Welcome to Saturday Soul – poetry, prose
Ok, we all need a break from the ever constant marketing world – so here is my outlet for poetry, prose and deep thinking on all things soulish. This is where I let down my guard and share my heart – you heard me right. I believe that great marketing is sharing a story – it’s more important than anything! Being real, authentic and approachable is one of the finest qualities a company and a brand can offer. So grab a Latte from Starbucks or your favorite cup of coffee, and let’s share some life here!
Saturday and Sunday are my favorite days, they bring a hope of rest and soul contemplation that in my crazy world of marketing and advertising I have little time for Monday through Friday. So, I wanted to devote a part of my blog to my musings and share them with you – my Saturday Soul.
I will be posting my personal journal of writings on love and life. Now understand that all of this is not positive, motivational type stuff….SOULFUL is what we FEEL – joy, pain, hope, despair, love, hate, hurt, loss and triumph (fragments of our stories, the fabric of our life). So join me for a fun ride of exploration into your heart, the soulful things that make us human – Saturday Soul.
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
Pain, Loss, Faith, Hope, Shame, Despair – They CONNECT US!
Yes, the words that we all understand – pain, loss, grief, faith, hope despair. And you know what I like about them? They connect us! If we could ever stop long enough to be honest with ourselves and each other, we would find that #1 – we are not alone, and #2 – we are all connected. May not know all the answers (and we don’t) but we can sure get through this life easier when we don’t single ourselves out to be some kind of lonely martyr or pitiful victim. Really. What has gotten me through one of the hardest personal times of my life (along with the love and support of my family and friends), was knowing that there are MILLIONS of women (and men) around the world that are going through the same type of thing (or another type of painful thing)! And we survive. With love, we will survive. Love for ourselves and, as my dear friend “Dr. K” tells me, with acceptance. Acceptance without judgment.
I went to see Clint Eastwood’s new movie Hereafter and wow, I will be thinking on this story and characters for days! My short review is: slowly moving, powerful, beautiful, deeply touching, deeply emotional. There were parts in the movie I wanted to wail! But then other moments that made my heart smile. My take away? Just what I was talking about – the many similarities of our stories, our connectedness, and the sweet thread of humanity that holds us all together – no matter where you are, who you are, or what you believe. Oh, and let’s not forget that thing that is so common among us ALL – our faith, and our desire for more. I thought about the loved ones I have lost and the blank despair your heart feels, just like one of the characters in the movie. I related to Cécile De France’s character in her search for meaning of her experience – how many of us have a “secret” we are trying to give meaning to in our lives? And then Matt Damon’s character that struggles with his “gift” – is it a blessing or a curse? Ever wondered that?
I love Eastwood’s movies. I like the way he patiently moves you into his characters, until you know them, relate to them. I just sat back and enjoyed each nuance of the 3 main characters and their stories that intertwine throughout the movie – it was a quiet pleasure with a hint of sadness mixed throughout, then blossoming into a cool breeze of joy…life is kinda like that, don’t ya think?
Love and peace…always!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
A bunch of squashes
After a long hot summer, I am emerging back into the swing of Saturday Soul. Not that I haven’t had any “Saturday soul” moments, I have had many (probably toooooo many), but the timing just hasn’t been right for me – more on why later. So I wake up this morning to a wonderful fall rain – the kind that makes me think of going to school when I was a kid, or riding bikes in the rain home from school – evoking a ton of memories. I felt it was time now to get back to my soulish rantings with you. Thanks for your patience, I have a lot planned in the coming weeks and months to share – it will be good for me and hopefully good for you too.
So as I jump back into writing and sharing I want to share a simple story I read yesterday that really spoke to me – it is from my daily calendar that is filled with stories to ponder, thoughts and meditations on letting go and just “being” -
“Behind a temple was a vine with many squashes growing on it. One day a fight broke out among them, and the squashes split up into angry groups, making a big racket. Hearing the uproar, the head priest went outside, saw the quarreling, and scolded them: “HEY! Squashes! Why are you fighting? Now- everybody do zazen (meditation as practiced in Zen Buddhism).” The priest taught them how, showing them how to fold their legs and sit up straight, and as the squashes began to follow the priest’s instructions, they calmed down and stopped fighting. “Now”, the priest said, “everyone put your hand on top of your head”. When the squashes felt the top of their heads, they found something attached there, which turned out to tbe the vine that connected them all together. “What a mistake!” the squashes said, realizing their predicament. “We’re actually all tied together, living just one life!”. From that moment on the squashes never again fought.”
