if i had my life to live over

this morning in yoga, my teacher started with a bitter sweet poem - if i had my life to live over.  the poem speaks to our tendency to put things off, dream of the future and forget the present moment - the only thing we ever really have.

if i had my life to live over

i'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
i'd relax, i would limber up.
i would be sillier than i have been this trip.
i would take fewer things seriously.
i would take more chances.
 
i would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.
i would eat more ice cream and less beans.
i would perhaps have more actual troubles,
but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
 

you see, i'm one of those people who live
sensibly and sanely hour after hour, 
day after day.
  
oh, i've had my moments,
and if i had it to do over again,
i'd have more of them.
in fact, i'd try to have nothing else.
just moments, one after another,
instead of living so many years ahead of each day.

i've been one of those people who never goes anywhere
without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat
and a parachute.
if i had to do it again, i would travel lighter than i have.

if i had my life to live over,
i would start barefoot earlier in the spring
and stay that way later in the fall.
i would go to more dances.
i would ride more merry-go-rounds.
i would pick more daisies.

by nadine stair, 85 years old

we don't get any do-overs.  this one life is it.  pursue your passions, follow your heart and when you look back at 85, don't wish for a chance to do it better.

what can you do today to make sure you'll have no regrets tomorrow?.

happy birthday, dad : )

in honor of my dad's birthday and also the first day of summer, i wanted to share a poem i have grown to love.  (my favorite part is italicized : )

summer field

the summer day

who made the world?
who made the swan, and the black bear?
who made the grasshopper?
this grasshopper, i mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
i don't know exactly what a prayer is.
i do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what i have been doing all day.
tell me, what else should i have done?
doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

-mary oliver

i think her balance of observations and questions is so poignant in this particular poem.  each time i read it, it surprises me with its eloquence and simplicity.  so, today i ask you, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?.

stopping by woods...

credit {here}

winter weather is certainly descending upon us.  there's a chill in the air, frost on the windows and smoke rising from the chimneys.  with the promise of snow, i cannot help but think of one of my favorite winter poems.  it's an oldie but a goodie : )

stopping by woods on a snowy evening

whose woods these are i think i know.
his house is in the village, though;
he will not see me stopping here
to watch his woods fill up with snow.

my little horse must think it queer
to stop without a farmhouse near
between the woods and frozen lake
the darkest evening of the year.

he gives his harness bells a shake
to ask if there is some mistake.
the only other sound's the sweep
of easy wind and downy flake.

the woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
but i have promises to keep,
and miles to go before i sleep,
and miles to go before i sleep.

- robert frost

i hope those lovely lines leave you with a wonderful wintry image in your mind.  happy december!

credit {here}

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i carry your heart

hearts

hannie (my little sis) is coming back from ohio!  she's been out there completing her governess certification ever since she graduated from college.  so, first off, congrats han : )  and secondly, yay!!! you're coming home!!!  in honor of my baby sister's return, i wanted to share our favorite poem with you all.  (it's a good one.)  enjoy : )

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
- ee cummings

i carry your heart

we always write the closing line to one another in cards, in emails, on facebook walls, in text messages, etc.  when i was studying in paris, i got us a pair of necklaces each inscribed with part of the final line, and for last christmas, i wrote a melody to sing the verses to.  so, yeah...we love this poem : )  it's our little code to say "i'm thinking of you and with you, where ever you might be". 

i carry your <3 (i carry it in my <3).