I heart...

Being the day marked to celebrate love, I sent a message to my friends around the world asking them what they heart. I asked them all to take a moment and feel (in that moment) what makes them feel the fuzzy feelings what they heart brings to them and their life. Here is what I received:

“I heart my loving family and cherished friends. They make me who I am!”

“That every experience we have impacts the direction of the road ahead.”

“I heart helping people.”

“I heart the memory of sitting on the hood of a car with my daddy watching the northern lights dance in the sky amongst a warm summer’s night.”

“Compassionate touch, simple silences, a day in the sunshine with friends and my partner, my life right now...and of course our newest little fuzz-bucket puppy - oh and GOOD FOOD!”

“Cinnamon bears.”

“I heart.....long hugs with family and friends who are near and dear to me.”

“I heart........friends, family, my dog's wagging tail..................and surprises!”

“I heart eating pancakes with maple syrup with my family on the weekend!”

“I love life with all its opportunities & challenges that is has to offer!! It's amazing how if you respond to the opportunities & accept the challenges, how sweeet life truly is.”

“I heart the little things; small gestures of love and kindness.”

“...waking up on Sunday mornings snuggled up to my husband with our dogs curled up at our feet. “

“a warm wind, laughter rising from my soul, my babies hugging each other”

“I heart...fresh air, moist with rain-stirring with a warm spring-is-coming wind.”

“I heart saying yes to the extraordinary adventures of life as a mamma and a wife.”

“Knowing that there are good people in this world who want to share a brighter future”

“All the energy I feel every day from those whose thoughts reach out to me and the ones I love. As if rainbows of light are radiating out, making the earth a more loving and gentle world.”

“I heart thoughtfulness. ( like your inspiration to make this list). I heart easy conversation, with old and new friends. I heart the confidence that comes with age. I heart touching the back of my love's neck. I heart awaiting the feeling of the first flutters of life inside my growing belly.”

“I heart the moments I set aside to meditate and listen and sit in the presence of the One that created me. The things that I sense, the peace that I feel, the Love that overwhelms me in those moments soothe my heart and excite my soul. It is a Love and Wholeness that my earthly mind cannot understand.”

“Puffy coats, quilts made by my grandmother, the first seconds of the morning when you are in complete comfort just lying in bed, and the feeling of being physically exhausted from exercise.”

“I heart food made with care, sharing life with close friends, laying on the couch with my cat snuggled on me, the community I live in.”

“My daughters words, "Mummy do you know who the most beautiful people are in the world?' “No sweetie.” “You and daddy.” And of course all of the other wonderful blessings I have in my life.”

“I heart Jennifer and Rebecca, who pulled me through two treacherous years and are a constant source of merriment and imagination to me.”

“I heart so much in life that sometimes I feel like I am going to explode. There is glory around every corner.”

“I heart my beautiful sisters, who hold my hands as I revel and reckon.”

“My dog, especially when she puts her head on my lap.”

Please add to the list and feel free to share what you heart, wherever you may be. And always, enjoy the ride.

Over valleys and mountains

I started an email to a friend this morning this way:

Ever wake up and have one of those days of liberation? I did this morning and I realize that everyday we can imagine the wrongs and the rights, but what about just believing and encouraging the ones we love and ourselves into being or doing exactly what each of us is going after? So much creation.

Inspired by the reflective work I have been doing, while waiting for 2 mother's to birth their babies in to being I am also presented with my own daily life. With space and time for reflection, I am reminded how we delay and liberate one another. How by, in birth per say, an energy present in a room that doesn't believe in the birth happening because it's taking too long, or a cervix isn't dilating fast enough or whatever it is in thought CAN and often does hold a mom back from birthing naturally. For the simple women, birthing women are at their peak of intuition during the birth process and they pick up on everything. The reality is that we all need support. That we all need a spine to lean against every now and again, because we can sometimes forget that our spine holds all our weight every day. Our spines give us the backbone to stand tall, reach wide, embrace, and let all that weight sag with relaxation so we can restore.

I come to the time in my year to re-certify my neonatal resuscitation certification, so I will be heading down to Salt Lake City for a day course with Karen Strange. Her teachings always remind me that newborns breath, more than less. She empowers providers to believe that NNR is not as stressful and frightening as we imagine. I have had frightening in my life. However, inspiring a newborn to breathe who is taking it's own time to come around is not frightening after my time with Karen and seeing how gentle midwifery resuscitations are and can be. Midwives, always remember this, care for low-risk, healthy women and full term pregnancies (generally) so the resuscitations we see are very different than those in the hospital with preterm newborns or newborns whose mother's receive medication during labor. Okay, so your adrenals pump when you have to help a newborn breathe-it's just different.

As I read through these study guides and manuals, I thought about how much we in our quick paced society forget to breathe. And what happens on a cellular level when we forget to breathe? What tension is created? Do we create disease? Or do we just ignore and move on, sort of thinking we're breathing? I think breath is the most important food I can eat each day. Fortunately, I have chose to breathe mostly clean mountain air that inspires me to live deeper, wildly and in tune with myself in relation to the earth. Fortunately, I have chose to explore breath taking views as often as I can. What I am remembering right now, the last few years I was committed to a different process than breath taking views. Committed to the process of learning a new teaching, midwifery and the normal birth process, and now that I am a working midwife I can return to my normal breathing pattern. I can return to breath taking views, but as a solo midwife I have to make and plan for that time.

So what am I breathing: powder when I can, my health, my new family, snow, my feet touching the earth, water, the wild feminine, a good dog, reconnection from the past that bring love and light, both feet in, my natural consciousness returning, art and furniture design thoughts, and always ways to better and expand my business so when I do want to travel I can take every minute of every day of that time to release and grow and leave the place better than I found it.

Peace to you.