~Each day holds new magic~ ❤
😀
I saw this quote today and it's a beautiful reminder to look for the beauty in each day when we don't see/feel it automatically.
There's always something to smile about! 😀
Love & light to you,
~Hugs~
xoxo Kim
Tag Archive | magic
Random Inspiration #13 {March Magic}
March is a beautiful month! I love it! I find it very unique because it seems to be a complete mixture of all the seasons. It has snow, even snow blizzards, but can also feel almost like Summer the very day after a blizzard just ends. One moment it can have the bluest, bluest sky you have ever seen, decorated in the fluffiest white clouds and the bright golden sun blasting then later the sky is beautifully gray and cloudless. The trees are still all bare, the land still cold and barren, but flowers begin to blossom on the branches and through fences.
Like Fall, March is cool but a different kind of cool than the Fall months, there’s more of a gentleness to the March coolness.
It’s just beautiful how Winter & Spring come together in March, a beautiful medley of Winter & Spring. March is magical! 😀
Here are some March pics & quotes!!
“Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn.”
~Quoted by Lewis Grizzard
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” ~Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night. “~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke
“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want — oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” ~Mark Twain
“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.” ~Doug Larson
“Oh, Spring is surely coming,
Her couriers fill the air;
Each morn are new arrivals,
Each night her ways prepare;
I scent her fragrant garments,
Her foot is on the stair.”
~John Burroughs, “A March Glee”
“If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.” ~Nadine Stair
I hope you’re having a beautiful day/night!! 😀 ❤
Xoxo Kim ❤
Authentic Self <3
“By choosing to be our most authentic and loving self, we leave a trail of magic everywhere we go.” ~ Emmanuel Dagher
Xoxo Kim
Sometimes we can all use a reminder <3
I’m reading a novel called “When Crickets Cry,” and it’s beautiful, I read over half. It’s quite the page turner.
It’s another one of those books I got just because I like the title/cover. I think I mentioned here before that I do in fact judge books by their covers. 😀 It’s ok though, it’s usually a positive judgment!
;-D
And here, I actually love the content as well!
I’m going to write about it later after I read the entire thing. I have so much highlighted throughout the book that I find beautiful and inspirational and there’s one thing I want to share today.
This is an excerpt or brief conversation out of the book.
It’s not a big spoiler in case you’re intending to read the book; it doesn’t give anything away to ruin the ending (not that I read the end but I’m assuming it’s no big shocker, however the concept does hone in on one of the main themes of the book) or anything. But if you would prefer not to know anything at all until reading it you know to stop reading here. This wisdom applies to all of us whether or not we read this book.
A retired heart/transplant surgeon is talking to another character, the other character is the narrator of the book so he’s telling this of his conversation with the retired surgeon:
Surgeon:
“‘I knew a farmer once,’ he started, staring out over the fence. ‘Think his name was James. Had an orange tree, a lot like that one. It hadn’t bloomed in several years and wasn’t looking too good. Still had green on it, but not much. One morning I caught him standing next to it, sizing it up and murmuring to himself. In one hand he held a hammer, and in the other he held three twelve-inch spikes. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me to stand back, and then he drove one of the spikes into the trunk, about knee height. That nail split the thin skin on that tree, and the farther in he drove it, the more white ooze seeped out around the head of the nail. He drove a second at waist level and a third about here.’ He raised his hand level with his collarbone.”
The second character asks:
“‘Why?’ I asked.”
Retired surgeon:
“That’s exactly what I asked him. You know what he said? “
Second character :
“I took the bait. ‘What?'”
Retired surgeon :
“‘He said,’ ‘Sometimes trees forget they were meant to blossom and just need to be reminded.'”
Second character :
“I look at the three spikes and asked ‘Why not ten spikes?’ He shook his head and eyed the tree. ‘Nope, three is a good enough dose. Don’t want to kill it, just remind it.'”
I think this is perfect. Sometimes we do need reminders that we are meant to bloom, meant to be fantastic, to be amazing. And it’s good to gently remind others as well as ourselves.
