Love Token 125: You were made from love, to be loved and spread love

 

 

This was refreshing and LOVEly

 

xo

M

 



Love Token 124: Motherhood

I stumbled across this great stream of consciousness while watching 

"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"

While this sentiment is in relation to entering the age of elderly in a foreign country, I couldn't help but relate to its thoughts with the new chapter of motherhood. 

"Initially you are overwhelmed.

But gradually you realize it's like a wave.

Resist and you'll be knocked over.

Dive into it and you'll swim out on the other side. 

This is a new and different world.

The challenge is to cope with it and not just cope...

but thrive."

xo

M

Love Token 123: The Best Is Yet To Come

via Lovely as a Dream

This by far is the best love token that I have had part in giving myself.

Due end of November 2012

XO
M

Love Token 122: JM

I cannot get the latest John Mayer album out of my head for the last month 

More specifically this song.

Gives me tinglies up my spine.

Have you bought the boy-wonders new alblum yet?

If you are a hater of John Mayer and how he behaves you gotta at least give credit to this musical prodigy where it is due.

In the words of Kanye West recently...

"I am flawed as a human being - but my music is perfect"

I'm an architect

Of days that haven't happened yet

I can't believe a month is all it's been

You know my paper heart

The one I filled with pencil marks

I think I might've gone and inked you in

Little by little, inch by inch

We built a yard with a garden in the middle of it

It ain't much but it's a start

You got me swaying right along to the song in your heart

And a face to call home

A face to call home

You got a face to call home

So good you didn't see

The nervous wreck I used to be

You'd never know a man could feel so small

And you never look at me

Like I'm a liability

I bet you think I've never been at all

Little by little, inch by inch

We built a yard with a garden in the middle of it

And it ain't much, but it's a start

You got me swaying right along to the song in your heart

And a face to call home

A face to call home

You got a face to call home

A face to call home

A face to call home

You got a face to call home

Maybe I could stay a while,

Maybe I could stay a while,

Maybe I could stay a while,

I'm talkin' like all of the time

(Maybe I could stay a while)

Little by little, inch by inch,

(Maybe I could stay a while)

We built a yard with a garden in the middle of it,

(Maybe I could stay a while)

And it ain't much, but it's a start,

(I'm talkin' like all of the time)

You got me swaying right along to the song in your heart

And a face to call home

A face to call home

You got a face to call home

-John Mayer: A Face to Call Home

XO

M



Love Token 121: Smile in the Age of Worry

It is a blessing and a curse.

The information highway, how small our world has become that miles, kilometres are just mere obstacles to communicate and reach out to others. The freedom to explore is now more than ever.

How amazing it is to learn at a pace much faster and way more accessible than ever before.

How incredible it is for everyone to be able to share their experiences and reach out and really affect other people.

However, with the access to all information comes attached the "too much information epidemic", the panic can set in, the horror stories, the worst case scenarios all with one click of your mouse.

The occurance of the few becomes the nightmare of many.

If you are prone to this type of behaviour, please for your own good, stop clicking through the unnecesssary as the worry and stress does no good and while awareness is great, paranoia is not.

I am not prone to this type of behaviour but I have to admit sometimes it is hard to resist.

In our world today, with a multitude of opinions and self-branding and probably one of the most self-catering narcassistic ages of its time (where special is now such an un-special word), it is so easy for people to pass judgement, to diagnose other people's life and to possess a sense of entitlement that lacks the core components of humanity; kindness, generousity, compassion, understanding, empathy, sympathy in its pure form.

All these thoughts ran through my mind today while walking to work.

The sun was shining and there was a song that sparked this thought (where it really has no personal origin, just my brain I suppose... always a hamster running rapidly on the wheel of thought) and I agreed that through the good and the bad you roll with the punches, you deal with things as they approach and until that time comes...

Smile in the age of worry.

