catnipoflife

Observe life at its best, Listen to life’s songs, Embrace life’s bounties, Breathe the breath of life, Savor life to its fullest!

Feb 7

Magic

by catnipoflife

“Have you opened your eyes to the magic that is surrounding you at this very moment? Imagine it and bring it to life!”
~ Roxana Jones

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Magic. Do you believe in magic? If your answer is ‘no’ my question to you is “why not?” Magic surrounds you every single moment of the day. There is magic in the air, in the woods, in the mountains, by the ocean, right in your own back yard. It is invisible yet can be seen. It is silent yet can be heard. It is intangible yet soft to the touch. How can this be you may ask? It’s magic!

When you gaze upon the smile of a child, how does that make you feel? Think about receiving a tender kiss from a loved one, do you tingle from head to toe? What about the times when you hurt so bad only to have someone give you a hug assuring you everything will be okay?

Does it make you feel all warm inside? Those feelings…how do you describe them?

Magical!

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Watch the raindrops dance across a flower
catch a ray of sun, feel its power   
brush windswept hair from your face
feel the elegance of Chantilly lace

Bathe in watercolors when the sun rises
open your eyes to all the surprises
cherish the twilight, dusk and dawn
mystic beauty each hour doth spawn

Toss a softball with a child
tickle a baby, watch her smile
save a caterpillar, let it be
butterfly wings you’ll soon see

Lay your head upon someone’s chest
feel the heartbeat as you rest
cry when it’s time to depart
let the tears cleanse your heart

Sense when another draws nigh
breath softly a soulful sigh
listen to birds’ sing off key
magic through your veins flows free

catniplogosm1©catnipoflife
Sharla Lee Shults

Magical-mornings-glisten

Inspiration PoetrybySharla

7 Comments »
Jan 31

Free Write Friday #38: Word Bank

by catnipoflife

free-write-friday-kellie-elmoreIf you have not participated in Kellie’s Free Write Friday, she has extended an open invitation. Read the intro. Would love to ‘see’ what you have to say! You may write in any form you choose for the prompt as she will never discourage your pen, but she encourages you to try your hand at free verse for the exercise.

Oh, Kellie, this is a good one! Since my husband and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary Summer 2014 let’s see what I can conger up using that ‘train’ of thought. What’s the connection you might ask…pearl represents the 30th anniversary and we were just discussing that only a few minutes ago.

Two avenues ran through my mind so here are my thoughts on…

train – burlap – fiction – pearls – vertigo

The train rolled into the station under a canopy resembling burlap. Like a character out of a fiction novel, I stepped onto the platform into open arms. Something cool ticked the back of my neck as you gently clasped a strand of pearls around my neck. Thoughts began to whirl as though I was experiencing an attack of vertigo. “Welcome home, Darling!” you whispered. “So glad you made it back home for our anniversary. I love you!”

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Pearls

Image Source: en.wikipedia.org

The Our Pearl Anniversary

What a grand day to celebrate
30 years that’s a milestone in this day
When divorce is real, not fiction
Where a little thing can get in the way
picky, picky, picky

It’s little gifts should really matter
Whether made of sap
That’s honey, of course
Or one of burlap
the LITTLE things

Gifts from the heart
Even a ride on a train
Holding hands in the park
Strolling at night in the rain
no umbrella

The memorable vacation
A cruise away from the snow
An eventful memories
Without the slightest vertigo
ice cream for breakfast

30th anniversary WOW!
My head whirls and whirls
What a grand day to celebrate
Its symbol: iridescent O-o-o-oh! pearls
cultured or opalescent

©2014 Sharla Lee Shults

Here are a couple of others to ponder and reflect upon:

graypoet says:

http://graypoet.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/oh-boy/

parallel universe says:

http://paralleluniverseblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/free-write-friday-2/

