Enchantment Learning & Living Blog

Welcome to Enchantment Learning & Living, the inspirational space where I write about the simple pleasures, radical self-care, and everyday magic that make life delicious.

Naked Margarita

May 5, 2015

Margaritas are one of the most festive summer drinks--and the ones most susceptible to too many sugar-laden ingredients. In reality, all a great margarita needs is a few things: good tequila, juicy limes, a dash of sweetness, and a handful of ice. If you want to get carried away, you can rim your glass with salt, but I never do.

With this in mind, I present to you my naked margarita, stripped from the overly-sweet triple sec or other frou-frou ingredients, so that you taste nothing but the sweet burn of tequila and lime on your tongue. I like to make mine using agave syrup. But If I'm in a pinch, I've been known to use my stevia herb simple syrup or actual simple syrup (recipe found here--just omit the ginger, or keep it for an extra kick!). Play around with the sweetness factor. I like to taste the tartness of the lime more than the sweet, so if you like a sweeter drink, by all means, add more simple syrup. Look for tequila that is 100% agave; the other stuff is full of more additives and fake coloring than actual tequila. And please, please, please use fresh organic limes--they make all the difference in the world.

Ingredients:

1 oz fresh lime juice

2 oz tequila

1/2 oz agave nectar

ice

Combine ingredients in a shaker and shake thoroughly until ice begins to melt, about 30 seconds. Strain into chilled glass. Garnish with a lime if desired. Makes one serving. Feel free to be as naked as your margarita while you drink it. Enjoy!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Stevia Herb Simple Syrup

May 1, 2015

So I know claiming to have a sugar free simple syrup recipe to share sounds too good to be true--or full of those chemical-laden alternative sugars that are way worse for you than any spoonful of the sweet stuff. This recipe, however, is really as good as it sounds and perfect for someone like me who doesn't enjoy a lot of sugar.

I used dried stevia leaves to make what is essentially a thick tea aka my simple syrup. Stevia is a herb with naturally sweet leaves. You may be familiar with it in the shape of little sugar packets which in my opinion don't taste as good as the real deal because they only use the extract, not the whole leaf. Plus, stevia leaves are easy to find at your local herb store or online here. It gives you all the sweetness of sugar without the calories.

I particularly love to use this in lemonade so I can enjoy lots of this perfect summertime drink without worrying about sugar overload. It's also great in margaritas or other drinks that require a little sugar to balance out the tartness of citrus. Be warned though, some say that one tablespoon of dried stevia is the equivalent of one cup of sugar in sweetness--so a little really does go a long way! Some people prefer to grind up the leaves and sprinkle them into their recipes, but I prefer this tea-like steep because it is less messy for mixing and easy to have on hand.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dried stevia leaves

1 cup boiling water

Pour hot water over herbs and let steep until mixture is cool. Then pour liquid through a strainer into a mason jar. Store for a few weeks in fridge. Makes about 1 cup. Enjoy!

Easy Coconut Body Butter

April 29, 2015

One ingredient. Under ten minutes to make. Silky soft skin as a result. Need I say more? I stumbled across this body butter recipe from Living the Nourished Life on Pinterest and immediately had to try it. You know I love making my own body butters already because they are much more nourishing for your skin than traditional lotions (even organic ones that like to sneak in preservatives). Plus, they feel positively luxurious!

As easy as my body butter recipes are, I don't always have the energy to wait for beeswax to melt and then whip up my oils and other ingredients--especially this time of year when I am in an end-of-term-grading crunch. And as much as I look forward to my rich mojito body butter after a day in the sun, I find myself needing a lighter day-to-day moisturizer now that it is warmer out. Enter this decadent and easy to make coconut body butter.

You simply whip up solid coconut oil until it is nice and frothy like whipped cream; this ensures that when you slather the butter on your body, it quickly absorbs into your skin, rather than leaving an oily residue. You can add essential oils to it, but I find I like to preserve the gentle perfume of coconuts--feels so summery and festive!

Ingredients:

1 cup organic coconut oil

Place solid coconut oil in mixing bowl--don't melt the oil or it will not whip. Using a handheld mixer, whip coconut oil for 6-8 minutes, or until oil is frothy like whipped cream. Transfer to a small mason jar or other airtight container and store indefinitely in a cool, dry place. To use, simply apply to skin post-bath in small amounts. Makes about 1 1/2 cup. Enjoy!

