Things That are Amazing #2

Sand made of quartz crystals, who knew?

Aug 12, 2024

It is simple.

I make a list of things that are amazing.

But.

Some times, I stare off into space longer than I would like as I have not asked myself in far too long, what actually is amazing?

And then I find something and off I go again.

Kind of like … being alive and human.

Back and forth.

Like a pendulum. Or a wrecking ball, whichever.

Here I go:

My 2 year old came into my middle daughter’s room and dumped her bracelet making kit upside down and thus all on the ground. There had to be over 3,000 tiny rubberbands in the kit including small beads and clasps-y things - if not more. I sat there with my two older daughters as it was obviously time for bed for the little one and we picked them all up. And in that time, the girls talked to me about their friends, funny things that happened that day and favorite animals.
I have realized that my gardening efforts fell to the wayside this year (and last year). And that is okay. My garden beds are actually full of wild weeds that bloom flowers and kind of looks like magic, anyways. Is that what surrender looks like?
I keep feeling these intense waves of gratitude for my naturopathic doctor. I will just be sitting here and will feel it, a rush of true euphoria. I met her years ago on one of my goals hike offerings when I lived in Colorado. You create things and bravely ask, will anyone come hike with me? And she did. She came to one of my offerings. And then we co-led one together. And now I go to her services. I live for the connections, the circle of support. That continues as it is that, a circle.
Big earrings. Peep ETSY to support a local maker!
I showed up more often than not with sandy and barefoot feet to drop off my kids at Summer Camp because we stopped at the beach before for a quick walk in the early morning.
I have changed. And so it makes sense that my offerings in my business have changed. What used to be a mastermind for small business owners is now a mothermind for … mothers. And there are 5 spots left!
I forgot how absolutely stunning and crystal clear the water is in the gulf coast side of Florida.
7a. And I was today years old when a friend told me this: The white sand in the Gulf of Florida is made up of quartz crystals that were washed down from the Appalachian Mountains at the end of the last Ice Age. I mean, that is amazing. The sand is actually crystals (source of information is when I google it and AI answers and I have no idea how to actually give it credit?).
I recently finished reading the book, ‘When You Care’ by
Elissa Strauss
and found myself sigh a deep sigh of relief. I will write a larger note on this book soon but I took away a couple notes like this question: what if caring is expanding me versus draining me? And a reminder or reckoning of sorts that motherhood can be a catalyst/portal to a spiritual experience. And this eye opener that some of the books I read in my 20s that topped the charts for a while were about….escaping. Be it Liz Gilbert’s ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ or Cheryl Strayed’s ‘WILD’, so much about leaving to find oneself. With small children and a husband with a mustache and a very sweet elder dog, I am not going anywhere. So finding myself by staying, hello, hi, it is me.
There is an underground bagel shop a town over that makes wood-fired bagels. It is actually underground in a parking garage with a walk-up window. Best bagels I have ever had.
The lady sitting next to me at the coffee shop I am writing to you from is Facetiming someone and her speaker is on full volume. The audacity. I mean, if you think about it, it is kind of amazing.
I whispered to myself last night in a haze of mother-rage at how long bedtime was taking, ‘what if you stopped worrying all the time?’. And I don’t have an answer to that question or know where it came from….
Some times when I run past another runner on the road, I want to high five them. And then I chicken out.
Kids still love doing handstands in the pool. And will do the handstands over and over again for an hour. Even with streaming movies and cell phones and all that, underwater handstands still win.
When you start to open your mind to the notion that everything and everyone is art, it gets really wild and beautiful. I highly recommend it.
My treadmill at my little gym I go to has a stair master machine that has a landmark button. Have I told you this already? Well, here I go again. You can press it a couple times and choose to climb the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty and other options. I love that.
I understand when Freddie Mercury sang, ‘I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike’. Amidst all the cars speeding by, it feels like a different life - especially on a single speed.
The best dates I have been on lately with my husband, my kiddos or with my girlfriends, were so simple. A blanket on the beach, no fuss, no service, all connection.
How beautiful are rainbows though?
I still cannot get over the crystal sand in Florida. Can you?
I have written recently (here) about matrix tears, those moments where something feels revealed or repeated that seems to pull back the curtain a bit to the reality we are living. I am experiencing a lot of them right now with the age I am and people and connections starting to cycle or recycle. It feels …. good almost.
I recently learned that in some recipes you can substitute apple sauce for eggs. I mean, that is kind of amazing right?
The fact that people still read paper-back books, my geriatric millennial heart beats. And these little free libraries everywhere, again, I could cry.