dream a {new} dream

Why am I battling with myself to post something already? Where did these lame self-imposed restrictions come from that I have to be planned, polished, spell-checked, or scheduled before I can write about my life? What is going on?   Well, I'll tell you real quick like.   I'm sitting here bored with my life (I know, how ungrateful!) planning my something/anything months in advance but equally despising that it's already nearly the end of January and the year is ticking away. Tick-tock, tick-tock. {I might also be despising that I'll be 32 in a few short months.}  

Source: colorflystudio.blogspot.com via Lauren on Pinterest

    I'm currently surrounded by paperwork...a mass of paperwork.   ~ Enrollment for an Dispatch Academy Instructor Course which...yes, I want to become an instructor - I have years of experience, I have stories to tell, I still have passion for what I do. ~ Education reimbursement forms to get paid (yes, paid!) to complete my BS in Business/Marketing (do you suppose I've completed any homework that I can get handsomely paid to complete? No.) ~ Tax paperwork (show me the monay!) ~ Customer Service homework   & the humdinger: The Authentic Dreaming Worksheet An excerpt or two: "...but what if your dreams are to live simply?" "You cannot stop dreaming. You must, you must, you simply must dream a new dream."   My computer has a slew of open tabs, I can't decide if I want to cook or travel or create or go to yoga... I want to do them all.   I just know that I'm again in this spot where I feel like I am:   1) on the verge of tears 2) on the verge of a breakthrough 3) on the verge of a genius/epiphany 4) on the verge of a long nap   This is comfortable and unfamiliar at the same time.   This {tune} has been humming in my head all day long & then, just on cue, a good friend sent me this:  

  & what, in the hell, Lauren, do cowboy tunes have to do with anything?   Well...everything.  Every damn thing, because the slew of paperwork, the maxed calendar of events, the travel miles, and the A.D.D. brain are just a cover up for that {simple} that I dream of.   My dreams are not outlandish. They're way more country than rock and roll. They're simple.   I'd "settle" for a cowboy, a little piece or land, some plants to water, some animals to feed, some little ones to plan my week around, an little studio to get lost in where creatvity bursts all over the walls onto cards and canvas and into journals.   I would. I could. I want to.   I can plan and stack and sort through the paperwork of my reality all I want to, but when it all boils down, my dreams are my dreams and there's no escaping that they're not going anywhere, anytime soon.   {*sigh*}

{400} Oak Trees: what my dreams are made of

Well, it is really no secret that I've had quite the long standing love affair with the South. Say...since I was 12 years old and read through Gone with the Wind one Summer like it was a nursery rhyme. A really long, petulent nursery rhyme.   Fast forward to Nicholas Sparks and every novel he's ever written and every movie that's ever been translated to a screenplay and well there you have it. This place {collective deep sigh}:   

Source: Uploaded by user via Jessica on Pinterest

   The Wormsloe Plantation in Savannah, GA. It was on my travel bucket list when I went to visit, oh a year and  half ago, but...I never made it. I half suspect that I had to keep something still on the list so that I'd have a good reason to go back again. I think that in this year that I've declared to be one where I get back to what makes me think and dream and feel free again - the one that feels authentically me again, travel is a must.  I must go see this beautiful place that haunts my happy thoughts.   You see, in the movie version of my life, I live in a place like this. My driveway has 400 sentinel oak trees that welcome me home every day and an army of 400,000 crickets that lull me to sleep every night.    The only thing that could make this better is if I was at home watching these movies  next to my fireplace while listening to the rain beat down on my tin roof.   Be still my mossy oak tree driveway lined, balmy weather, accent lovin' heart. Be still. It's coming all in due time.   <3   This blog post was brought you you courtesty of: the ABC Family channel and their full night of Nicholas Sparks-esq movies.

Spread {your} wings

Creativity has finally bled out of my hands. 

It's been bottled up inside by something, I can't say what, 

but it refused to be grounded tonight.

I love this piece!

1. Spread your wings

2. Fly

(Ledge optional)

~ Lauren 

Dear Friday {Life Goes On}

Dear Friday, 

Where do I start?  

(sigh)

I don't know what's wrong with me, I hear this blog calling me and I have things to say but there's some defiant little self-sabotaging brat that keeps coming along and kicking me in the literary shins. 

