This week was a good one for me. I was introduced, by e-mail, to a lovely young woman who resides in the Netherlands, and who shares many of the same interests as I do. Before I had even communicated with her or seen a picture of her, I felt connected to her in my heart. She is extremely open-hearted, giving, artistic, thoughtful, and beautiful! In just this one week, she has provided me with so much inspiration and encouragement to get busy writing and begin my creative journey. She is a full-time photographer, a prolific blogger, artist, reader, and world traveler. I have been longing for this kind of interaction for the longest time! Ever since I have returned home from the PCT, I have been desiring to be part of a writing group or somehow be prodded to write and be held accountable for it. In the past several months, I have spent a lot of time outwardly searching for jobs, but barely anytime exploring what already resides inside of me. In several of my yoga classes that I took during the winter, when I was struggling with so many things, one clear message would return to me: You have everything that you need within you.

I have decided, in large part because of my introduction to Mariet and witnessing the work that she has done, to commit to exploring what I already have to offer inside of myself. It is because of her that I have made a commitment to write as many days as I can. And it is because of her that I am going to start dabbling in more creative experiments. After writing to her only once, she sent me this beautiful artwork that she created for me as encouragement:

I almost couldn’t believe it! This girl is a gem!

Here is Mariet’s blog:
http://www.yourinspirationblog.nl/

(There is a translation button and tons of extraordinarily beautiful photographs and inspiring ideas!)

I can’t thank you enough, Mariet!! My heart is starting to awaken and dance again!

“You don’t measure love in time. You measure love in transformation. Sometimes the longest connections yield very little growth, while the briefest of encounters change everything. The heart doesn’t wear a watch – it’s timeless. It doesn’t care how long you know someone. It doesn’t care if you had a 40 year anniversary if there is no juice in the connection. What the heart cares about is resonance. Resonance that opens it, resonance that enlivens it, resonance that calls it home. And when it finds it, the transformation begins…”
-Jeff Brown