Via A life of beauty and grace

"Close your eyes and clone yourself

Build your heart an army

To defend your innocence

While you do everything wrong

Don't be scared to walk alone

Don't be scared to like it

There's no time that you must be home

So sleep where darkness falls

Alive in the age of worry

Smile in the age of worry

Go wild in the age of worry

And say, "Worry, why should I care?"

Know your fight is not with them

Yours is with your time here

Dream your dreams but don't pretend

Make friends with what you are

Give your heart then change your mind

You're allowed to do it

'Cause God knows it's been done to you

And somehow you got through it

Alive in the age of worry

Rage in the age of worry

Sing out in the age of worry

And say, "Worry, why should I care?"

Rage in the age of worry

Act your age in the age of worry

And say, "Worry, get out of here!"

- John Mayer, Age of Worry

 

XO
M



Love Token 120: TP

I have shared my she-love for Tristan Prettyman in the past, but she is just so darn cool, inspiring and authentic.

Everything she says, feels and shares I can't help but nod my head in agreement.

This is one of her latest posts and she is bang on again.

Can't wait for her new album at the end of September.

Enjoy!

"As I embark on this new journey. With this new album. With my story, which is neither right nor wrong, it is simply just my story. I get a little anxious. I get a little nervous.

I know this is my next step for this journey. It is all set up perfectly. And will unfold, and unravel into exactly what is meant to be. Trusting and Surrending is always on my brain.

This healing of my heart. And hopefully a million others around the globe. I will do my best to speak my truth. To be honest. To be kind. And share my story, in hopes that someone somewhere will be comforted knowing that they are not alone.

This is all I have ever wanted.

Music has been there for me for as long as I can remember. I would have never dreamed that mine is doing for people what Ani Difranco’s did for me when I was 13.

Music is the heart beat of the soul.

Im so sensitive to negativity these days. I still trip out when I hear people complaining or calling people out on shit, or being aggressive or straight up mean. I always think to myself, “Is that really necessary? Is anything good really going to come out of that?

That is the nature of being human I supposed. I have been guilty to this behavior too, trust me, I am no saint. But as I grow older, I just imagine this world to be a more peaceful place, where we all work together. Where we actually communicate. Where we treat each other like family, like human beings, with real feelings, with real hearts. Where we just let people be. And know that when we get triggered by something, that its OUR SHIT. Not theirs.

I like to try and make the effort everyday to leave every person I come in contact with throughout the day, better than how I found them. Whether thats the homeless man on the corner, or the girl making my coffee, or the person I catch eyes with changing lanes on the freeway. I actually smiled at a girl on the freeway just the other day, she looked at my with the most suspicious of looks! I couldnt help but smile even bigger.

Anyhow, this little photo above just made me think of all that.

Love you guys, Im excited."

TP

via Ice Cream Is Better With A Fork

 

XO

M

Love Token 119: The Most Astounding Fact

Via: BlackEiffel

"So when I look up at the night sky and know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the universe is in us...
…there’s a level of connectivity, that’s really what you want in life. You want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant, you want to feel like you’re a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you. And that’s precisely what we are, just by being alive.”

– Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Song: To Build A Home, The Cinematic Orchestra

xo

M

Love Token 118: Him

If I loved him anymore, my heart would explode.

xo
M

Love Token 117: Everybody's Free

I was reminded of this insightful song when I was outside gardening this weekend.
I thought the advice was too good not to post and nice piece of nostalgia.

Baz Luhrmann: Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t
grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….
You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.


But trust me on the sunscreen…

XO

M

Love Token 116: Inspiration Invigoration

I have had this verbage banked for a little while.

Keeps things in perspective and reminds us that the world does not go around solely from our own point of view.

XO
M



Cut & Paste Tuesdays

My kind of hang out.

Crepes, Coffee, Champagne & Beer 

via Inspire

XO
M

Love Token 115: Us Against The World

It is oh so wonderful when a beautiful lyric and a beautiful melody combine to make one great amazing song.