I'm not any closer to choosing a new direction.  

I have this tick-tock calling of something (what?!)

something new that keeps nagging at me. 

I wake up dreaming of a life other than the one I'm living in...

But I'm in the life that I'm in right now, 

in the time that I'm in right now, 

in the place that I'm in right now

for a reason right now. 

Trust the journey. Isn't that what they say? 

(Who the heck are they anyways?)

Earlier this week, I googled "the best decision I've ever made"  and it gave me this answer.  A literary spunkarella that drew me in with her creative prowess.  Hooked.  I emailed her. I know she's part of my journey somehow. 
What did I tell her?  That I feel like I'm not even at a fork in the road.  I'm at a 20-lane intersection, clear of traffic, and green lights in all directions.  Standing there, directionless, the world at my feet but with an uncalibrated compass in one hand  and the map from the glove box of the Griswold family station wagon in the other. 
I feel like there's no cohesion, no lines, no boundaries,  and the expectations are blurry.  Yeah. Blurry.  I'm having a hard time focusing. 
Even now, it's not even Friday still in some parts of the country.  Hell for that matter, in some parts of the country there aren't even lights or heat or comfort.  I can't even get the Dear Friday letter in on time. 
Those are my thoughts, but what's happening in my life?  Well, one thing that is most than and more than worthy of mentioning. I've written about it before, but I thought I'd have more time to prepare my thoughts. 


LAST Friday, when I was going to reintroduce myself to this weekly,  a text message pulled/ripped/yanked me out of bed after just one hour of sleep.
Uncle Mickey passed away at 827 this morning. 
Whaaat?!  They said 3-6 months. We had what? 8 weeks?  He was just at lunch yesterday. I didn't go.  I thought I could just see him the coming weekend.  I called him the afternoon before to tell him that I'd see him soon.  He didn't answer.  The events of that day are imprinted on my mind and in my heart.  The scene that replayed itself every time another family member arrived to say their goodbye.  That's a blog with a it's very own blood shot, tear stained, big & beating emotional heart. 

In my family, we have a strong Christian faith.   We believe in the Lord God and in eternal life.  We mourn for our missing of one of the best  brothers, uncles, fathers, friends you could imagine  but we don't fall into sorrow worrying about his soul.  We prayed he would go before the pain set in and made his last days agonizing. Our prayers were answered.  It was quick and merciful. 
So...death is a part of life.  And life goes on. 
My week went on this week. Uncle Mick was one of my biggest cheerleaders,  so I didn't let him down. I did my monthly run, a 5K at Folsom Lake.  My first significant activity on my bum knee.  I made it - wet, sandy, muddy, slow, and lopsided, but I made it  and earned my favorite finisher's medal to date.

Wednesday was Halloween, I busted out a creative makeup muscle ...and I handed out 1,000 coloring books, 1,400 balloons,  and buckets of candy downtown.

Then I got a pretty rad, awesome, compliment yesterday.  Yeah, I said rad and I said awesome! Psyche!

Next Friday is the service. Next Friday may or may not be an entirely different blog.  However, next Friday will be further proof that life just goes on. 
Til then...

a {rebel} without a blog

Hi.
I'm back.
I went away for a little while.   (like 6 weeks awhile) I do this sometimes. 
I'm OK.  Really. I am.   I just got a little behind with the self-imposed writing deadlines and weeklies, and then I got busy, and then I went on vacation, and, and, and... I can't lie, I felt an uncomfortable amount pressure to keep this blog up and I didn't like it.  I love to write.   I do.   I love to converse, text, talk, read, watch, listen...share. Right now though...I'm kind of (fill in the blank)  pensive.   Yeah, that's the word.   I'm in such a different place in my life and in my head than I was last time this year. But, there are so many things on my plate, so many pressures that have to be met:  work, bills, fitness, family obligations, speed limits when there's a really damn good fast song on! I just can't get out of some of those, so I went and got out of the one that I could control.    I could stop writing.  I have power over that.   Yeah, I think not writing has been my rebellion.  Does that make sense at all?  I became a rebel without a blog.   All the while, the that tiny small voice was telling me: Why are you giving up the one thing you really love? It's your outlet. You know how you get when you bottle it all up inside.
 

