30 'til 40 Poetry Project #4

Haiku #2 - Lake Michigan

On the shores, I lose

myself - only to find that

self was never found.

30 'til 40 Poetry Project #3

Mirrors lie
when they shine
a reflection of a truth
that's hard to swallow.

Never could see myself
like others see me.
Somehow my view
seems to be through the closed eyes
of one who will never know
what real beauty is.
Real beauty?

Smiles cry
when they shelter
pain too rich to be swallowed
whole.
Minced expectations still
large enough to choke on.
Never felt the thickness
of confidence
on my tongue.
Wrapping my words in armor-
leaving them untarnished
and unshaken.

Maybe mirrors aren't my friend
and the view of who I really am
is found only
in my mind's eye.

30 'til 40 Poetry Project - #2

So many memories
blossomed in the moments that have passed this way.
And as I think of the memories,
even more are made.
The journey
into me
is still evolving
with no end in sight.

About 421,648,000 breaths taken thus far
and not one wasted.
Even the ones passed in frustration
serve a purpose.
As do I...

30 'til 40 Poetry Project

Well, here it is! In thirty days I will be turning 40 years old! I can hardly believe how quickly time has flown. I really wanted to do something special to mark the days leading up to such a significant event. Since poetry has been a love of mine since elementary school, I thought it would be cool to write a poem each of those 30 days leading up to the big one. My goal is for the poems to share a reflection on my life so far and what I hope will be right around the bend for me!

OK...so, without further ado...poem number one!


As The Hill Approaches

As forty comes close,
self defines self differently
It’s all about me!

Unfriend - Refriend

I heard something pretty interesting while watching the news this week. I always enjoy the recap of major news stories of the year and the different "____ of the year" distinctions that organizations bestow. Being the "divafied nerd" that I am, one that really captured my attention was the awardee for word of the year. The Oxford American Dictionary declared that "unfriend" was 2009's Word of the Year. That publication defines the word this way : "unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook." Unfriending someone is something I have had a difficult time with. As one who tries very hard to take the feelings of others into consideration, I always worried that unfriending someone would hurt their feelings. After hearing that unfriend was the word of the year, I started to look at the word a bit differently. Deleting someone from your friends list is something you do more for yourself than for the person being deleted. Rather than it being a personal attack or insult of sorts, it is more like a cleansing: it is the act of getting rid of toxic people in your virtual life.

The more I thought about it, the more I started to look at unfriending on a deeper, more spiritual level. To further our personal growth, we all must make it a point to unfriend people from time to time. Staying connected to people who drain us of our physical energy damages our spiritual structure as well. It is nearly impossible to reach our personal mountaintops while dragging along people whose main mission is to keep us on the ground - or in some cases, below sea level. In order to reach our full potential, it is vital the we renew ourselves, and cutting ties with people that unhealthy for us - or unfriending them - is a sure fire method of renewal.

Perhaps, to take the analogy further, unfriending may need to be applied to anything negative in our lives. Self-defeating thoughts, growth-sabatoging patterns and unhealthy habits - imagine how our lives would improve if we unfriended ourselves of these things!

Consider for a moment that each time we unfriend something or someone we refriend something or someone else. Never heard of refriending? Well - according to Diviniti's Dictionary (LOL), the word is defined this way: "refriend - verb - to reconnect with someone or something that makes a positive impact on ones life or that furthers ones personal growth." Refriending is about getting back in touch with someone who enriched our lives. Maybe busy schedules or a misunderstanding got in the way of the friendship and you haven't spoken to that person in a while. Let this be the year that you reestablish that bond and allow it to grow and flourish. Refirending is about getting back into the habit of doing things that are good for our souls. Perhaps our perception of "lack of time" got us out of the routine of doing things that serve us and are good for us - exercising, praying, meditating, journaling. Let this be the year that you get rid of the idea of any lack in your life. When it comes to doing things to honor ourselves we must know that there is always time, no matter how busy our lives might be.

Refiriending people and things that are healthy for us help us to get to the ultimate act of refriending: becoming friends with ourselves again. Once we get back in touch with our authentic selves and place the appropriate value on those things and people that help us reach our highest heights, there is no limit to what we can achieve. So, right here and now I am declaring refriend the Word of the Year for 2010! Identify those things and people you need to reconnect with and watch the blessings flow!

Welome to my new endeavor!!

I have been a part of the Facebook community for a while now and one of the features I discovered rather recently was the option to write and post a note. Notes give you a chance to speak your mind on whatever issue you like and post it for all the world to see...or at least all of your Facebook friends to see. I have only posted a couple of them, but I got great feedback on them and decided to try my hand at blogging - essentially a glorified note! As you read my blog I hope you will find words that make you smile, nod your head, chuckle, occasionally shed a tear, and maybe even shout out YES! I hope you will take the time to leave a comment or find another way to interact with me as I open up bits of myself to share with you.

And now...let the blogging begin!