My mother's beautiful photography, and her favorite trees! When I was a little girl, and attending church, there was something called fast and testimony meeting. A lot of hungry people standing up and affirming their belief in Jesus Christ, and their belief that the church was true. Children got up in droves to do this. And like the adults they would recite pretty much rote, "I'd like to bear my testimony, I know the church is true..." This statement was followed by any number of possible parole: stories, swells of appreciation, scripture, etc. etc. I'll never forget the day when it was my turn to play follow the leader, to get up in front of a large congregation and proclaim my testimony of the gospel. I must have still been in the single digits, one Sunday, when my mother whispered to me, "Only say you know the church is true if you know that it is. Otherwise you can say that you are learning the church is true." The idea of authenticity behind these

This morning I find myself falling in love all over again--with life, with the simplicity of it. The goodness of my body as it stretched its limbs and explored the world of endurance at yoga this morning, with the teacher who makes you hold your poses just a little too long. The return of the green smoothie in my blender. The excitement of combining berries and yogurt, with three giant dark green leaves of kale! Oh, how I've missed you! With the most magical of all ingredients: drum roll-- rich local raw honey ! Oh the splendor of going to the local co-op and discovering this rich delight. And it was on sale! $4 for a almost 32 oz! So cheap I could take a bath in it! (My friend turned me onto it when she told me raw local honey was an amazing cold remedy. She was right! Nature's own expectorant! Apparently, it has to be raw and local, something about the local pollens; apparently, great for allergies and asthma too!) The sun shining through, here and there, when the forecast ca

Photo credit J.Scott Bovitz The other night I gathered with a couple of my very good friends. They are the kind of friends that value every precious part of this journey of the heart-- finding the treasure of being simply you, being present in the moment, not missing any of what is right in front of you-- of loving far and wide, and farther still. They can spend countless hours discussing it (we have had to set a curfew!). The best is how we allow for all the contradicting parts of us, letting us move at our own pace, and in our very individual way--lovingly challenging our stories, nudging us out of them, and cultivating an openness to hearing about ourselves, because we recognize that it is easier to see others than to see ourselves! The most precious is how each of us, by sinking into our very unique selves brings something so different to the mix, and yet, we find through sharing our experiences, that we are looking into the mirror of our very sacred Selves. This particular evening

Photo credit: the awesome photography of J. Scott Bovitz My life feels a little like a migraine at the moment. Everything feels a little strained and stretched out at the edges, no ease at making sense of it all. Everything a little out of order. A familiar place, that circles around every so often, without fail. I see how my perception is creating this, because I have a list of running stories in my head, without much desire to question them. I find myself in judgement of myself and others, feeling foggy-headed as to how to proceed in the present moment in my pursuit of world peace, chasing concepts I thought I understood, but never quite catching up. Bad Brooke. Clearly the mind has gained control. Such a fine line between allowing life to happen, and controlling your allowing-of-life to happen. Sneaks up on you. Time to unravel. I remind myself that if I am chasing peace, that my ego-mind is in control, because only this part of me would believe that peace is something to chase a

This morning I noticed a part of my vision out of my right eye was missing when I was ordering a cup of joe at my favorite coffee shop. I wasn't too alarmed by it, because I've learned to question my fear, so I went about my morning activities, noticing thoughts coming up, but telling myself just to wait and watch. I noticed not long after, the bottom part of my vision in my right eye was swimming. This was a little more alarming. Then the crazy vision was explained as a migraine began to set in on the opposite side of my head. It was subtle at first, but clearly intensifying. However, I was determined to make good use of my time, so, I just breathed through it, drinking an absurd amount of water in case I was merely dehydrated. Then I noticed that I literally couldn't understand any words I was reading. I couldn't get the words to stabilize. It was as if each word had no relation to any word next to it, like they existed independently, but had no meaning in and of them

Stand By Me Playing For Change Song Around The World from Concord Music Group on Vimeo . This is a video of street singers/musicians from around the world being recorded, overlayed and mixed with one another while singing the song Stand By Me . This touched me. Thanks bro for sending it! Thank you to all of you who leave your beautiful comments here, standing by me:) I love when technology is used in a way to bring us together! Enjoy!