On Living Your Creed

April 24, 2015

It is not always enough to believe--you must live it every day.

You must find your home in its embrace; however strange it may seem to others, however difficult it may be, you must turn away from other outstretched arms, seductive folds that would gather you into the temporary ease of all-inclusiveness. Yes, this collective energy can momentarily assuage the wear and tear of walking your own path but ultimately stifles you with the price you must pay for this comfort: silence. Only your voice, that seed of sound and breath, the song of who you are, the breeze that allows your wings to unfurl.

But you cannot turn your back on your creed. The one made up of lessons learned the hard way and a future paved by dreams and flashes of inspiration and--sometimes--past lives, those tatters of ghostly tendrils that snake their way through the cracks in the earth beneath your feet. It is yours and yours alone.

If you know each seed you plant will blossom, you must sow wisely. If you know each thought is a thread coloring the tapestry of your life, you must think carefully. If you know that your lungs need fresh air and open space to fill them up, you must find a land without fences in which to breathe deeply. If you know that only you can create your future, you must wake every morning to pave the next row of stones that carve out your path. If you know your life is made up of conversations with the universe, you must speak with the cosmos often, shout out to it, sing to it, and listen to its response even if no one else can understand or hear the exchange. They see only dust, where you see stars.

On Mid-Week Gardening

April 21, 2015

You are able to sneak away for a little bit--just a handful of minutes really--to tend your garden. You tune out everything except the hum of bees and the crackle of things growing. You smell nothing but damp earth and rosemary; feel thick roots twine themselves around your fingers and tender radish leaves kiss your wrists.

You know there are stacks of papers waiting for you on your writing desk along with a fresh pot of tea. But for now, you take a moment to be still, to tune into the thoughts and feelings that have been pushed to the bottom of your spine as you go about your work day. You release each lesser one as you would the weeds you pluck from your garden so that your tomatoes, as with your joy, may be plentiful. And you keep the good ones, planting them alongside your strawberries so they may grow as ripe and lush as those ruby berries.

With your bare feet on the earth, you feel the soul in your soles connecting you to that vast web of roots and minerals, leaves and petals and--soon--fruit. When your hands are blackened by dirt and your shirt splattered with water, you no longer feel the tendril of tiredness in your bones; and though you know you must clean yourself up before returning to your work, you allow your hair to be messy and loose around you, a half-curled nest like the spring onions you tended only moments ago, a reminder that you are earth and roots as much as words and tea.

3 Ways to Use Baking Soda and Vinegar to Clean Your Home

April 17, 2015

In my last post, I gave you a recipe for an all-purpose cleaner to show just how simple and affordable it can be to green your home care routine. Today I'm going to add to this by showing you how you can use baking soda--that miracle pantry staple--and vinegar to take care of some of your bigger your cleaning needs. Like my all-purpose cleaner that only used vinegar and essential oils, these easy recipes only cost you a fraction of what an organic cleaning product would and yet are as gentle on your home as they are on the earth. In fact, using baking soda and vinegar to clean your home is even less expensive than buying those chemical laden commercial products!

1. For Your Toilet: Pour 1 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup baking soda into the bowl. Scrub thoroughly and let sit for 20 minutes.

2. For the Bathtub, Kitchen Sink, or Other Tough to Clean Surface: 1/4 cup baking soda and about 1/8 cup water (enough to make a thin paste). Combine ingredients until they form a thin paste and spread across desired surface. Scrub until surface is clean and rinse off baking soda with warm water. The baking soda will not only remove soap scum and other substances but also deodorize and disinfect.

3. For a Clogged Drain: Pour 1/2 cup baking soda down the drain and 1 cup vinegar. Cover drain so that the foaming action of the two ingredients stays in the pipes. Let sit for half an hour then pour hot water down the drain. This will clean out regular build up.

These are just a few ways to use such simple products on those hard-to-tackle places in our home that often need more elbow grease to get sparkly clean. You can also use vinegar to deodorize your refrigerator (simply put an open cup of vinegar in your fridge for two days to absorb odors); placing an open box of baking soda near your trashcan will likewise get rid of any funky smells. Between my all-purpose cleaner and these recipes, you can safely and cost-effectively clean your home!

