Take time to smell the flowers,
Take time to hug a tree,
Take time to hear each bird sing,
Take time to simply be !!

It’s another hazy morning here on St. Thomas, with our Sahara dust in full force today. So as the sun struggled to make it’s entrance, which wasn’t grand, I stopped to smell the frangipane growing on my hillside. It’s scent is like a soft gardenia.

And as a result, I’m learning all kinds of things this morning!

Did you know that in common folklore the frangipane, or Plumeria, is believed to provide shelter to ghosts and demons? The scent of the Plumeria has been associated with a vampire in Malay folklore, the pontianak, spirits of woman who died while pregnant. Humm …. Now I’m going to spook myself in the nights to come LOL .. read more

“Gray skies are just clouds passing over.”
~ Duke Ellington

I’ve never heard that quote before. Which surprises me, because it’s so simple, and yet so profound. It could easily become one of my favorites, right up there with “inch by inch, life’s a cinch!”.

It’s a quiet morning here today. Peaceful. And strangely, I’m not feeling very reflective. Just enjoying the fact that I’m here, ready to face the day, whatever it may hold. Just being … read more

“It is cheerful to God when you rejoice or laugh from the bottom of your heart.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

It sure is alot easier to pop out of bed when the dawn is red LOL. While not the prettiest of sunrises, the clouds allowed me to sit for quite a long time, enjoying the scent of the newly blooming frangipani trees on the cliffs and watching the interesting ripple on the water (do you see it?).

And I was thinking through yesterday. I’m finally ready to work on my coachsulting website, finalize a design implementation, and specify exactly what it is that I wish to offer the world at large, outside of blogging and housing tourists. It was a day filled with challenges, but very enjoyable. read more

“Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.”
~ Unknown

The sunrise is now almost directly in front of my bedroom window. Soon I think it will head back the other way. And once again, the actual sunrise was pretty lack-luster compared to this spectacular dawn. And with the clouds, it was a bit imbalanced, kind of like my own morning ….

Everyone else was also up early, which brought a wave of activity, disrupting my normal peace and quiet. Spencer was headed down to the beach with a friend and villa guest. Hopefully to find a piece of lost jewelry with his metal detector. So he had his agenda, which sat in conflict with my own quiet morning routine and connection to creative thought. Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer writes read more

“I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.”
~ Larry King

The sky was so soft and pretty purple this morning, before the sun eventually peaked over the clouds and haze. I just had to share the dawn, instead of the rise …

So yesterday, I was chatting (listening) with a friend about her not feeling heard. And she realized that it bothered her. Funny, I experienced the exact same emotions later in the day. Tiny Budda has a wonderful post entitled “how to help someone feel loved and understood”. I’ll post the link below, in case you’d like to read it … read more