Free Write Friday Inspiration PoetrybySharla Reflection

9 Comments »
Jan 31

Wintertime vs. Winter Time

by catnipoflife

Awakenings being catnip’s sister site often appears here through Scoop.it! Only a small portion of those posts are scooped. It is always hoped each of catnip’s visitors clicks the link for the entire post since bits of historical trivia allow time to embrace the past, empower the present, enrich the future for you and America. Yesterday as I was working on Awakenings I realized this post IS catnip. So, if you are followers or visitor of both sites, this one will lift you up twice for the entire post appears here!

simple_divider
January 31: the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. With 1/12 of the year gone, 334 days remain until year’s end. Winter is in full swing with visions of hope for an early spring buzzing around in our heads. That implies already looking ahead wishing time away so we can pack up boots, heavy coats and jeans replacing them with flip flops, tee-shirts and shorts. 

Time can’t hold us down but moves us forward, keeps us on our toes and immerses us in memorable scenes of the past, present and future. It is our best friend, often our worse enemy. We have too much time on our hands, not enough time to do the things that need to be done or just barely get by as time flies without warning.

winter_time

eliseenchanted.deviantart.com

We cry out in the name of time, time, time!

Winters come, winters go. They will always be a part of the cycle of life beginning a season of dormancy awaiting rebirth. Mosaics on frozen ponds and lakes stretch outward in all directions, cracks and crevices revealing life thriving underneath. One tree hangs on to its leaves while others stand barren baring scarred limbs naked to the earth and sky. Gone are the plush and green replaced by shades of gray often covered in blankets of white.

Thus, we live the Winter with thoughts of “I can’t wait until Spring arrives?” When wintertime arrives, do we simply wish away the winter time?

Wintertime vs. Winter Time 

Winters of the past
Aged not forgotten
Images frozen still
Long ago begottensimple_dividerTime within winter
Slowed to a crawl
Breaths unlabored
After toils of Fallsimple_dividerWinters of the present
Snowy fields impart
Stormy times ahead
Yet stillness of heartsimple_dividerTime within winter
Spans hours inside
Hopes and desires
Lay calm firesidesimple_dividerWinters of the future
What truly lies ahead?
Without needless worry
Living the moments insteadsimple_dividerTime within winter
Ensues time well spent
Without a single moment
Wond’ring where time went simple_dividerWintertime, any time
Past, present, future
Build upon images
Visions that nurture

©Sharla Lee Shults

If-we-had-no-winter

Awakenings Inspiration PoetrybySharla Reflection

4 Comments »
Jan 29

When More is NOT Always Better

by catnipoflife

We live in an age of MORE, MORE, MORE! We have more than we possibly need yet the need for MORE surpasses the need for what we truly need indeed. Try to say that fast 3 times! The point is

WE WANT…

Can you imagine a world without wildlife? It would be as mundane as mundane could possibly be. Of course, some of you might welcome silence from chirping crickets, barking dogs, screeching owls, howling coyotes but in giving those up, you also lose the drumming sounds of the Red-headed Woodpecker in spring, the chuckling Summer Tanager, the whistled warble of the autumn Yellow-rumped Warbler, the energetic tune of the Winter Wren. That is only sounds of some of the birds!

I’ll take the sounds of wildlife, what about you?

“I know no subject more elevating, more amazing, more ready to the poetical enthusiasm, the philosophical reflection, and the moral sentiment than the works of nature. Where can we meet such variety, such beauty, such magnificence?”

                                                                                 —James Thomson (Scottish Poet, 1700–1748)

Inspiration Nature Reflection

6 Comments »
Jan 25

Just Little Things

by catnipoflife

It’s the little things… The moments… The sighs… The smiles… The cries.

The times unforgotten… Laughing at yourself… A lover’s sigh… Smiles from a stranger…A baby’s first cry…

Encouragement

Kitty Kallen (born May 25, 1922) is an American popular singer who performed with a number of big bands in the 1940s, and scored her biggest success, a number #1 hit in 1954, with the song “Little Things Mean a Lot“.