All-Purpose Cleaning Spray

April 15, 2015

With Earth Day around the corner, I find myself thinking of all the super easy ways we can be eco-friendlier in our day to day routine, especially when it comes to cleaning our homes. We often think that if we want to green our cleaning routines that we need to shell out a fortune on organic cleansers and other goods. In reality, we can be good to our environment and our wallet by going back to basics.

This all-purpose cleaner does just that, using the anti-bacterial properties of vinegar to clean your home--a recipe I learned from my mom. It can be used on everything from windows and bathroom sinks to the kitchen counter and floors. I like to throw in essential oils into this mix, usually peppermint or lavender to soften the smell of vinegar. What you're left with is a nice smelling all natural antibacterial cleaner that costs you under $1 a bottle.

Ingredients:

1 cup vinegar

1 cup water

30 drops essential oil (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake until combined. Enjoy!

5 Cocktails to Cure Spring Fever

April 10, 2015

If you're anything like me and my fellow teachers (and our students!), you're feeling a little spring fever creeping into your day to day. It's so lovely outside--something the tall glittery-green aspen trees outside the floor-to-ceiling windows in one of my classrooms remind me. Then there is the sunlight, that ephemeral gentle kiss of golden splendor that just begs for you to pause a moment under its touch. Who needs to grade papers when your garden is calling to you? (Answer: me, but if I get my papers done soon enough, I can ease the throbbing in my green thumb.) Can't those lesson plans wait in lieu of frolicking outside? (Answer: no, class is in twenty minutes.)

Fortunately, there is an antidote to the spring fever that clouds your brain with carefree longings in the midst of the end-of-semester grind--several in fact. And yes, they come in the form of cocktails, those perfectly crafted restorative liquors that were once, in truth, used for healing minor ailments from ill-humor to stomach aches. So why not use them to cure a little spring fever? These cocktails whipped up in my own kitchen are for anyone who needs a little fun after the work-week, not just teachers.

The prescription is easy: Take one of the below cocktails and mix with a cloudless evening, great company, and good conversation. Also pairs well with a well-groomed backyard or garden nook. Repeat as necessary. Caution: Extreme relaxation and enjoyment may occur.

1. 3 Citrus-Ginger Gin Fizz

2. Spritz Cocktail

3. Coconut Water-Kiwi-Lime Cocktail

4. Lavender Gimlet

5. Grape & Lime Gin Tonic

Gardening, I Love You

April 8, 2015

This post is a day late, in part because I got carried away in my patio garden yesterday--watering thirsty plants, trimming dead leaves, watching those little radish sprouts grow, and clipping fresh herbs for my dinner. I couldn't help it. I was seduced outdoors by the intoxicating fresh air, redolent with the perfume of blooming lilacs and greening grass; by the way the sunlight seemed to pull my beets upward until their leaves doubled in size under its loving gaze; and in the way my breathing just seemed to slow down when I took a moment to brush my hands against the dirt near my strawberries and onions.

Such is the glory of gardening. It grounds you. It connects you to this world, this earth. It sweeps away the cobwebs of the day and reminds you that there is blood pumping in your veins. It is all the possibilities you plant in your life made tangible, even as the more ephemeral seeds--hopes and dreams--take a little more time to manifest.

In honor of these glorious feelings, and the necessity abandoning the writing desk for time in the garden, I leave you with three posts on the delicious, delicious pleasures and revelations found among plants:

1. On Grounding and Gardening

2. On Watching Your Garden Grow

3. On Tasting the First Tomato from Your Garden

On Celebrating Spring

April 3, 2015

The romantic in you wants to wear flowers in her hair and walk barefoot through the newly greening grass; the lover of fine clothes is eager to don her first flouncy pastel dress of the season, and the earth woman wants nothing more than to plant the seeds heavy in her open hands.

But it's more than that. You want to celebrate the seeds you've sown in the past year and the ones you hope to plant now. They are promises, these pods cradled in the palm of your hand, of a prolific year, an abundance of whatever you choose to give to the soil. You are intoxicated by this delicious itch to create new life, bringing dreams into your waking life.

Soon you will reap your first crop of radishes--full of earth and pepper--and those little tender lettuce leaves, the product of your love and care. But what about your other seeds? The wish floating on the cottony dandelion wisp? Or the fertile black disks of a hollyhock, shameless in their pursuit of life? What of the hollow bulb empty of everything save for a few fragments of a past life?

