This is a song called "Snow" by my favorite band, Sleeping at Last. It is from their "December" EP which was part of a year-long collection of EPs (one for each month of the year, containing 3 songs each) called "Yearbook". The video below is a compilation of shots sent in by fans...
Here are the beautiful lyrics... My favorites lines are in bold and these words are floating through my thoughts tonight, on this last day of 2011:
The branches have traded
Their leaves for white sleeves
All warm blooded creatures make ghosts as they breathe
Scarves are wrapped tightly like gifts under trees
Christmas lights tangle in knots annually
All families huddle closely
Betting warmth against the cold
All the bruises seem to surface
Like mud beneath the snow
So we sing carols softly
As sweet as we know
A prayer that our burdens will lift as we go
Like young love still waiting under mistletoe
We'll welcome December with tireless hope
Let our bells keep on ringing
Making angels in the snow
And may the melody disarm us
When the cracks begin to show
Like the petals in our pockets
May we remember who we are
Unconditionally cared for
By those who share our broken hearts
The table is set
And all glasses are full
The pieces go missing
May we still feel whole
We'll build new traditions in place of the old
Cause life without revision will silence our souls
Let the bells keep on ringing
Making angels in the snow
And may the melody surround us
When the cracks begin to show
Like the petals in our pockets
May we remember who we are
Unconditionally cared for
By those who share our broken hearts
As gentle as feathers
The snow piles high
Our world gets rewritten and retraced every time
Like fresh plates and clean slates
Our future is white
New Years resolutions are reset tonight
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Daylight Spending Time?
I wrote this post earlier this month (as you might guess from the title, right around the Daylight Savings Time change) but, for whatever reason, didn't post it. The feelings still apply, though, so I'm posting it now! Just some thoughts on the passage of time....
I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. 2011 is waning fast and there's so much I have yet to accomplish! I've given myself plenty of excuses for not being as productive as I would like.... starting a new job with crazy hours being the most prominent on the list. Nonetheless, I feel like someone's been winding the clock forward since March, like Daylight Savings Time decided to skip ahead several months rather than just an hour. And here we are, falling back an hour again, Thanksgiving is around the corner, then Christmas, then 2012... but I get ahead of myself. Perhaps that is the problem. I feel as though I am always thinking in the future. What's on the docket for tomorrow's work day, or next week or next month? What are our plans for this weekend?? When's our next vacation???
There's certainly nothing wrong with planning ahead. In fact, it's really a very important skill (it can be monumentally important in preventing tardiness, for example). But, it can really mess with your head. We "modern" women tend to think in schedules of "5-year plans" and career paths and biological clocks. When did it all get so complicated? For the past 3 years (or perhaps longer), I have felt like something is always just ahead, something better than what's going on in the present. When, in reality, what's right in front of my nose is really what's most important. Matthew 6:34 comes to mind: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
We live in a world that seems to be turning faster by the day. Technology spurs an excelerated pace of life and, despite the preponderance of "social media" and persistent digital connection, we communicate and live our lives less genuinely because we are so concerned with the next big thing. It's not the technology that's bad (obviously it enables us to do some pretty incredible things), it's the mindset that goes along with it. The "I'm so worried about where I'm going to be in 6 months or 5 years that I forget how blessed I am to be living in today" mentality. It's a mindset of forgetting the blessings God has given us in this life, the relationships He puts us in and the everyday lessons He gives us the strength to experience. This is the important stuff. The world could end tomorrow, and where does our 5-year plan end up?
So, for today, it's about striking a balance. Planning with enough wisdom to be prepared for what may come, and enough faith that God will always provide and simultaneously living with the knowledge that He already has provided everything we need for this very second down to the last iota.
I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. 2011 is waning fast and there's so much I have yet to accomplish! I've given myself plenty of excuses for not being as productive as I would like.... starting a new job with crazy hours being the most prominent on the list. Nonetheless, I feel like someone's been winding the clock forward since March, like Daylight Savings Time decided to skip ahead several months rather than just an hour. And here we are, falling back an hour again, Thanksgiving is around the corner, then Christmas, then 2012... but I get ahead of myself. Perhaps that is the problem. I feel as though I am always thinking in the future. What's on the docket for tomorrow's work day, or next week or next month? What are our plans for this weekend?? When's our next vacation???
There's certainly nothing wrong with planning ahead. In fact, it's really a very important skill (it can be monumentally important in preventing tardiness, for example). But, it can really mess with your head. We "modern" women tend to think in schedules of "5-year plans" and career paths and biological clocks. When did it all get so complicated? For the past 3 years (or perhaps longer), I have felt like something is always just ahead, something better than what's going on in the present. When, in reality, what's right in front of my nose is really what's most important. Matthew 6:34 comes to mind: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
We live in a world that seems to be turning faster by the day. Technology spurs an excelerated pace of life and, despite the preponderance of "social media" and persistent digital connection, we communicate and live our lives less genuinely because we are so concerned with the next big thing. It's not the technology that's bad (obviously it enables us to do some pretty incredible things), it's the mindset that goes along with it. The "I'm so worried about where I'm going to be in 6 months or 5 years that I forget how blessed I am to be living in today" mentality. It's a mindset of forgetting the blessings God has given us in this life, the relationships He puts us in and the everyday lessons He gives us the strength to experience. This is the important stuff. The world could end tomorrow, and where does our 5-year plan end up?
So, for today, it's about striking a balance. Planning with enough wisdom to be prepared for what may come, and enough faith that God will always provide and simultaneously living with the knowledge that He already has provided everything we need for this very second down to the last iota.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Design Board: Rustic French Guest Bedroom
Objects can be so inspiring. A perusal of the Pier1 website gave me some fodder for a quick inspiration board: "Rustic French Guest Bedroom"
This isn't altogether rustic, nor altogether French.... really just a few different accents from each, and I couldn't think of a better title. Most of these items are sourced from Pier1; the duvet set and head board from Target. LOVE that lamp in a pale lime.... and it's on sale! Might just have to get that one right away.
I'd hang an atmospheric landscape over the bed (a la William McCarthy) and voila! the perfect haven for out-of-town guests. Maybe someday this will be a reality.... Guess you'll have to be our guests to find out ;)
This isn't altogether rustic, nor altogether French.... really just a few different accents from each, and I couldn't think of a better title. Most of these items are sourced from Pier1; the duvet set and head board from Target. LOVE that lamp in a pale lime.... and it's on sale! Might just have to get that one right away.
I'd hang an atmospheric landscape over the bed (a la William McCarthy) and voila! the perfect haven for out-of-town guests. Maybe someday this will be a reality.... Guess you'll have to be our guests to find out ;)
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