A basketfull of being…..
“Write,” I tell myself.
“Write already,” my voice pleads.
“You’re too full of unwritten things.”
So I try to find words
to fit around the swollen things inside
but every word I try is just too short,
too tight.
All the words I know
don’t fit.
Instead, I carry the story inside and trust life to teach me the language.
I want to show up true
and bring you something real,
but my heart is churning the butter of what I’ve been living
and it’s not ready yet.
So I’d like to share my process…..the how of my heartshares.
I keep a journal with me everywhere I go. A sketch pad, really.
I jot down thoughts that drift and rattle,
phrases and whispers I want to remember
right alongside my lists and living.
Same sketch pad holds my work as a professional gardener.
It’s all one big messy hodgepodge.
When I go still to write a post, I pull it from the bramble of those fresh-scribbled hours
so it doesn’t feel false or faraway.
That would put me off and not satisfy.
It helps me scrape out the juicy pulp of the present.
So I start with a pile of quilt squares….the messy stuff of my sketch pad,
and begin to sort and play.
A lyric that spoke, the name of a flower that moved me, a phrase I wrote down to ponder,
a birdsong, a movie line, a question, an ache, something from my running gratitude list…..
it’s a treasure hunt and I love what I discover,
to learn what life has been saying while I’m busy in the bustle.
That’s the sweet and salty of it all.
Then I get to put it together and make a gift of it for you:
a basketfull of being.
It makes life grand:)
Thanks for dropping by my garden
even when I’m still on my knees.
I love your company.
I’m reading “The Four Agreements” by Miguel Ruiz
Or maybe it’s reading me. So beautiful. And fascinating.
“Just to be alive is enough.”
– Miguel Ruiz
(I drew the name “Karen Woodfin” from the mix in last week’s giveaway.
A package-full of love is on it’s way from my heart to hers.
I want to do another one this week….it’s buttery to my heart right now.
leave a comment and your name goes into the hat:))
Saving little bits and pieces of your life in your little notebook to give as gift is such a grand idea. Thanks for divulging your writing process.
I have have read The Four Agreements and have also used the exercises in The Four Agreement Companion Book. It was great way to self discovery and life changing experience for me.
We always keep several of those books on the shelves to give away to friends as gifts.
HAPPY EASTER dear Jennifer
Hugs,
JB
I love that idea, Julia…I want to do the same!
Yes, it’s one that I want to give around to loved ones, for sure.
Thanks for dropping by, friend; I love your company:)
-Jennifer
Wonderful post…love your “messy hodgepodge” and all the goodness it brings all of us! A friend of mine turned me on to the Four Agreements awhile back and found so much benefit in reading it! Will look forward to hearing your thoughts in future posts perhaps!
I’m loving it….on my second listen through.
It’s one I’d love to do in a group because feedback and shares
would be rich and yummy. You inspired an idea….thanks:)
Always appreciate you and your lovely way,
Jennifer
LIFE is a messy hodgpodge. Of things which don’t fit, and don’t go, and clash – and ARE.
I so look forward to the way you give us chunks and seeds and blossoms from yours…
Oh how I love the way you see and tell.
Thanks for your soul massage. I really appreciate the way
you walk in kindness and grace. Much thanks, friend.
-Jennifer
My sweet friend. ..your messy hodgepodge is beautiful in every wsy. Thank you for sharing your many gifts with us. I ♡ you.
Hey friend. Glad you’re on this side of knee surgery now.
I wish I could pop over and bring you ice cream and a fistful of flowers.
Hope it’s a really quick mend. Love and thanks for your always kind way.
-Jennifer
Your words and photos are pure beauty!
Such a generous way you see things, Fi.
I appreciate so much:)
Love and thanks,
Jennifer
Lovely…..words and photos. Thank you
Hi Celeste! Nice to meet you:)
Thanks so much for dropping by to visit.
