Write It Down.

"Pay attention to the weather, to what breaks your heart, to what lifts your heart. Write it down."
-Ellen Meloy

#oceantherapy
Today was all about exploring the coastal trail, sitting, writing and moving on to a new spot and repeating.


"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order." -John Burroughs

I find it interesting how words easily come in and out, mostly steady like the waves. Sometimes there will be a bigger wave that crashes harder- sometimes it is painful, sometimes it is inspiring. The day was gorgeous, full of pelicans and seagulls and sand and scattered white fluffy clouds and hot chowder and delicious seafood.

Sunset from the deck of Sam's Chowder House

My 7-year-old niece got a hold of the book of poems I wrote for my dad's Christmas present. And now she is officially obsessed with poetry. It's endearing, but she also keeps me on my toes, constantly asking me to tell her a poem. On Friday, my brain started to hurt after awhile and I wanted to eat my dinner, so I changed it into a game where I would make up one poem stanza, and then pass the mic. This would give me 30 seconds to get in another bite of food before it was my turn again.

Last week, my mom took her to Lawrence Hall of Science and all she wanted to do was write a poem. So she sat there and began to write, "It was a blustery autumn day…" when my mom answered, "Kaia, it's winter time." She very matter-of-factly responded, "It's my poem. I can write whatever I want to."

 She's only seven. And she's brilliant.

So the next time you feel stuck creatively, take her advice. Don't feel obligated to conform.

Write whatever you want to.

 You will be pleasantly surprised.


Intention Setting.

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you make mistakes, 
then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, 
pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. 
You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something." 
 -Neil Gaiman

There was a lot of 'pushing myself' on today's New Year's Ride.
So good for the soul. And the legs.

January 1st. I'm so over New Year's Resolutions, goal-setting, blah blah blah. At the end of the day, I've realized that it's not necessarily the end-product or goal that we seek, but rather the feeling. Quitting smoking allows you to feel freedom. That trip to New Zealand to visit your family allows you to feel connected. Crossing the finish line of that Ironman allows you to feel strong, brave and courageous.

 Rather than working from hard and specific goals to get desired feelings, what if we switched things around and started with the feelings? This is an expanded perspective, but focusing on the feelings FIRST will cultivate much more serendipity in our lives that will ultimately fulfill those desires in ways that we could have never possibly imagined.

No more New Year's Resolutions for me. Just intention-setting, if you will. I am cultivating these feelings in my life for 2015-

Creativity.
Connection.
Ease.
Abundance.
Gratitude.
Intimacy.
Service.
Joy.

I encourage you to do the same. Write them down, and see how all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve them. Ready??

Just Write.

"Your feet are swollen, you need to make a dentist appointment, the dog needs to be let out, you have to defrost the chicken and make a phone call to your cousin in Boston, you're worried about your mother's glaucoma, you forgot to put film in the camera, Safeway has a sale on solid white tuna, you are waiting for a job offer, you just bought a computer and you have to unpack it. You have to start eating sprouts and stop eating doughnuts, you lost your favorite pen, and the cat peed on your current notebook.

Take out another notebook, pick up another pen, and just write, just write, just write. In the middle of the world, make one positive step. In the center of chaos, make one definitive act. Just write. Say yes, stay alive, be awake. Just write. Just write. Just write."

-Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones
2014- a year in review...

Yesterday I filled the last page in my journal, which I started writing in on January 1st. What an amazing year of writing it's been, as metaphors, poetry, to-do lists and miracles filled those lines on each page. I am astonished at how such a simple of act of picking up the pen each day has allowed me to discover so much about myself. So even if I slept poorly and I have a million emails to return and programs to write and shoes to lace up and bike tires to pump up and green smoothies to make and hair to curl and eyeliner to apply, I pick up the pen and write. Just write. Just write. Just write.

Vegan Gluten-free Ginger Cookies.

Even if you're bloated from eating too much pumpkin pie over Christmas and the thought of another leftover See's Candies makes you nauseous, you can still enjoy one of these cookies and go about the rest of your day without a sugar hangover or feeling guilty.

The first time I made these…well, I don't really want to talk about it.  So, after some tips from PK, the second time around I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour, as well as a silpat mat (

instead of an air-bake pan)

, and had her magical ingredient of ground cardamom.

(Don't ask how I attempted it with cardamom pods the first time around).

INGREDIENTS:

-2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour

-3/4 c. coconut sugar

-1 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp baking soda

-1/4 tsp salt

-1 Tbsp ground ginger

-1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

-1/2 c. extra virgin coconut oil, melted

-1/4 c. dark molasses

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-3 Tbsp almond milk

-Turbinado sugar (for sprinkling on top)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the coconut oil, molasses, milk and vanilla extract and beat until just blended. Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat mat.

3. Roll dough into small balls and place 2 inches apart. Sprinkle lightly with turbinado sugar.

4. Bake for 11-14 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

These are so delicious, and they also freeze well.  Enjoy!!

Merry and Bright.

While cresting the hill near Hiddenbrooke this morning, this Irish blessing came into my head. It seemed fitting as I pedaled behind my two girlfriends, into the sunshine and with the wind finally at our backs…

May the road rise up to meet you

May the wind be ever at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face

and the rain fall softly on your field…

Christmas morning miles...

Christmas morning miles...

May your days be merry and bright

And may all your Christmases be white (or full of sunshine and green hills)...

Beannacht.

Today has been a whirlwind of errands, including trips to the bank, installing Sirius in my new car, troubleshooting an alternator on my old car, phone calls for tech support in India for a printer (we bonded over my random Hindi phrases and love for kitchari), and organizing some paperwork that needed to get done. It seems like a lot of busyness in an already busy season, so tonight I just lit some candles, played some piano, and worked on some art projects. Clearing the mind, clearing the clutter. I feel better already. I'll leave you tonight with a gem of a poem which concluded last night's winter solstice poetry reading at Point Reyes Books. Such a cozy venue, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow poets, reading from a faint book light, as the rest of the store was illuminated by candlelight. Beannacht is Gaelic for "blessing"- may you be equally blessed by these words…

The cozy atmosphere from inside Point Reyes Books... 

On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.

And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak,
To mind your life.

-John O'Donohue

Solstice Eve.

I prefer winter and fall, when you can feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.
-Andrew Wyeth

View from Del Valle this morning...


Brad descending into the fog...
I also prefer winter and fall riding, with full-length leg warmers, toe-covers, long fingered gloves and wind vests, when you can feel the rain on your face and taste the gritty mud in your teeth. Something about this reminds me that I am climbing, breathing, moving, descending - living. 

Tomorrow is winter solstice, the shortest, darkest day of the year. From there on out, it all brightens and lengthens...

The Other Side.

I once dated a guy who told me straight to my face, "You know, it's good that you're a little overweight- you'll be a more empathic counselor for overweight individuals because you know firsthand what it's like." Since then, I've shed that person from my life, as well as those unwanted pounds, but sometimes those words will still echo in my head. Underneath the initial sting, I believe his message was true- we can more effectively guide people to the other side once we've walked through it ourselves.

Take the first step.

Take the first step.

Even as writers, it's our responsibility to get people to the other side- to the other side of fear and judgement, and step into a place of ease and openness. But this can only happen when we're willing to share our own stories and walk on that bridge, over the river of despair, step by step.  If we all stay silent, we all stay paralyzed and isolated.

So don't discount your dark experiences.  Talk about them, share them, use them as supporting wooden planks that create that avenue of connection, holding our weight and acting as a bridge to bring us back to ourselves and to each other.