Now, I’m not pushing any kind of religion here, but this story stopped me in my tracks. I was taught this growing up as a preacher’s kid, Jesus teaches that we are all one – love your neighbor as yourself. But when I look at this practically, not religiously or spiritually, I see that we really are one - same hurts, same pains, same needs – as human beings – it gives me peace and binds me to others.
My takeaway from this? We are one. Let’s stop warring, fighting over this and that – we will never all agree on everything – but if we stop, silent our thoughts and be still, we will understand.
More to come on my summer of quietness and my journey to find myself – again.
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
Listen to the Night Bird’s Song
It’s April and time to clean up around here. I have been sweeping leaves, planting flowers outside and inside I’m going through old photos, trying to get them in albums and organized – what a chore! I am looking over 10 years of photos with hubby Weldon and it’s amazing how much we have all changed. In looking at these photos, I can’t help but think – OMG! What a decade does to us, right? I talked to my mom last night who is 79 years young and she said the one thing she wanted to “pick a bone with God” on was why we had to get shriveled as we get old! Aging is beautiful – and as I get older I am trying to BEAUTIFULLY accept all that it brings – but geeze does it have to be so cruel on this old flesh? Ok, enough of that – we won’t DWELL on it (as I sit here avoiding my morning exercise). ; )
On to something more poetic and meaningful – I am a late night person, so I regularly experience the sounds and images of the night – the night bird’s song, the changing moon and placement of the stars. I love the night. Here is a little prose I wrote about that special moment when all attention is focused on the sounds that ARE.
Wings of Night
Calm me wings of night
May I rest in your song not flight
For God gave me not wings that soar
But wings of thought and more
More to see to dream to show
Calm may come where I may know
I’m human
Woman
My song may not always be heard
But it will be in the heart of the night bird
I greet the day before it opens
Knowing when light springs out the night bird quietens
Stills, not stops
For the night is its home in the tree tops
Where does it go when daylight dawns?
Where does it take its calm?
I greet the day before it opens
Saving my night song till all is quiet again
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
Bravely marching forward
Wind in my face
Chimes gently tinkling
Blue Jay chants
Mockingbirds winking
The last day of March, the first days of Spring. There are new sounds, new colors, new winds blowing that bring change, delight and challenges! I love Spring, but I hate the winds! Just like me (and you), right? We love good change but hate how the change has to come! I have been through many “springs” in my life that brought change and challenge, and all I have to say is that is was hard – sometimes hell on earth! But I found a secret. Just keep yourself and your head, focus, and you will come out alright.
After a terrible divorce years ago, I decided that I was NOT going to give up but instead was going to fight my way through the circumstances. I wanted to die, I wanted to kill. BUT… I didn’t! I chose to forgive and stay steady, do the right thing and focus on what mattered. What mattered was my children. So, I focused on them. I wasn’t going to let circumstances dictate how our lives were going to wind up! I was going to bravely march forward with my own damn banner and establish my territory!
I think our “springs” are demanding that of us, that we forge our way to bring new life and new growth. It isn’t easy. Most of our life depends on what we make up our mind to do. We don’t have to “go along”. And when I say “do the right thing”, I don’t mean follow the status quo – who says that is the right thing? That is for YOU to decide for your life.
In the face of challenges or trouble, my grandmother would say “it won’t matter in a 100 years”. I have used her words many times to help me decide if something was worth the fight. And you know what I discovered? What will always matter in 5, 10, 100 or a 1000 years is LOVE – how we give it and how we receive it – and RELATIONSHIP – how we embrace other human beings and the mark we leave on others hearts. Love transcends everything, it is what produces the flower after a harsh winter.
Back in the day, in bitter battle, I chose love. It kept me from dying. This Spring, let the new life you see popping up remind you of the opportunities you have to make beauty out of your circumstances – bravely march forward!
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
AHHHH Saturday is my SOUL day!
You thought I had forgotten about you, huh? No way! I have just been slammed, every area of my life has been so busy that I have had little time for my own pleasures – I need to take some Saturday SOUL for myself! So, hubby and I are hanging out in the office on Saturday night – he’s working on Facebook and I am checking all my “stuff” and decided it was time to share some SOUL! Gotta love it!
Lately I have discovered that I need a day that I don’t work on….yep, one day at least a week where I don’t even think about work. Challenging for me, especially when my iPhone delivers my work email to me 24/7 – but I am learning. I intend to write a book someday on the reality of WORK LIFE BALANCE….but I have to find it first! ; )
One thing I have done for myself recently is create my new photography site. When you get a chance visit www.LensQueen.com and take a look at a few of the galleries I have posted – it is a work in progress and just fun to share my photography with you!
