The shift.

I adore shifts. Shifts between seasons like summer and autumn, shifts like dusk between daylight and dark, the shifts of tides and moonlight and cycles and the sort of shifts before stiff muscles soften or stories gather speed. The shift is the movement, the momentum, and the very reason why maps and memoirs were born, and best moments remembered. The shift is the journey which is always where the magic lives.

photo by me

When you stand still and wait.

Sometimes, when you stand still and wait, beauty pours in like a river, flooding your senses with some grand display of absolute mastery; a cinematic type of film scene that suspends time for seconds, then speeds away as fast as it'd arrived.

You're suddenly left with goosebumps and awe and all the answers to questions you've never known you were asking about the nature of all things, the coming and going of cycles, seasons, searching and staying.

That is the time to write. Those answers are as elusive as dreams, as sleep, and as the stunning moment itself.

But they are your truths. Write them. Record them. Read them. Remember.

photo by me 

Drawn to rocks.

I've always been drawn to rocks. All forms of them: mountains, caves, canyons, cliffs. They are perfectly wild, ancient art, familiar and serene, and the closest we get to the heart and belly of the world.

Adore this song....

"Sometimes I lay down
What more can I do
But then I go on again
Because you ask me to."

photo by me and pinterest

The best Children's Books of all time: timeless lessons on love, life and magic.

I wrote this for Rebelle Society a month or so ago and wanted to share it here :)

“There is no such thing as fantasy unrelated to reality.” ~ Maurice Sendak 

Looking back upon my girlhood self,  what I can recall most was my hunger for imagination — so, naturally, books became my food. 

Books were made from the same substance of dreams, I was sure. They were clouds of creation and color, with moods and creatures and characters to adore. They were companions and friends with worn out pages that mimicked hands, reaching out for mine. Whether I was happy or sad, courageous or afraid, I’d take comfort in knowing I could step back in, anywhere, in any place, at any time.

Hence, there is magic in children’s books, and I’ve been chasing that magic ever since.

One may think that reading children’s books as an adult is rubbish, yet it’s quite the opposite. Leaving such wise books to childhood is actually a mistake, because when you don’t revisit your children’s book, you forget some of the deep existential truths residing in the words.

Picking up a children’s book is also like seeing an old friend — both hold up a mirror so you can see yourself as you are: the same. Yes, you’re the same as you’ve always been, dear child: a being shaped of wonder and dreams, wandering about, bright-eyed and in love with this world.

“Your head is a living forest filled with songbirds.” ~ e.e. cummings

Here are a few classics, forever untouched by the hands of time.

“If you are kind to helpless things,

you don’t need a Wishing Tree to make things come true.”

~ The Wishing Tree by William Faulker

***

“Here is my secret. It is very simple:

It is only with the heart that once can see rightly;

what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

~ The little Prince, by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

***

“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely.”

~ The Twits by Road Dahl

***

~ Unknown book by Dr. Seuss

***

“‘Why did you do all this for me?’ he asked. ‘I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.’

You have been my friend,’ replied Charlotte. ‘That in itself is a tremendous thing.”

~ Charlotte’s Webb by  E.B. White

***

“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.

You find the fun, and the job’s a game.”

~ Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

***

“And it’s no use to go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”

~ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

***

“And Max, the king of all wild things,

was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him, best of all.”

~ Where the Wild Things are by Marice Sendak

***

“‘Sometimes,’ said Pooh,

‘the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.’”

~ Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

*** 

“‘I don’t need very much now.’ said the boy.

Just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired.’

‘Well’ said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could.

‘Well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, boy, sit down and rest.’

And the tree was happy.”

~ The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

***

 

“‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily or heave sharp edges or have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.

~ The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

***

“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.

If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”

~ Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

*** 

“The Rainbow Fish shared his scales left and right.

And the more he gave away, the more delighted he became.

When the water around him filled with glimmering scales,

he at last felt at home among the other fish.”

~ The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

***

“‘You have plenty of courage, I am sure,’ answered Oz. ‘All you need is confidence in yourself.

There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger.

The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.”

~ The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum

***

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over

to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you,

you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.”

~ Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

***

~ Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shell Silverstein

***

“The moment where you doubt you can fly,

you cease for ever being able to do it.”

~ Peter and Wendy by Lewis Carroll

***

 

~ Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

***

“You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.

You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go,

So be sure when you step.

Step with great tact

and remember that life’s

a great balancing act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft

And never mix up your right with your left.”

~ Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss

***

~ A visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by William Blake

***

~ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

***

“Piglet siddled up to Pooh from behind. ‘Pooh?’ he whispered.

‘Yes, Piglet?’

‘Nothing,’ said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand.

‘I just wanted to be sure of you.’

~ Winnie the Pooh, by A. A. Milne

***

~ Guess how much I love you by Sam McBratney

So maybe the next time we go browsing though a bookstore in search of some sweet soul comfort we should bypass the endless self-help sections and make a beeline to the corner, where the children’s books reside.

It’s much sweeter there.

*Photo source.