my heart looks like your heart

my heart looks like your heart

Saturday, December 29, 2012

becoming real ...




i was thinking this past week, about spirit.

and how faith in a person, loving a person, can bring about their real self.

i was also thinking about the difference between knowing you are loved, and feeling you are loved.

it is possible to know, without a doubt, that someone loves you.  yet it is a completely different thing to feel that someone loves you.  and knowing someone loves you does not guarantee that you will feel loved by that person.

but the feeling of being loved completely ... allows us to be who we are, completely.  our real selves.  we know we are safe, our heart is safe, our real self is safe ...

this nurtures our spirit and keeps it alive ... 

like during the holidays, you see something similar in many of the christmas movies ... when the children (and in some movies the adults too) believe in santa claus, their belief in him makes his sleigh fly;  believing in santa makes him exist ... makes him real.

when we as parents believe in our children to make good choices, to "be good" and to do what's right, they generally rise to meet that standard.  our belief in them, in that way, makes those ways real.

when teachers believe in their students, and treat them as if they are already successful, they succeed in larger numbers and with greater accomplishment.

it is not just the christmas spirit ... it is the human spirit.

when someone believes in us and loves us, completely ... wholly, and without fail
not because of what we can do for them ...  not because of us "doing" anything at all ... but just because we are who we are ...
when someone believes in us,
like the little boy believed in the velveteen rabbit,

we become real.
we become who we really are.
who we've been all along,
since we were very young,
and uninhibited.

who we are capable of becoming
without fear 
or doubt.

i am fortunate to know with certainty that i have been loved in this way.
it gives me great peace to know
that i in turn
love
in this way...

there is a true calmness that settles over our heart when we realize and recognize this.
a lightness, a settledness (if that's a word) inside our chest, that provides a clearer and brighter path for us to walk.
(i used to describe this as a rushing inside my chest that one day i realized had stopped ...)
when we are not hindered by anything outside of ourselves, when we are moved and encouraged by love and faith (faith of any kind, in any thing or in anyone) ... we are free to live from our heart, we step more surely and believe in those steps ... as we become real.

and as the skin horse assured the velveteen rabbit ...
once we become real,
we can't become unreal again ...  


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

being heard: one of our greatest human needs



“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”   -Leo Buscaglia


being heard is one of the greatest human needs.  it is feeling valued and feeling loved.  letting someone know they matter can be the greatest gift of their life.  

please click here to visit my latest article:


with my own photos along with the professional work of




Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Saturday, December 1, 2012

shine ...





sometimes we are fortunate enough
to be given people
 who not only love us exactly as we are, 
but somehow have a way
of making us even more "us"

a way of bringing out even more
of who we truly are

and if you find yourself 
in this place,

you will recognize the beauty
in every season of your life,

the possibilities 
in every pocket of your soul,

the love
in every corner of your heart ...

give in

say
thank you

and
shine
with all that you are ...