Have you ever given up on who or what you are for any reason? Maybe you kept trying and not succeeding how you intended. Maybe you were criticized by others in some way, rejected, hurt, broken, exhausted….so you just quit.
Maybe quit something specifically or just quit participating fully, in this life, just walking around feeling stagnant, bland, blah, depressed, maybe succumbing to your bed or walking around like a zombie, not taking advantage of the gift of life we have all been blessed with.
It’s ok, you just need a gentle, sweet, reminder now and again to get back up and embrace you for you.
Since I’m prone to depression, I need reminders, sometimes frequently. Reminders to get back up and blossom into the me I know I am underneath the despair and pain.
I also appreciate the message of gentleness here.
“Nope, three is a good enough dose. Don’t want to kill it, just remind it.”
We don’t want to be preachy or offensive, giving unsolicited or uncalled for, unwelcome advice, or use a condescending tone. There are appropriate occasions and appropriate ways to provide someone with truly uplifting, comforting, and inspiring reminders.
It’s almost never good to say “get over it,” “pull yourself out of it,” or “it’s not that bad,” even if we’re intending this in a positive way, when to that person it really feels like the end of the world.
It’s good to be firm but warm in some cases.
We can use our intuition or knowledge to detect what stage of the problem someone is in. For example, if someone just experiences a breakup of a relationship or loses a person or pet to death, it’s probably not at all helpful to be saying potentially inspiring, motivational, or uplifting things like “you’ll move on, find someone better, heal quickly, be happy again, recover….” those things are appropriate in some cases, at some stages but it’s too soon when it just occurs. No one really wants to hear it when two seconds ago, the person’s heart was ripped out and trampled on or when the person is currently in the throes of the deepest, blackest depression.
At first it’s good just to attempt to provide a sense of comfort, listening, a hug, just being present, helping the person with everyday tasks to make things easier…
Also, sharing quotes, songs, and books on social media just to people in general is a great idea, then people can find it that way and can embrace it or leave it without it being in their faces or condescending. If it resonates with them, they can pursue it more, if not, they can click it off.
Please, don’t give up, find your little specks of “green” that you still posses like the tree in the little story above. So much wisdom. Then nourish those bits of green in you until they blossom into beautiful vibrant leaves like the dawn of Spring. Keep going, baby, you got this!
😀
Xoxo Kim ❤
Happy New Year <3
“And now let us welcome the New Year
Full of things that have never been.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
In Sarah Ban Breathnach’s “Simple Abundance – A Daybook of Comfort and Joy,” she writes:
“January, the month of new beginnings and cherished memories, beckons. Come, let winter weave her wondrous spell: cold, crisp, woolen-muffler days, long dark evenings of savory suppers, lively conversations, or solitary joys. Outside the temperature drops as the snow falls softly. All of nature is at peace. We should be, too. Draw hearthside. This is the month to dream, to look forward to the year ahead and the journey within.”
Isn’t this a beautiful description?! We don’t need a new year to have new beginnings, new hope, and new goals. We can begin anywhere, any place, any time. But January is symbolic of new hope and beginnings. A new, clean, blank slate to be and do whatever you want!
She also writes, “…time is the New Year’s bountiful blessing: three hundred sixty-five bright mornings and starlit evenings; fifty-two promising weeks; twelve transformative months full of beautiful possibilities; and four splendid seasons. a simply abundant year to be savored.”
I shared this last year here, and maybe the year before too! It’s beautiful and full of so much hope! Like I said, you don’t need the beginning of a new year to be hopeful and create a new life or a new you, all that’s changing is the date, it’s what has to change within and our actions that count, but it’s a beautiful symbol!
And the magic of a new year is lovely!
I wish you a happy New Year full of love (of all kinds including self love), success with your goals, happiness, joy, beauty & light! Remember we don’t need lots of money, material possessions, romantic love, a big happy family…to be happy and full of love. Those are great things to have but not necessary to be happy in general. All we need is the right attitude and we can be homeless, financially poor, living in a shack and still be happy. True happiness and joy is within. External things can add to it but we don’t need them.
