wishing you a cozy Christmas!!!

spilling with delight

there are days

i am especially aware

and spilling with delight

days i can barely get enough

of the beauty

and all the joyful taking in

beauty

to inhale

to strain my ears towards

to gaze at

to lose myself in

and oh....those 

moments of simplicity

and dailiness 

 - tiny hints of heaven -

to celebrate

with a dear friend

or truest love

those unencumbered moments

when joy springs fresh

teasing me into the chase

to capture 

with heart and soul 

and even sometimes 

with a lens

my heart is spilling with delight.

words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2016

my fall manifesto...revisited

i want to......

-laugh every day --no matter what
-let thanks to God be the first thoughts on my mind
-listen, really listen, to my kid's stories -- even when I'm trying to "get stuff done."
-make crabapple jelly and juice

-pay attention to my life (and read Buechner when i need reminding)

-sing loudly in the shower

-grumble less about busyness

-accept

-eat slower...savour more

-juice, juice, juice and love the art of it

-pull out recipe books when I get the cooking blahs

-remember that cooking blahs are an amazing problem to have

-make family opportunities to give

-get out with friends more as a couple (without kids)

-write often. whenever, wherever, whatever

-stop to write love notes...even if they are on plain paper :)

(this love note i wrote for my Dad was still stapled to the inside of a 

cupboard door in his garage, years after it was written...hmmmmm)

-give longer snuggles at bed times

-plant life (tulips and gladiolas)

-celebrate small victories and maybe losses too

-keep eyes wide open for beauty everywhere

-rediscover the Bible and let its life land fresh in my soul

-share it, share it, share it (whatever "it" it)

-less wine

-walk to the forest more (lay in moss &listen to stillness)

-lace up in these cooler mornings and get out in it

-say "yes" when the big kid wants to go for a drive

-cinnamon bun dates with boy in braces 

-make mall dates with preteen queen of the house

-watch net flix with hubbie (more TV? )

-play (especially if it's snowing in Sept!) (like mom, 87)

 -enjoy home days to the fullest

-read to the kids

-get more music (non 80's haha) on the family ipod

-find some great audio books for our long drives

-set aside days where a fleece onsie is full fashion

-bake with the kids and enjoy the mess

-create...create...share...

-be true to my creative self and indulge whenever I can

....and the list goes on.....but thought I'd share a few with you. 

hugs and love,

Melody

(p.s. I've included some links to older posts in case you're in the mood to kick back and read a few other related pieces.  Enjoy!)

words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2014 

living blissfully

                      

Not every day is there a magic mix of a life-long friendship, ocean breeze, a gorgeous linen top rippling across your warm skin, and fine sand between your toes...but today --YES!!

And tomorrow when I run and dive into the Atlantic ocean and my way-too-straight-of-hair for the beach goes right back to the frizzy, wild curls of summer.....I will laugh and appreciate and hug my dear friend till she's all salt-watery-wet and laughing too.

And the day after that, and after that, and after that.....when summer fades, holidays are over, schedules screech, meals are thrown together and I'm tempted to forget how blissful my life still is -- right there in the dailiness, the mundane, the rushed, the ordinary, I will wear the necklace my girlfriend gave me today and write my "thank you" list for every gift in my life I can possibly think of (which will be a "blissfully" long list, by the way.) And then I will be transported right back into the magic -not of the beach and sea breeze, but of the perfect blessings of another ordinary day.


words and images © copyright melody armstrong 2013

do you need permission?

It was something my friend said last night that got me thinking....

"Give yourself permission to not be good at everything."

I wrote it in my journal. 

I wrote it on my hand.  

The thought of it was so freeing and refreshing and ludicrous all at the same time. After all, do I really believe I have to be good at everything, or even most things? (and is it that obvious?.....yuck!)   Is that why I can be so hard on myself.......cuz really, AS IF!! 

I just wanted to hug her and do a little dance right there in her kitchen.  It was such a simple but powerful observation.  How come I hadn't thought of it before?  She has a beautiful way of calling things like they are, just plain and simple.  It's what caring friends do.  She knows I'm not good at everything (who's kidding who - she doesn't even pretend about it) and, most importantly, she doesn't expect me to be.  

I feel so much lighter after digesting her words.  They were like some kind of crazy instant diet.  I dropped weight in just one day.  

Magic.  

Friendship.

Permission.

 words and images copyright © Melody Armstrong 2013

girlfriends...what a love we share!

(I've been playing with photoshop and my old keepsakes--from the "big hair" days!!  Love you, Myrn!!)

It's a miraculous thing, you know, this love between girlfriends.  I've been thinking about you lately (EACH of you) --wishing we could have some crazy long hours alone together to talk and laugh and cry and share our hearts till 2:00 in the morning.  Oh, the days we could do that!! So many of you have loved me long...and hard...and faithful.  You have walked "five hundred miles" with me and I KNOW you will never stop.  What a rare and priceless treasure is friendship like this. 

You have chosen to look past my failures and YOU ADORE ME.  How can that be?  I am safe with you.  You always see and believe my heart and my good intentions.  I don't have to explain myself.  Your love for me is fierce and strong and warm.  You are a soft place to land when I fall--- and I do, a lot.  You are a refuge in life's torrential downpours....and so much prettier than umbrellas. (I never did like umbrellas.)