This is from Coldplay's latest album Mylo Xyloto 

(which I adore)

Oh morning come bursting, the clouds, they move

Lift off this blindfold, let me see again

And bring back the water, that your ship's rode in

In my heart you left a hole

The tightrope that I’m walking just sways and ties

The devil as he’s talking with those angel’s eyes

And I just want to be there when the lightning strikes

And the saints go marching in

And sing slow-ow-ow-ow it down

Through chaos as it swirls

It’s just us against the world

Like a river to a raindrop, I lost a friend

My drunken as a Daniel in a lion’s den

And tonight I know it all has to begin again

So whatever you do, don’t let go

And if we could float away

Fly up to the surface and just start again

And lift off before trouble

Just erodes us in the rain

Sing slow-ow-ow-ow it down

Oh Slow-ow-ow-ow it down

Through chaos as it swirls

It’s just us against the world

Through chaos as it swirls

It’s us against the world

XO

M



Life Resolutions

Happy [Belated] New Year.

My favourite holiday was once again a time of joy and laughter and the tingly feeling of a new chapter commencing.

I came across this today and enjoyed all the goals on it.

New Year's resoluations are more than short term goals, they are a reminder that we can all continously strive to improve and build our character and how we impact others.

Via WitandDelight

xo

M

Love Token 114: I love you, I love you, I love you

Below is a letter written by Stieg Larsson the famed author of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series.

He wrote this letter to the love of his life Eva before a journey he thought he might not return from, though he didn’t pass away for many years after; his parting words were no less profound.

I read this in Vanity Fair a few months back and stumbled across it again today via You, Me & Charlie - and thought it was worth the share.

What a beautiful letter that provides a slice of closure to help the heart through the grieving process.

Stockholm, February 9, 1977

Eva, my love,

It’s over. One way or another, everything comes to an end. It’s all over some day. That’s perhaps one of the most fascinating truths we know about the entire universe. The stars die, the galaxies die, the planets die. And people die too. I’ve never been a believer, but the day I became interested in astronomy, I think I put aside all that was left of my fear of death. I’d realized that in comparison to the universe, a human being, a single human being, me … is infinitely small. Well, I’m not writing this letter to deliver a profound religious or philosophical lecture. I’m writing to tell you “farewell.” I was just talking to you on the phone. I can still hear the sound of your voice. I imagine you, before my eyes … a beautiful image, a lovely memory I will keep until the end. At this very moment, reading this letter, you know that I am dead. There are things that I want you to know. As I leave for Africa, I’m aware of what’s waiting for me. I even have the feeling that this trip could bring about my death, but it’s something that I have to experience, in spite of everything. I wasn’t born to sit in an armchair. I’m not like that. Correction: I wasn’t like that … I’m not going to Africa just as a journalist, I’m going above all on a political mission, and that’s why I think this trip might lead to my death. This is the first time I’ve written to you knowing exactly what to say: I love you, I love you, love you, love you. I want you to know that. I want you to know that I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. I want you to know I mean that seriously. I want you to remember me but not grieve for me. If I truly mean something to you, and I know that I do, you will probably suffer when you learn I am dead. But if I really mean something to you, don’t suffer, I don’t want that. Don’t forget me, but go on living. Live your life. Pain will fade with time, even if that’s hard to imagine right now. Live in peace, my dearest love; live, love, hate, and keep fighting. …

I had a lot of faults, I know, but some good qualities as well, I hope. But you, Eva, you inspired such love in me that I was never able to express it to you. …

Straighten up, square your shoulders, hold your head high. Okay? Take care of yourself, Eva. Go have a cup of coffee. It’s over. Thank you for the beautiful times we had. You made me very happy. Adieu.


I kiss you goodbye, Eva.


From Stieg, with love.

Source: Vanity Fair

All our imperfections aside - love is pure, love is true.

XO

M



Do Not Despair

This video...the message...no words could do it justice.

It speaks for itself incredibly well. 