{my kitchen blackboard and love notes to myself}

 

Getting back here hasn't been as easy as I thought. 

It should be like riding a bike, just get back on, right? That's what they say at least. I had to do a little bit of convincing. I had to romance myself with little sweet notes and reminders. I had to imagine that I needed inspiration to post something again. But really...I didn't have to do anything. I just had to sit down and start again.   So right now I'm liking the creative fury of my fingers dancing on this keyboard.
It's a familiar melody that needs to be played more often.   Getting back on the writing saddle is like anything else.  Showing up is half the battle but look, I'm already winning that one. I'm here.  I showed up.  I just gotta set some new rules so I don't find my way back to blank again. Or maybe I don't need rules, I just need some Hemingway:   There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. Ernest Hemingway <3

{Hi, I'm back.}

{Dear} Friday v.4

Dear Friday, well hello there.  I thought you might never get here, but you never fail me. You see I have finally resigned myself to your late hour, having made it through the day and the week.  Dear Red Wine, yes you, I like your sassy bottle curves and your sneaky little smile.  Mmmm...  

Dear Billy Currington (double mmmm...), if you could only see me spinning around this big candlelit room with a glass in my hand, well, that voice of yours is always doing something right.   Dear Sore Body, yeah, you.  You keep wanting to give up on me one muscle a a time, but surely and slowly we're getting it back.  No, no.  No more giving up and giving in.  We're both in this for the long haul.  I have to live somewhere, and it's not longer going to be a lazy garbage dump.   Dear Lynn, Jill, Ashley, Gail, and Michelle, thanks for the nods, the emails, the kudos, and the encouragement this week. Dear Aunt Liz & Uncle Tom, thank you for the invite.  Tomorrow's Cal v. Nevada College Football game is going to be quite amazing.  Somehow I have managed to make it to 31 never having been to a live College Football Game.  I think it's high time to do some jumping, shouting, and screaming!!   Dear Summer, I am sad to see you go.  I feel like we were just getting comfy together.  I can't believe you're gone again.  Like another lost love...*sigh*, but I have hope you'll be back some day.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.  You know how much I love you even if I sometimes complain about how uncomfortable you make me. Dear Family, we knew it was coming, let's make the best of our time with our blessed, sweet Uncle Mickey.  3-6 months isn't a long time, but it's an invitation to make the most if it and so many people don't get that at all.  Don't be afraid.  There's nothing to fear.  It's just going to hurt for a while.  Don't let it disable you from spending the few good days and moments we have left with him.   Dear Louise, you didn't get a warning.  No one should ever outlive their children.  I can't think of the words to say to you to help be a comfort, other than you have my thoughts and my prayers.  Dear readers, whoever you are.  Tell the people you love that you love them.  Whether it's the actual words, a kind gesture, a moment of time our of your day dedicated to thinking of them and simply saying that they're on your mind.  Do it.  Do it now, do it consistently, do it sincerely   


Hoping everyone has a great weekend! XO, 

sea.{sun}.sand.sanity

 Friday.  

The day I broke the vicious cycle of busy before I let it break me. 

It went a little like this: 

slept in ~ spent 30 minutes looking for a bathing suit top ~ arrived 2 hours late (I'm on Filipino time) to get Mellissa for our Beach Date ~ listened to 90's on 9 aaalllll day ~ made the mandatory caffeine stop before we got on the road ~ grabbed an incredible lunch to-go @ La Boulange on Fillmore: portabella brie sandwich - Parmesan truffle oil fries...oh my!

to the left                                      to the front                                              to the right

Destination: Baker Beach, the weather was perfect, just about 68*, which is warm for this part of the Pacific Coast.

 Inland, where we came from was projected to be 100*+.  Save me now. 

A day with no agenda, no deadline, nothing on the to-do list...just what a girl needed.

“My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me.” 
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The beach was hardly crowded, a handful of people there, couples cuddled up against the breeze, dog walkers, mostly tourists with cameras in hand, gasping at the sight of the GG Bridge from this vantage point.  I had to smile and shake my head at myself, like I occasionally  often do.  Home is home for me, and living this close to such a great landmark and such a great city, well...until I'm reminded, I forget how beautiful my little part of the world is. 

