Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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leak stop & friday 5 at the farm

Hello, and happy Friday! I have one million thoughts and feelings to share but will distill them a bit.

This week my cup is full, running over actually, and I am humbled beyond words. The outpouring of love from people in my inner circle has been so fierce that I almost cannot look straight at it all. I know what a gift it is right now, how it is meant to be accepted and kept, and I intend to keep it refilling my heart for a long time. So with some deliberateness, I am storing it up. My normal tendencies might have me diluting it all and leaching it away with negative self talk or listening to critics too much; so instead I am applying a leak stop to keep that from happening. Just thoughts and intentions, really, but it matters.

Five Stories This Week I Forgot to Tell You:

  1. KFOR visited the farm. News anchor Ali Meyer and her very cool photographer Travis spent a couple of hours with us on Tuesday, and we made lots of happy memories. I can’t wait to tell you all about this.
  2. Date Night! Also on Tuesday, Handsome and I had a date night exploring Factory Obscura in Midtown then feasted on Tex Mex, late in the evening. Have you been? To Factory Obscura? (I assume if you read this blog tat we have plenty in common and you have eaten Tex Mex at least three thousand times.) Factory Obscura is a fantastic immersive art exhibit absolutely bursting with texture, creativity, stimulation, everything. My husband liked it ok, haha, but he also was glad we attended for free with Yelp. It’s not for everybody. It is very much for me. I want to go again. Go with me?
  3. Chores around here are pleasantly caught up for mid-January. (Side note: I accidentally typed MUD January, and almost let it stay. Because it’s so true.) Christmas is tucked away, the fields are 80% clean, the animals are fat and happy (except for Zsa Zsa, who recently had a moment of conflict with Pacino), and the house is pretty organized and clean. I feel those happy, late winter urges to scrub walls and purge clutter, to add green houseplants and order seeds for spring. It’s great to be caught up so all of this can be enjoyed day to day.
  4. Marathon training is warming up. I feel amazing. On week four now, my mileage is solid, and the speed work and tempo runs are so exhilarating! I think I have a good plan going (Hansons Advanced), and I certainly have all the support I could possibly dream of. The race is in 99 days. Eek!
  5. Books! This week I am rotating between Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr. It’s like approaching the same goal (wholeness and vitality) from two very different and complimentary angles (spirit and discipline). Next week I’ll read The Alchemist to be ready for a discussion dinner.

Okay, Handsome just left the room to make popcorn. I need to be part of that rainy day luxury. Thank you for touching base!

Oh! Bonus story, make this soup:

modified greatly from the original Run Fast East Slow cookbook

Happy weekend, friends. You are loved.

“Most people think they lack motivation
When what they really lack is clarity.”
~James Clear in Atomic Habits
XOXOXOXO

grievances & a luscious start to the new year

Hello, friend, and happy new year! How has your crossover been so far? Ours has been light and easy and anchored by a few of our favorite little rituals.

Last night we watched part of a fun burlesque show in Oklahoma City (thanks to our friend Mer for the tickets!). Most of the women attending were dressed in flapper style dresses and beaded, feathered headbands wrapped around the fronts of their foreheads. Really pretty! I’m inspired for the decade just by that!

Ducking out early, we cruise through a very festive Bricktown party then made it home and into our bed for the midnight countdown. Klaus was ever so grateful we were home at a reasonable hour. Amanda Shaw performed on TV! She is a New Orleans musician who we saw perform live on the West Bank several years ago. Her lively Zydeco rendition of Auld Lang Syne last night was so perfect. I do miss the Quarter.

We fell into a deep, efficient sleep which lasted all the way to six this morning; then while waiting for daybreak, we sipped strong coffee, enjoyed a growling fireplace, and read each other last year’s grievances. I want to talk more about that in a minute. After a while, we ate a slow brunch together and walked around the farm, telling all the furred and feathered residents, “Happy New Year!” It has been a bright and blustery day so far. Warm, windy, intense light. An auspicious, energizing start.

