.frozen landscapes.

I am in a new landscape, exploring the Okanogan Highlands. It's just been a week. A place I know but only from short visits. I'm excited to explore more, to listen. 

We are still in winter here, but the light is slowly returning and the land slowly unthawing/melting from all the rain. I went out to explore yesterday and found a new trail, a canyon trail. It was so beautiful and vast. My favorite part was the frozen pathway that was slowly cracking from the influx of warm and cold temperatures. The pathway looked like shattered glass to me. There's something so beautiful about this illusion of shattered glass, and the emerging grasses wintered over patiently awaiting spring to come. 

.day 6.

Do LESS with MORE intention. 

This is my lesson of the week! The signs (reminders) of this are everywhere in my new town. This has been a challenging transition, s l o w i n g down from Boston to this quiet/calm/chilled o u t little town. It's so beautiful and inspiring here I just feel ready to GO - DO - MAKE but that's not the pace of things here. I've been wondering what to do with my time - wondering what I should be doing - how much should I be doing because I really haven't done much in these first few days but u n w i n d - rest - sink into myself. I was sick for a few days and found myself forced to be alone in my house - feeling guilty at first that I wasn't out and about and then s l o w l y I started unwinding into the joy of being by myself. To be stuck in my head and to let go of time and expectations - it is liberating! I don't know the last time I was allowed that and whenever it was I was not in a place to appreciate the richness of it. 

I don't really get it here yet and I'm not even sure what I'm doing or what will come of this but I am finding so much beauty in all the little details, my daily exploratory walks always lead me to some magical discovery and I'm amazing by all the ways that this little mysterious place is meeting me just where I need, even in ways I didn't know I needed. This is where I am suppose to be right now and I'm grateful. 

Thanks for following along with me. 

.december thoughts.

There's something challenging and magical about December - the frenzy of the holidays that collides with the slowing down into winter. During the past few weeks I've been balancing between sprints in the studio making/selling my wares at holiday markets and the quiet exhaustion at home when I stop and look around to remember that it's December, it's winter time. The season is softly asking me to refocus inwards. I'm trying to find more balance and less extremes, to start gathering my focus and intentions for this season - for this new year - for this opportunity to renew myself, to learn myself more.

This is what I started to gather today on a walk in the woods:

to greeting - someone/a moment/journey with no expectations - just an open heart - to accept what it offers me with gratitude, not judgment - to stay present with its offering, as if I know nothing at all. 

I don't know if that's possible but it's something I want to work towards this coming year. To stop reacting to old stories - to stop carrying the past into the n o w - to stop asking someone to take care of my wounds and to stop taking care of theirs. 

slow
calm
presence
without judgment
and when I move towards judgment remember to 
be here 
now.

What are you gathering in these shorter days? 

.snow day.

It's been a very dry New England winter, cold but dry. So when I woke up yesterday morning I was surprised and a little excited to see the huge snowflakes rapidly falling. Maybe it was just the change - the new energy that it brought. I've always loved fresh snow for it's ability to make things feel so quiet and calm. I walked to my jewelry studio and the city seemed so zen - like the snow had forced (allowed) all these busy people a chance to slow down - to take a breath. Or maybe it allowed me to take a breath from the city.