This meme hits me to the core of how I feel about a sisterhood of women. If collaborating with one woman makes a situation better, imagine collaborating with a team of women who all have your back. I’m so blessed to have many women in my life who love me and support me and lift me up high! Our souls truly are joined and we see the best in each other. We accept each others tears and vulnerability…and of course, we have great laughter too.
“What do you want?”
“Social Justice!”
“When do you want it?”
“Now!”
These are the cries and chants we yelled yesterday in Boise, Idaho, USA. I don’t know what others’ agenda was; but I do know here in Boise, it was for the rights of all, big and small, every gender, every orientation. It is my responsibility as a citizen, if I am able to have ACTIVE role in democracy so that the voices of the many are heard. We will support our President because it IS a democracy, Some people thought it was disrespectful to have a rally the day after Trump was inaugurated, but if AMERICA BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE, then we need to keep what matters to us in the forefront. And Women’s Rights = Human Rights. (That’s an EQUAL SIGN!) Women have worked far to long and hard for anyone to forget the rights gained the past century and have progress rewound. Never forget.
I had a lump in my throat as I witnessed the sea of people in all directions, and I had that shaky billy goat sound when I spoke. I was a PROUD AMERICAN in that moment exercising my rights as a citizen. It was peaceful; the people were kind and respectful; the air was full of celebration and yes, the air was full of FREEDOM. These are the rights I fought for…
I MARCHED FOR YOU!
I saw a grandpa with a sign saying he marched for his wife, his daughters and his granddaughters. There were men and women and children, people of all ages and color and all value systems. And it was beautiful. You can say what you want…but I know why I marched.
I MARCHED FOR YOU!
I wanted to show you some of the signs we saw while we were out and what OUR PEACEFUL focus was.
photo by Marie Lukasik Wallace – all rights reserved 2016
Daisies photo by Marie Lukasik Wallace – All rights reserved 2016
My Lovelies
Sunflowers and Daisies
By Marie Lukasik Wallace
Heart centered lovelies
Lovely arms flung open wide
Open to give to their tippy tips
Open to receive deeply
Being and flinging
Joy
Ahhh…we have so much to learn from these lovelies.
You came back
As promised
My heart filling
With delight
At the sightsight of you
What a sweet surprise
To gaze up at your magnificence
And see your radiant bulbous face
Staring back at me
This is going to be
A most wonderful summer
Of sunshine and splendo
While watering my sunflowers’glorious towering stocks I found this beauty peeking from the back row clamoring for my attention. What a surprise and a sweet reminder of my journey with them last year. It was my way of dealing with my dad’s death and feeling him close to me. It was also a most wonderful way to “live poetry” by watching their cycle and comparing it to my own
I live poetry challenge for you: Watch a life cycle of something from beginning to end. It doesn’t have to be flowers or even plants..maybe butterflies or turtled or kids. Record it by drawing or writing or pictures. It is the act of recording in some way and comparing and contrasting it to your own that keeps you present and observant…looking at things in a new way.
One of the most moving portions of my trip was engaging with the people of India. When they look into your eyes, they see your soul. They don’t glance away. They look deeper. There is a genuine desire to “know” you and honor the divine in you, thus where the word Namaste comes from.
As part of SHEROES United, I got the privilege to go into the Himalayas and bring Humanitarian relief. But honestly, visiting them, I got humanitarian relief. Relief that there are still such genuine, kind, loving people in the world. These are people who are gracious and grateful for the smallest of blessings.
After we spent time with the children (a beautiful earlier post), we received the beautiful blessing of meeting the moms of the kids, plus other women who had heard of our arrival.
Our wonderful Drum Goddess, Katie Jo, pulled out her drums and then we were off to an adventure of bringing the beauty of sound to the village women. One woman would strike the drum with a small stroke, and Katie Jo would encourage them to strike it hard. The sound then filled the room and soon the dancing broke out, and we saw the women’s hearts soar with the beats. What a wonderful sight to see these women laughing and dancing with so much joy. We gave the drum to the grandmother who really encouraged all to dance. But the most beautiful sight of all was when I looked to the back of the room to the faces of the sons and grandsons of the woman who had witnessed their moms and grandmothers dancing in spirit. What a sight to see!
I will forever be changed getting the honor and privilege of being a part of watching spirits soar.
(p.s. The last picture is one of our drivers…look at the GRIN! The power of the drums is evident on their faces.)
Do you like snow fun, art in the way of ice sculptures, parades and small town festivals? Then, McCall, Idaho Winter Carnival is the place to be. This year many of the sculptures lost a lot of detail because the snow melted. But you can do a search in Google under McCall Winter Carnival to see past sculptures. Some of the sculptures you can walk through!
I didn’t get a lot of sculpture pictures from this year…but here are a few of my favorites.
And for more textures of the week around the world, visit Narami.
This is how I LIVE POETRY…noticing things throughout the week. How have you lived poetry this week?
The Jetsons :0) Looks cool at night, don’t ya think?
TTIcy treasures. Love this!
The new Star wars…sad some of the great details melted.
Happy New year beautiful people!
Well my friends, it is a New Year, and what a great way to begin our year with a collaboration. For this one, we are using the anaphora –
Take Time
What I love about this open ended topic is that we can write endlessly from any point of our lives. I can write a stream of consciousness without stopping. No rules! Add your lines in the comments, and I will put them together to make a group poem. No deadline…write what makes your heart sing. What ambitions, hopes, dreams, goals do you have for this bright beautiful year? Will you make more memories with your loved ones? savor time? Take some chances or risks?
I CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR!!!
Here’s one of my contributions:
TAKE TIME
to be of the earth,
let it nourish you
soak its sweetness in your bones
Take time
To be of the water
Let it drop on your tongue
And quench your insatiable thirst
Take time
To gather around the fire
Let family and friends
Warm your heart and soul
Take time
to fill your lungs
breathe in mindfulness
Let out peace
Take time
To just be…
Namaste my friends,
and have a peaceful, joyous New Year.
Marie
Why
I passed her bowed head as she started to cry
Trying to console her, I pleaded: but why?
I have nothing to give; I can’t even try
I urged her…open your heart and let it fly
Then companion earth received her lullabies
“False notes are human. Why does everything have to be perfect? You know, perfection itself is imperfection.” Vladamir Horowitz
I found this beauty walking around a friend’s yard just “noticing” things…looking for things which brought me joy. When I first looked at it, I couldn’t believe how perfectly round this flower was! While other flowers were fading into fall, this dared to continue blossoming…I thought that was the metaphor…but when I returned inside the house and looked at the picture closer, I noticed the bugs bites in some of the petals and some pieces fading away….And then I knew the real metaphor is that we all have things chipping at us or imperfections that show, but our entire being is magnificent just as God made us, and we keep shining our beauty and living our best.
CHALLENGE: Look for joy in things you see today. Embrace their imperfection….OR find something interesting in something imperfect. Tell me about it!
Namaste my friends.
Writing Wings For You 