Every year, our Grievances are a good, strong mix of details. We both write spontaneous memories of work and play, memories big and small. (Which means they’re all big. You know.) We love it.

This morning I noticed a few themes in our 2019 Grievances:

  • Lots of sensuous rain and thunderstorm notes (it was an especially wet year)
  • Lots of joy from entertaining (we hosted tons of parties and family gatherings this past year, which we love doing)
  • Lots of celebrating a long list of heavy farm projects. (Some of the things we fixed or built or created this year, already seem like they’ve been around much longer. It was a productive year!)
  • Lots of xxx romance (that’s not blog rated ok)

Some years our grievances seem to orbit the overcoming of stress or grief. Sometimes that’s just how life is. And we accept it all as part of the masterpiece.

This past year, based on how we seem to feel and also how these scrappy little Grievances played out, our energy was really constructive. Definitely stronger, more deliberate, plenty outbound and of the carpe diem flavor. I love it.

This makes me curious about what this next year might hold. I’m not writing resolutions, because intention setting and meditation have been so much more fruitful. I’m keeping with that. And I am paying attention to the flow of energy. The rhythms of life. We have good reason to believe that a few wonderful answers are on the horizon’s razor edge.

But even without that, we would continue to feed hope. We would continue to choose joy. Those dark, more difficult chapters grew us to inhabit this one. This chapter of strength and so much celebration, ready and waiting for even more.

So happy new year to you, friend!! How is your energy today, and how have you been able to take stock of this threshold? I hope you are filled with peace and contentment, enough energy to work and play, and all the assurance that Love conquers literally everything. Light drives out every shadow.

Ok. Signing off. Talk soon about books worth reading and marathon training?

XOXOXOXO

first saturday read-watch-listen of 2020

What a week. What a season! Is your heart as brimming as mine, and are your mind and body also craving some strong, maybe boring routine? This first full work week back at it has been wonderful for that. Every year, though they wipe us out in some ways, the holidays grow in their power to inspire and nourish me. It all bolsters me for our plain and simple regular life, which I love deeply.

My paper whites have finally sprouted!!

Ok. In the spirit of reclaiming some routine, how about a good old fashioned Saturday read-watch-listen roundup? As always, I would love to know what input you’re enjoying, too. Let’s do this.

READ: Over the holiday break and into this week I have enjoyed three books that, despite being very different topics with vastly unique authors, are surprisingly harmonious. I will try to share detailed reviews of each, because they are deserving and I think many of you will find them perfect complements for your life journeys. So nourishing and provocative.

  • The Sacred Enneagram by Christopher Heuertz
  • The Passion Paradox by Brad Stulberg & Steve Magness
  • The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr

WATCH:

  • Tell Me Who I Am (Netflix). Wow. Watch at your own risk, friends. The description lured me in, a fascinating topic, but the story takes a deep, dark twisted nosedive. I watched it on the treadmill one day, and it was unsettling to say the least.
  • All the Star Wars movies in story timeline order!! This was my husband’s idea after we saw the newest film in the theater. It was great fun and an excellent way to force some down time over Christmas break.
  • Yellowstone series. Man. Gorgeous scenery. Incredible actors. Intense story lines and character evolution. Loved it all!

LISTEN:

  • podcast by Run4PRs lately has been especially great. Victoria offers valuable stuff on staying healthy during cold & flu season, self belief, tempo work, and more. Love it.
  • podcast episode by Bulletproof Radio with guest Dr. Andrew Weil: They discuss the mind-body connection (are we just one organism actually?) and the placebo effect, breathing techniques, different cultures’ attitudes toward aging, and lots more. I was especially fascinated to hear there is a university now offering a curriculum on the science of coincidence. WHAT. Can I audit that class?
  • podcast episode by Marathon Training Academy interviewing Coach Bob Larsen This was both fun and informational. I had a glancing familiarity with Larsen after reading Deena Castor’s book Let Your Mind Run, and he shared more about his own life in this interview. It also put on my radar a documentary called City Slickers Can’t Stay With Me. Have you seen it?