Inspiration Reflection

3 Comments »
Jan 19

The Chair

by catnipoflife

The visual inspiration (photography) for this writing comes by way of Vate @Consonancias y Disonancias o el Eco del Murciélago de Abril Estados de Alma y Espíritu frente a la época actual de nuestra Humanidad

With the help of our friend, Google, translation at its best is Consonance & Dissonance States of Soul and Spirit against the current era of our Humanity. Unfortunately, there were some parts that did not translate sensibly and my Spanish is low, very low, on the totem pole. That, by no means, takes anything away from Vate’s site. I encourage you to visit and read more HERE!

I first saw the photograph last evening and immediately wrote…

Aged with Time

TheChair

The chair
so empty and bare
What good are you
just sitting there?

Aged with time
paint chipped and peeling
Who would want you
discolored, unappealing?

Your back’s not straight
Resembling a sick tree
What’s with those legs?
Much too short I see

There’s a hint of beauty
beneath your scarred skin
Why were you abandoned
in the shape you’re in?

Eying you closer
I ponder and ponder
A little love and care?
I wonder, I wonder

I’ll take you home
make you mine
Where will I find
time, time, time?

Time to repair
Time to mend
Time together
When, when, when?

catniplogosm1©2014 catnipoflife
Sharla Lee Shults

What inspiration did you gather when you first saw the photograph?

How many times do you stop to ponder “Where will I find the time?” If you could recapture those moments and add them all together, you might be surprised at how much time you’d have on your hands!

Time-in-Hand

Featured Photography/Photographer Inspiration Reflection

4 Comments »
Jan 19

Find Serenity

by catnipoflife

Serenity Serenity.jpg photo

“I had found a kind of serenity, a new maturity… I didn’t feel better or stronger than anyone else but it seemed no longer important whether everyone loved me or not–more important now was for me to love them. Feeling that way turns your whole life around; living becomes the act of giving.”  ~Beverly Sills

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Find Serenity

Serenity_Sunset

Serenity has not one color
One place nor one time
It’s sunrise and sunset
Blue waters of storm or calm…

Serenity_Blue_Water

Cloudy and cloudless
Tina ripples upon a lake
Silence within when tossed about
Breaking waves amid a wake…

Serenity_Lake

Distant as the farthest mountain
Atop the highest peak
Closest as the sweetest kiss
Nearby a rocky creek…

Serenity_Rocks

Velvet touch of the crimson rose
Touchless like the thorny vine
Happily ending love story
Tingling goosebumps up the spine…

Serenity_Rose

Find serenity
Within your heart, mind and soul
Easily seen on the outside
It’s the inner beauty to behold

catniplogosm1©2014 catnipoflife
Sharla Lee Shults

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Inspiration PoetrybySharla Reflection

5 Comments »
Jan 18

NATURE’S SYMPHONY

by catnipoflife

A very special poem from Len Carver depicting the true essence of the catnipoflife! Thank you, Len, for your inspiring message.

Song_of_Storms

lenwilliamscarver's avatarmyownheart.me

Do you hear the music of the world around you?

Hear the crashing CYMBALS of the thunder
music of a raindrop as the clouds begin to weep?

A snowflake as it descends to earth?
Ivory keys fading to-night shades slush
Building to the crescendo of many PIANO keys

Smell the roses as they bud
to the unfurling as they bloom
Emitting scent of exotic perfume
A soulful sound of many VIOLINS

Hear the sound of butterfly wings?
The music of little fluttery things
music of HARP’s gentle strings

Hear the whisper of the trees
as the wind blows soft breath
Through the rustling leaves
Echoing softly …CELLO

Listen close if only to hear  music for
Lovers as they begin to swirl and twirl
in a dance of their beating hearts
like  passion of SPANISH GUITARS

Hear orchestration of earths symphony
Walk quietly with open mind and ears
Let sounds of…

View original post 9 more words

Inspiration poetry Reblog

7 Comments »
Jan 15

Moving Right Along…

by catnipoflife

January seems to be on the speed track with the month already at its halfway mark. Time is moving right along at a pace much faster that we probably all prefer. Yet, with the passing of time lies the anticipation of the natural elements of early spring. Glory in the springtime initiates countless visions: greening hills, warming sun, tulips, pansies and wildflowers popping!