Here’s some prose I wrote about friends and the faithful ones who touch our hearts throughout our life….I hope you enjoy!
Thankful Heart
I was thinking about a thankful heart
Where it ends and where it starts
There’s so much doubt that we endure
But I’ve found one thing to be faithful and true
When you seek to know another
You will experience life’s sense of wonder
So look deep into the heart
That’s where it ends and where it starts
Embrace those who choose to love
With tenderness and kindness
Walk in life without fear, open and sincere
Praise those who learn to forgive
and live with those who live!
Love and peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
Growing natural and strong
No doubt you have started your list on how you are going to expand, grow, improve, make more money, lose more weight, be a better person, etc etc etc, in 2010. It seems the thing we are programed to do, right? And it’s a good thing, right? But do you ever get sick of the put-on facade you see sometimes when people are trying TOO hard? Setting goals is key, and embracing positive change is awesome, but when you try too hard to be “good”, or stay “positive”, it’s a little bit funny. I want to think about growth in me as a natural outcome of my heart, my roots, my motives. Just how far can we go with that? Ok, come on with me now, I am going somewhere with this!
I snapped this photo of this ancient oak down in Kyle Texas and when I recently looked at the photo it reminded me a a poem I had written about growth and a tree – here is it, see if you can see the correlation between this poem and what I wrote in the paragraph above.
Tree of Transition
Tower tree of transition
Your leaves are green and fastened
Your bark is tender
Limbs are fine
Rested
Settled tree of mine
May I see myself in the green
Can I hope for leaves unseen – still
Will inches add and fullness fourish
Let it be
Don’t disturb this tree
It’s better left that way
It grows in simple trust – thrust
Through to new growth
Just because it has a home
Love and peace and unhindered growth!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
George Jetson and Star Trek – 2010 and beyond !
WOW! 2010! Back in the day when we thought of 2010 we thought of the Jetson’s, Spock, the Enterprise and flying cars! I wonder how our cultural collective conscienceness would have changed if we had known that things really wouldn’t be that different in 2010? Which makes me ponder another thought – about how we are always thinking things will be different in the future…like “2010 is going to be my year!” - I have said it already. But you know what? It is the hope of the future that makes us say that. It is the hope of things being better, the hope of a new fresh start – a blank canvass – that keeps many of us pushed toward growth and change. I think the reality is that the nature of human beings doesn’t change much, we just get smarter (hopefully), become more aware and learn more about ourselves, which in turn changes the way we treat each other. I do however, hold to a deep belief that we are expanding our natures through love, and those who embrace love do indeed hold the power to create a better future for all. But anyway, I do hope for flying cars and advanced technology that will allow me to beam myself and WW up to Tahiti without it costing too much!
I want to wish all of my family, friends – old and new, social networking buddies, my clients, associates and readers – a great 2010. Whatever you have struggled with this year, I encourage you to meet it head on in January and write out a way to overcome the obstacles. Think deeply, meditate on it, pray about it, then be still and the answer will come. I love you all! Happy, merry, prosperous and fabulous New Year!
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL:
Musing on a magical season of LOVE
No doubt most of you will not have time to read this post until after you have finished your holiday shopping. I will be getting out later this afternoon to do my final (hopefully) shopping and “Christmasing” as I call it. First I want to share some fun photos that WW and I took last night at the Galleria (one of my favorite holiday shopping stops), the tree was more fabulous than ever. As we watched the ice skaters it took me back to so many fun memories as a child at Christmas – life is full of wonder!
I have been pretty slammed all month and have missed posting my soulish thoughts and rants! Well here I am and what I want to share today is a collection of holiday greetings, simple prose, and thoughtful reflections on love I have written.
>> Love comes to the heart that has the eyes of a child – wide-eyed with wonder
>> Where else can such a gift be found than in the love that gives itself to another, asking nothing in return
>> Is it possible that this joyful season last all year long? Can your heart believe in miracles?
>> In an instant when love is poured out, joy and healing penetrate the heart
>> What greater gift could there be than love that is free
>> I want my friends to know, to be able to love and live your life each day is a gift – open this gift every day it is given and give thanks to the one who gave it!
>> There’s no other love you can find to hold your heart like mine
>> To love and live each day…is a holy thing. Can you believe? Can you love?
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas to all!
