2015: The Adventure Begins

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

~ Rudyard Kipling

Posts on La Belle are written with Georgia, Times New Roman, Vivaldi, and Edwardian.  For best viewing, download these fonts.

O

ne Word to rule them all,

One Word to find them,

One Word to bring them all

and in the darkness bind them….

Or, something like that.

For several years now, I’ve begun the new year with one word ~ a word that I hope will influence, change, and inform the year it’s given to. 

A word that I hope will influence, change, and inform  me as well. 

Some years have been better than others.  Usually, however, I get caught up in the daily nothings of life and forget to mediate on the word and reflect on whether I’m living it.  Or forget to do a monthly check-in and reflection.

But whether I follow through or not, I chose a new word every January 1.

This year, I was a little late thinking about which word I would choose.  Late as in I-just-picked-it-last-week late.  I looked through hundreds of words.  Bright words.  Strong words.  Inspiring words.  Startling words.

But none of them claimed my heart.

All I could think of was Kodiak and how pivotal that week was. (Sick of hearing about it yet?)  And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a Word for the Year shouldn’t be randomly chosen.  It shouldn’t be completely disengaged from either your life or the word from the last year.

In the past, I’ve chosen a word based on something ~ some virtue I wanted to attain, some flaw I wanted to overcome, some habit I wanted to kick (or begin.)  But although the words weren’t necessarily opposed to the others, they didn’t support each other either. 

And that week in Kodiak was an adventure that is carved into the marrow of my bones. 

I had never done anything like it. Had never let go enough to consider it.  Yet, in the end, I went and was forever changed.  And I wanted to build on that experience. Draw it out.  Savor it.  Repeat it ~ if in smaller ways.  So when I thought about what word I wanted to inform 2015, a word that spoke to my newly opened and slightly less fearful heart, it became as clear as the sky on a winter sky.

Iceland Waterfall (Seljalandsfoss)
Image: © Tomas1111

Not just travel (although I plan on doing that.)  Not just attempt something new (although I plan on doing that as well.)  Adventure also applies to life.

Actively living it.

Devouring it.

Draining it.

Embracing it.

Adventure means exploring ~ new places, new things, new activities.  Exploring also means  going deeper into my heart ~ excavating past hurts, learning more about why I do the things I do.  It means rooting out fears and taking risks and letting go and reaching out.

It means living life with abandon.

So for the next twelve months, I’m going to live the “Adventure” and let it inform the year.  And here at La Belle, when I talk about Art or Writing or Hospitality or Mental Health ~ I’m going to keep “Adventure” in mind.  I'm confident it’ll be epic.

May your new year be one big adventure.

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

What is your word for 2015?

From the Ashes I Rise: The Wisdom of Maya Angelou

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

~ Maya Angelou

May is National Mental Health Awareness Month.  Join me in blogging to erase the stigma of mental illness so our loved ones can seek the help they need.

I

f it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly” is some of the silliest advice I’ve ever heard.

I understand what’s being conveyed by that statement: if it’s worth doing, get out there and give it your best shot.  Don’t just sit there worrying whether it’s perfect.

But sometimes, when it’s worth writing, or talking about, it’s worth marinating, editing, tweaking.  Leaving and returning to it later.

My post today was going to touch on one of my hot button issues.  But then I read an epic post on the blog of my virtual writing mentor, Mary Jaksch. Basically, the author, James Chartrand, posits that if it’s worth publishing, it’s worth spending more than an hour or two to write it.

The Epicness of Maya Angelou

Instead, I want to talk about someone who was epic all by herself.  Someone with grace, poise, talent, and a heart the size of North America.  Someone who rose from the ashes of childhood abuse and trauma.  Someone who turned her tears and her sorrow and her pain into words that comforted, inspired, motivated, and called to action.

Dr. Maya Angelou.

I am not a weepy person, but having slept poorly and for only a few hours last night morphed into the world’s most nauseous migraine and exhaustion and when I saw the news about this beautiful national treasure, I almost broke down and cried.  Almost, because you know crying in public is embarrassing and shameful.

Phoenix
Image credit: Redeyesa, Deviant Art

And still I have much to learn, and much to heal from. 

Still I Rise

Every one of her poems has touched me deeply in some way.  Despite our differing backgrounds and experiences and ages, each one touched on some human experience that I could nonetheless relate to and feel and absorb. 

It’s difficult to believe she’s gone.  And as you know, death is not an easy subject for me.  But I believe that in the end, she will rise.

And because she embraced her destiny, because she embraced both past, present, and future, she has left behind an incredible legacy.  Of words and poetry and literature; of love and life and wisdom.

Her life was not easy one and yet she used it as grain for the mill; turning tragedy into something else.  Learning the hard way that you can’t change what happens to you but you can change how you react to it.

“My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry;

to get my work done and try to love somebody

and have the courage to accept the love in return.”

If only we all strived to do the same ~ what a wonderful world this would be.

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Have you read any of Maya Angelou’s books?  What touched you the most about her life or her work?

X if for X-Ray: Your Words Pierce My Very Soul

Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they’ll go through anything.