You must be careful which seeds you choose to plant for now, under the light of the blood moon or the gaze of the spring sun; whatever you plant will surely take and grow strong in this receptive soil. The seeds weigh down your palm--the dandelion heaviest of all. You do not need more ghosts haunting your waking life, no memories of what was walking by your side. You crumble the all-but-dead bulb, consigning it to the compost where its remnants will feed your garden. You take that thick hollyhock seed and shove it deep into the earth, knowing it will reach to the sky and bring her sisters with it.

Lastly, you take that dandelion wisp, full of your own wishing, and cast it into the sky. Let it find its own resting ground, its own soil to make its home and grow full and strong in its own time. It will find its way back to you, as all wishes do when you are ready for it.

Spring Bath Bombs

March 31, 2015

Have I mentioned I love bubble baths? Oh yeah, only like A MILLION times! These bath bombs are a perfect way to indulge in the glories of spring and give yourself (and your loved ones!) a little TLC. The citric acid removes dead skin cells, brightens skin, and gives it an overall glow, while the baking soda acts as a detoxifier and softener. The coconut oil moisturizes and replenishes your skin.

Seeing as it is spring, I chose to use essential rose and lavender oils and flower buds in my bombs; I went all out and used Easter egg cupcake molds (see picture above) to give them a festive flair for gift giving. If you don't want to get fancy with the molds, you can hand form your bombs or use regular muffin tins to shape them (see picture below). Just make sure you keep tins you use for DIY beauty treats separate from those you bake with. You can also omit the flower buds in your mix if you don't want them floating around in your bubble bath. Personally, I like it!

Finally, as you all know, I like to keep my ingredients as earth-friendly and organic as possible, so I used I used beet powder and a bl ue mineral powder for the coloring from my local herb store--but you can find them online by clicking on the links above. The beet powder gives off a pink hue, perfect for my rose bath bombs, and a slightly fruity scent. The blue mineral dye adds a soft tint to my lavender bombs. Remember a little goes a long way with these tints so use them sparingly to avoid potential staining (which might happen if using the beet powder in large quantities, like over 1/2 cup for this recipe, which is way more than anyone should ever use).

Ingredients:

2 cups baking soda

1 cup citric acid

4 teaspoons coconut oil

1/8 cup water (in spray bottle)

100 drops essential oil (I used lavender and rose) of choice

1 teaspoon coloring of choice (optional)

1/4 cup dried flowers (I used lavender and rosebuds) of choice (optional)

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly, being careful not to raise too much dust. Then add in coconut oil and essential oil of choice and mix thoroughly with hands, making sure that oil is evenly distributed throughout mix. Here comes the tricky part: adding the water. You need the spray bottle to ensure that you aren't adding too much water at once otherwise your bath bombs will begin to prematurely fizz.

Going slowly, spray water into the bowl, stirring completely as you go until it is damp but not soaking wet. You will probably not use all the water in your spray bottle. You can test the readiness of your mix by squeezing together a handful of your mix and seeing if it sticks--if it does, you can go ahead and place it in molds. If not, you'll need more water. Once you have placed the mix into molds or hand shaped it into balls; you can let your bath bombs air dry for at least two hours or up to overnight. Remove from molds (if using) and store in a dry place. Makes about 9 bath bombs. Enjoy!

DIY Seed Bombs

March 27, 2015

Nothing says spring like planting seeds or enjoying the beauty of bright flowers splashed across your backyard. There is no better way to enjoy both delights than with these super easy seed bombs. What's a seed bomb, you might ask? It's just what it sounds like: a ball of dirt and seeds that you can throw anywhere in your garden. They make lovely gifts for spring celebrations like Easter--better than sugary confections. They are a gentle way of bringing beauty to the lives (and yards!) of those you love.

I used a mixture of organic flower seeds that would attract butterflies in my seed bombs because my little niece is in love with butterflies right now--and bright flowers. Now she can have both in her backyard! You can feel free to use any kinds of flower seeds you would like, however. You can find the red clay at your local herb store or here (it's the same stuff you would use for a face mask). Go easy on the water--just mix in a little at a time until the dirt and seeds are just wet enough to form balls otherwise you end up with soupy seed-sprouting mud.

