Love Notes Post Card Project ~ an invitation to you

The Love Notes Post Card Project is dear to my heart.  Each round that I have hosted it my heart has grown a little bigger.  It has been wonderful to see images of the postcards that are getting sent through the mail and hear the stories of people who connected because of the project.

The holiday season is filled with lots of hustle and bustle.  The Love Notes Post Card project invites you to slow down.  Take a moment to pause and reflect.  Provide a little bit of sunshine to someone who may be feeling overwhelmed with all that the holidays brings along with it.  You may need that bit of sunshine yourself.

So I invite you to join us as we send some Love through the mail.  To find out more about the project head on over to the Love Notes site or if you are already familiar with the project sign up HERE.  It is going to be good.

staying on your path

In the midst of the chaos I want to carve out time.  A moment to sink my teeth deep into the ideas that blossom in my mind as I sit at my desk each day.  Upon their arrival I want to drop everything and begin.  But alas, I cannot.  The world in front of me has stolen my attention and I must respect that.  A notebook full of ideas never started.  Projects begun, but never finished.  Time slipping quickly.  A landfill of excuses of why I cannot accomplish these dreams piling up beside me.

Boundaries need to be set and strictly enforced.  "Office hours" for my creative endeavors must happen.  I need to say no more often, and stick to the plan.  Too easily I get enticed by friends and family to go out and play.  I need to have enough rest, and eat well.  Stay focused and push through.

It is so easy to say I do not have the time, but really the time is there.  Instead of letting thirty minutes of browsing the internet slip by, I need to pick up my own pieces of inspiration and begin.  I need to quit dilly dallying and letting that time disappear.

Bold here I am declaring that I am going to start getting serious.

How do you stay on your path?  How do you carve out that time and stick to it?

glistening in the sunlight

This is what I know to be true
Doors, windows, people, opportunity
All open up to us at the most unsuspecting time
Feeding our souls in a way we did not know it needed to be fed
Stirring up ideas
Opening hearts
Moving obstacles we thought we could never move
A path
A clear path for us to walk down
For us to experience and take in
Amazing things happen when we just
let
go
When we are open and see what falls before us
Things unravel
Each day by doing what we do best, living
We are doing the work
Writing the story
Having the conversation
We are weaving this fantastic life together
Our inner strengths glistening in the sunlight
Our world expanding
Life, our life in all of it's glory

filled with thanks

On this day of thanks I am filled with so much gratitude and love.  For family and friends and the life that we are creating each and every day.  My mind is filled with memories.  My heart is overflowing with love.  I feel like the luckiest person alive to be living this life.  To get to experience so much laughter with those around me and to be right here, right now in this moment.

I am also so grateful for each of you here who show up and read my words and provide so much love and support.  Each little word you leave me makes my heart light up.  Thank you for being a part of my life.

Wishing each of you a wonderful Thanksgiving.  A day filled with light and laughter.  And hope that we all gather here again next year with stories of a fabulous year!

thankful

I am thankful for...
* Family and all the time we get to spend with each other
* Brothers, and the sisters I never had
* The love of my life and the way he makes me laugh every day
* Deep friendships and the paths we walk with each other
* Having two places of employment
* Creative ideas that fill my head and make me giddy
* Music that makes me want to get up and dance
* Watching the Love Notes Project blossom
* Being right here, right now

beauty around you

Seek out the beauty around you
Look for those hidden gems you usually walk right past
Open your eyes
Open your heart
Let it all wash over you and sink in

What beauty do you see?

the tango

During the day light hours I am deep in the throngs of the corporate world
Taking things off line
Attending touch bases
Circling back
Discussing my core competencies

Two nights during the week I am serving meals to families and individuals
Sometimes I am in the weeds
I 86 mustard
Add avocado
And shake up a tasty Apple Martini

And then in the moments between I am a writer
Pulling feelings from my heart
Giving them a voice on the page
Showing up, letting go
Vulnerably sharing myself

It is a tango of sorts
Dancing between the different languages
Navigating the varying degrees of appropriateness
Knowing when to speak from a place of feeling
And when to analyze based solely on facts

The heart is on a mission to win
Always looking to shed a layer of the corporate skin
Revealing a more confidante and comfortable self
Connections building through conversation
A moment of understanding and awareness

Within the three cubicle walls that surround me, my writer self is concealed
Only few know of my love affair with words
And passion to capture the world with my lens
I am reserved, and thoughtful
The quiet warrior getting the work done