❤
Xoxo Kim 😀
Cool Nights {it’s like a heatwave}
“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,
if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you,
if the simple things in nature have a message you understand,
Rejoice, for your soul is alive.” ~Eleanora Duse
This is exactly how it feels to me to acknowledge the beauty of Nature. I have always been aware of the profound beauty all around me even while in severe emotional or physical pain. Mindfulness of natural beauty and the thrill it brings have come easily to me for as long as I can remember. Even as a little girl I would be in awe of the simple joys of living. The blueness of the sky, the sparkle of the rain, the dramatic colors of sunsets, the scent of cold air, the fragrance of grass and soil, the seasons changing…but I never realized this as a “thing” or concept or way of life until years later when I decided to create a personal development plan to heal my depression and I learned about mindfulness and gratitude at deeper, more conscious levels.
I decided to take my natural ability and habit of being aware of and thankful for the beauty all around me and make it even deeper, a conscious, intentional habit.
This to me is truly living. And it’s beautiful and also helps me cope with pain of any kind. But even when I’m not in pain it’s a thrilling way to live. Living generally mindfully with a conscious frequent attitude of gratitude, not just as a fleeting mood or feeling, has a dramatic impact and healing effect. Being mindful of my mindfulness itself also uplifts me often, knowing I have this ability, that I accomplished this lovely way of living.
Mindfulness or awareness or acknowledgment of beauty and blessings, an attitude of gratitude as a conscious, intentional way of life are incredible life changing habits but they are not cures for anything. When we accomplish this and develop these habits we will still feel pain, unhappiness sometimes. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be when you think about it, right?! That’s what it is to be alive. To feel both happiness and unhappiness, pleasure and pain, joy and sadness, thrill and blah feelings. But those habits can help us cope when something unpleasant is occurring.
Summer is my least favorite season but I love all four lovely seasons. They all have their own blessings. One of the things I will miss most about Summer is the beautiful insects/flying creatures/kreepy krawlers….lol
The bumble bees and the butterflies, the fireflies and other beauties.
Many days this summer there was a bumble bee drinking nectar out of a bright orange flower on the street where I live. So many days I would walk by the beautiful vibrant flowers and see the bee there sucking through the center of one of them. Truly amazing to see such beauty!
I got a few photos one day.
I will also miss the flowers. But I usually don’t dwell on what I miss. Instead I focus on Now. Whatever is currently here is really all I have. All any of us has. It’s great to look forward to, hope for, and plan on things in the future but generally I believe it’s best to honor Now. Now is still Summer and right now it’s a heatwave.
95 degrees in September!! For real! It wasn’t even this hot all Summer!
But I see signs of the impending Fall. Pumpkin lattes and coffee and donuts are already out!
I get in holiday and season spirit very early. In July I’m already ready for Fall and in October I’m ready for Christmas and snow! Lol
I think pumpkin coffee is more thrilling in cooler weather though and if I get it now in the midst of a heat wave then on the first crisp, Fall-like day it won’t be quite as thrilling. Still totally thrilling but not as much of a new feeling.
So I guess I will wait on that. Right now I’m drinking toasted almond coffee!
Here is a list of my favorite things about Autumn!
1.) Pumpkin Everything
2.) Cool nights
3.) Fall fashion (although I dress like it’s Summer all year except I wear hoodies in Fall) I love seeing photos of Fall fashion and other girls wearing it. It’s just usually not the style for me to wear myself.
4.) The colorful leaves on the ground
5.) Halloween themes and Thanksgiving things. I believe in gratitude all year round but it seems everyone else gets in the mood for gratitude around the holiday season
6.) Hoodies
7.) the feel in the air, the mental feeling of Fall
8.) apples
9.) Fall colors – brown, yellow, orange, red…
10.) candy corn!
11.) the fragrances of Fall -cinnamon, apple, cool air, pumpkin
12.) hot coffee, cocoa, tea…it’s just more magical in the Fall
13.) my dog loves the Fall & Winter! She gets quiet all summer and on really hot days and isn’t as playful but as soon as Autumn is in the air, she gets all wild and playful and happy! She’s a big pitbull and loves blankies and pillows! She loves snow too!
