Category Archives: hope

You are not a tree

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I am fortunate to be able to say that I am happy with my life.  I enjoy my job and the people I work with, I love my little house and the privacy it affords me and I love living in Muskoka.  Not everything in my life has been picture perfect but that awareness empowers me to alter the things in my life that are not working and follow the path that I envision for myself.

So many people I encounter don’t seem to have the same luxury of being able to say they are content in their own lives. They seem to radiate negative energy and the lessons that are presented in their lives become more of a burden than a learning experience.  The “glass half empty” attitude fills the room and stifles any potential for that glass to be filled again.

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With the impending shift in the calendar, the welcoming of a New Year and possible making of resolutions, we have to remember that we are not trees.  We are not rooted so deeply into the soil of our lives that we are unable move and make a change.  We are not permanently stuck in one spot for the rest of our lives, able to only move in one direction.  We are afforded the freedom of being able to make a change in our lives whenever we feel the desire to alter our destiny.  It may be a daunting task to uproot yourself and start over but, when you flip to the other side of that coin, what could be the lesser of the two evils?  With change always comes doubt but happiness will always trump fear.

Give yourself permission to do whatever it takes for you to be happy.  Put down some roots but if the place you have planted yourself smothers your potential for growth, dig up the roots, plant yourself again and start over.  You have to give yourself the opportunity to flourish and, if that means beginning again in a different location, trust that your happiness is worth the effort and do whatever it takes to find that perfect place.

Plant your feet and blossom but leave room to uproot, branch out and grow.

I Hear Only You

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Another poetic duet with my dear friend Sage Doyle.   Please click the link to his page and treat yourself to some of his other writing.

***

Amidst the calling wind I turn

to find you there, bating

the imprints you left behind

as you found your voice

~

I watched you follow that cry

churning in desperate circles

chasing the sound you had forgotten

remembering when your voice was strong

~

It was then that I began to fall

if only for the reaching, the sound

of my own echoes were of remorse

the recall of these discrepancies

~

I search for your hand

to steady me and  hold me as I fall

stronger than any voice in the dark

the errant sounds land heavily on my heart

~

It is this restitution which I embrace

in order to continue on, calling along the way

while you become the stronghold,

the stage of my convictions

~

I seek and hold the dulcet tones

those symbols of your existence in my reality

those things that hold me true to who I am

and that voice that draws me to you

Dream a little dream of me

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heart

While your eyes feast on the dancing lights

shimmering upon your tree,

I hope you take the time to remember

and dream a little dream of me.

Though worlds apart, I cannot dismiss

the memory of  your smile.

Knowing that you hold me close to your heart

only makes the longing worthwhile.

Moments spent suspended in your gaze

seem like a lifetime ago.

But those emotions bubble under my skin,

the seed just waiting to grow.

While visions of you dance in my head

and your laughter hangs in the air,

I long for the day I can look in your eyes

and the feelings we have can be shared.

The vast chasm of our realities

hold you so far out of touch.

My one wish for Christmas this year

is that I didn’t want you so much.

~~

Written for Romantic Monday

Holy Christmas Spirit Batman!!

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I initiated a Toy Drive at the Lodge where I work and this is the first year I have taken on such an enterprise.  Shamrock Lodge agreed to donate an off-season weekend for two as our way of saying thank you for donating to our toy drive.  Family names who have donated to our cause will be entered for a chance to win and a name will be drawn on December 21st.

The first picture is round one of the toy drive which was overwhelming in itself.  We delivered the first round of toys to the OPP Toy Drive last Saturday and made Natalie, the OPP officer, a bit weepy.

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Today I went shopping once again with the generous donations that continue to come in from all areas of our lives.  Friends, family, hotel guests and local residents have gone above and beyond to help us with our toy drive and make sure every child has something under the tree this year.

The next picture is only the beginning of round two.  We are still collecting for another week and I am already excited about donning the Elf hat again and delivering the toys to their rightful destination so they can find their way into the hands and heart of a child.

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I will definitely be making this an annual event!!  Have a great weekend everyone and when you are out shopping, be sure to pick up that one extra toy and donate it to a cause that wants every kid to have a Christmas!!

Unspoken words

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The way your eyes look into mine is unfair.

You hold me in your gaze.

You see me.  You see into me.

Your eyes travel the contour of my face and rest on my smile.

Your eyes know every wrinkle around my eyes.

Your eyes know the emotion in every facial expression I have.

Your eyes know me.

But it isn’t fair.

Your eyes will never be able to look outward with mine,

they will never be able to look towards a future together.

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For as much as we are drawn together,

the vision in your reality keeps us apart.

But your eyes continue to speak to me,

volumes of implied feelings are expressed with each blink.