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
What we all have in common
UPDATE ON THE GLASS HOUSE: The VideoFest awarded The Glass House BEST DOCUMENTARY! Great film, check it out on the Sundance Channel!
I am excited to be a part of this weekend’s festivities of the 22nd annual VideoFest in Dallas! I have the privilege of representing the film The Glass House, a documentary written, produced and directed by my niece Melissa Hibbard and her husband Hamid Rahmanian of Fictionville Studios. Please join me on Sunday for the premier of the movie here in Dallas at the Mockingbird Station, the movie plays at 2:15 pm.
The Glass House portrays a common thread that runs throughout the human race, it is what we all have in common – pain, dreams, desire, tears, laughter, and the need for and giving of LOVE! It is what touched me the deepest about this film. No matter who you are, or where you live, or what language you speak, we basically need the same stuff. When you watch The Glass House and see the stories unfold of these girls, you will realize, this could be my daughter, my grandchild….or me!
LOVE and PAIN, connect all of us. It is THE thing we should remember before we pass judgement or pull away from someone because of our differences. What would happen if we could connect on that basis? What if our world could be more like John Lennons song “Imagine”, that there were no boundaries that separated u?. What if we could just be free to love each other? What if we could be free to HELP each other?
These are the thoughts that The Glass House provoked in me….that we are really all the same, just different costumes. Let’s choose to love the beauty in diversity!
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
I am the keeper of my HEART and all its passion!
Well the rain has gone (for now anyway), and we woke up this morning to an absolutely fabulous fall day – perfect weather, right? (Especially for all you Texas / OU fans at the Cotton Bowl today.) I am digging it at any rate and got up first thing this morning to go to Weldon’s Group Fitness class – the “Couch Potato Rescue“. Had a blast and feel invigorated! Working out with friends has been the answer for me and actually gets me out of bed on Saturday mornings!
I had a meeting this week with a friend and colleague, Petey Parker, who is a business coach and life guru. We first just got together for me to share some tips on her new digital SLR (she is getting geared up for a trip to South Africa), but we ended up over lunch talking about me and what I wanted in my business and life. She said two things to me that really hit me, simple and basic, and I want to share them with you…
When I was telling Petey (very vaguely) what I wanted in my life, I was unsure and stumbling all over my words. I realized that I really wasn’t focused on what I was saying because I was too tired and stressed out and didn’t know for sure what I was feeling. She said to me that she didn’t see the “sparkle” in my eyes when I was telling her about what I wanted to do. Then later on in the conversation she said that I needed to get alone and find out “where my heart goes”. That was it, that opened the gateway to thought and exploration. Finding out where my heart goes will lead me to the passion my life requires! Now, several days later, I realize that finding where “my heart is going” is a real soul search!
I am a preacher’s kid. Grew up in the church, was active in it all my young and teenage life. I was a Jesus-Freak in the 70′s, protesting, passing out tracks on the streets, singing about Jesus in parking lots, ministering to street people. Then as a young adult I was active in leadership in the church. I co-pastored, taught Sunday school to adults, led a big choir and ran a music program, went to prisons, fed the hungry. I was passionate. Then life happens and we find ourselves moving on from a place of zeal into a place of “doing”. I really felt the reality of that when I got a divorce. We move on…right?
Well, yes, and no. We move on to grow up, mature and embrace a larger piece of life and reality. But we also move away from the things that once brought a sense of purpose and fire to our hearts – the passion, the mission, the camaraderie of serving. After talking to Petey this week, I realized that we can move away from our heart’s path without even knowing it! We get cluttered up with the stuff we have to do, so much so, that we fail to take the time to listen to our hearts. I have always believed that we are given certain talents, desires and gifts to use in this life. If we don’t use them, then what the hell?
The truth is, I miss the passion, the mission, and the camaraderie I grew up with. I miss working together with people who are seeking something better, wanting to give love with no strings attached. I am haunted by memories of my past when my goals consisted of more than building a business, making money or getting a project done. There is something each of us have within us that turns us on, something that stokes the fire that makes us who we are. We are willing to follow it, commit to it, live for it, work for it and yes, sacrifice for it.
I think that we must treat our own hearts like we treat the heart of our lover. It must be nurtured, romanced and tended. If I spend the time with my heart, seeking it’s desire, then I am confident I will experience the passion, the intrigue, the joy, of KNOWING it.
Here’s to slowing down and emptying the busyness out for a time so that my heart can sing to me!
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
Rainy State Fair Fun!