14.) The Eastern Stare Penitentiary – the old prison has exhibits all year I think. To learn about the history and all but in the Fall they have the haunted attraction! We get to walk through and monsters jump out at us and there’s all kinds of gory stuff and creepy sounds. I don’t always get to go but I always see the advertisements and stuff and it’s fun! The first day I went was years ago in college with a group of other students and we were clinging to each other, holding onto each other, hugging each other like our lives depended on it! Lol it was fun! One funny memory I have is the group of us consisted of all girls and one boy and the boy was the most scared and tried to make us stand in the front and we told him since he’s the boy, he should be leading the way! Lol I was so afraid we were going to be separated and I would be alone in small, dark places! When it was over we got outside and there were candy and caramel apples and monsters dancing and flashing lights!
15.) longer, darker nights
16.) Halloween decorations
17.) Halloween lights
18.) pumpkin pie, apple pie, coconut custard pie
19.) cranberries!
20.) candy doesn’t melt in cool weather
21.) Everything
22.) hay rides
23.) apple spice
24.) apple cider
25.) sweaters
26.) jack – o – lanterns
27.) cool, windy days
28.) it gets dark early
29.) crunchy leaves
30.) sweet potatoes
Fall just thrills me so much!
And since it’s still summer I will honor it with some lovely summery photos I took!
This little beauty was drinking nectar through this bright orange flower all August long! I used to stand there and watch with wonder.
This fly was basking in a light rainy afternoon one day out in my backyard. I captured him and the glistening drops on the vibrant green leaf.
A different fly on the same day on a flower or leaf stem. Aren’t they beautiful?! Flies really can be quite lovely and I have great photographer skills, don’t you think?!
I think so too! 😀
Xoxo Kim
p.s. check out “Cool Night” by Paul Davis!! one of my favorite songs since I was a little girl! ❤
Summer Lovin’ <3
Summer is my least favorite season. It’s the one season I wish were much shorter than the rest. I don’t wish it were non existent. Mostly because I think it makes Fall even more thrilling after a long hot summer ends. But I still like Summer and having four seasons. I feel that it’s a blessing to live in a place where we have it all, warm, hot, cold, cool, rain, snow, sleet, thunderstorms, blizzards, lightening…. To me, Fall & Winter possess endless things to be joyful about. Things that warmer seasons don’t have where I live. I’m mostly happy all year. But Fall & Winter bring many more things to be joyful about. I love the themes. The holiday themes, the crisp and colorful leaves, pine, and snow themes. Cozy nights and hot cocoa. Pumpkin coffee, tea, and pie. Cool nights, hoodies, blankets, big fluffy warm pjs….I will never understand how someone can not love all that! Lol 🙂
And I love when Winter melts into Spring and the world around me is born again after a long cold dreary Winter. Spring is symbolic of hope, new beginnings, and rebirth. Life blooms all around. It’s perfect. Not freezing and not usually too blazing hot.
Summer is just kind of blah. Like an extremely hot Spring long after the world has first bloomed around me.
Summer gives me headaches and melts my reesse cups! Eww
I am still generally happy and joyful in the summer but there’s not as many specific summer themes that thrill me like the other seasons. Poor summer just doesn’t have as much of my heart. There are definitely some rare bitter winter days I desperately wish were summer but usually not.
I’m not miserable or depressed all summer just because I don’t like it as much but I do catch myself sometimes making mental lists of all the reasons Summer kind of sucks.
Lol
Last week though I received a lovely e-mail called “Summer Lovin'” which is a list of 23 things about Summer that Dani DiPirro of Positively Present has to smile about.
At first I thought her post was about loving Summer because she really loves the season. And I still got the idea to create a list to turn something less than positive into something positive but I soon realized that Summer is not her favorite season either. She did what I thought of, turned her unhappiness about something into happiness! 😀
This is perfect for me because it’s just what I need to uplift my spirits about something I’m not usually head over heels in love with! I think we can all benefit by this habit. When there’s something you aren’t too thrilled about whether you just aren’t crazy in love with it or you outright detest it, try making a list if you can, even if you have to struggle hard, of anything you can think of that is some way good or positive or benefits you, even if you would prefer not to have it and just not have the benefits. You’re stuck with it so take those benefits and run with it!
