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…
Conversation with Owl in Paris, March 2017
Owl is my word for the year. She chose me. Soulstrolling the streets of Paris last week, Owl appeared often: hanging as a backpack in the shop window on Rue Mouffetard, on a magnet in a tourist shop, at the Brocante Antique fair outside Paris (Foire de Chatou), and peering out through an art gallery…
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….
Citizenship and Voice
“Move, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.” Rumi Fear whispers, “Don’t write this post. Don’t pen your voice, your opinion. Stay silent. Who knows what harm may befall you.” Love whispers, “Write this post. Be you. Call upon: courage, bravery, goodness, kindness, light. Let us envelop you.” “Love is worth all the…
Spending time with Owl – 2017
“We are all visionaries and what we see is our soul in things.” Henri Amiel Owls have been catching my attention since August, 2016. I’ve been pondering and playing with ‘my word’ for the year. Having a word ‘choose me’ for a year helps ground, nurture, and draw me deeper into practicing being mindful and…
Come to the Waters Edge
Come to the waters edge. Stand still on the plank of the pier. Cast your eyes over the horizon. Weeping willow at your back holds the waterflow of pent up tears. Sorrow, anger, disappointment, a longing for justice. She hears your wondering and questions. Allow us to hold you. Air, water, clouds, sky. Mallard swims…
“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…
Stories from my childhood: Trampoline Wonder
Bounce, flip, soar, fly: repeat. Lightness of being, knowing my body in space, letting go, no fear – my parents bravery at gifting my brother and I the freedom to play. The story goes that my grandmother, Tilly, bid and won the trampoline (after a few too many gin and tonics) at an auction. Realizing…
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….
Sharon Richards 