Peace On Earth

Deep peace I breathe into you, Oh weariness here, O ache, here!
Deep peace, a soft white dove to you;
Deep peace, a quiet rain to you;
Deep peace, an ebbing wave to you!
Deep peace, red wind of the east from you;
Deep peace, gray wind of the west to you;
Deep peace, dark wind of the north from you;
Deep peace, blue wind of the south to you!
Deep peace, pure red of the flame to you;
Deep peace, pure white of the moon to you;
Deep peace, pure green of the grass to you;
Deep peace, pure brown of the living earth to you;
Deep peace, pure gray of the dew to you;
Deep peace, pure blue of the sky to you!
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet Earth to you,
Deep peace of the sleeping stones to you,
Deep peace of the yellow shepherd to you,
Deep peace of the wandering shepherdess to you,
Deep peace of the Flock of Stars to You.
Deep Peace of the Son of Peace to You.

Deep peace, Deep Peace.

Old Irish Blessing of Peace

Sharing the Glow

I have heard it said many times that you cannot change others - only yourself. I am not sure that is entirely true. My thinking is that by changing yourself, you can bring about a change in others. Think of a candle sitting in a dark room. Once lit, the candle casts its glow upon and illuminates all objects in the room. The objects have perceptually been changed by the candle, but the candle has done nothing other then to share its glow.

Accept the Possibilities

When my logical son saw this painting he said "Mom, that just doesn't make sense." A tricky part of this life we live is that it is completely subjective - each experience is colored by our own interpretation. It's all too easy to reject something that falls outside the boundries of our own perception. Here's to accepting the possibilities of the illogical.

Laws of the Universe

Like it or not, we each live by the law of cause and effect. It is by our own process of decision making that we choose to have a mediocre life, or a successful life -- a life that strives only for material things, which will die with the human at the end of mortal existence, or a life lived to the honor and glory of our Creator.

Nippers 2010 – Race Week

Is it possible to have too much fun? Or for the party to be too rockin’? Or for the crowd to be too rollicking? After my visit to Nippers on this trip – I would say that the answer is “Yes.” To say the place was crowded does not do justice to the visual – it was insane. It was like being tickled under the armpits for way too long – at first it was funny, and then I was just ready for it to end.





The attendance at Nippers on this particular weekend was influenced by a triple whammy: 1) race week, 2) pig roast Sunday, and 3) Fourth of July. I have never seen so many bodies crammed onto the brightly colored decks. So many in fact, that there were bodies spilling down the steps and out onto the beach in every direction. Power boats dotted the pristine turquoise waters as their owners cranked their stereos and frolicked in the surf. The pools at nippers were so full that it was visually difficult to tell whose skin belonged to who, and every brightly colored umbrella around the pool deck was providing shade to multiple heads. The lower pool proved to be quite a spectator sport as there were two girls showing off their strip club moves – completely sans inhibitions - causing quite a stir with the crowd.



This was our first official stop after the arrival of Amber and Michael and our departure from Marsh Harbor. En route to Great Guana, I told the crew what a beautiful, pristine place the Nippers beach was. After experiencing the mayhem on the day we arrived, I am sure they all questioned my sanity. Needless to say, we did not stay long. After taking our obligatory photos on the rocks, buying our Nippers hats and t-shirts and finally acquiring a drink from after a very long wait at the bar, we headed back to the Fisher’s Bay side of the island. The much less chaotic pace of Grabbers was a welcome change. We all felt just a little bit dirty after that trip to Nippers.



P.S. We were able to confirm that Park’s parrot painting was still hanging above the bar at Nippers – two years after she first hung it there.

Find your own beat...

...and dance to it like no one is watching.

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

~ Jack Kerouac

Red Head Mermaid

Perhaps a bit on the wicked side?

Paths

Smoke never rises straight.

It creeps, and curls and snakes

as it grabs onto wisps of air

winding unpredictably upwards

- or - where the air is still...

expanding into translucent puffs

that linger just for a moment

before the edges thin,

then dissipate all together...

fading into forever.