My eyes read those thoughts and answer back.

The emotion in our unspoken words is palpable.

Hold me in your gaze for a while longer.

Hold me there forever.

~~

(image credit: michellealva.com)

I’ve been bitten

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The Christmas spirit bug has ruthlessly stalked me and finally dug its long incisors into my flesh.  I feel like the Grinch after his “A-Ha” moment and my heart has grown three sizes and then some.

As you may have read in an earlier post, we came up with the idea to do the first ever toy drive at Shamrock Lodge this year and the response has been overwhelming, to say the least.  Not just toys have entered our Muskoka lodge, but monetary donations have been flowing in from all over the map.

I had the fun of shopping on Thursday at our local toy store where ALL toys are 50% off – so not only did we get to buy toys for the kids, we got twice the number of toys than originally anticipated!  Win, win.

Today is the day we deliver the first round of toys to the OPP Toy Drive and make what will be the first of two contributions this year.  The money is still coming in and people have until the 20th to drop off toys to the lodge.

I hope this bug bites me every year!

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Waterfall, what? – Trifextra challenge

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The basin at the bottom of the waterfall would always dazzle my reality and expand my myopic view of what beauty can truly look like.  The naked man swimming there didn’t hurt either.

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~~

(image credit: hunkdujour.com)

And on again to the weekend Trifextra Challenge:  On to the weekend prompt. This weekend we’re asking you to add thirty of your own words to the following three words for a total of thirty-three. Good luck!

myopic
dazzle
basin

– See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.xTpk2xs6.dpuf

100 Word Song – I nearly lost you

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You left so quickly.  I didn’t have time to say goodbye and, in my misery and grief, I nearly lost you.  But your voice permeates my dreams.  The sound of your laughter echoes in my memory.  Those idiosyncracies that used to wear thin are now the moments I cherish the most.

A rider may have fallen, but the ghost of you still navigates those winding curves in my memory.  You will never cease to exist and, although I may have thought you were gone, you will always live on because I choose to remember you.

I hear your distant cry.

~

Written for the 100 Word Song Challenge – one of my new favorite challenges.  If you haven’t tried this yet, I thoroughly recommend it!!

My holiday spirit in two words

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Today’s world is a far cry from simple.  It is a labyrinth of cultures, race, skin color and vastly different systems of belief.  It is a melting pot of strong ideals and judgement and it is quickly becoming far less tolerant than it once was.

I happen to celebrate Christmas and in the process of that celebration I can be heard uttering two words that, although were once mainstream, are now, by some, thought to be completely offensive.  Merry Christmas.  Two words that contain the ideals of the child I once was and now hold dear the spirit of a celebration that I embrace.

I am not a vindictive person and, when I choose to utter those two words, I am not negating the fact that you may not celebrate this particular holiday.  I am choosing to share my love of the holiday season in my way.  I am attempting to insinuate my child-like joy into the moments of your day by choosing to wish you the best of the holiday season in a way that I learned through osmosis.  There used to be something exceptionally special about watching the joy spread by speaking those two words.  It was like watching a wave of true happiness spread from one person to the next.  Now, instead of riding that wave, it is more like treading lightly on the edge of the water ever mindful of sharp objects in the sand.

I have felt trapped at times, wondering if I should only articulate the two words that do not seem to easily offend, but “happy holidays” doesn’t encapsulate the true spirit I have at this time of the year.  Sure, it may be less offensive to some, but perhaps they don’t take the time to know the feeling behind the words.  By wishing you a Merry Christmas, I am merely saying that I want you to enjoy your way of celebrating as much as I enjoy mine and somehow inject some of my cheer into your day.

So let me throw caution to the wind and impart my holiday spirit to you on this Tuesday morning.  Merry Christmas to all and may the spirit of the holiday season, whatever your holiday may be, bring merriment to your smile and gladness to your heart.

(this is a blog post I wrote last year, but I felt it warranted being said again as we enter the festive season)

I feel like I’m in Santa’s Workshop

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Admittedly, our Toy Drive at Shamrock Lodge is receiving more attention that I had originally anticipated!  Toys are now coming from all directions and the office is beginning to look like the toy factory at the North Pole.  As well as toys pouring in from locals or arriving by mail from generous, kind souls we have also received several cash donations by email transfers and cheques to be able to purchase toys locally.  (aka: win/win)  So far we are up to $600.00 and it keeps coming in!!

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I’m excited to be able to hit the toy store soon and make this toy box disappear under a mound of gifts for the kids.  Giving back has really put me into the Christmas spirit this year and increased my level of child-like anticipation for the big day.  Knowing that we have helped to put a smile on a child’s face on Christmas morning is priceless.  I want to feel like an elf every year!!