Wow, I am loving this weather and feel like I am living in Seattle or Portand with all the rain and drizzle. There is something about this time of year that just makes me feel “homey”. I want to hang out, cook, bake and enjoy my family. It has really been great having my son Josh with us this fall, I am looking forward to our first taste of the family “Spiced Tea”….it is our sumptuous holiday hot tea drink that was made famous by my fabulous Aunt Flodie – talk about fall memories!
Ok, so we went to the fair last Saturday, and let me tell you, it was a total blast! Every year it is MY time to take my camera, stroll and watch people and eat whatever I want! This year it was rainy and we went totally unprepared. When we got on the Dart Rail at the Parker Road station in Plano it was sunny and beautiful. By the time we got into Dallas, it was raining and rained all day. We stay “moist” most of the day, but dodged the real rain by going into the exhibit halls and watching the pig races, petting the animals in the animal zoo and of course, my favorite, the car show. Here is a look at some of the fun times, and good eats!
If you haven’t gone to the fair yet, take the time, hop on the Dart Rail and get there, it is the best in the country and an experience in diversity!
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
Memoirs of a Rainy Day
Funny how rain and drizzle dredge up the memories of days gone by.
I am sitting in my office with the windows open because the A/C is out in our house (i know, ug!), listening to the rain and an occasional blue jay making that famous Texas sound. Reminds me of my summers here with cousin Laura and my famed Aunt “Flodie” as we called her. The happiest times I can remember. But rain can also conjure up some wickedly stupid memories, like the time I am driving in the car with ……. oh well, never mind! ; )
Here’s a little something I wrote on one of those rainy days that brings out in the soul all that makes us long for more meaning in our lives and in our love relationships.
Tears to Kiss
When I see the passion of your heart, I cry
When I see your eyes that light the dark, I cry
No other reason why
Your heart bled into mine
Our blood mixed as one
One life in one, giving all to all
I cry
Lightening strikes but once between two hearts
Tears of joy, tears of passion, tears of pain
I cry
For all the reasons I cry
Yet in my heart rages blue sky eternal
The hope for becoming one again
like man and god
sea and sky
meeting in the rain
to kiss
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Saturday SOUL
The Air of Autumn
Ending
scorched heated days of summer
crisp sun dappled moments
laced with childcare’s laughter
gin and tonics and pool-side acrobatics
cooler water flows from the hose
Lacey and Caesar repose
from ferocious growth to quiet contemplation
summers’ winds lay down
Conspiring
portrait of the full-moon laughing
a chill on the skin wrapping,
enclosing all that’s green hued
to orange-red speckled to woo me
the air turns pale while slower cars prevail
settled, quietly dreaming
flinging powered puffs across pure blue
Autumn’s breath begins to move
Creating
crunching dead-life beneath my feet
reminding me how quickly we expose
regroup, engage, pursue
green life hides beneath the heaving chest
promising a wild return pressed through cold-wet
chilling warming playful Autumn air
capturing a five-fingered turkey
returning laughter for care.
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Saturday SOUL
Have you ever felt this way about someone?
OMG!
Ohhhh my GOD!
I saw you
I saw you!
Like a shooting star on this year’s first night of summer
You flashed by me
I saw you!
Do you have any idea what that did to me?
Did you feel my pulse race?
Did you see the smile on my face?
Do you know what hope and longing was felt in the mere fleeting glance of you?
I saw you
Just like this life -
To flash before these love-sick eyes
A god out of reach
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Saturday SOUL
There are times we have when we just go by feelings, simply wanting to be known and to know. This poem came from one of those moments in my life.
Knowing
I don’t know the words
I’m really not that smart
I don’t even know how, I just get by – feeling
A heart is easy
Eyes? I can read them
Motives? That one gets me sometimes
But sooner or later I know
I don’t care about your words
I’m gonna read your heart
Don’t let it fail me
I’m not that strong
What I really want is to share my song
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Saturday SOUL
Ahh, the terrible push and pull of hearts in love. I could tell you stories but instead I will share a couple of writings and give a hint of the fickleness love can sometimes have. From drama and despair to elated bliss, love can give you one hell of a work out! Here’s to all you lover’s out there!
A Lover’s Musings –
If losing sleep and losing dreams really make you sick,
then I am TERMINAL
If losing loved ones and being hated by the ones you love make you hard,
then I am STONE
If loss of mind and weakened spirit make you mad,
then I am but a LUNATIC
If a lying tongue and deceitful heart send you to hell,
then I am lost in the FLAMES
If a cold heart and an empty stare means you are dead,
then I am a CORPSE in-deed!