After a nice little nap in the sun, we took a little stroll down the beach to see how close we could get to the Bridge.  Sans shoes, walking barefoot in the sand, we opted not to climb the rocks to crawl under the bridge.  It was windy, self-portraits were challenging, but that was hardly a complaint on such a great day.  Well, no complaints but let me just give you the one caution should you choose to visit: there is a small portion of the beach down near the rocks as you walk towards the bridge, that is "clothing optional" and by "clothing optional" I mean, "really, guy, how do you just let those shrivelly things just hang  all out in the direct sun and not burn them?" 

As we walked off the beach, I saw this little old couple sitting close and I had to sneak a picture of them. He had his arm wrapped around her, she had her hand resting on his knee.  They weren't talking, just sitting there with each other, looking content together and staring out at the sea.  These sights make my heart happy. 

“Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away.” 
― Sarah Kay

A look out point just near the Presidio and just south of the 101 Northbound entrance - these trees, that Bridge, the vastness of the Bay...I could sit and stare for hours.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge as seen out of my sunroof, a bucket list item for some, a quick day trip for me.  It's always an awesome sight no matter how many times I get to see it.

One of these days, I do believe I will have to create 

The Sunroof Series: A Photojournal as Seen from my Car in Motion 

I have a tradition, no trip to the beach is complete without stopping at Guymas for dinner, which is right on the Bay, a ferry port in Tiburon.  We timed it just right and hit happy hour: $2 oyster shooters, street tacos, and appetizers.  

A stroll through the Friday night street fair and a couple of wildberry mojitos  later, I couldn't help but notice that the drink must have gotten it's purple inspiration from the the colors that the sun was using to paint portraits in the sky.  

I simply cannot get enough of the sunsets/sunrises in the last few weeks.  

This picture is just as my camera took it, no filter, no edit, no added saturation.  

The sky is just incredible this time of year but a visit to the San Francisco Bay is good any day of the year.  

When the lights go down in the City
And the sun shines on the bay
Do I want to be there in my City

~ Journey 

I am just {me}

Well hi there,

I’m Lauren.

 But my friends, well, they call me Lolo, or Lo, or LC.

There's a few things about me you should know.  
You can do it fast, and click {here} for the stats.
Or you can keep reading, and I'll tell you a little story.

I'm thirty…{one} and proud of it. The way I see it, it’s an unapologetic place to be. 

I’ve got a lot of living and learning left to do, but you know, what I’ve come to realize over the last few years and certainly through the school of hard knocks that was my 20's is that when the music stops, the dust settles,  and the sun goes down:

I am just me.

I am a story still being written, unfiltered, flawed, imperfectly yet perfectly one-of-a-kind, 

& very firm believer that the best is yet to come.

I am a 911 operator and Police/Fire Dispatcher going on 10 years now.

I was a Police Cadet/Intern for 5 years prior to that, so yes, that is half of my lifetime and I do bleed Blue.  Starting my career very early has turned out to be bittersweet.  

It has heavily shaped and formed my opinion of the world and the way that I see life in general. 

I won’t lie to you: public service is hard, some days more than others…but it is rewarding. 

It’s the selfish, mean ugliness & evil of humankind.

But…it’s also the miracles, the Good Samaritans, being in the right place at the right time,
 and the chance to work with some of the most selfless men & women who are every day willing to give 
and, unfortunately, have given their lives for others. 

"Greater love has no man than this, 
that he lay down his life for another."
John 15:13 

So hey, while we’re at it, because I am subject to the scrutiny:
 this blog and the opinions shared herein are solely mine and do not reflect those of my employer. 

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, why am I here?

I got stories lemme tell ya.
 I try to find the funny in it all, and well-placed sarcasm is my second language. 
I am passionate for finding the right words to describe life, 
to create laughter, tears, or comfort.  
I am a communicator by trade and I am a writer by heart. 

I owe my love of writing to Mrs. Johnson, a teacher who not only broke the mold, but made the mold.  She is the teacher that teachers should aspire to be.  She saw talent and passion and "brilliance", as she called it, in me when I was floundering as a student who could barely string a sentence together.   She saved me and she will always be a cornerstone in the foundation that has allowed me to be successful in my life since then.

Am I new to blogging?  No. Not exactly.
I have "blogged" (see: poured my heart out) for about 4 years now.  