Here’s my list of Summer Smiles 😀
1.) My hands don’t swell up and aren’t cut open in the summer. My skin is smooth and regular. I usually would prefer Winter and just suck it up that the cold damages my sensitive skin but I can’t help that it’s summer so I will bask in my lovely smooth hands while I have them. Lol
2.) the almost constant sun and long daylight. I don’t like excessive heat but sun is good for us. Not too much but a lot of daylight is good. It’s uplifting and it’s often easier to sit outside and do some walking in the sun than in the unforgiving bitterness of Winter air. Daylight has a positive effect on our brain chemistry whereas colder, darker weather can have the opposite effect, resulting in depression or low moods for some people. When I’m out walking in the winter it often feels urgent usually. Like I have to hurry up and get where I’m going, out of this cold.
3.) there’s so much to take photos of out in Nature when it’s all warm and bright. Bare tree branches, gray skies, and snow and all are very beautiful. But after a while it seems to me there isn’t much else. Especially with just a cell phone camera. It often can’t capture the beauty of barrenness as well as a professional or advanced camera. In summer there’s an abundance of color and life all around! It looks brilliant captured by any camera!
4.) carnivals and amusement parks! That’s unheard of in Winter and just wouldn’t be as fun!
5.) summer magic in the air. All four seasons have their own kind of lovely magic that is different than the other three. Just a “feel” in the air.
6.) people watchin’. People come out half dressed in excessive heat. And are fun to watch. Lol and I like not having to be all covered up all day.
7.) dog walkin’ – all the doggies are out walking and in dog parks!
8.) I would say vacations but I’m not the biggest fan of going on vacation. I like where I am. But everyone else seems to love vacations and going away. So I’m happy for them. I can just imagine the thrill you must feel going away if you’re someone who loves it. I’m usually the opposite. I feel a thrill coming back home! Lol
9.) sitting outside in the chairs of pretty restaurants under umbrellas, sippin’ sweet delicious iced tea with friends!
10.) ice cream, iced tea, water ice and Popsicles. These are good all year but Summer somehow manages to make them more appealing. Just like hot tea, coffee, and cocoa are good all year but more inviting in Fall & Winter in my opinion.
11.) I work at an ice cream shoppe all year but it’s more active in Summer so I have more chances to interact with various people!
12.) it’s not freezing cold. I usually prefer freezing cold over disgusting humidity and excessive heat but I don’t want excessive cold either. But when it’s hot and I prefer cold I can still be thankful I’m not freezing. Just like if it’s way too cold and I prefer heat I can still be thankful I’m not burning up. Talk about positive thinking! ;-D
13.) jumping into an ice cold shower or walking into an air conditioned room after walking in out of scorching heat! Feelin’ good! :-p
14.) the vibrant blue sky and fluffy white clouds
15.) being in a car with the windows down and warm wind blowing through my long hair
16.) walking in warm rain
17.) the Ocean is healing and beautiful
18.) laying in lush green grass soaking up the scents of summer
19.) fireflies
(I took this pic of fireflies one night!)
20.) laying out at night watching the stars
21.) It’s not flu season!!! I never had influenza but lots of people around me have. It doesn’t look fun! :-O
22.) citrus & tropical scents are some of my favorites and are sweeter in the summer!!
23.) I love summer colors like peach, pastels, yellow, orange…they can be worn all year but certain things are just more magical in certain seasons! Like these colors in the summer!
24.) strappy stilettos – in the summer, your toes won’t freeze off if you wear them and there won’t be slippery ice, sleet, and snow!
25.) Summer sales! Yesterday at Bath & Body Works, my friend and me got all kinds of goodies for way less money! I got two delicious body lotions for less than seven dollars that really would have been about 22 dollars! All citrus & tropical and other summery scents are on sale now!