But in my sickness you healed me
and kissed away my tears
and in my darkness your light came
to save my life from despair
San Marcus Sky 2
San Marcus Sky is gray today
but I’m holding on to the Persian blue memories
from days when its perfume rose like a mist for my love and I
Days were short and time was never enough
for those flighty days of late summer
All that was beautiful then became broken
when a painful heart tore my lover from me
but now, as I look through aqua clear eyes,
I see that grace has delivered him back to my heart
More precious than I ever knew him to be
Now, as we leave this magic kingdom,
we leave never to return the same
but with each other we go
and this time the perfume goes with us
for no single place could contain
the essence of our love
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Saturday SOUL
If you have ever been to south Texas and visited San Marcus and the San Marcus River, you will relate to the beauty I speak of in this writing. There is a love for Texas and a love for the river down there that has always inspired me. It is a magical place (I call it the magic kingdom) where my love was not only kindled for my state but also for my lover.
San Marcus Sky
The moon shining down in the San Marcus sky
brings a smile to my face and I’m not sure why
it seems brighter here
smells like perfume in the air
This is the land where dreams are awakened
where the sun melts the sky and the moon’s light is shaken
rivers of teal flanked by green-soaked rocks
where a aman and a woman hold their hearts
lost in talk
San Marcus sky on a persian blue rug
you hold my heart in your land of love
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Saturday SOUL
Saturday SOUL
Here are a couple of poems for lovers – thinking about love, passion and finding that one thing….
Heart Inflamed
Hold me back from the inspiration that grips my heart
Like shards of glass sounding
Piercing through to the deepest hidden part
Binding my heart to love
Hold me to the solace of selfish longing
That tenacious memory of
One night
Lost in passion
Lost in music
Lost in dance
You
Shot straight through like a spark
A fire unleashed in the whirlwind
Capturing my heart in the flame
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Blue
I found a blue jay feather out back by the tree
you know, underneath the torch I lit for you
“How many torches do you have?” you said
“only one, that’s all”
“How does the flame go out?”
“I guess it will just go out by itself” I answered with a hint”
“But what keeps the flame burning?” you asked
“Fuel” you fool!
Finely tined feather
Not broken at all
Just skillfully removed and tossed
Into the dirt like a dagger
(in a brick wall)
Strange finding a feather under that torch
Removed like my love is for you
Yet ready to ignite by one single spark
But make no mistake about the feather
It was blue
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Saturday SOUL
The ART of smoke and mirrors
I am writing today from Nashville, the home of country music and my big sis, Judith. Started the day walking through the village, getting a cup of java and sitting outside to watch the people pass in a misty, drizzly rain. I am here with my hubby staying at my sister’s home in Brentwood, my brother has flown in to meet us from Park City and my little niece is here as well. It is a wonderful time with some of the most real people I know, people who have lived life, been to hell and back, and are coherent enough to tell about it! I realize today that the journey we have all been on has brough us each to a place of NOT knowing! Funny for a bunch of preacher’s kids who use to have all the answers down pat!
In our conversations on the patio last night (until 3 am), after having enjoyed a night out with friends at Whitfield’s Bar singing (as we always do) around the piano and entertaining our entourage, we discussed the changes we see in our culture and what I will hopefully admit is an emergence of more tolorance for all people. Less judgement, more freedom, thinking freely and more confidently about God and our place in all of this. Scary to many, and a reality for a few. I like what I am seeing, although i know it is upsetting the status quo. I like the idea where we can all accept each other without judgement, knowing that we are all just human beings trying to live and love and be happy in this life. This brings me to my title for this week: The art of smoke and mirrors!
As a musician/singer/performer and growing up as a preacher’s daughter in the mid-west, I can talk to you as an expert about smoke and mirrors. Not the kind David Copperfield may use, but the smoke and mirrors that are all too familiar in our daily lives. The kind that fool the simplist of us, that can take away our faith.
The art of smoke and mirrors as I see it is sometimes deliberate, sometimes carefully crafted, and sometimes the result of our own insecurity. An old friend of mine who has a band is a good example. Although she is really not a good singer, she knows the art of smoke and mirrors and uses it when on stage. She will draw your attention away from her voice with her movements, the guitar and loud sound of the band, the lights, the stage, the show. You will be awed when you see her, but you will really never HEAR her. She knows how to work the smoke and mirrors. Sound familiar? What about the preacher/evangelist who wows you with their passion and emotion, but when you really listen to what they are saying, it is empty reitoric and lacking in real knowledge. Then there is the marketer who just hounds you to death through stupid emails and marketing jargon, telling you how big you can win if you buy their product, but they never really share any knowlege . Smoke and mirrors. It has worked for centuries in business and in the entertainment industry. Sad though, because like my singer friend, it leaves the person behind the mirror empty, and unfullfilled, lost without a confidence of any kind.