Likewise is the path of life -

rarely straight and obvious

and laid out just perfectly

before one’s feet.

More oft` it’s a maze of elusiveness

...and ever one is so bold to believe

he has conquered its mystery,

a quick peek behind may betray

that you are nowhere near

where you thought you’d be.

Pure Vision

I wonder how it would feel to lift this veil of adulthood from my face

To see without the obstructions that time put into place

Substitute honesty where lives deception

Faith exchanged for preconception

If I could just peel back the shell hardened by wisdom

and perchance just for a moment, see the world with pure vision

Wise Words from a Friend

Why is it that when someone relates life's lessons to me by way of a boat analogy, I can understand them so much better? :) Thanks Nan - you know me too well!

It's funny, if your self love were your boat, it would have your undivided attention when moving along. If she's not happy you are immediately asking her what's wrong, what can you do to help. Here, if I trim this or let that out, is that better? You are always keeping a keen eye on keeping her happy because you know that ignoring it always leads to setbacks. You proactively take care of her and respond in the moment when there is a surprise event. There are things that you have done with her that didn't go well and you swear you will never do that again – and you haven't.

What would it be like to take care of yourself that way?

If I had a tail...

...I would like to believe that it would look something like this:



Is this art imitating life...or life imitating art?

Past Present Future

I look into the rear view,
Representing the past,
Ruminating history.

You allow me to reminisce,
Tribulation and treasures,
Remembering precious moments.

I gaze into the mirror,
Revealing the present,
Detailing truth.

You enable personal growth,
Realization and veracity,
But only a reflection to the vain.

I ask the mirror of truth,
Refusing the future,
Withholding insight.

Oh mirror, mirror;
Symbolizing past and present -
What does my future hold?

Written by Ranee Wright

Choose Wisely

It only takes one idea, one second in time, one friend, one dream, one leap of faith, to change everything, forever.

Just one!

Yet eternity lies in the palm of your hand.

Hallelujah,

The Universe

On the Inside

I want to write something beautiful just for you,
and if it were possible, I'd pen the vibrations of my soul
into a prose so honest and real it might beckon a tear.

I’d start by searching the deepest recesses of my being,
anguishing the pain of each step required to bring forward
words concealed by raw emotion, self-doubt and fear.

I want to sing you a secret love song
accompanied by the voices of a thousand angels
who’d gently whisper their falsettos into your ear.

A familiar melody only you would recognize
from a place of long ago and far away
sweetly lulling you back home to yester-year.

I want to create a magnificent work of art
portraying depth with a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors
and steady brush strokes bold and clear

A creation that would take your breath away
and perchance cause you to reconsider
fleeting, superfluous things you thought you held dear

For I know that when you look at me,
your eyes are pleased at the pieces that make up the outside
tho they merely comprise the package that serves to bind the inner.

If you can bring yourself to do it - look deeper
past this shell of flesh and blood,
and you will see what’s not in the mirror.

That is the “me” I want you to see

I am a beautiful verse,
I am a secret love song,
I am a magnificent painting...

I am beautiful!

Ready, Set ...... GO!

Ok, so it was really a little more laid back then I was expecting - and that is quite an understatement. Since this was my first Mermaid Regatta I had no idea what to expect. In fact, I found myself with butterflies in stomach the morning of. Granted, I knew that we were signed up for the slacker class (the Margarita Class) but still it was called a “race.” My fears eased up quite a bit as the committee boat’s dingy pulled up alongside and threw a gallon of margarita’s onboard.




Aboard La Le Lu we had eight mermaids (Susan, Pam 1, Pam 2, Jody, Gale, Claudia, Caroline and Kathy) and our token man slave, Rick. Prior to leaving the dock, we hoisted the storm sail – a big red bra – and headed out to the course. There were two marks set up just outside the marina channel that had to be rounded, prior to heading south to Marker 21 and back.

Pam V took the helm and bossed everyone around (but she looked really cute doing it). The rest of us escaped by heading up to the cabin top / forward deck. The wind was on the beam at about 7 knots and we were moving along at a respectable 5.5 knots under the direction of captain Bligh. We passed several boats, avoided a boat collision, and just had a great sail and enjoying each other’s company.