But, WAIT!! Am I being somewhat premature? The presence of ol’ man winter is still felt, chilling to the bone. That is, of course, unless you are relaxing on the beaches of sunny California, along Florida’s Emerald Coast, in the Florida Keys or perhaps cruising the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. Ah-h-h-h! Sandy beaches, lounging chairs, suntan oil, basking in warm sunbeams, diving into cool waters—pleasure within an oasis of calm & relaxation!

Okay! Okay! Okay! Back to reality. . .

Before even splashing our mental coloring books with the hues of springtime, we must endure winter’s final chill or last blanket of pure white. As Terri Guillemets once quoted, “The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination.“

So, put your imagination to work with some enduring visions of Ol’ Man Winter leading to the new birth of spring. Visual images featured today come by way of Marilyn Armstrong @Serendipity. Marilyn is an awesome blogger enlightening her visitors and followers with her unique, often humorous writing along with her own awesome photography. She is also a published author. Check out her book The 12-Foot Teepee: A Survivor’s Tale @amazon.

Visions of Ol’ Man Winter

Snowcovered-Foliage

January brings ice palaces and snow
With plants lying dormant underneath
February stirs the depths of winter
Echoing sounds of chattering teeth

First_Snow

Cold sun amid afternoon shadows
Heralds colder temps at night
Warm blankets, cozy fires
Beckon cuddling up oh-so tight

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Winter time glistens
Adding its own personal glow
Pulsating with magic in the air
Creating mosaics in the snow

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Attuned to the winter cold
Hibernation’s a natural affair
With shorter days, longer nights
Sleeping resembles that of a bear

Winter-Woods

Sentiments of the winter season
Affirm human nature’s lassitude
Reflections echo the past and present
Offering a melancholy mood

Old-Number2

Nature in its own pristine beauty
Soon flourishes after winter’s thaw
Prickly, bristly thorns and spiny things
Will emerge cloaked in springtime’s awe

catniplogosm1©2014 catnipoflife
Sharla Lee Shults

Inspiration PoetrybySharla Reflection

6 Comments »
Jan 15

Singing in the Shower

by catnipoflife

Can you imagine a world without music? It would be a world void of colors and textures, thus soulless. There would be no form, no expression. Thank goodness we have music or life would be a total bore, empty, useless. Music is all around us with melodies whispering in the wind, carrying along the harmonies of the songbirds. Each note captures the human heart penetrating deep into the soul leading to some of the best compositions imaginable. All you have to do is enjoy the catipoflife, listen to life’s songs! That includes singing in the shower!

Singing_in_the_ShowerDo you sing in the shower giving yourself top billing on Broadway? Are you a rock star or a diva? Did you know singing in the shower has become a widespread phenomenon?

Think about it. You can be what you want to be, as good as you want to be, an overnight sensation if you like since something magical happens when you sing in the shower. Have you ever noticed you actually sound better singing in the shower vs. out of the shower? For some reason, angelic pitch-perfect harmonies echo around the shower walls rather than bouncing through midair resounding of a croaking frog. That is the truth and there is a science of music to prove it!

That is not the only thing magical about the shower either…

Time for a shower…

MUSIC_animated

 FaLaLa…TraLaLa Boom De Ay…Boom Boom ShaBoom…NaNa-Nana-NaNa…everything before and after, as well as everything in between. Where would we be without music on the scene? Can you imagine a world without melody? Even the sounds of nature carry musical tones in harmony. Where there is sound there is rhythm from the clanging cogs of wheels definitely not ‘in pitch’ to Brahms’s Lullaby so relaxing one could sleep in a ditch. It keeps the sane man sane and lifts up the insane. MORE @awakenings about the beginnings of music…

Humor Inspiration

4 Comments »
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