A Secret Garden

There was green everywhere. Bright, vibrant, alive. So much of my favorite color in one place calmed me instantly, like a balm on my heart and spirit. Enclosed by high crumbling coquina walls tangled with lacy ivy, and sun-bleached wooden fencing speckled with moss, the garden welcomed me, enclosing me in loving arms. Welcome Dear One. Welcome. Come in. Breathe. Heal.

I took a deep breath, lost in wonderment and unexpected joy. How long had this place been here, hidden in plain sight just off the beaten track? How often had I passed by it and never seen it, never known it existed? Yet the timing was sheet magic. I needed this. I needed this place. The beauty. The peace. The healing. A secret garden of my very own. It was like the one in my dream from so many years ago — not a perfect match, but something in it spoke to me and I grinned at the unexpected connection to my characters revealed to me in that dream, their beautiful story, and the butterfly garden they shared.

Everywhere I turned something unexpected caught my eye: mermaids, fairies, butterflies, orbs spread haphazard, wild and free, spinning, twirling, dancing in the gentle breeze, sheltered in the shade of ancient trees and warmed by the strong Florida sun. Colors in rich profusion sprouted up amidst the greenery, adorning the Earth most beautifully: blues, reds, bronzes, greens, purples, violets, and clear crystalline white.

Thank you. My whisper repeated itself in my mind over and over again as I walked the uneven cobblestone pathway, finding more beauty and hidden treasures behind each twist and turn. I felt giddy, light-hearted — it was just like a scene from The Secret Garden or Harriet The Spy!  (I’ve always loved the gardens from these movies.) Benches awaited me, knowing well I’d have to return one day with a notebook and pen sometime soon, and a table lay tucked away, for the future lunch I’d bring to eat amongst the fairies.

 

I called silently to the trees and flowers, to the fairies tending them, and the wonderful life-force encapsulating this tiny place: Thank you for this. You’re beautiful. Hello! I thanked them for inviting me into their domain to appreciate their lush, wild beauty. The wind tugged at me, playful and free, pulling me this way and that. Look here! Notice this! I happily obeyed — there is no resisting the lure of happy fairies, especially those dwelling in a secret garden. There was so much to see!

Butterflies danced, fairies sang, and my heart soared.

Thank you. Thank you.

I’ll come back soon.

I promise.

❤

 

A Thistle in the Sky

I saw your thistle in the sky today,

cottony white against a fierce blue sky,

Scottish even now, it made me smile.

**

I notice your cardinals fly around me,

in those moments when I need you most,

red and bright, glorious in life.

**

I hear your voice in my dreams,

speaking advice and sage counsel,

reminding me of lessons past and learned.

**

Thank you for thinking of me.

Thank you for loving me.

I love you too,

forever.

❤

I Believe

Image From Facebook

Afternoon my lovelies, I was scrolling through my WordPress reader when I happened upon the Daily Prompt for today and it looked like fun so I figured I’d give it a go. First I’m to list three things I believe to be true, then three things I believe to be false…sounds like a good list to me!

So, three things I believe to be true:

1) I believe this blog is a source of great happiness for me and I treasure the friends I’ve met so far because of it!

2) I believe the world we live in is but one among a vast number.

3) I believe history is never history for long, things have a way of circling back.

Image From Facebook

And three things I believe to be false:

1) I believe the notion that magic can only be found is books is false, magic is all around us and if you just take the time to search it out, you’ll be dazzled and left in awe.

2) I believe that saying characters are made-up is false, I could never make my characters up, they are real — perhaps only to me, but they’re real nonetheless and I count them as friends.

3) I believe that the idea of e-books ever being better than an actual book is false, holding a book and feeling the pages between your fingers is one of life’s great joys and you can’t really do that with a computer screen.

Now what about you my lovelies, what do you believe to be true and not true? Let me know! 😀

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/daily-prompt-i-believe/

Dancing In The Moonlight

Dance in the moonlight with moonbeams in your hair. Feel the starshine caress your skin — bright against the inky shadows — and know that magic is alive in your veins tonight. Whatever happens, whatever comes, know this: you are strong. You are powerful. You are free.

Forest Scene- found on Facebook

Not Everything That Sparkles Is Glitter

Hello my lovelies, I hope you’re all staying warm and cozy on this frosty, wet morning! I know it’s January and all but honestly, I don’t understand why it has to be this cold this far south, this morning I was actually longing for a pair of mittens…MITTENS I tell you. I don’t even think Florida imports mittens…but anyway, since it is so wretchedly cold, I urge you to go and grab a cup of hot cocoa.  I’ll be right here when you get back, and let’s face it: everything is better with chocolate!

Image From Google

Now as I was saying, it was freaking cold this morning — the kind of cold that seeps into your bones and makes you feel like you’re turning into one giant marble statue who will never again know human warmth — but I have to admit Nature did leave me quite a beautiful surprise to make up for making my toes feel as though they would fall off at the slightest touch: a back porch filled with thousands and thousands of twinkling, incandescent diamonds! It was breathtakingly beautiful. Y’all know how much I love anything that sparkles at me! I stood transfixed, staring googly-eyed at the sparkling lights, fully convinced that somehow someone had dumped a truck-full of silver glitter on our plain wooden porch in the middle of the night while we were all sleeping, like some kind and benevolent Glitter Fairy. It wasn’t until my mother snapped me out of my revelry with a warning not to slip on the ice that I realized my newfound sparklies were not the work of some bedazzled Glinda-esque being, but of Mother Nature herself. After a moment of chagrin for pondering the existence of a Glitter Fairy, I shrugged with a loopy smile and went back to gazing reverently. Suddenly the cold wasn’t so bad. It’s very rare we get anything resembling snow or ice here in my home of sunshine and sand (as I mentioned in post Mythic Snow), so seeing such unexpected beauty in a moment of real discomfort was a gift indeed. It made me feel grateful for being awake so early so I could be one of the few people to see the delicate latticework of new ice glisten and glow in the light of a luminous full moon.

Image From Google

It also made me think of all the times I’ve let my discomfort and general grumpiness blind me to the wonders of the world around me. I’m an extremely moody person, partially because I have an anxiety disorder, and partially because that’s just my personality (or my writer’s personality, as I like to call it lol). I’m snarky and proud of it. And I’ve always thought that being moody made me a better writer because it allowed me to feel the high’s and low’s that my characters experience, but I’ve also noticed that I tend to miss out sometimes on the small happiness’s presented to me because I’m too fixated on what’s bothering me at the moment. This is something about myself that I want to work on this year. With all my wonderful snarkiness and all my moods, I want to try to remember to look for the hidden sparklies in all situations. I don’t guarantee I’ll succeed every time, but as the great and wise Dory says “Just keep swimming!” Admit it, you’re singing the song now aren’t you?

*Just realized I still have no cocoa. Must rectify this. Be right back!*

Image From Google

Ahh chocolate-y goodness 😀 Chocolate is a sparkly you know.

Well what about you guy’s, any unexpected surprises or resolutions for the new year? Are you a fan of snow and the cold weather? Let me know! Oh and before you go: P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney!