In honor of National Poetry Month, and Mary Oliver, our beloved national poet who passed away in January, I will be posting one of her poems each evening in April. I am hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sarah Clarkson and read a poem on Instagram Live in the evenings as well…Follow me on Instagram to tune in.
Broken, Unbroken
The lonely
stand in the dark corners
of their hearts.
I have seen them
in cities,
and in my own neighborhood,
nor could I touch them
with the magic
that they crave
to be unbroken.
Then, I myself,
lonely,
said hello to
good fortune.
Someone
came along
and lingered
and little by little
became everything
that makes the difference.
Oh, I wish such good luck
to everyone.
How beautiful if is
to be unbroken.
This poem can be found in the collection Evidence.
Snow on Cayuga Lake, April 1st. I zoomed in with my phone, so the quality is horrible, but at least you get an idea of what it’s like in the Finger Lakes this time of year.
Here is where you will find my sources of inspiration this week. It could be in the form of podcasts, books, blogs, and/or films/shows.
I found three different episodes on Jenna Kutcher’s Goal Digger podcast that contained helpful advice on business and marketing for email andInstagram. I started implementing her tips for Instagram right away. Now I need a day to revamp my website and plan out an email marketing campaign.
The John Maxwell Leadership Podcast had a two part series called A Winner’s Daily Mindset that encouraged and motivated me. Here’s Part One. (One thing I dislike about this podcast is the commentary from the two show hosts after John speaks. They just drag the show out for another fifteen to twenty minutes rehashing his content like a couple of Southern-accented sports commentators with bad grammar. Leave the talking to John, boys!)
Krista Tippett interviewed Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach for On Being Podcast, discussing the work Glennon is doing with Love Flash Mobs and Abby’s new book Wolfpack,which will be released Tuesday April 9th (can’t wait!).
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Oh, and it’s National Poetry Month! I will be releasing a post each day at 5pm ET called “Evening Poetry” in which I share one of Mary Oliver’s poems. Mary Oliver is a good place to start for people who think they don’t like poetry. I say “think they don’t like” because there is definitely poetry in the world for everyone. Give poetry a chance! Check out the Poetry Foundation’s websitefor poetry galore, head to your local library, and buy a book of poetry at your local bookstore. I received a new book of poetry for Christmas entitled What Have You Lost by Naomi Shihab Nye and will be sharing about it quite soon!
In honor of National Poetry Month, and Mary Oliver, our beloved national poet who passed away in January, I will be posting one of her poems each evening in April. I am hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sarah Clarkson and read a poem on Instagram Live in the evenings as well…Follow me on Instagram to tune in.
I have a stack of my own To-Be-Read books and an even taller stack waiting for me at the library, but I am only reading four at the moment. I just noticed that that three out of four authors are of Irish heritage…interesting!
Although I’ve been reading Colm Toibin’s The Masterfor several nights, I didn’t realize until last night that it’s about Henry James. It is beautiful: poetic and imaginative, and told by a true Irish storyteller. Have you had the opportunity to read anything by this author? Last year, I read his book Nora Websterand fell in love with the characters, the Irish landscape and style of speaking, the sad story, and her strong, surviving spirit.
David Whyte‘s The Heart Aroused has been on my unread bookshelf for a few years. Since it’s about corporate America, and I don’t have any experience in that arena, at first glance it seems a bit irrelevant to my life. But since I love all of David Whyte’s writing–poetry and prose–and once I dug into it, I realized the message is for all of us. The subtitle is “Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America”. David works with large companies, focusing on “the conversational nature of leadership. If you haven’t already, listen to his TED Talk “A Lyrical Bridge Between the Past, Present, and Future”.
John O Donahue left this world too soon. A friend of David Whyte’s, everything he wrote was pointing his readers toward beauty, imagination, curiosity, and wonder. His book Walking in Wonder was published posthumously and contains talks he gave. I don’t want to miss one word this man left for us! However, if you like his work, then read my favorite book of his Beauty: The Invisible Embrace .
This is Marketing is Seth Godin’s latest book and everything he writes is something every business owner, entrepreneur, and worker in today’s economy needs to read. Seth has always thought and spoken outside the box and his ideas might take a while too assimilate. He speaks much on generosity, doing good work, picking yourself, and shipping your work ( as opposed to perfectionistic procrastination.)
In honor of National Poetry Month, and Mary Oliver, our beloved national poet who passed away in January, I will be posting one of her poems each evening in April. I am hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sarah Clarkson and read a poem on Instagram Live in the evenings as well…Follow me on Instagram to tune in.
Yellow
There is the heaven we enter
Through institutional grace
and there are the yellow finches bathing and signing
I’ve started a new series with my Facebook and Instagram Live videos on Tuesdays and I’m calling it “What Should I Do With My Oils?” Plenty of people I know have quite a collection of essential oils, but some don’t actually know what to do with them. (Hint: You DON’T DRINK/INGEST THEM!!!) I thought it would be helpful if I share the information I talk about in my Live videos in written form, especially so you can find all the blends and recipes in one place. Click here to watch yesterday’s Facebook Live video on Lemon.
Let’s Dive into Lemon:
Latin binomial: Citrus limon; Family: Rutaceae; Part of plant used: peel or zest of fruit.
Storage: Because it’s high in limonene (one of the chemical components) you need to store lemon in a dark container in the fridge or a cold room away from sunlight and heat. It can become oxidized and cause dermal sensitization. Average shelf life is 1-3 years. Err on the side of a shorter shelf life.
Safety concerns: It depends whether your lemon was expressed or distilled. Expressed lemon is preferred for aromatherapy; distilled tends to be used in food flavoring.
Expressed lemon presents a low risk for phototoxicity. If you’re using it topically, and your skin will be exposed to sunlight, applications should be lower than 2%. Or you shouldn’t expose your skin to sunlight/tanning beds for at least 12 hours.
Distilled lemon can be a dermal sensitizer when oxidized. (can cause skin irritation when the essential oil is old)
Drinking Lemon Essential Oil (Don’t Do It!!!):
Two reasons why you shouldn’t put essential oils in water and drink them:
Essential oils don’t dissolve in water, so it’s hard for your body to absorb or assimilate essential oils because it’s not dispersed evenly.
Because it isn’t evenly dispersed, the droplets of oil are floating around in your stomach and can irritate the mucus membranes of your stomach.
Indicated for: It’s an air purifier, immune-boosting, preventative measure against contagious illnesses, detoxifying, good for circulation, varicose veins, digestion, lymphatic congestion, muscular/joint aches and pains, headaches, general fatigue and weakness, prevents prematurely aging skin, good for acne, oily skin, helpful for anxiety and depression, anger/irritability, calming and stabilizing, refreshing, and cooling.
Blends well with: evergreens like Black Spruce, Scots Pine, Cypress, Juniper, Cedarwood, Lavender, Clary Sage, other citrus oils like Grapefruit, Lime, Mandarin, Niaouli, Eucalyptus, Spike Lavender, Helichrysum gymnocephalum.
Blends/Recipes:
Pick-Me-Up Diffuser Blend
5 drops Lemon
3 drops Lime
2 drops Grapefruit
Anti-Anxiety Diffuser blend
3 drops Lemon
3 drops Lavender
2 drops Basil
Anti-Inflammatory Muscle/Joint Blend (adapted from Aromatics International Recipe)
5 drops Black Spruce
5 drops Helichrysum Italicum
5 drops Roman Chamomile
5 drops Juniper Berry
4 drops Lemon
1 oz olive or sesame oil or Calendula Herbal oil/Trauma Oil
Blend together in small jar or bottle and apply to sore muscles or joints as needed.
Sore Leg Relief Blend (great for varicose veins, swelling, pain, etc.) This recipe is one I use every single day and at night too! You don’t have to have all of these oils–Lemon on its own is great for circulation, swelling, and leg pain, but if you have any of the others, they go great together!
I highly recommend taking the free introduction to aromatherapy course at the New York Institute of Aromatic Studies! It’s about 20 hours long and will give you a good introduction to the world of aromatherapy, including essential oil safety, blends and recipes, and much more!
In honor of National Poetry Month, and Mary Oliver, our beloved national poet who passed away in January, I will be posting one of her poems each evening in April. I am hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sarah Clarkson and read a poem on Instagram Live in the evenings as well…Follow me on Instagram to tune in.
I wish I could remember exactly when I began baking biscotti, but it was definitely when my kids were very small. Even though I grew up in an Italian-American family, I knew no one who actually baked their own. My Grandma Corriero bought hers at the supermarket and those were the only ones I’d ever tried. (They definitely tasted store-bought.) But one of my Moosewood Cookbooks had a recipe for them, so I made them on a whim once and have loved biscotti ever since.
My two favorite aspects of biscotti are: you pretty much can’t ruin them and they are so easy!!! I am an impatient, lazy cook and baker, so I go with easy recipes whenever I get the chance.
Here is my biscotti recipe, adapted from Moosewood.
Biscotti
1/4 cup vegan butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoon freshly grated orange (or lemon) peel
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans
2 1/4 cups gluten free flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the vegan butter and the sugar, add the eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and grated orange peel. Fold in the nuts.
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to wet and and mix until blended and dough holds together when pressed with floured hands. This dough is meant to be on the stiff side.
Scoop the dough onto a lined baking sheet and shape into a log, about 12 x 3 inches. Press down and flatten until it’s about 14 x 4 inches.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until dough is firm and just starting to brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes, and then transfer log to cutting board. When cool enough to handle, slice crosswise into 3/4 inch pieces. Lay each piece cut side up on the baking sheet, bake for 10 minutes, flip, and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool on a rack.
The biscotti will last in an airtight container for a couple of weeks or in the freezer for a few months.
You can add fruit or chocolate chips instead of nuts. You can also add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon or nutmeg.
In honor of National Poetry Month, and Mary Oliver, our beloved national poet who passed away in January, I will be posting one of her poems each evening in April. I am hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sarah Clarkson and read a poem on Instagram Live in the evenings as well…Follow me on Instagram to tune in.
Don’t Worry
Things take the time they take. Don’t worry.
How many roads did St. Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?
This is my current Monday schedule: get up at 7, make my daughter breakfast, make coffee, make a smoothie, leave the house by 7:40, drop her at school by 7:55, and arrive at my Monday morning cleaning job by 8. After I’m done cleaning, I head home, make lunch, do yoga, shower, work in my office, and pick up my daughter at school by 2:55, head back home, work some more, make and eat dinner, clean up, work until 9:00/10, and then enjoy reading or a video before bed.
It’s not a bad day, it’s just full. And I like work, but the constant forward motion of Monday is what makes me long for, say, a Thursday, when I often have a little more breathing room.
One of the ways I make Monday better for myself is having things to look forward to throughout the day. In the routine above, I can point out three different times I look forward to: doing yoga, eating dinner/having a glass of wine, and reading or watching a video in the evening.
For you, it might be taking a walk at lunch time, enjoying a cup of tea in the afternoon, playing a game or going to a park with your family after dinner, or taking dance lessons with your spouse. If you don’t yet have built-in bursts of happiness in your Monday, then start thinking about what little things you can add into your day to liven it up.
If you have children or if you prefer surprises, you might come up with a “Fun Jar”, which is what I did with my kids when they were small. We came up with activities that were free or very inexpensive, wrote them on slips of paper, and put them in a mason jar. We came up with things like “eat dinner on a blanket on the floor, picnic style, and watch an old TV show”, “go to the playground at the park”, “go out for ice cream”, “game night”, “go to the Sciencenter” etc. If we were getting cabin fever in the winter, or if someone needed cheering up. we would pull a slip of paper out of the jar and do something fun.
In the spirit of feel-good activities, I wanted to recommend three older films that I recently watched for the first time. (I know, I know, but I’m a reader first, so I’m forever behind the times.) Each one feels like cozy pajamas at the end of a long day. You may have seen them already, but they are films to reach for when you want a little comfort. Especially on a Monday night!
The Jane Austen Book Club is lighthearted and funny, but there is depth as well. It deals with real relationship drama, just as Jane Austen’s books do. I instantly wanted to be part of this book club!
How To Make an American Quilt caught me off-guard with the richness of each woman’s story, the heartache or loss that each one experienced, their strength, both as individuals and as a group, their love for each other, and the joy that they each allowed to rule their lives.
Music and Lyrics is just fun. You’ll smile at Drew Barrymore’s quirky, sweet character and laugh at Hugh Grant’s funny quips and mannerisms. You have to see this one!
I would love to hear how you bring fun and positivity into your Mondays!
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Life of Kim 