But I didn’t publicize it very widely.  In fact, only a handful of my friends knew I was writing, some of my best friends only found out very recently. 
My blogger beginnings: Karma's Punchline is my heart on my sleeve, my online journal, my catharsis, my therapy, my best friend, my bucket list, my mirror, and now it's what's become part of the road map of how I arrived to my here and now.  

Linking it here for you all, my new, bigger audience, well it's like leaving your diary open on the kitchen table because you're not ashamed or afraid to let your loved ones in.  
It's something you grow into I suppose.  

So, why a new blog?  

Source: middlenameconfused.tumblr.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Well, I figured it was time for a new chapter.  I struggled with even creating a new blog for fear of abandoning my last 4 years worth of my heart in phrase, in prose, and in the reading between those lines, but then I came to realize that that blog will always be there for me.  
It's like going back home, or going to grandma's house.  
It's the familiar, the foundation, the good memories, the place you can be yourself, vulnerable, happy, lackluster...
it will always be there, my landmark, my North Star in writing to remind me about a girl that I used to be and a woman I aspire to become. 

 I decided to start this blog, about Me & My Beautiful Mess as a new challenge and a new chapter and jumped in with both feet.  I found a certain excitement in the Blogger world that I kept running across as of late.  I wanted to share with these crafty women (and a few good men) who are creating a community through shared stories, creative endeavors, and public peeks into their every lives.  
I've found time and time again that good stories, good blogs, they're like hearing good lyrics, the ones in the songs that come on when you least expect it and the words, well they feel like they were written just for you - a reassurance that you're not the only one who thought, felt, or wanted something you couldn't quite verbalize.  
What are our words, our stories, and our lives, if we cannot share them with each other?  

What is this blog about? 
I really struggled with that in the last few weeks.  After years of not giving a second thought about my given topic and letting my heart guide my fingertips over the keyboard, I had a little panic attack about what I would or could or should write here in this chapter in my life.
What's my niche?  Photography, cooking, weight loss, fashion, humor, being single, travel, music...gaaahh!!! Just pick one already!!!  I started to get panicky and then I had a little back to Jesus talk with myself (literally at one point during the last couple of months, I was on my knees, physically, praying for some kind of relief, understanding, and comfort for a number of things in my life) and  so I put myself in check.   Get it together kid!  


I have this other thought and idea that I've formed on my own but also read that others are struggling with too.  
A thought that blogging is narcissistic (for lack of a better word), it's self-indulgent, that it's motives should be questioned.  

Well, to that I say this, that could go for everything in life.   
Questioning your motives isn't a bad thing. 
 One of the best practices I've learned from yoga is to set your intention. 
Why do we indulge in the things we put our well placed time and effort into?  
It's true, you only live once (yeah, *groan* YOLO, well in my case LOLO, ha!), so manage your time wisely.  
Having encountered that thought made me really question my intentions
but then, ah-ha!, you see I came to my senses and went back to what I already knew, 
what I was already well versed in writing about.
 My "niche" is life.  
My life.
The good, the bad, the ugly, the mess. 
The moments I'm most proud of, the ones that I'm ashamed of, 
the ones that make me giggle like a school girl, 
and cry until the tears run dry.

{source}

My life, not unlike all of yours, is full and busy.
I can't make promises to blog as often as maybe I should, to always be politically correct,
to refrain from cursing when it's applicable,
 to link up every week, or even remember to hit spell check some days, 
but what I can promise is that you'll get honesty & sincerity,
laughter & levity, frustration & hope, and downright silliness.
I promise that I'll write about the things that make my heart beat, 
and that you'll not only get the highlight reel but the outtakes.

You know, those scenes that start to scroll on the big screen after the credits roll, 
the ones that you walk back in the theatre for and sit down to laugh at?  
Yeah, those too.
Cause jeeze, you know, you have to laugh at those messy moments in life,
the unpredictable ones, the unscripted gag reel that is maybe embarrassing sometimes, but is oh so relatable. 
It's some of those shared moments that have brought me the best friendships of my life.

 Let's just all find some ways to laugh with each other, ok?
 And since my middle initials are D.R.,I feel like I have the right to hand out this one Rx:
Laughter is a great medicine, maybe even healthier than an apple a day,
let's indulge and if someone questions that you're partaking in it too much,
well just tell them that Lolo said it was ok.

