Show me some love

Here's a poem to get you out of that post-Valentine's rut.

May Love

May love move us

Into the shoes of the person sitting next to us

And into the hands of the needy

May love guide us

Into the situations that scare us

And away from people who wound us

May love seal us

Into the letters we live out

And ship us into the wide world to explore and be loved

May love blend us

Into many shades of peace

In the midst of a graying world

The Small Things

"We cannot do great things on this Earth,

only small things with great love."

-Mother Teresa

One of my dear girlfriends, who I met during my semester at Oxford, sent this quote to me on a cutely creative, homemade Valentine's Day card. It amazed me when this card came less than an hour after discussing the idea of this paradox of the significance of small things with some other women. This concept seems to be playing out all around me this week. Although I'm definitely still learning what it means, I'm finding myself at peace with the idea that the little things in life make all the difference.

This is a bit difficult to grasp, myself, as someone who has secret dreams of being famous and a constant need to be saving the world in some way. My life, with all of it's pieces and puzzles that I can't figure out right now, has been teaching me to hold on to the insignificant things. One of my favorite parts of my favorite book (The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis) is how the devil in the book pushes his "student" devil to convince the human that all of life is ordinary. He instructs him to show the human that nothing about life is extraordinary, mysterious or meaningful. The worst thing for us as humans is to expect everything to have a clear-cut answer, a recipe and no coincidence. But, thankfully, this is not so.

I have been learning that living life to the fullest is about finding joy in being stuck inside with snow covering every piece of the ground outside, loving the quirky things that people do at work and baking 2 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies for one person. Although I could be spending my time being depressed because crazy weather means I won't get to see my boyfriend any time soon, how annoying my coworker's personality is or how depressing eating chocolate alone is, I am slowly experimenting with embracing these things.

Even if we can't change the circumstances around us, we can change how we react to them.

Many times we can't control what happens to us or where we are in life, but we can find small things to enjoy along the way. Like that Switchfoot song says, "Happy is a yuppy word." If we are looking for the people and things around us to make us happy, it won't happen. But I've found that putting love into the little things that comprise our lives and others can speak louder than our wishes and wines.

-Grace

One is the loneliest number

Today it snowed again. It's my day off of work anyway, so I'm spending the day alone entertaining myself. I've totally gotten used to this. With my work schedule I tend to be alone a lot, but it's given me some good time to start new hobbies and spend time with God.

So far I have spent today playing Donkey Kong for a few hours, recovering from a stomach

bug that I got yesterday and watching my DVR-ed tv shows. Although I definitely wish I was partying with my boyfriend and friends, I am content to be here.

I just got a new camera (nothing too fancy but works well), so I took it out until my fingers froze to catch some snowy mom

ents.

The rest of the plan for the night will include watching Ugly Betty episodes (my favorite show of all time) and perhaps baking some apple oatmeal scones. I love baking when I'm alone...especially when it's cold outside and cozy inside.

Enjoy the photos.

-Grace

Snow Day

I woke up to lots of snow this morning and was thinking about how amazing it is that snow is so unexpected. We never expect when we go to bed that when we wake up the world will change and be more beautiful. Here's a poem with my thoughts.

Snow Day

I don't know why

we are so surprised

when we wake up to find

the ground covered in pillow flecks of white

We just assume

that our world will resume

without a new bloom

or any change, anything greater than doom

When God makes each day

in His own special way

giving us time to play

outside of the boundaries we set with what we say

Made in _____

Walking china dolls,

stitched from unknown hands

with unknown wrinkly imperfections

wearing a burden

someone stitches for us

for a few dollars

or cents in a foreign currency

our tags tell

of a distant land

filled with the billows

of hard work

not ours

as we claim as our own

The world spins

as the weaver winds

and dear China sends

us the fruit of its labor

Aging

Here she lies

a girl of twenty years

old with wishes and worries

that weigh upon her skeleton

hunched and crumpled down

like a regretful, bumbling humpback

knowing what she has done

and where in the world she has been

she finds this current place dull

her skinny, fine fingers beg to write

a passionate word to be published

and her dreams even smell like fresh laundry

sitting in heat, wanting to be folded

and put away

in the place

where they belong

Restless Life Syndrome

This poem is inspired by my recent restlessness.

Restless Life Syndrome

I would like to be everywhere

doing absolutely everything

until the base of my shoes

wears down to the ground

and my weathered weariness

shows my breath in the wind

and I have seen

more open fields

than my dead dreams

Until I must make myself

fall asleep again