Surrender to Love

Thoughts banging around in my mind
like loose shutters in a windstorm.

Desperately turning over questions
in search of their answers.

Why do I continue to fight when I know it to be futility?

Why do I deny that the answers are all right before my eyes?

The voice of reason comes to me,
softly at first, as if it were a whisper,
increasing in volume like approaching thunder
until it can no longer be ignored

..."SURRENDER!!!!!!"

Surrender to truth, surrender to patience, surrender to everything that is good and beautiful, and most of all, surrender to love.

Unconditional love is the only 'real' love that exists. A love that is so enticing yet paradoxically elusive to us in our mortal condition. It is the love that our souls instinctively thirst for - the slightest drop of which a soul longs to drink.

(written for me, but also for you - and you know who you are!)

Pirates on the River - Arggg!

Let me tell you a story of four salty lasses, land-bound girls from the other side of the river with feet that had been still far too loooooong. It seems they found their way across the river one warm summer eve, to the Melbourne Yacht Club. As luck would have it, when they arrived a full blown pirate party was underway over there. (editor's note: Ok, so maybe we knew about it prior to heading over there, and one of us was actually invited, but I think that telling people we crashed it makes for a better story.)

One of those salty lasses (yours truly) even found herself a date over on the other side of the river - a cute little wench, slight of 4' tall she was, but ahhh man! Could she dance!




Somehow, between all the rum, dancing, mingling, and more rum, the good ship LaLeLu got 'volunteered' into duty as a - get this - race boat! for MYC's annual mermaid regatta. A women's only sailboat race. Hah! La Le Lu a race boat - that is very funny. Probably the only boat in the fleet with a toaster oven aboard!

Love on the Inside

Love is the only thing we need. Love is our peace. Love is our joy, health, and wealth. Love is our identity. We go into a relationship looking for love, not realizing that we must bring love with us....We must move into relationships willing to share what we have, rather then being afraid of someone taking it.

Love is the experience of oneness, a union of the mind and heart. Unfortunately, we believe we can establish this union with others only if we give up something. We attempt to create this union with others before first creating it within ourselves. You cannot get love from the outside until you are love on the inside.

Excerpt from ‘In the Meantime’, by Iyanla Vanzant

I am a being of light

I am a being of light and peace shining like a star .......................

I radiate peace and light to the world .....................

The light and peace envelopes me and the waves of peace and light shine from my mind like a lighthouse ............................................

I continue to radiate peace to the world as I fill my mind with peace love and light .........

through this peace i feel love and benevolence for all souls ......

A Meditation Excerpt

The Big Picture

We are not human beings going through a temporary spiritual experience.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

(Author unknown. Found it at the bottom of an email today and thought it worthy of sharing)

Life...

...Enjoy it now - it does have an expiration date.

Wishes Fulfilled

The only way one can find their way is to first be lost. To make it big, start out small. To fall in love, first feel none. Any such feelings are simply a sign that you've made a really, really big and daring "wish," and that its manifestation has already begun.

Tender Thoughts of Passion Seep

Feigning acquiescence to complacency while

just below the surface tender thoughts of passion seep;

out of the places where I had locked them away,

from the deep recess of my soul, they defy me;

rising to the top like bubbles of air,

traitorous thoughts that divulge my human needs.

Eyes longing for a reciprocating connection,

yet I would sooner cut them from their sockets

then betray you dear.

Finger tips craving for the touch of skin

while simultaneously burning with disdain at my weakness.

Longing to feel, to smell, to hold,

to wrap you in my arms and press my lips against your hair.

Irrepressible, intangible desires that are also somehow

inexplicably and perplexingly tangible.