Content:

Charles Chaplin, Speech from The Great Dictator

xo

M

Love Token 113: Life's A Happy Song

Zachary Scott for The New York Times

I love The Muppets and I love Bret McKenzie.

So needless to say, the following put a lovely smile on my face today.

BTW have you gone to see the new Muppet's movie yet?
I really want to check it out!

NYTimes

xo
M


Cut & Paste Tuesdays

In my dreams I imagine one kick-ass book club party here

pinterest

xo

M

love LOVE love LOVE

I am a lover, not a fighter.

This tailspins off a campaign that is near and dear to my heart.

I saw this graphic image today and wanted to share.

xo

M

Love Token 112: You Me & Charlie

I stumbled onto Diana Agron's blog today and I really LOVE it.

While I admit I am not a "Gleek", I like this actress and her perspectives.

Check it out here

Diana posted this wonderful poem and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

inspire

THE ARCHIPELAGO of KISSES

We live in a modern society.

Husbands and wives don’t grow on trees, like in the old days.

So where does one find love?

When you’re sixteen it’s easy, like being unleashed with a credit card

in a department store of kisses.

There’s the first kiss.

The sloppy kiss. The peck.

The sympathy kiss. The backseat smooch.

The we shouldn’t be doing this kiss.

The but your lips taste so good kiss.

The bury me in an avalanche of tingles kiss.

The I wish you’d quit smoking kiss.

The I accept your apology, but you make me really mad sometimes kiss.

The I know your tongue like the back of my hand kiss.

As you get older, kisses become scarce.

You’ll be driving home and see a damaged kiss on the side of the road, with its purple thumb out.

If you were younger, you’d pull over, slide open the mouth’s red door just to see how it fits.

Oh where does one find love?

If you rub two glances, you get a smile.

Rub two smiles, you get a warm feeling.

Rub two warm feelings and presto-you have a kiss.

Now what?

Don’t invite the kiss over and answer the door in your underwear.

It’ll get suspicious and stare at your toes.

Don’t water the kiss with whiskey.

It’ll turn bright pink and explode into a thousand luscious splinters, but in the morning it’ll be ashamed and sneak out of your body without saying good-bye, and you’ll remember that kiss forever by all the little cuts it left on the inside of your mouth.

You must nurture the kiss.

Turn out the lights.

Notice how it illuminates the room.

Hold it to your chest and wonder if the sand inside hourglasses comes from a special beach.

Place it on the tongue’s pillow, then look up the first recorded kiss in an encyclopedia: beneath

a Babylonian olive tree in 1200 B.C.

But one kiss levitates above all the others.

The intersection of function and desire. The I do kiss.

The I’ll love you through a brick wall kiss.

Even when I’m dead, I’ll swim through the Earth, like a mermaid of the soil, just to be next to your bones.

The Archipelago of Kisses, by Jeffrey McDaniel

XO

M

Love Token 111: You Can Do What You Want

Every now and then a little pick me up and a dose of Cat Stevens can be just what my heart & soul ordered.

Inspire

"Be Yourself; Everyone Else Is Taken"

Oscar Wilde

Happy Friday All!

xo

M

Love Token 110: Acceptance

Yikes....

Brutal, I know.

Someone pressed the fast-forward button on my life and well, here we are.

My life is surrounded by happiness, peace, calm and love.
It is constant, it is alive and it is nutured.
It emcompasses many tokens that are my soul food.
It has room to grow, challenge, change, and develop on a daily basis which makes this continuous journey so exciting.

I will be jumping back on this train of documentation, just had a few balls in the air that I needed to bring down :)

While a lot of my blogger curating has been invested now with Pinterest, I want to keep my blog and my pins seperate.

It can be a challenge some days, but hey it just means a little more focused effort on my part.

I saw these quotes today and had to share.

We are the sum of our parts, flaws and all - and as long as we are genuine, gracious, kind and authentic I think we are all doing a good job.

"I must learn to love the fool in me — the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for my fool."