You read and you’re pierced.

~ Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Back in January, I began the One Page a Day Challenge and immediately threw away my quill.  Now in April, I’m participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge and prepping for a Wilderness Writers’ Retreat.  I need ink, a stiff drink and therapy.

W

ords are dangerous. 

That’s why the First Amendment is, well, first.  The freedom to speak one’s mind is actually a guarantee of all freedoms. 

Because when you strip away that right, it keeps your enemy from stirring up support for the opposing side.

Words are powerful.  They have the power to reach the isolated, to inflame the broken-hearted, to comfort the wounded.

Words also have the power to hurt, to wound, to tear down. Especially words spoken to us in anger, frustration or stress.  And if those words are spoken to us in our formative years, they are likely to remain with you forever.

X is for X-ray: Words Pierce the Soul

That’s why it’s so important to respect words and to choose what we read and what we say, wisely.  Because they can even engender feelings in us that are not our own.  Or at least, they are not on the surface.

Now that's a book boyfriend!
Image Credit: Unknown, Google Search

Case in point, I just finished reading a book where the female protagonist goes through a vomit-inducing tornado of emotions.  I felt her agony, her moral qualms, the pain of her choices. 

My visceral reaction was a result of one part my NF personality, one part character identification, and one part the author’s talent with words.  Her weaving of the story and the emotions of the characters was masterful.

Don’t think it happens to you?

Think of the last news article or controversial Facebook status you read.  How did those innocuous little bunches of letters make you feel?  Upset?  Happy?  Pissed off?  Did you passionately deny, support, defend the ideas?

Or just shrug and read the next headline?

So remember the next time you read something:  what does the x-ray of those words you have said or heard reveal about your heart?

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Okay, maybe this post is a stretch for the Letter X.  “But you gotta admit, that’s sexier.”*

The Power of a Word: Defining 2014

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

~ Rudyard Kipling

Beginning in January and continuing throughout the year, I’m participating in the One Page a Day writing challenge.

E

ach year, for as long as I can remember, I’ve chosen a word that would help shape and define the new year.  Sometimes, it’s been two words.  Last year, I didn’t choose one.

Perhaps that is why so much of 2013 I felt lost and uncentered.

But I have 365 (well, 364 now) brand new days to unwrap and enjoy to the fullest.  And so, yesterday, I chose a new word.   

Flexibility.

Our expectations tend to be impossibly high ~ for others, but most especially for ourselves.  And when we or our loved ones fail to live up to those expectations (some which are never even spoken aloud!), many of us become angry, frustrated, disappointed, even depressed. Some of us give up, thinking that it isn’t worth it to try, since we are bound to fail anyway.

It’s a twisted kind of pride, actually.

Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off

Because the truth is, no one is perfect.  Everyone fails.  But the great thing is, it’s temporary.  There are always triumphs and successes as well as failures.  Instead of beating ourselves up about our failures, we should learn from them, tweak what we were doing, and try again.

And in the process, we need to remember to be kind.  To others and to ourselves.

I was queen of emotional and verbal self-flagellation.  No matter what happened, no matter who may have been involved, I always blamed myself.  Negative self-talk and phrases such as “you always do that,” “you are so selfish and stupid,” and countless others, would swirl around my brain like a noxious, amorphous cloud.

Image credit: Teach the Younger Women

It was like being swept up in a tornado of worthless thoughts ~ a monster of my own making ~ with a little help from other dysfunctional people.

I say “was” because this year, I am determined to make a fresh start.  To banish those hateful words and phrases from my mind and my heart and my conversation.  To become instead, the queen of flexibility.

To be flexible is to be laid back.

To be flexible is to be kind.

To be flexible is to be understanding.

To be flexible is to let go.

Start All Over Again

I had a chance to put this mantra into practice yesterday.  My plan was to juice and start my detox.  My first mistake was turning down breakfast and when I told the person why, she said, “How long are you going to do that?  You know you’ll just fail and go back to eating junk again.  What’s the point?”

Le sigh.

I rolled my eyes, ignored her, and then later, proceeded to prove her right by eating the most wretched food known to man.

I could almost hear Monsanto rubbing their collective hands in evil glee.

But I had already chosen my word for the year.  And when I journaled later, I reflected that it was okay to start my detox on January 2nd.  That I had no one to please or answer to but myself.  And that I could choose to allow this one false start to ruin and impact the entire race.

I chose flexibility.

I chose understanding.

I chose kindness.

I chose to let go.

I chose to be laid back, and say oh well, and get myself into position to win this morning.

It’s going to be a great, flexible, year.

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Do you choose a word to help you define the year?  What is your word for 2014?

Re-Blog: Childhood Inspirations

Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. 
~ Pablo Picasso

In August, I’m participating in BlogHer’s Blogging Challenge.  The theme this month is: Hot.

W

e’re still dealing with a death in the family, so my brain isn't really in the moment.  Not to mention that internet access is spotty here in the boons.  So today I bring you a re-blog of a great article from the New York Times on how exposure to beautiful words inspires an art critic today.

Finding Poetry on the Page

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

What from your childhood inspires your art today?