Okay as I wrap this up, the farm is still dark and we hear sleet falling outside. No snow yet, but my fingers are crossed. Our work is caught up, and I even washed my hair yesterday, ha! So assuming we keep power, today could be an amazing rest day. I plan to soak it up.

Happy weekend, friends! Thank you for checking in. Carpe your diem.

“Lose yourself in the work.”
~Yellowstone
XOXOXO

Merry Christmas Eve from the farm, friends. I am thankful for you and for all the richness and connection my life enjoys because of this intermittent meeting.

Handsome, Klaus and I are luxuriating in stillness today. It is perhaps the first time in a few months we have done so, and it may be the last such day off together for a while. I knew it was coming, this brief reprieve with no errands or difficult work, not even shopping or running, so I readied myself for it and am so happy.

Our tree is surrounded with wrapped surprises for friends and family. Our kitchen is overflowing with good things to eat. And, most importantly, our hearts have never been more deeply rooted in hope. I feel the vibrations of that inaudible bass drum of anticipation for bigger, brighter miracles than we have ever seen before.

Life exactly as it is, right this minute, is unbelievably beautiful, the big picture marred only by being temporarily separated from Jocelyn. To say that I miss her is an understatement; but I know after all we have been through to trust. We cling to promises and thrive on hope and the power of Love and joy to bridge us again, just as they did a few years ago, just as they did with Jessica more recently. Then we return our attention to the millions of beautiful details in this day, to the incredible miracles already at work in our world. How can I ever doubt Him?

Nothing is lost. All things are possible. Love has a vibration, a unique and unparalleled power.

And? The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Words matter, friends. They become real, tangible things. They save us. It’s how everything was created, by words. It’s how we are designed. Just a little reminder and (hopefully) an encouragement.

So, a very Merry Christmas from everyone here at the farm, to you and everyone in your world. Whatever your burdens and losses, may your joys far outweigh them. However you celebrate, may Love be the root and fulfilling motivation behind it all. Talk again soon.

XOXOXO

http://lazywmarie.com/8923-2/

Merry Christmas Eve from the farm, friends. I am thankful for you and for all the richness and connection my life enjoys because of this intermittent meeting.

Handsome, Klaus and I are luxuriating in stillness today. It is perhaps the first time in a few months we have done so, and it may be the last such day off together for a while. I knew it was coming, this brief reprieve with no errands or difficult work, not even shopping or running, so I readied myself for it and am so happy.

Our tree is surrounded with wrapped surprises for friends and family. Our kitchen is overflowing with good things to eat. And, most importantly, our hearts have never been more deeply rooted in hope. I feel the vibrations of that inaudible bass drum of anticipation for bigger, brighter miracles than we have ever seen before.

Life exactly as it is, right this minute, is unbelievably beautiful, the big picture marred only by being temporarily separated from Jocelyn. To say that I miss her is an understatement; but I know after all we have been through to trust. We cling to promises and thrive on hope and the power of Love and joy to bridge us again, just as they did a few years ago, just as they did with Jessica more recently. Then we return our attention to the millions of beautiful details in this day, to the incredible miracles already at work in our world. How can I ever doubt Him?

Nothing is lost. All things are possible. Love has a vibration, a unique and unparalleled power.

And? The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Words matter, friends. They become real, tangible things. They save us. It’s how everything was created, by words. It’s how we are designed. Just a little reminder and (hopefully) an encouragement.

So, a very Merry Christmas from everyone here at the farm, to you and everyone in your world. Whatever your burdens and losses, may your joys far outweigh them. However you celebrate, may Love be the root and fulfilling motivation behind it all. Talk again soon.

XOXOXO

http://lazywmarie.com/8922-2/