I’m feeling very festive this week and this week’s gratitude gumbo is served with a helping of glitter and sparkles and stars.
1. Solstice celebrations – yay! I had one of the most lovely Solstices ever and I’m grateful for every moment of it. There was a rosy colored-dawn sky and a dusting of snow; a fun dinner out with my sweet husband; candles and armfuls of evergreens filling every available vase; chocolate and laughter. And in between there were endless hours of quiet celebration; meditation; and joining others in welcoming the 12/21 energies with delight.
2. I’m connected with a wonderful group of women, truly one of my soul families, and this week we crafted a Manifesto. Lovely and fun and powerful! But aside from the beauty of that, one of the gifts of that experience was remembering how much I LOVE manifestos, how much I want to write more of them; and how that might be a fun creative expression for me in 2013. And thinking about that really made me think about how much I love doing zines and how I also want more of that in 2013. It always delights me to follow those stepping-stones of inspiration.
3. Blitz kuchen translated from German means “lightning cake.” The name itself delights me, but it’s a recipe that has always been part of my memory of holiday celebrations. My grandmother was an outstanding baker and every time I make blitz kuchen I’m flooded with memories of her, of my mother, of my sister. I love those memory doorways. And I love blitz kuchen in all its sugary/cinnamon/almond wonderfulness.
4. I had the most amazing and powerful healing dream this morning. It truly was one of those BIG, luminous, not-to-be-forgotten experiences that when I woke up I knew I’d received a blessing. One aspect of the dream involved unfolding a paper and finding the most extraordinary drawing filled with stylized images. Oh how I wish there were such a thing as a dream camera so details like this could be recorded with perfect accuracy! But even knowing I’ll never be able to capture the images, I still feel like I’ve been given some kind of mysterious map that will continue to influence my waking journey. I’m still vibrating with excitement without having any idea what it really means. And that’s a wonderful feeling!
5. Crayons – is there anything not to love about them?! I recently bought myself a jumbo box of a gazillion colors because the more the merrier. But then a friend (thanks Tami!) sent me a link to making crayon-chip tissue paper wrapping paper and I realized how much more fun there is to be had. I’d forgotten about melting crayons between sheets of wax paper, but I’m sure there’s more of that in my near future as well.
6. Speaking of crayons… this is a wonderful video by the folks at Box of Crayons – The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun. I’m pretty sure we all need to make more room for fun in our lives.
7. My week has been filled with beautiful sparkles – the first snow of the season; gorgeous frost etchings on the windows; twinkling fairy lights wherever I look; glittery cards arriving in the mail from friends; sparkly sugar-dusted Solstice cookies. My heart expands with the magic and the beauty and delight of it all!
So what have been the glittering delights of your week? I hope there’ve been many and I wish you endless ingredients to add to your own gratitude gumbo this week.
This post is awesome! You had a wonderful week and I’ve got a new recipe that sounds fabulous. Plus I got to watch a great video and I’ve got an idea for my incredible intention circle of friends when it’s my turn to do the opener in February (manifesto). Thank you so much for all the inspiration!!
Yay for inspiration Michele! I feel the exciting bigness/juiciness/wonderfulness of “Manifesto-ing” with your intentions group. How fun and powerful!
Deborah, I loved reading your Gratitude Gumbo. I could see and feel all the joy, glitter, sparkles and fun that you had. I loved reading about your powerful healing dream. Let me know if you ever find a dream camera. What a neat idea that would be to record with accuracy what our dreams are about. Thank you for sharing all this beauty in your life from this past week. xo
Thanks for stopping by Suzanne. I’ve put in my order for a dream camera – I’ll let you know if it arrives. 😉
I’m a little late to the party here, but I enjoyed reading about your wonderful week. Especially about the Crayons… happens to be one of my “fun” items. The smell brings back such good memories.
Glad you stopped by Sues. There’s no late to these parties – the door is always open. 😉 And yes, the wondrous memory-evoking scent of Crayons – so delightful! Periwinkle used to be my favorite followed by Heather.