Kathleen Botsford

Sticky Fingers

Sometimes I sit down to write

and nothing much seems to happen.

I sit and wait

and maybe daydream a bit....

and still nothing.

I have a diversion that may be good for my soul

but not much help for my

resolution to write everyday.

I grab a glue stick and a box of scrap papers and bits

and spend my "writing" time

playing as I imagine I did in kindergarten.

Sticky fingers full of paint and glue.

Happily lost in a haze of pure fun

for no reason at all.

 Accomplishing nothing

and at the same time,

everything.

 

A Living Part of the Infinite Story

 

It seems life has become a constant

struggle of to-do lists and schedules

swallowing our waking hours

and haunting our

dream times.

As if a great bookeeper in the sky

is keeping track of our days

and judging them with constant busy-ness

the holy goal.

 

What if we set out every morning with curiosity,

with the intention to notice

as many opportunities as possible?

Would it not be like reading the world

as a holy book~a Lectio Divina of sorts,

that ancient practice of spiritual reading?

Every day we could be pouring over

the unfolding of new and possible worlds.

 

There are innumerable, small opportunities

to be helpful, attentive or kind.

Taking up these opportunities,

would we not come to know that we are

a living part of the infinite story?

Gunilla Norris

 

 

Love Thee Notre Dame

Victoria has spent this summer in LA

working for one of her dream companies.

As she returns this week to the midwest

and begins packing for her senior year at ND

there will be tears.....

many tears.

We are so very lucky when our children love their

lives and choices so much that the thought of it ending

is bittersweet and sad.

We are not allowed to talk about

Tori's senior year or graduation.

Maybe if we stay very, very vigilant

and focused in each and every moment,

we can capture a bit of the magic

and keep it with us

close to our hearts.

And our hearts forever

Love thee Notre Dame

 

 

 

Happy 25th Birthday Stevie

 

 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings ~ nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And ~ which is more ~ you'll be a Man, my son!

~Rudyard Kipling

Rhythm of the Universe

 

While I truly understand

resisting the rhythm of the Universe

is indeed foolish and fruitless....

I am hoping today

for a visit from spring......

really soon.

In the meantime....

 

A Blessing of Solitude

May you recognize in your life the presence, power

and light of your soul.

May you realize that you are never alone,

that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you

intimately with the rhythm of the universe.

May you have respect for your own individuality and difference.

May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique,

that you have a special destiny here,

that behind the facade of your life there is something

beautiful, good and eternal happening.

May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride,

and expectation which with God sees you in every moment.

John O'Donohue,  Anam Cara

 

Victoria

*Looking through a few journals this morning I came across this piece. 

Now that she is a junior in college

and studying this semester in London, it made me miss her that much more....

Victoria sinks into her cuddly bed,

filled with soft cushy pillows and more

down comforters than any one 17 year old girl needs for a lifetime.

Her long hair sweeps softly about her round flushed cheeks

in silky cascades and tangles too.

Her room is barely bigger than her bed, now her throne as her favorite stuffed animals

and dolls gather at her royal feet.

The walls are filled with theatre posters of the many shows she has seen with

a special section reserved for her Broadway adventures.

The worn rug lying beside her bed can easily trip the unaware; rags and pieces

of garments long gone,

tied together with the loving hands and nimble fingers of a grandmother.

The sharp edges of her desk protect her personal papers and high school secrets from intruders of all sizes.

The room smells of little girls; sweet perfumes and scented candles.

Move in a little farther I snuggle my toes into soft flannel jammies;

lying right where they were taken off, still warm....

Change is Life's Only Constant

I have been on a leave of absencse from most of my creative endeavors of late.

I needed time to re-adjust and get comfortable in my own skin again.

It seems life sails along at a speedy clip and all of a sudden I awaken to an inner chaos,

rendering me desolate and empty.

Lots of new and different changes in so many areas of my life

can leave me searching for my blankie and a dark corner to hide in.

And while change is the only constant in life, it takes me a little while to get my new sea legs

and feel some sort of balance again.

 

Rushing into action, you fail.

Trying to grasp things, you lose them.

Forcing a project to completion,

you ruin what was almost ripe.

 

Do you have the patience to wait

till your mud settles and the water is clear?

Can you remain unmoving

till the right action arises by itself?

                                                                   Tao Te Ching

                                                                    Stephen Mitchell

 

Preparing for Paris

The weekend is over.

Black tie outfits returned to closets.

Guests gone and cold finally getting better.

Time to seriously immerse myself in preparing for our trip to Paris.

It will be here before we know it and

I am promising myself I will be prepared and ready ahead of time.

I wonder if we ever really feel prepared when taking

a trip of a lifetime?

I can read and re-read novels and travel guides,

slowly page thru art and picture books,

but then it is necessary to open the door wide to serendipity.

If we do not get out of our comfort zone

what good is the journey anyway?

 

 

Everything is Simple....

 

Everything

I want to make poems that say right out, plainly,
what I mean, that don't go looking for the
laces of elaboration, puffed sleeves. I want to
keep close and use often words like
heavy, heart, joy, soon, and to cherish
the question mark and her bold sister

the dash. I want to write with quiet hands. I
want to write while crossing the fields that are
fresh with daises and everlasting and the
ordinary grass. I want to make poems while thinking of
the bread of heaven and the
cup of astonishment; let them be

songs in which nothing is neglected,
not a hope, not a promise. I want to make poems
that look into the earth and the heavens
and see the unseeable. I want them to honor
both the heart of faith, and the light of the world;
the gladness that says, without any words, everything.

~ Mary Oliver ~

Empty Nest for 2013

I cannot believe it is the end of January 2013. 

I remember when I was in grade school and we read 1984 by George Orwell.

The book deeply distrubed me but I comforted myself with the thought,

"At least I will never live to 1984....

that is way too far in the future...."

Ha!

Well here I am in 2013

An official empty nester~

with my son off to seek his fortune in Washington DC

working for a freshman Congressman from LA~

My sophomore daughter at Notre Dame waiting

not so patiently to hear if she will be interning at

the Cannes Film Festival this spring~

And my oldest daughter living in the city,

making her own way,

searching for that ever elusive "perfect" career~

 

I purposely took time off from blogging

this past fall

as I felt the urgent need

to be "IN" the moment.

Gratefully soaking up every last

drop of a magical

time with my family and friends.

Sometimes cameras and writing

can get in the way for me.

While they definitely capture special memories to preserve and savor,

I also find they leave me a little bit

removed from the actual experience.

I will have lots of time to relive and recount

these moments now...

Now that I am an "official" empty nester.....

 

6 or 7 of the kids are on their way for the weekend as I write

so I better get the beds changed and the Birthday cakes baked!