Guilty as charged)
"Sorry, let me just finish this piece." (I can't quit. SOL has spelled me.)
"Please, finish soon, and read me the bedtime story."
"I will." (A promise I intend to keep)

Advice to myself: write earlier or keep the writing short to get it done before it's time to go to bed.

the short slice

I liked Michelle's quiet.Loud slice from the beginning of March. I don't think of sounds but about the length of my writing today. Really short. Probably the shortest slice this month. It doesn't matter that I was pretty well prepared for this challenge. I had a long list of topics to write about. I thought I had figured out how to find time - getting up earlier, using breaks between lessons, writing before leaving school, skipping google reader and pinterest, asking hubby to prepare dinners more often. Life just keeps going faster than I am able to keep up. 

Squeezed empty short
Drop down tired short
Hoping to get rest short
Need to disconnect short
Must make dinner short
Haven't called to my sister yet short
Child waiting to play with me short
Creative spirit frozen short
I'm sorry for not commenting enough short
Not wanting to miss writing short

Scattered

I just went to put John Green's book to my bedside table. On my way I picked three PD books from the kitchen to be returned to a shelf. I had very clear intentions of returning books to where they belonged. When my husband came looking for me, he found me sitting on my bed, one PD book open, planning journal on one side and writing journal on the other. Thoughts about school and writing mixed and mingled. It felt good.

Today

Did you listen to Adele singing Skyfall on the car radio this morning?
Did you receive a friendly personal e-mail among all the work ones?
Did you notice how attentively the students listened to each other this morning?
Did you laugh during the morning break?
Did you cherish a colleague's comment on how well your students worked together?
Did you appreciate when someone asked you "How are you?" and really wanted to hear the answer?
Did you ponder about a quote posted on a notice board?
Did you find a new book you can't wait to read?
Did you forgive yourself for not getting all the work done?
Did you smile when you saw your students practicing a dance?
Did you get a hug when you got home?
Did you talk to your sister on a phone?
Did you eat frozen strawberries for a dessert?
Did you write?
I did.
It was a good day

Above the clouds

I would like to go and join the lonely cloud elephant sitting in the middle of the endless cloud field. Is he watching the metal birds flying by and wishing to be somewhere else? The soft stillness is inviting. Maybe that's why the elephant came here.To be free. To meditate. He is where he wants to be. He isn't a bit lonely. In fact I am the lonely one among strangers. I could evaporate unnoticed. I feel invisible. I am made of dreams and hopes, fears and worries. I will become real again when I am among the ones who care about me.

Only a list of excuses

10 reasons I didn't write during the summer:

1. I forgot to forward my writing self from the virtual world to the real one.
2. My brain was replaced with strawberry flavored jelly.
3. I slowed down, but the words didn't and became uncatchable.
4. My inspiration decided to practice yoga. The corpse pose became her favorite.
5. My thoughts metamorphosed to blueberries.
6. My journal hid in fear I would drip salty seawater on it.
7. My pencils  escaped and grew roots and leaves.
8. I meditated and managed to empty my head completely.
9. I sold seashells on the seashore. The shells I sold were seashore shells.
10. But mostly it was my creative spirit's fault. She was on holidays.

to remember

Still in my pajamas I stood in the middle of our country home garden. The morning sun kissed my cheeks, the sea breeze caressed me, the soft grass tickled my toes. My sister gave me the biggest strawberry she had just picked.
"Put it in your mouth, close your eyes, and squish it with your tongue."
The sweet juice filled my blood stream.
"Now remember this feeling. Whenever you get stressed at school, close your eyes and think back to this morning."
I will.

short

Sometimes I simply don't have the energy to think or to write.

Having finished a very busy working week

On Friday evening it is especially difficult to come up with great ideas.

Restful weekend is waiting ahead, so may-be

Tomorrow I will write with an abundance of words. May-be.

Silence is soothing

Today

I will keep away

the tornado of thoughts

and whirlwind of words.

I have nothing to say.

I have so much to say.

I’ll just leave few tiny typed steps

on the snow-white paper.

To let you know that I am here.

I’d like to sit

in your company.

Quietly.

A gift of time - a day in the countryside

Time stretched together with the blue sky above me. The salty sea breeze blew the clouds of doubt making room for beauty.  The chunk of crankiness crumbled and fell through the holes. Pleasant thoughts settled. The molecules of stress evaporated in the warmth of the sun making intensity impossible. The worries dissolved in the chirps of the birds. Lulled by the lilacs and mesmerized by the apple blossom snow fall I stood still. I was caught in the amber of time. 

Spring

A glimpse.
A yellow butterfly.
A dream
fluttered by.
Hope
nested.

I found him sitting on a windowsill all by himself

Curled tightly, knees almost under his chin, back arched, forehead pressed against the window S.(9) looked like a bean ready to sprout. What was he thinking? What was he doing? I went closer.
"Here is a little bug. Just one. I am observing him. I'll write about him." S explained.
Later he showed me his writing.

Bug
I found him sitting on the windowsill all by himself. I will keep him company.

Cocoon

Let me be.
I know what I should do.
I don't want to.
I choose not to.
Layers of laziness wrap around me.
I will get everything done.
Later.

Teacher on a windowsill

Seeing Ms. M sitting on the windowsill in the assembly area made me rise my eyebrows in surprise. She looked at me, tilted her head, shrugged her shoulders, and smiled:"Neeh. There is a violin lesson in my classroom. I am fine here." One bite from a chocolate cake, a sip of coffee, and the fingers continued dancing on the keyboard of her purple MacBook.