Between the Lips of Love-Lily

Between the hands, between the brows,
Between the lips of Love-Lily,
A spirit is born whose birth endows
My blood with fire to burn through me;
Who breathes upon my gazing eyes,
Who laughs and murmurs in mine ear,
At whose least touch my color flies,
And whom my life grows faint to hear.
Within the voice, within the heart,
Within the mind of Love-Lily,
A spirit is born who lifts apart
His tremulous wings and looks at me;
Who on my mouth his finger lays,
And shows, while whispering lutes confer,
That Eden of Love's watered ways
Whose winds and spirits worship her.
Brows, hands, and lips, heart, mind, and voice,
Kisses and words of Love-Lily,--
Oh! bid me with your joy rejoice
Till riotous longing rest in me!
Ah! let not hope be still distraught,
But find in her its gracious goal,
Whose speech Truth knows not from her thought
Nor Love her body from her soul.

By Dante Gabriel Rossetti

A Sinking Feeling

Have you ever asked yourself “What would happen if a couple of lightweights were to drink rum runners and then try to paddle a kayak back to the boat at night?” Well I can spare you the mental gymnastics, because I personally know the answer to that question. I lived this very scenario on my recent Bahamas excursion.

We were on the dingy dock in Hopetown one fateful eve, having just finished a lovely dinner with friends at Captain Jacks. Our boat was anchored on the outside of the island in the main marked anchorage. Our crew of six, having arrived earlier that afternoon via a combination of kayak and dingy, now faced with the decision of who would ‘get’ to make the predictably wet ride back in the kayak. My son, Brandon, and my daughter’s boyfriend, Michael, volunteered for the job. In hind sight, I should have been a bit leery of their happiness in volunteering for such a wet ride, or just their “happiness” in general at that moment. Turns out those Bahamian rum runners pack more then just a light punch.



Soooo, the girls all hopped in the dingy and the boys set off in the kayak, and all was fine, until we rounded the corner of the inlet and headed out to the choppy water. I should mention that this is a river kayak, not a sea kayak, so it has no inherent buoyancy. As we motored alongside the kayak, I could see that they were taking on water over the side. I threw them the hand pump from the dingy and Michael pumped while Brandon paddled. They looked to be keeping her under control, and since it had started to rain, I headed off to find La Le Lu in the anchorage and drop off my passengers.


As the girls unloaded, I turned around hoping that there would be a blue kayak screaming up behind me. Nothing. Heading back in the direction where I left them, I heard voices alternating between laughing and yelling “help.” I saw a low blinking light nearby and getting closer to it, I was able to make out a bit of the blue kayak hull. In a scolding motherly tone, I yelled to them, “Stop messing around and get on over here.” Brandon replied “um mom, we sunk.” As I got closer I could see that Brandon and Michael were fully submerged in the water, doing their best to hold the nose of the kayak up to keep her from going under completely. In Brandon’s mouth, he held a flashlight that Michael was tapping with one hand – in a Morse code fashion, or so he says. Had I not seen that light, I don’t know that I would have been able to find them in the darkness and rain. While sorting out my conflicting feelings of relief, horror and amusement at the situation, I loaded them up in the dingy, and we pulled the kayak up-side-down and perpendicularly up over the bow of the dingy. That flashlight, even though it was no longer operational, earned a position of honor on the rest of the trip. It was dubbed the good luck charm.

On a 'lighter' note...

Two new mermaid lights.

Provoking Thoughts

What would you think about today, if you knew those very thoughts would command leagues in the unseen?

And what would you say today, if you knew each word you chose would send great waves into motion?

Well, here's a revelation for you - Every thought, every word, and every deed, whether they serve you or not, changes everything.

A Plethora of Opportunity

My conch shell acquisition mission to the Bahamas was a success - I have twenty-something blank canvases waiting to become mermaid shell lights. Each shell takes about 8 hours from start to finish, so they will keep me busy for a while. I can't wait to see how each develops into a unique mermaid. I am only responsible for starting the process. Before painting, each shell is cleaned, dremmelled, grindered and then chiseled (to make room for the light). When the shell is ready to paint, I stare at it for a while - then I start to see a mermaid. She tells me where to put the paint and before you know it, there she is. Magic!

Double Taking

Hmmmm, does anyone else see a similarity here?
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Yellow and Red drinks by day; Red and Yellow drinks by night. ****************************
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Will the real barracuda please step forward?