Now, let’s turn the table. What about the singer/performer who is aligned with himself, practiced, passionate, skilled and REAL in his performance. After their performance, you walk away with a memory and a moment in your life that has brought change and magic. The speaker who changes your life with truth you can take home with you and passion you can align yourself to in the real world. Then there is the teacher who is not fooling her students with generic, canned generalaties (smoke and mirrors), but sharing her heart, her knowledge, connecting and changing lives in the process.
What I am talking about friends, is being real. Being humble, accepting and loving, passionate and committed. Embracing the gifts in you and crafting them so that they become real. Like the Velvetine Rabbit, many of us have to have all our hair rubbed off in life to become real, to accept the fact that we are who we are and cannot be anyone else. In my sisters bath room she has a sign on the wall that says “She decided to be herself since everyone else had already been taken”. I like that.
Maybe the Art of Smoke and Mirrors works well for some people, they can get by. But for me, when it comes down to it, in this life, we have one pass, one opportunity to be real, to reach in and grab all we can get to experience the beauty and adventure of every moment. One breathing life to love the people in our lives, to effect change in people by sharing who we are. I do NOT want to miss that. I do not want to wake up and realise that what I had been after wasn’t real at all, or that what was BEHIND the smoke and mirrors was really a hell of a lot better!
Love and peace!
Sandy
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Saturday SOUL
Indepdence Day for All!
Since today is our Independence Day here in the United States, I felt compelled to talk about INDEPENDENCE! ; ) So, no cute rhyme or mystical mind-wanderings, just my thoughts on the price of FREEDOM – your freedom!
Just as our ancestors fought for freedom from a tyrannical empire and gave their lives to have their voices heard, so we must continue to fight the fight of freedom for our PERSONAL selves. You know that many have died fighting against the British empire, fighting against “taxation without representation”, for women’s rights, for civil liberties, for human rights of all people, and so that other people could be free from monster dictators, but do we think (in this same light) about the men and women who have given their lives to be free from a TYRANNICAL SPOUSE or parent? A denigrating boss or business associate? And what about the physically and mentally challenged who fight every day for the independence of movement or thought? There is sacrifice all around us.
If we listen, really listen, to others personal stories about their “march of FREEDOM”, we will find inspiration, feel sorrow and pain and come to understand their suffering….all for freedom. These stories are what connects the entire human race! There is the wife who gives up her home and risks everything, I mean everything, to get free from an abusive and oppressive husband. Or the husband who must exercise his independence from an unloving, violent or absent wife. Children who fight their ENTIRE LIVES to free themselves from the marks left by parents who kept them enslaved with no liberties or free pursuits. Or the person who must fight to maintain a free mind who lives in an oppressive country, under an cruel regime. I could go on, but I hope you get the picture. FREEDOM comes with a price for us all everyday. How can we continue to judge others when we all have the same need? What I love about the people that surround me in my life here in America is that there is an underlying belief that freedom belongs to everyone. But this is not just about political freedom, it is about personal freedom, freedom from judgement, freedom from bigotry and hatred. If we will look into the hearts of the people who are in our lives and accept that we really are the same and embrace the love that’s in us, I think we can change the world.
My husband, Weldon, has this quote that he learned from his elementary teacher, she said “your freedom ENDS where mine begins”. There is a respect for human life that comes with acceptance of our individuality. When I understand more I am less judgmental. The less judgmental I am the more love abounds, the more love there is, the more an individual can move into their freedom!
Happy Independence Day!
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Saturday Soul: June 27
Saturday Soul for my birthday
Saturday soul, birthday soul, living soul, precious soul
Mixture of love and spirit, insight and hunger, strength and frailty
Growing up, letting go, diving in
Saturday soul, birthday soul, moving soul, empty soul
Filling the void, finding the space, living in grace
Embracing my youth as a guide to old age
Saturday soul, birthday soul, wandering soul, giving soul
Passion’s spring of joy returning with the gift of living
Mystery, exploration, finding me whole
—–
Embracing the mystery of life and accepting the “unknown” outcome has been a journey for me that I feel like I have only yet started. I’m beginning to see that I don’t have to “know”. It’s better to embrace the moments of my life and taste than to wish for another time or place and live in the emptiness. When I drop the walls of judgment and intolerance and open my heart to life, I feel deeper, see further and love completely. This is where my passion is nurtured and my sight strengthened so that I can see the beauty along the way and move from passage to passage embracing the magic of every moment I’ve been given.
