be kind to yourself

reading a friend's facebook feed as she reported on the golden globes made me sad. she marveled at the glamour of the dresses and makeup, but actually said outright that it made her feel horrible about herself and her appearance. she's a gorgeous woman with no reason to allow some couture-clad hollywood starlet with stylist and make-up person to make her feel anything, let alone ugly or unworthy. of course those people look awesome as they walk up the red carpet. it's their job to do so.

women. why do we do this to ourselves? we are so hard on ourselves (and on each other for that matter). envy rears its ugly head and leaves us feeling shattered and insecure. what is it that keeps us from resting in ourselves, content with who we are and where we are? and why can't we see another beautiful woman without being consumed with envy and self-loathing? honestly, people, men don't do this to themselves or one another. and it's time we stopped too.

i say we practice being a little kinder to ourselves and the women around us this week. it's about time.

happy monday!

vocation or calling?

i had a good bit of craic yesterday with a friend on the topic of finding one's vocation. vocation, that's a big word, isn't it? sure a guy like the pope or someone like mother theresa has a vocation, or a calling, but an everyday person? hmm, i wonder if we modern humans find our vocation these days. or if we don't flit too much from one thing to another with our short attention spans to take the time to find out what our vocation might be. would we even recognize our vocation if we saw it? or are we too busy looking to the next thing to even notice it?

i've had moments of feeling that i found my vocation - but what i think they really may have been were moments of flow.  intense concentration in a library, writing when the hours melt away, the words just come and you look up and can't believe how much time has passed. sewing the seams of a quilt. flurries of productivity on a long-haul flight. giving a presentation where you're suddenly aware that it's going well and you can kind of stand apart from yourself and watch. but does it all add up to a vocation? so far, it hasn't, as i'm still not sure what i want to be when i grow up. i've ruled out a few things (after trying some of them for far too long), but the field is still pretty wide open. i'm trying to learn to place myself in those situations where i will feel that feeling of flow, because a vocation has to be related to that. but i think it's hard to sustain.

have you found your vocation? did you follow it? do you even think it exists outside of the vatican?

we got stoned at the beach

not that kinda stoned, silly. but it got your attention, eh?

i'm sick - allergies turned to sinus infection which has turned to the hacking cough from hell - so i give you pretty pictures of the stones we gathered at the beach yesterday, posed in little zen, fetching arrangements...

this is beach glass

some of the 24 heart-shsaped stones i found

more hearts

i'm crawling off to curl up in front of the t.v. and watch something totally mindless now. happy monday one and all.