stay close
Stay close to what nourishes you, it said. Wrapped up with a sprig of rosemary and lavender and a burlap colored journal with no lines. How I love journals with no lines...the possibilities, the freedom!
Stay close to what nourishes you...to the sea, to the quiet, to wind chimes, to hope, to horizons. Salt water. To breezes tickling the leaves and palm fronds. To sunsets and sunrises that blanket the sky with soft colors of orange, pink and purple. To afternoon thunderstorms.
Stay close to what nourishes you...to freshly washed cherries, strawberries, watermelon, iceberg lettuce - crunchy and clean. To water. Cucumbers, mint, basil, and something sweet.
Stay close to what nourishes you...in bed with my daughter; our skin sun kissed. Our hair, wet. Reading children's books; stories of imagination and flight. Of magic and kindness and beauty. Of rainbows and truth, of fairy tales and places far far away.
Stay close to what nourishes you...hugs and kisses, the "sweet spot" on the back of my baby's neck, her rolls around her thighs, the top of her fuzzy head. Hearing laughter; my own and the giggles of my husband and children.
Stay close to what nourishes you...imagination, creativity, freedoms, silliness. Dancing. Singing. To space and time. Chirping crickets, twinkly stars in the night sky, and freshly cut green grass. How the air smells when it's about to rain.
To bats cracking balls and soft commentary - a baseball game on T.V. Summer sun. Falling snow. Changing leaves. Showering pink cherry blossoms. Bougainvillea petals. The scent of jasmine, gardenia, and plumeria. The full moon dancing on the water.
Stay close to what nourishes you...Stan Getz and Reggae. Zap Mama. Music from India...mysterious, haunting, wonder tears, chills and a lump in my throat. To songs of unity, peace, and bliss. True stories of humor, wit, and wonder. My blankie.
Heart to Hearts with friends over coffee or on the phone. My chest beaming with fullness, bursting with brightness. Feelings of wholeness, gratitude, oneness and connection.
Being there for someone I love or someone I just met. Witnessing a broadening of their chest and smile, a dropping of shoulders. Transformation. Transcendence.
Stay close to what nourishes you...authenticity, warmth, twinkly eyes, laugh lines, fingertips, my dog's paws. My son's amber eyes and the sound of his voice saying Mama. My husband's freckles and his back, his shoulders, his smile, his absolutely everything.
What, my sweet friends, nourishes you?