Ingredients:

1 cup red clay

1/2 cup soil

1/4 cup seeds

Approximately 1/4 cup water

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and slowly, one tablespoon at a time, add the water until the mixture is just wet enough to form balls. Then roll blend into one inch balls and let rest on a drying rack overnight. Make sure there is plenty of air circulation--you want the dirt to dry or else the seeds will begin to sprout! Makes about 9 seed bombs.

On Kundalini Energy

March 24, 2015

There she sits at the base of your spine, sometimes a thick coil waiting to snake her way up your back towards your wings, other times so tightly wound, she forms a nest, pulled down from her upward spiral by the worries you've absorbed throughout your day--so many of them not your own. Yet it would seem you are asked to carry them, as if you are surrounded by cuckoos wanting to bury their eggs in your light, among your carefully cultivated dreams so that you might take them as your own and they, they will be free of the burden of those unhatched futures.

She grows too heavy to reach your wings, too full for anything but to hold those eggs tighter lest they spill from their makeshift home; your back, too, feels the weight of this, as if these eggs are stones rather than hauntings of another or what-might-bes. But your light is stronger than those leaded eggs, your sleeping serpent ready to shed her skin, cast off these stories that don't belong to her. Slowly, she begins to twist and contract, to wriggle and writhe until each egg, each burden falls out of this sinuous basket at the base of your spine. Until you are left with only your light-as-air hatchlings--all yours--made of hope and long hours on the mat.

She remembers what she is, not a cuckoo's nest but a spiral of energy, always evolving, helping you to shed the debris of the day, cast off all those memories from other or past selves until you are left with a love song, a dance between your spine and your breath, that upward moving coil kissing each vertebra as she reaches for the light. It is not your job to hold other people's pain, she says, nor their stories--only your own joy.

Last Night I Dreamed of Tulips: An Ode to the Spring Equinox

March 20, 2015

Last night I dreamed of tulips.

There were so many of them--brash pinks and lush purples, tawdry red and demure whites, to say nothing of those playful yellows with orange stripes eager to mirror the sunrise--large ones splayed across my yoga mat and the small ones in the vase on my kitchen table. But when had I planted all these egg-shaped cups now bursting out of my bookshelves?

I wondered this--when?--as I gazed at the bounty strewn across my bedspread and brimming in buckets on my patio. For, true to dream logic, I knew I had planted all these blossoms in the same places they now sat. It must have been in the fall. That's when most bulbs get planted in gardens or books.

Yes, it was then, when I knew the earth would hold them and nurture them through the inward-turning months when they could gather themselves, absorbed the soil's nutrients, ready to take root in their own time.

And then they did, grounding themselves into the mat, the bookshelves, the kitchen table, these new ways being ready to emerge after a season of gathering. I did not know it as it was happening; I only saw them reaching for that first sunbeam that kissed the earth on the day that winter no longer was, on the day that promised more light. They could emerge at no other time, I realize now, except for that perfect alchemical moment when the sun and moon hang equally in the sky and I have forgotten to fret over them.

I remember now, those bulbs so carefully sown all those months ago--they are nothing but paper-thin husks surrounding the green shoots and thick stamen-ed ovals bursting with pollen. Once only small intentions, barely whispered hopes, these tulips reach for the sun before me. All the same, I know one truth that stays with me even as I flit between dreaming and waking (who's to say which is which?): once a seed, now a blossom.

5 Ways to Celebrate the Spring Equinox

March 17, 2015

Ahhh...spring! I can feel it in the air. The days are longer and the trees are in full bloom--pink and white petals raining down upon us with the slightest breeze to scatter across a landscape dotted with daffodils and tulips. The sun spreads its warm fingers across my back, the promise of barefoot days outdoors. My mornings begin in birdsong, and I already look forward to shedding my winter coat in favor of the sun on bare skin. Okay, maybe I'm getting a little carried away here, but seriously: spring is almost here!

Spring is the season of renewal and regeneration. After long months of hibernating we, like flower bulbs, take all the nutrients we have gathered in our roots and push out towards the light--a new blossom, a new potential waiting just within sunlight's grasp. Now we can reap the benefits of fall and winter's inward-looking gaze and begin again. In honor of this forward moving season, I have come up with five ways to celebrate it--try one, try them all, or invent your own. Whatever you do, take the time to honor the hopes and intentions you have planted in your soil this season.