So with love & laughter I hope you'll join me in this thing well all call Life:

Sincerely, honestly, messily yours, 

{overload}

I'm going to try and keep this as simple as I can. 

Wish me luck.

I'm usually pretty positive here in this blog about my life full of "hopes, dreams, and dresses", and yes, I do try and make adventures out of my weekends whenever I can if for nothing but nostalgia's sake

...but...

I'm not that cut and dry. 

(and if you know me at all, you know that I am anything but simple)

It's not all Instagrammy goodness and chevron striped dresses.

{abeautifulmessinside.com}

I'm tired. {graveyard shift work is not friendly}

I'm on overload. {mostly self imposed a because "no" isn't in my vocabulary as much as it should be}

I don't feel particularly enlightened lately. {but I don't feel like completely giving up either}

What's gnawing at me?

Well a few things...

 I'm the queen of multi-tasking but even I get overwhelmed from time to time. 

First off...

I am not new to blogging or writing at all, but it was always just a solo-singularity catharsis for me.

The social circus that come along with this new round of blogging has proved to be a bit daunting for me - both for being new to it and trying to jump in with both feet.

Before I get ahead of myself, by circus, I don't mean that with one bit of insult. 

 Heck the circus is pretty damn entertaining, but imagine being a kid there for the first time not knowing what to expect...lions roaring, clowns, dancing bears, acrobats, majestic elephants, dancing ponies, cotton candy and bags full of popcorn. 

Sensory.Overload.

If you're in the Blogger world, you should totally get what I'm talking about.

There's so much incredible content out there, so many bloggers doing amazing things, 

so many niches, photography, DIY, how-to, link ups, coffee dates, Wordless Wednesdays, Meatless Mondays, Thoughtful Thursdays, Instagram Fridays. 

 I look at all these incredible blogs and I don't get green with envy,

but I get a little bit yellow with wonder. 

 How do you do it all?  How do you ladies (and gentlemen) manage to work, take care of your families, your spouses, your charities, your hobbies, go to church, exercise, run marathons, bake cookies, and write about it nearly every day. 

How do you, how do you...???


The bills...
because they're totally piled up, I'm just trying to keep afloat, and as much as I love (can I say LOVE) having my space all to myself and now that "my place" so much more of a reflection of me than it ever has been before, I think I'm going to have to take on a roommate to get things straightened out for awhile.

My heart is...
well, I'm not gonna keep going all Taylor Swift with that thing
 1) that's just not me and 2)  I've {mostly} resolved that I am not the keeper of my destiny, there's a plan out there, and like Steve Job's says, you cannot see the dots connecting in the future, only when you look back, but you have to believe in it, in the plan, in whatever you choose to call it.
 I call it my Faith in God.

In the meantime, I do what I can do.
I set new boundaries.
&

I pray. 

{this is a force of calm in my chaotic everyday}

My body is tired exhausted.
I put myself on blast last week about my lack of fitness goals and regimen, and while I've had the most amazing support from my friends, my body is in that initial shock phase where all my muscles and joints are doing the collective WTF?! every time I move or lift something heavier than Styrofoam cup. 

I'll get over it, muscle memory is an impressive thing, and I'm actually craving a workout now, but I'm safely tucked away at work and at 6am when I get off, sleep will come knocking again before the gym does.
I'll get there soon enough.  I'm on a mission now, it's not just a pit stop.

{one of my favorite new finds, abeautifulmessinside.com
if not for the name alone, I found her recently and love  her site and her daily Facebook pick me ups.}  

I'm not looking for sympathy, so please save that for someone else who actually might really need it.

I'm just venting. 

I'm just trying to leave it all on the proverbial floor here on this blog. 

 Like in yoga studio, where I find I think so clearly, not just on the surface, but down in the depths of the what's bothering me.  

The heart of the problem. 

I think & I stretch & I sweat.

{from abeautifulmessinside.com}

I find that I keep seeing the same messages coming at me just a word or two at at time.
So, I am going to type them out right here and right now.

Because just like my fitness confession, breathing life into these simple words here for my little part of the world to see, well, it places them on a platform.  

Exposes them to the light of understanding. 

It gives them life.

Simplify. 

Be still.

Sleep.

Rest.

Let it be.

{just breathe}

~ Lauren