The Same, Only Different: Four Year Blogiversary

layers peal away
reveal what time cannot hide

essence shines on through

"Yeah, its the same, only different." A college friend used to say this and while it was meant as a joke, there is deep wisdom in this quip. Looking back at my very first blog post, I can see how I am the same, how the essence of “me” remains the essence of “me,” yet much has happened in the past four years, a journey I had not an inkling my family and I were about to set out upon when I wrote that first entry. 

What is the same? I still love quiet contemplation, investigating creative possibilities as they bubble up inside of me, a spring eternal. Cuddling with my dog is a favorite pastime that has not changed. I still love to study text allowing it to inspire and guide me. Community is as important as ever but is spread over an even wider expanse. I now feel connected to people all over the globe, not just the United States and Canada; a perfect example of “the same, only different.”

My body is of course not the way it was, so teaching is now done via phone conferencing and in meditation tele-circles. In fact I don’t know if I can really call what I offer now teaching, it is really facilitating safe “space-time” and being present to others as we all learn from our inner teachers, together as an energetic community. Then again my classes with high school students were a lot like that in person too; lots of space-time and silence for inner exploration. Well, “the same, only different.” There were moments of silence with the kids, certainly not as much as with adults, and exploration was often through paints and paper, wire and beads, bodies moving through yoga asanas, and yes lots of discussion and giggling. I would try to interject some silence into each class for them. The world of our teenagers is so full of sound stimulation, it felt important to invite them into the cocoon of blessing that silence can be. Ahh, yes and now I have two teenagers of my own at home, also different.

Blessings too remain “the same only different,” I have always had an awareness of and felt gratitude for the blessings in my life, but now, NOW I see, hear and feel them with an acuity I don’t think I possessed four years ago. Illness, and time have honed my ability to notice and appreciate the tiniest blessings, simple graces I often missed before.

Snow, well not much has fallen since early October this year; that is definitely different! For the first time in years, winter decided to be gentler than usual, just as I have finally learned to love the length and strength of winter in New Hampshire.

I no longer paint, taking out supplies and cleaning them up is too fatiguing for me; this is different. I still think of myself as "a collage artist" however, and that is the same, yet different too, as now my collages are created through an interplay of words and images on my blog, as opposed to a layering of torn, painted papers.  Layers of color, texture, form and line still draw my attention, as evidenced through my many photos of birch bark pealing away to reveal color upon texture embraced in form, shaped by lines, hidden beneath a white surface, instead of resting on top of white of paper. And we are back to essence, where this post began. I see my own essence reflected at the core of each exquisite tree. I see God’s presence dwelling there, and the unity of everything within this God-ness, within the trees, within the essence that in a moment of consciously thinking in terms of duality, I call “me.”

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Since it is my blogiversary, with deep gratitude, I would like to honor a handful of some of the earliest bloggers who still pop in to say hello and have shared this adventure with me through the years. Please accept this "Where Beauty Grows" inspiring blog award friends, and spread the love by passing it on to a handful of bloggers who inspire you with the beauty that grows from their hearts and onto their blog pages.

…where beauty grows

inspiring blog award

Cheryl (who does not blog quite so much these days, but introduced me to blogging at our SoulCollage®  facilitator's training a zillion years ago, and still remains a good friend)

Jill (one of my coaching partners when we trained together as Kaizen-Muse®  Creativity coaches, we still stay in touch)

Suzi (the first "international" follower of my blog and the very first person to give ME an award, the beautifully designed "I'm An Honest Blogger Award" created by Sue, another early international follower)

Jan (a dear friend, teacher and colleague)

Debra (a true friend and seer of beauty, I've grown to love more and more over these past four years)

(Please just copy and paste this award to post it on your blog for sharing, whether you are one who typically displays awards on your blog not.)

The only one of these lovely ladies I've met in person is Cheryl... but I feel connected to them all. It really makes one think about the words "community" and "friend" doesn't it?

Thank you to everyone who stops by and shines your light into my life with your visits here at Shine the Divine: Creativity IS a Spiritual Practice. 

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