In the hustle and bustle of the restaurant I am JenB
The girl no one really sees
Quickly falling under the radar as I go about the work at hand
Gracefully sweeping the floor, refilling ice, and bringing out the next tray of food
After two nights, I am gone until next week

But the writer self is always there
Weaving words together in my mind
Showing up, day after day
A new thought, a new moment to capture
A poem to be written

I do not always catch these words on the page
Sometimes they come, filling me with inspiration
Making my heart flutter
I say I will write them down
But I let them go

Other times I stop dead in my tracks
Grab my pen and notebook and have at it
The words flowing from my heart
Fueling my days
Inspring me to keep on going

I am a writer
No matter where I am the writer mind is always at work
Weaving words together, coming up with new ideas
Writing page after page in my mind
The writer in me never sleeps

And so I dance this tango
Moving from one job to the other
Constantly transitioning
Dancing, dancing, dancing
But always, always writing the story in my head

Love Notes Special Edition ~ Emerging from Sandy

It is time to rally together.  It is time to spread a little bit of love and hope through the mail to someone who needs the support.  It is time to let others know that we care, that they are thought about and not forgotten, that even though they are suffering they will make it through.  It is time. 

Sandy devestated a lot of the East coast and many individuals and families are still suffering.  Devestation brings along despair, hopelessness, and feeling like you are alone.  We do not want people to feel that way.  Collectivly we can shine a little bit of light on their tired and weary souls.  We can let them know they are not alone. 

Are you up for the challenege of spreading a little bit of hope through the mail?  It is really simple to do.  Head on over to HERE to be a part of Love Notes Special Edition ~ Emerging from Sandy 

Do you know an individual or family who has been devestated by the storm?  Could they use a little hope note in the mail?  Head on over to HERE to provide there information so that we can get that note to them. 

Maybe you know of a shelter that is housing individuals who lost their homes.  They could surely use some love.  Please contact me at lovenotesjb@gmail.com so that we can get some love notes to them as well. 

It is during these times that we must come together and help one another.  Even if it is something small.  The small things can mean the most.  Please join us in spreading some hope. 

begin again

Let's just stop here for just a moment
The world has been a spinning ever so quickly
I need a moment to pause
To breathe
To remember what is truly important

Conflicting points of view
Long lines for gas
People in the dark
Trying hard to warm up
It feels like an up hill battle

Getting blanketed in snow reminds me to hunker down
Crawl under the covers
Soak in my own warmth
And remember that we can begin again
We can always begin again

As the world spins
I sit here
Breathing deeply, in and out
Letting the glow of my heart warm my soul
Creating space for what is to come

I am not sure what is around the next bend
So many dreams and thoughts swirling in my mind
I need to create what I most need
With each passing day I am learning more and more what that is
And so I begin again

I begin right here
Right now
Taking a leap
Afraid, but willing
Knowing I will land safely, wherever I land

After the storm

The storm has passed but the destruction is devastating.  Here in the north so many trees are down.  Fallen in the middle of the road, crushing houses, and pulling down power lines.  Darkness blanketing towns. There is an eric feeling in the air when night falls. Without a flashlight you cannot even see directly in front of you and all you hear is the  sound of generators humming in the distance.

Gasoline is hard to come by.  The lines for the open stations are incredibly long.  I have never seen anything like this before.  I tried to capture it with my camera but they are so massive it is hard to get it.  Car after car waiting on the shoulder of the highway with hope in there hearts that when they pull up to the pump there will be gas to fill there tank.

In the south the destruction is even more devastating. Sea water taking out so much. The tide un controllable.  Same in new York city.  The water levels rose and even filled the subway stations.  It is terrible.

Through all the destruction I am blessed.  Although devastation occurred to homes of family everyone is safe and healthy. And that is the most important. Homes can be rebuilt and together we will do that.

Today through all this I am celebrating my 32nd birthday. I am in shock that I am 32. Time flies by so quickly.  So many memories I have tucked into my memory bank.  So much to smile about, so much to be thankful for.  I am lucky and incredibly grateful.  I am typing this from a school parking lot where I have found wireless connection.  Little pockets of hope peaking out.

Think good thoughts for those who are struggling due to Sandys wrath.  They need the love and a little bit of lifting up.  Be kind to each other and understand tht so any are stressed, worried, and just trying to figure it out. Patience will be such a gift to these people who are edge.  Smile at one another. A little bit if love goes a long way.