“Everyone agreed to this, and that was how the adventure began.” C.S. Lewis “Fancy a SoulStrolling journey with me?” I asked my eldest 25 year old daughter about 7 months ago. “Absolutely,” was her reply. Spain was her request: Barcelona, our first destination. I adore travel (not so much the jet-lag) the planning, packing, wandering, exploring,…
Category: Travel
Party in a Bowl
In February, 2017, I had the pleasure of participating on a yoga retreat with 8 limbs yoga at Haramara Retreat in Sayulita, Mexico. Every other night, water ‘disappeared’ from a beautiful clay bowl placed on the path just above our casita. This poem flows from that time. Enjoy. Daily, the light brown clay bowl on the path…
SoulStrolling Rue Mouffetard, Paris, March 2017
There’s so much to see, taste, and experience along Rue Mouffetard in the 5th arrondissement in Paris. I was fortunate enough to spend a week in March, 2017, at an Airbnb just around the corner from Place de la Contrescarpe at the north end of the street. Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, lived…
Haramara Goddess – Conversation with a Statue
This is how it happened: Statues began speaking to me a few years ago. It’s been a process, this paying attention to art. The nudge I feel within to slow down, pause, listen. “What would you like to talk about? What do you have to say? Would you like to converse?” Are the types of…
Insect Visitation, Sayulita, Mexico
Most things will never happen, this will: Like a fairy dancing on my mouth, if one can imagine such things, the orange and black butterfly alighted on my closed upper lip, kissing me with her delicate antennae. Yes, this happened, on Valentine’s Day, sitting outside for dinner at Café Casa del Chile Relleno, Sayulita, Mexico….
“Put yourself in the way of beauty” A day on Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia
“The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul.” Wyland. Today, while the autumn pacific northwest sun shone I made my way, soulstrolling, along the pebbly shore of Richmond Beach, and was reminded of the day my husband and I spent playing in the waves of the ocean off…
Holy Water – Ubud, Bali
I returned from Ubud, Bali September 16, 2016. Within a few days of arriving home the following piece lingered in my subconscious. It’s been delayed due to a broken arm (8 days after coming home) and more travel. Someone has probably written something profound about the timing of a piece, or the final penning to…
A Day in Reims, France – Part Two
“We can continually recall beauty through the practice of memory, through daily acts of imagination that seize the moments that once seized our hearts.” Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage. With stomachs rumbling and lunch calling we wove our way through the streets of Reims to Anna S. la table amoureuse. Lavender hued walls with golden…
A day in Reims, France – Part One
Oprah Winfrey uses the word, “marvelism” and Phil Cousineau writes in The Art of Pilgrimage, “How will you remember to remember when you return home?” It’s been almost 3 months since I returned home from 3 weeks in Paris. Usually, my pen is quick to the page, eager to share the bounty from my travels….
5 Weeks in France, Part 4 – The Flowers of Paris
My heart hurts and tears drop from my eyes as I remember the attacks in Paris. I know much is being written, shared, posted. I don’t live in Paris. I’m not French. I live in Seattle, but my heart and years of memories reside there. I’m Canadian/American and a ‘tourist’ when I visit. My spirit…
5 weeks in France Part 3 – My Heart Hurts
My heart hurts, so I write – to process my feelings, to grieve, mourn….. I go to words and images, to find my voice. Not so much to search for meaning, for that feels vague. I write to uncover my soul, to dare to go deep into anger, sadness, shock. I write because yesterday’s violence…
5 weeks in France, Part 2 – Patterns Below my Feet
5 weeks in France, Part 2 – Patterns Below my Feet I have this thing with floors. Actually, I have this thing with what’s below my feet. I’ve noticed this for a long time. It’s not a new thing. I find myself wearing shoes/soles that reflect my soul. “Travel by foot. There is so much…
Sharon Richards 