a few photos {connection}

I thought last week was going to be about space.  About feeling or reflecting on the space I gave myself to make a difficult decision. But it wasn't; not exactly.  

What rose from that pause, was not the space itself, but connection. The connection to within that comes from accepting that space is necessary and that our limitations exist whether we accept them or not.  

It was a connection to understanding, again, that this world is greater than me and its answers or understandings are not to be found in the fodder of my own thoughts, but through a willingness to let go and feel small and look out the window and allow my soul to be saved over and over again by looking into my child's eyes.

December 16

There were many stunning experiences during our four weeks on the road this summer, but the one most impactful was how small I felt in the face of all the millennia we crossed, marked in the land, the grandeur and the expanse. I was relieved to feel small, relieved from the worries of my own mind, overcome by all that is so much greater; the land, the experience of it, the experience of my family, the grace of that opportunity. I sat down briefly with a pencil this afternoon to wonder what I would notice; the ever constant humming of the fish tank; and the ever constant chatter of my own mind, loose of that smallness and largely consumed by the minutiae, adrift in the internal churning. There are times when we must look within, but there are times that we must look out and allow ourselves to be reminded of all that is greater and joyous.  

December 15

This package of delight arrived in my mailbox last night, my handmade Inner Compass ring by @innercompassdesigns, this was a kind of year end gift to myself, a reminder and an affirmation.  And even though they are so different, it was instantly a perfect companion to my grandmother's WWII Navy ring which brings me strength and comfort. Thank you Deb for the lovely and inspiring package, the hand lettered quote brought me to tears, this is beauty indeed! "Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike" {John Muir}

December 12

There is something in this boy's face that speaks eternity to me. Something that reassures me, that reaches into me; that has since he was an infant. Long before he could do anything but look at me with his deep eyes and need me desperately to keep him alive, this thing in him helped keep my soul alive.

With gratitude,

Joanna