1. Watch the sunrise. Seriously! I know it might feel like a lot to ask for, but there is no better way to welcome spring than to watch the sunrise; after this time of equal night and day, the light hours will lengthen. Put on some coffee, wrap yourself in a blanket, and enjoy the sun's light washing over you, sweeping away the last of winter.

2. Plant some seeds...and fill your house with flowers while you're at it. Spring means gardening. I admit I cheated a little and already planted some radish and lettuce seeds, but that's only because I can't wait to plant some herbs and ready my garden for future produce. Gardening is good for the soul too; each seed you plant is like planting your intention for a more fulfilling life, conjuring up another way of being. Don't have a garden or a green thumb? Buy some flowers. Big, bold spring flowers--and place them in vases around your house. There are few things more delightful than waking up to a vase of happy daffodils on your nightstand.

3. Take a nature walk...even if it is in your own backyard or neighborhood. Last week I found myself consumed with mid-term paper grading only to come up from it a few days later to realize that the trees in my neighborhood had bloomed. When did this happen? I asked myself. Naturally, I then stopped to enjoy this fleeting wonder. Take time to absorb this transient season!

4. Put out birdseed. Thank those finches and doves that making waking in the morning such a pleasure--and encourage them to serenade you anytime by putting out seeds in your bird feeder.

5. Spring clean your home. This may not sound like the most joyous activity, but there is something to the idea of chasing out the dust and heavy thoughts that might have settled over the winter. So clean your home. Throw some new sheets on your bed. Add more fresh flowers to a room. Purge your home of anything that doesn't bring you joy. Open windows and let nature in. After all, spring is about letting go of things that once were and embracing the potential for what might be.

On Why I Won't Wait on the Sidelines to Dance

March 13, 2015

Because I don't need permission to dance. I will not waste precious time sitting on the sidelines waiting to be asked to the floor like some forlorn teenage girl at prom--not when I can be a song beating out the rhythm of my joy.

I have allowed myself to sit too long on these foldout chairs, a would-be-wallflower wilting under the silence, the invisibility of my own hesitation. It is no longer enough, a small voice inside me whispers, to sit and observe. Abstaining from the pleasure right in front of you is no virtue.

And it is a pleasure, a pleasure to never be without a dance partner because they see you are unafraid of hips and hands and feet and sweat. It is a pleasure to twirl around the dance floor, allowing each turn to peel away one more petal from that old wallflower until you are the boldest expression of your dance.

You are no longer vulnerable when that last petal falls to the ground, forever banishing those years of sideline-sitting because in your desire to move your body there is freedom. There is power in your grace, though it is your job to follow. And even if you lose a step or fall out of rhythm, you are on the dance floor all the same.

And you will stay on that dance floor (those old foldout chairs a distant memory of some other woman).

I Used to Write on Napkins

March 10, 2015

Beside you sits a wrinkled napkin, a yellow-brown ring half-formed around its center--the offending tea cup sitting just beside it now. You cannot say why it caught your eye as you loaded up the papers you'd been grading, getting ready for the next item on your to-do list--only that it stirred something inside you, loosened an almost forgotten fact from the crevices of your mind:

You used to write on napkins. Even used-up ones like these. Just out of braces and feeling oh-so-adult with your new teeth and your after school hostess job, you decided you had stories in you. But when to write? (An even bigger question than what to write--you figured that would answer itself, so long as you could convince the ever-moving clock that words were worth your time.)

You were still under the vague impression that writers--"real" writers--must devote every moment of the clock hands spinning around its face to build stories out of ink and fantasy. But you were a high school student (an identity you only grudgingly admitted to) and a pub hostess (perhaps, you hoped, you looked more worldly than your 17 years). And you lacked the funds to run away to Paris to write. So you squeezed your scribbles in after cleaning tables and seating customers, in those brief stretches between filling water glasses and folding napkins--those napkins again.

You kept the cloth ones for the customers and contented yourself with the cheap cocktail napkins to scrawl across. On one frayed edge was the start of your first novel (mercifully gone now, buried deep inside your creative compost); on a crumpled corner, a nonsensical story; on the inside flap of another napkin, the quick sketch of pub scenes, like the couple getting too cozy in a corner table, or the boisterous bar-side conversation of friends.