Found here (psst... a new fav blog of mine)

Theodore I. Rubin, MD (via modernhepburn)

(Source: verbosevina, via modernhepburn)

xo

M

Daily Mantra

Inspire

Love Token 109: Children Book Lessons

This one is an oldy but a goody.

So many truths in stories from long ago.

Via ordinary courage

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real, you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams



XO

M

Cut & Paste Tuesdays

I love the water.

While I am not the most confident or strongest swimmer. I love being surrounded by its presence.

There is something about being on a boat - the sense of exploration and wild abadonment that nothing else matches.

Enjoy!

Inspire

xo

M

Love Token 108: The Universe Has A Plan



Things come and go - money comes and go, tee-shirts come and go. Sometimes there are greater forces at work than we are aware of. You just gotta role with those f**king punches.

- David, How to Make it In America

Life is. Paths are where they lead.

As confusing as it may seem.

Things happen for a reason, good or bad -they happen.

And knowing that is half the battle to the light at the end of  the tunnel.

It seems this theme has been reoccuring in my life the past few days.

Things are fortunately great for me, but I cannot help but think about others who feel as if life is beating them down and I wanted to share these thoughts.

xo

M

Love Token 107: Wind In My Hair

Wind In My Hair While Biking Downhill.

Love it.

pinterest

xo

M

Love Token 106: Splash of Cold Water On The Face

the uber blog

Seriously, this month has been insanely busy.

But the daily motions are not being taken for granted.

I have had a really great time even though things are in over drive.

1. Visits from family & friends
2. Serenity get-a-ways
3. Waving good-bye to 29 and greeting the unknown of 30
4. Giggles
5. Kisses from the sun
6. Hugs
7. Laughter
8. Toes in the sand
9. The sound of the ocean
10. The smell of cedar
11. The look of love

So while my life is in fast-forward with minimal moments to take a breath... I know each day is a gift and being alive, healthy and happy is a huge success on its own.

xo

M

Cut & Paste Tuesdays

This image brings me up, makes me feel light and free.

Perfect for the feel that summer can bring.

summer-salts

xo

M

Cut & Paste Tuesdays

I saw this photo and thought this would be a dreamy magical area to curl up with a cup of tea and get lost for a few hours in a really good book.

It really defines for me sailing away with your own imagination.

I just love it and since I can't afford this kind of concept yet, I will definitely cut and paste myself into it for the day.

day.dk

XO

M

Cut & Paste Tuesdays

Life has been a wee bit busy, but I had to include this photo for cut and paste Tuesday.

Love it.

Happiness Is

xo

M

The Feeling of Fortunate

Donna Chomichuk

XO

M

Cut & Paste Tuesdays

Another walk down nostalgia lane for Cut & Paste Tuesday.

I love(d) my own private space ever since I was a little girl.

I relished in making forts/tents out of blankets, chairs and to weigh it down with the heaviest books I could find.

Whenever I would have a sleepover I had the opportunity to share my fort designs - and no matter how many times the blankets pulled and the books fell onto our little heads - we loved it.

It was "our" space

I was so obsessed with this little ritual that probably for the sake of reducing brain damage my sister bought me a tent for my 9th birthday to set up indoors/outdoors at my pleasing...

I ... loved it....

Do you remember your private little get-aways?

Was it a playhouse, treehouse, fort, tent...and weren't they just THE BEST!

Enjoy :)

Pinterest

XO
M

Push Through

A quote near and dear to my heart is from the brilliant and way ahead of his time, Albert Einstein.

I loved this quote so much I made it my 2005 New Years Mantra...6 years later I still try to put this intention into practice everyday.

I have always found it motivating and encouraging.

That through the bad, the hard, the ugly life can bring - there is an opportunity to change.. to prevail, to move foward.

Click Here

Here is another supportive quote I stumbled across today

Inspire

Love it



I hope these motivators help you get through your week no matter what curve balls are thrown your way.

XO
M