I love the way we really know each other.  With just one look we know that now is not a good time to talk, or that we better get talking, now!  Of course, talking isn't usually necessary because we somehow just get it.  We can read it in each other's eyes.  When we're apart (in distance and/or in time) all it takes is a certain tone of voice over the phone and we know that we've got to get there, right now!  And we do -- even if it's physically impossible, we find way to be there somehow.

This love we share DOES impose.  It does ask for help. It does LEAN - hard sometimes.  I know I can call you and say "do you still love me?" and you always know what I'm really asking: "am I still loveable?"  And of course, I know you will say "YES!!" and you'll say it in a hundred ways.  You'll say it just the way I need to hear it in that moment.  You'll find that perfect way you have of reminding me who I am and what my gift is to this world.  That's what you think I am - a gift!   And......I'll believe you.  I'll soak up your love and faith in me till I'm full again, and courageous enough to spill love out to others again.  

And the ugliness (inside or out).....you never notice, or if you do, you look right past it.  Make-up or au natural, sweet or not, you always see the good, the lovely, the funny, the strength, the beauty.  How do you always manage to see the beauty in me, especially when I can't see it myself? 

You are girlfriends.  You laugh and cry, dream and hope, trust and obey (and sometimes rebel) with me.  You remember where we've come from........oh, such a long way.  You've witnessed the way I've fumbled through life's uncharted territories (we still do it together) -- with me swearing AND praying, sometimes in the same breath.  And it's okay, because I've never had to impress you or try to be someone I'm not. Thank you for letting me be me.  Thank you for helping me be a better version of me because you won't let me stay the same.  You stretch and push me.  I love that. I LOVE YOU!

Thank you for loving me through the risks I insist on taking. You've even watched me take a few too many - because I wouldn't listen.  It's that wild side of me that will always be my "thorn in the flesh" or my shining beauty, depending on the day. But you LOVE me anyway.

All the joys, sorrows, tear-gushing laughs, questions, pains, heart breaks, thanksgivings........you've been there to share it all with me.  You know me.  You know that I love to twirl & dance in meadows, get dolled up for parties, never take my makeup off at night and always wake with my eyes smudged black, LOVE nature and art and poetry, I'm a romantic at heart, I wear my heart on my sleeve, I can't resist going anywhere that says "no trespassing"..........you know my weird quirks and fabulously wonderful qualities :)  YOU KNOW ME.  What a wonderful thing it is to be known and loved.  THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

My mom used to say "to have a friend, be a friend."  Well, I must have done something right because YOU -- MY GIRLFRIENDS-- are my wealth and my treasure.  You never cease to amaze me with your beauty.  True, deep beauty.  You warm my heart with your smiles, laughs, insights and presence.  You truly reflect the love of God in my life...over and over again.  You are imperfect perfection!  (thank goodness....otherwise "I might have to hate you!")

I once wrote a line in a song that makes me think of you: "if I could take a thousand stars and place them in your arms...."   Do you know that there is no bouquet of flowers (or stars) that would ever express the gratitude I have for YOU?  You are JOY to me.  I will cherish you FOREVER.  And I promise-- even "pinky swear" (for those of you that go back far enough) that I will stand by your side and love you the best way I know how.  Forever.

Thank you.  A million X a million.  
(love, 1/2 x m+m, 44/45 = forever!!)  

THOU!!

Who I am on a snowy October day...

I'm sprawling journals

and scribbled words

I'm tones of white and cream

   and charcoal grey

I'm splashes of big, bold

   blues and greens and

  purples and yellows.

I'm piles of books

and heart-shaped rocks

I'm forests and oceans and

   bright white birch

I'm boisterous hollers

  in hockey rinks

    on gym side benches

 on spring's green sidelines

I'm toenails pink and purple

  and blue and red

  and sometimes one for every toe.

I'm high-fives and competition

  in knee pads at net

I'm laughter and silliness

and original song

I'm daughter and mother 

and wife and friend

I'm peace in solitude,

  in stillness, in quiet

I'm wide-smiled, 

   gentle-breezed solace

I'm trickling brooks, tumbling

  rapids, whispering streams,

    and glassy lakes

I'm creative soul searching

  and hungry and longing

I'm well-watered garden, 

  lovingly planted, and pruned

I'm harvest, ripe and ready

  to be picked

   and seed needing to be

       replanted

I'm clay in potter's hand,

  treasured vessel of beauty 

   and purpose 

in the making

I'm arms and heart outstretched to

One who knew me by name

  before I was

   and calls me His very own.

photos © melody armstrong

angels anyone?

Who are the angels in your life?  Those special people who make your spirit soar just at the thought of them?  Who inspire you by the way they've chosen to view the world, the obstacles they've courageously pushed through,  the choices they've made to create a world of beautiful in the midst of ugly?

This particular angel of mine sits perched next to the spot where I make coffee every morning --reminding me of what an amazing person I have been blessed to know.  No wonder her students presented her to the world in this particular piece of angelic artwork.  

We met back in university while studying for our education degrees.  I recently found a letter she'd written me all those years ago that broke my heart again.....the way her questions go right to the heart of painful topics with honesty, courage and a forthrightness that is remarkable.  Truly!  

She has taught me so much about childlike trust in God, courage in the face of evil, strength in weakness, and grace that meets all of us right where we are.

I just wanted to take a moment to say a special "thank you."  Words are not adequate.....you will always be one of my most treasured REAL LIFE HEROES.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your immense courage, hope, sunshine and beauty.

For anyone else reading, I invite you to take a quick moment and send some love to an angel in your life today.

photos © Melody Armstrong