Things That Are Already In Your Life 11/14/14

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Dear Friend,

A new friend of mine, Sherry Richert Belul, said this at Life is a Verb Camp last week:

Wish for things that are already in your life. Be present to the life you have.

She asked the whole audience to think about what we would wish for if we didn't have it today. It was so cold outside that I wished for a warm house. I wished for clean water, and I wished for health for all my loves ones. I also wished for more time to write. These are all things I have right now. And they are enough. Wishing for things I already have creates gratitude for the life I have today. It creates a practice of celebration. It's not always easy so I have to practice. Practice. Practice. Practice.

This also spoke to me this week:

The deep secret in our heart of hearts is that we are writing because we love the world, and why not finally carry that secret out with our bodies into the living rooms and porches, backyards and grocery stores? Let the whole thing flower: the poem and the person writing the poem. And let us always be kind in this world.
-Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

Yes! I write because I love the world. I love when I break down twice in one trip. Sometimes I just need an unexpected detour. I love when 5 billion leaves fall in our yard, so many we lose the dog. I love abandoned places and all the stories I imagine come with them.

What would you wish for....that you already have?

Love,

Ashley

P.S. If you've received this letter secondhand, you can leave your email address here to receive my weekly letters.

The first thing I was handed when I got to camp was a sticker that said “this is a safe place”…and it was. I barely got through the first paragraph before being unable to talk. And the crowd was clapping and shouting encouragement. And I finished. And it gave my illness light, color and a story. And then I tore up my paper and let the pieces float gently one by one into the trashcan.

Patti Digh opened camp by saying, “I realize what I do is to create open space for people to show up.” I love that. I want to create spaces where people can show up too.

That will be my new and forever mission in life.

"But you could see their eyes light up when they opened Ruby up. Their eyes took in the Edelbrock carburetor and the 350 crate engine. The younger of the three lifted the hood into place and he looked into Ruby’s insides as if he’d known her forever. She was an old girlfriend. He tightened things here and there and touched the belts to test their tautness. Places I’d never dared stick my hands before fearing I’d burn them or lose them."

A Scandinavian Christmas Tree

Living Has a Deadline

The World Is Run By People Who Show Up

So Many You Can't Name Them

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

“I write because I am alone and move through the world alone. No one will know what has passed through me... I write because there are stories that people have forgotten to tell, because I am a woman trying to stand up in my life... I write out of hurt and how to make hurt okay; how to make myself strong and come home, and it may be the only real home I'll ever have.”

A Maze Me by Naomi Shihab Nye

A Maze Me by Naomi Shihab Nye

A collection of seventy-two poems written especially for girls ages twelve and up by the much-honored and beloved poet Naomi Shihab Nye.

"We forget about the spaciousness above the clouds but it’s up there. The sun’s up there too. When words we hear don’t fit the day, when we worry what we did or didn’t do, what if we closed our eyes, say any word we love that makes us feel calm, slip it into the atmosphere and rise? Creamy miles of quiet. Giant swoop of blue."

I Said Yes and Every Single Person Said.....

I Am My Own Mechanic

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