I appreciate your kind words,
Jennifer
…to learn what life has been saying while I’ve been busy in the bustle of it all…and your life sketchbook of thoughts and ideas…this moved me and inspired me so much. Thank you. This will be a favorite forever. Happy blessed Easter Jennifer. Love, kathy
I’m so glad we get to share it all around, Kathy.
Paper Pumpkin has been a source of so much fresh water for me.
I love you and your way:)
-Jennifer
I so lovely learning your process and about your sketchbook, which I suspect is filled with all sorts of goodness, a jumble of all the things that make an impact on you! Truly, this is an inspirational post and as always, so beautifully written. Somehow you combine all the joy and beauty and hard stuff of living — all those bits and pieces and words in your book — into something so thought-provoking and meaningful. I am always in awe when I visit!
I’m always so grateful when you visit!
Thanks for your encouraging way. Your life way inspires me:)
Love and thanks,
Jennifer
That was a wonderful insight to your creative process…beautifully told!!!
Thanks, Kathryn.
I love peeking into other people’s processes, don’t you:)
It’s always such a sweet inspire.
Thanks for your lionhearted friendship,
Jennifer
I so enjoy being in the garden with you Jennifer as you, ‘scrape out the juicy pulp of the present’. All the pieces and parts add up to magic! Those words will come when they are ready my friend!
I like plopping down beside you, too, Donna:)
Been planting and pulling a million weeds.
Lots of down on my knees:)
Good to share the journey with you, friend,
Jennifer
Your process for composing your unique and tender posts is very intriguing! I keep so many of the same journals; gratitude, sketching, visual prayer journal…never thought to peruse them to inform my writing. So generous of you to share <3
They’re treasure troves, aren’t they.
I love how they tell stories if I listen.
And help me know my heart.
Thanks for coming by to visit; I appreciate your kind words:)
-Jennifer
Thank you, dear friend. The package you sent was full of so much….it was all perfect for my heart. 💖
I’m so glad it found you and smiled:)
Thanks for your friendship. Dear to me, that.
And you:)
-Jennifer
I love your company and will read the book you recommend. You give so very much of your good self to others – making the world better through our connection with you that reaches those we each interact with in our entangled lives. Love.
Our lives do get tangles, don’t they.
I think we’d be dead if they didn’t so it’s just a part of the wild ride.
I love that you came by….thanks so much, dearheart:):):)
Big love,
Jennifer
I love thinking about the scribbles and thoughts in your note book, I bet it does seem a lot like putting together a quilt, a love quilt to gently spread over us all
And I remember reading that book but it seems now that it was quite some time ago, I think I’ll have to look for it again.
Thanks once again for sharing your world and your beautiful, big, kind heart ~
I’m loving the book, Susan….listened to it twice and now putzing through the print just
so I can pull out beautiful things and paste them down onto things I like to give.
It’s a work of art. Go visiting again sometime.
Thanks for your kind, kind words (swoon)
love and hugs,
Jennifer
Jennifer it’s been a hard hard few days. Something led me to click on your link and your beautiful words and thoughts found my cold weary heart and poked it to see if it was still alive. Turns out it is. Thank you.
I love that you dropped by, beautiful Leigh.
The music in you….so lovely. I can hear it from here:)
You are way alive, my friend. Just so much.
-Jennifer
I too find myself with swirling thoughts and desire to write but not really getting them down in a cohesive manner. I like your process of capture the little ideas as they come and then piecing them together. You always have just a beautiful way with Jennifers.
Thanks so much, Wanda:)
Sometimes cohesiveness is too much to ask of ourselves.
It’s like asking the wind to hold still for a minute while we figure it out:)
I think Spirit is more willowy than we like to believe.
Maybe we just ride and trust:)
Thanks for coming by,
Jennifer
Those floral pictures are stunning. They really seem to encapsulate the Miguel Ruiz quote that you referenced: “Just to be alive is enough.”
Thanks, Laura:)
I so appreciate your kind words.
So glad you dropped by,
Jennifer