You would stuff these worldly scraps into your pocket like someone would a crumpled tissue and pull them out when you got home smelling of French fries and cleaning solution. Carefully you would untangle them and stack them upon your writing desk to cure overnight. Perhaps tomorrow they would yield the seeds of a story.

Now, you eye your watch--those hands winding around fat numbers--and glance back at your napkin. You still have a few minutes before you really need to go. So you settle in, however briefly. You take up that napkin and a pen--and you write.

The Body Beautiful

March 6, 2015

Your body is a story shaped by bone and wrapped in tendons and muscle. You are too often afraid of it, this story, afraid to pull back the skin-like cover and really feel the histories embedded in your marrow.

It knows no other truth but the physical, the raw power of experience; it is made up of living memories, proof that you are nothing but delicious nerve endings and pumping blood, feeling everything, holding back from nothing. You are each of its curves and scars, a moveable history of your journey through this world. The baking burn on your arm, faded now with time, the puckered quarter size mark next to your belly button, the smattering of beauty marks and freckles across your skin are parts of a tattoo mapping the person you have become.

Inside you is another universe still, a hidden map of the people you once were, the places you once lived. And deeper still are the tiny organisms, those worlds with worlds, that make up you though you cannot conceive of those tiny seeds all piled within you.

Too long have you been asked to sit in your chair or idle away hours in empty stagnation to contain the power of your body, to silence the stories. But your body, your body wants to move, to lift you from that frozen seat and see if you can experience--if you dare to experience--those seeds bursting to life inside of you peppering your history, your memory with new life, new vines in your veins mapping new roads in your ever evolving story.

Reflections on a Snow Day

March 3, 2015

The universe gives you a snow day. Although you don't have to teach (it's your work-from-home-day, after all), the thought of classes being canceled gives you permission to throw your carefully scripted plans out the window. No need to be at a desk today. Your kitchen is calling you.

You make soup, so much soup and pots of pinto and garbanzo beans until your home smells like comfort and your freezer is stockpiled with spoonfuls of love for those days when you won't have energy to conure it yourself. You even pickle green beans to the backdrop of Spanish guitar music and once naked tree branches dusted with tiny white pearls outside your window. It is as if the crystal blanket across the city has given you permission to care for yourself.

That night, you sleep under the soft kisses of snowflakes and awaken once again to a city cleansed of its busyness by ten inches of snow.

You venture out into that wilderness armed only with a strong cup of coffee and hiking boots, past iced-over streets and neighbors shoveling their sidewalks in their bathrobes and snowshoes, towards your neighborhood park looking like nothing if not an open prairie. The scent of winter and cedar burning fireplaces fills the air, as does the stillness interrupted only by the chatter of birds oblivious to the snow piled atop their homes.

In a few hours, this quiet expanse will be taken up by kids rolling together snowmen and falling back to etch snow angels into the earth. But for now, it is just you and a lone cross-country skier in this vast morning.

You cannot help yourself: you cut across the safer street paths where your feet can land between car grooves and into the unblemished snowfall of the park, though you know it will take you calf-deep into the snow and your shoes and socks will soak through. No matter. You are on your way to a blazing fire and hearty breakfast with your family--and what is a snow day for if not plunging into nature headlong?

Later, after the snow is nothing more than a memory and puddles under the sun, you still soak up the gift of your snow day as you soak in a bath piled high with bubbles as fluffy as the snow you trekked through this morning. For a day--two, really--the snow stopped time, allowing you to tune in to what really matters: early morning walks and luxurious family breakfasts, lazy schedule-less days and long naps.

The universe gave you a soul day.

On Body Wisdom

February 27, 2015

Every day it speaks to you, sometimes even in your dreams. It speaks of long-held memories buried deep within the tissues of your muscles, of the hope ready to spring into action coiled at the base of your spine.

It speaks to you about the wings making their way out of the crevice between your vertebrae and shoulder blades. It reveals the scars engraved into your hip sockets. Scars so old you didn't even know they were still there--until a movement, a memory stirs them up again and you can begin to release them as you would weeds from your garden, gently loosening their roots from your soil.

It is limbs and torso that tell you when you need to move, to dance, to release yourself, free yourself from the bonds of the day, the shackles of limited logic. And when you must be still, your body tells you to be still, still enough to hear only the beating of your heart and the new seeds you planted cracking open to lay down roots where weeds once were.

Your body is the deepest wisdom. The surest answer found in the physical expression of your soul.