I never realized I would be able to come up with so many summer positives! It wasn’t even hard! Once I got my brain on track to see the cheer and joy of Summer, it all just start flowing to me!
And I was sitting at the kitchen table actually feeling the summer magic and possibilities come flooding into me after writing this list. I realize on various occasions how creating happy lists can really uplift me even more than I anticipated. It’s even better than mere mental lists! Something about writing out all the goodness really has an amazing uplifting effect!
It really is a good habit to get into, everyday just writing a list of things to be happy about!
😀
Xoxo Kim 😀
It’s raining leaves & love «3 <3 :-) :-D
I wrote this a few days ago and tried to post it but my phone or something wouldn’t allow me so here it is today!
Yay!
When I woke up today I was so hot even with my window open and air coming through. It felt more like Summer than Fall. I love warm weather and the warm seasons but after Summer & Spring should be over, I am definitely in the mood for the magic of the lovely Fall & Winter seasons! <3.
I wasn’t complaining about the weather. All weather has it’s blessings and beauty. But I won’t deny the fact that I have experienced a tinge of disappointment. It has been so incredibly warm here in Philadelphia, Pa and I have felt that the beautiful opportunity for Fall as been taken over by excessive warm weather. But anyway. Warm weather is lovely too and there’s no sense complaining.
But when I was sitting in work I noticed that it started to get very cool. Then all of a sudden, something magical and wondrous happened! It started raining leaves!
Lol ok not literally but it sure looked that way out the window!
The street where the store is that I work at is surrounded by beautiful trees. Many of the branches are now bare and some have crisp fall leaves flowing off and gently landing to the ground.
Suddenly there was a whirlwind of leaves that just started blowing off every tree on the street because of the wind and it looked beautiful and lovely like a splendid Autumn leaf storm!
😀
I also got to thinking about how blessed I am to have the positive work environment that I have.
I know the most wonderful people at work.
Since my mom and dad made me move to a new neighborhood when I was young, I haven’t been blessed with many close friendships. For a while, I actually had none and it caused me deep pain to have no connections to other kids.
Then when I came to college I had to leave my school friends and we lost contact a lot and it was not pleasant. There were moments of unbearable loneliness.
I’m shy and in my neighborhood there was never many kids my age so that combination added up to me being kind of friendless for so long. I wasn’t outgoing enough to go out looking for friends and there was no opportunities right around me like when I was little.
Also, I haven’t always been very close to most of my family either other than my mom, dad, and, sister. My sister is over 10 years younger than me. That’s a significant age difference for kids.
My loneliness got so extreme and often I began to feel not only unloved but un-lovable, also because of some verbal/emotional abuse that has happened in my family. And when I finally found a couple close friends I still struggled with loneliness occasionally even when I wasn’t physically alone. And depression sure doesn’t help that.
I still don’t have many friends or always get to see the ones that I do have as often as I would like.
But at work I am blessed to be surrounded by great and beautiful people that show me incredible acts of love so frequently.
I began to notice this more and more.
I read about a technique that people can do to bring more love and a sense of love into their lives. Make a list each day of acts of kindness and love shown to you by anyone who has done something loving towards you. This will make you feel more loved and appreciated.
People do little loving things every single day that may go almost un-noticed by the receiver. But when you open your mind and heart and begin to be more receptive, you’ll notice at a deeper level.
I haven’t written anything down but I now see more and more how much people do for me.
They go out of their way to help me and compliment me often and smile at me and say hello and I appreciate it more than I can say. And I truly hope they can feel and see my gratitude and love. I’m always saying thank you. And I help them as much as I possibly can with whatever they need.
Are there people showing you kindness and love that you haven’t even noticed or noticed as much as you could have? Look at all the “little” and “simple” acts of kindness that you are receiving day by day. They are actually greater than you may have realized.
When you let them, they can touch your life and brighten your days with tremendous impact.
When someone holds a door for you, offers you a sweet and genuine compliment, has a pleasant conversation with you, trusts you enough to tell you something, smiles at you, is sincerely interested in how you are today….all of these things are amazing acts of kindness.
I hope that you can all feel the amazing love all around you. ❤