Love and Peace!
Sandy
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Saturday Soul
On the Flame of Love’s Embrace
If I could awaken from love’s dream
turn the mercury to a sliver
and hush the very breath that warmth and joy delivers…
If I could snuff the laughter
to a filtered pretend chuckle
and fasten tight the mystery with a hardened cut-steel buckle
If I harnessed dreams’ heart and hope
with a cold and cloudy stare
and turned my face from what is real
if I could stop love there
But soon the prickle of the cold
would turn my heart to grief,
if I awakened from the dream laid at my lover’s feet
No, this tender vision must remain
sweetly moving, gently nurtured in the hope of my love’s flame
*All poems and writings/articles © Sandy Wright 2010.
No Comments on "Saturday Soul"
Love that you’re doing this and I LOVE your verse! Beautiful and heart-opening piece. Thanks so much for sharing! Love you!
Thanks Miss Loridar! love you back and look forward to our next coffee time!
I love this little insight into your soul…I can’t wait for next week!
Thanks for the reminder that Freedom in America transcends merely the political, Sandy. Priase God for America! And praise Him for Jesus, who gave His life that we may have the ultimate Freedom. Happy Fourth to you and WW!
Thanks Lysa and a happy 4th to you and your entire family! Love love!
I love “The Art of Smoke and Mirrors” segment. I don’t think we can truly be happy unless we are being real…and you are most definitely real!!! Can’t wait for this weeks Saturday Soul!
You’re such a songwriter and balladeer. (SP?) Love the poem to Weldon. Put it to music!
Ha! you are too kind, it would make a fun country song, huh? I will have to get my country musicians to help me!
Sandy love, I’m inspired by you. Indi
Today’s Saturday Soul meets me where I’m at — still trying to master the art of finding balance between work, serving, resting and playing. I miss that creative part of me that has been in storage for some years. Thanks, Sandy, for being real.
Becky
Hi Sandy:
Hey girl—–So appreciated your Saturday Soul this week— First off you had lunch with one of my favorite people—and what a wonderful combination of spirits you are! You are an inspritation in so many ways….I think most of us are on the treadmill of doing and unless we take care of ourselves we can lose our footing and wind up in both an emotional and physical “accident.” I remember a rather confusing time in my life when I was doing something professionally that I really didn’t want to do, but someone had encouraged me to do and thought it would be great for me. And as weeks went by and I felt more and more out of sorts and confused, I received an interesting “message.” I was at a Holiday Craft show and looking at all of the great artwork and jewlery people were selling and I came across a very beautiful link charm bracelet. When the vendor showed me the delicate engraved sterling silver charms with inspirational words, the one that “jumped” off the table was the word PASSION- WOW! was that a message or what!??!!—so to this day, I know that in order for me to be fulfilled in life, I need to be doing things that feed my passion–whatever that may be–in both my professional and personal life……If it doesn’t feel right…..then I need to find something that is-( sometimes easier said than done)–I feel fortunate now because I love what I do and it allows meto help others on many different levels. You are a great lady with many gifts and talents and an important message to share– Thanks for the reminder!!!!! Let’s talk soon!!!-
Best-
Donna
Hey, friend,
I finally got some quiet time to read your blog. I am moved by your insight and honesty-You have really come into your own as a poet, very impressive! I especially liked “Blue” and “a Lover’s Musing” It was so great to see you, but i missed your fire-your eyes never lie-you must make time to stir the embers of your quest and relearn to live in the moment that we’ve talked about so many times…when you let go of the hand of your child, you lose that tempering freshness that keeps us from becoming jaded by the day-to-day mendacities and mediocrity of living an “adult” life. I would encourage you to grab her hand again, not to live in denial, but for a little balance…I love you!!!!!
Wow!! Sandy , I really enjoyed reading all the poems and you soul writings. I am sending your page to Sharon, who is going through a tough divorce right now. I think that it would encourage her to hang in there.
I remember some of those days out in the parking lots, your beautiful singing voice & some of the hard times that you survived.
Love you
CKT
Thanks Carolyn, please do encourage her – that is what this Saturday SOUL is all about – about life and what we go through and how we get through it. Great memories! Love Love!
Sandy