If I were...

If I were a month I’d be May

If I were a day I’d be Friday

If I were a time of day I’d be 6:00 a.m.

If I were a font I'd be papyrus

If I were a planet I'd be mars

If I were a direction I'd be south

If i were a piece of furniture I’d be the kitchen table

If I were a liquid I'd be an essential oil

If i were a gemstone I'd be an opal

If I were a tree I'd be an Atlas Cedarwood

If I were an element I’d be water

 If I were a tool I’d be scissors

If I were a flower I'd be a red geranium

If I were an element of weather I'd be a sunny day

If I were a musical instrument I’d be a player piano 

If I were a color I’d be orange

If I were an emotion I’d be inspiration

If I were a fruit I'd be a ripe fig

If I were a sound I’d be pouring rain with a bit of rolling thunder

If I were a car I’d be an orange Karmen Ghia

If I were a food I’d be baklava

If I were a place I’d be Terme di Saturnia

If I were material I’d be well-worn cotton

If I were a taste I’d be bittersweet

If I were a scent I’d be patchouli

If I were a body part I’d be the hands

If I were a song I'd be Baba O'Reilly by The Who

If I were a bird I'd be a magpie

If I were a gift I’d be given late

If I were a city I’d be Florence

If I were a door I'd open onto a flower garden

If I were a pair of shoes I'd be slip-ons

If I were a poem I'd rhyme and be funny

This exercise was more telling about myself than I expected - the answers came easily and were not necessary "my favorite things."  Why not give it a try!  To read two more, go here and here.

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Don't forget...today is the last day to vote in my poll and giveaway!

My Blue Room Earrings

Julie Broberg is an American living in Denmark.   We met one year ago in April when I stumbled upon her Flickr account and was mesmerized by the photos she had posted.   I wrote asking what camera she used which led to a friendly exchange of emails and an invitation for me to visit her blog Moments of Perfect Clarity   It may sound corny and cliche, but I was so inspired by her words and images and unbridled creativity that a month later I created this here bit 'o writing. 

When Julie declared me a blog crush last May, that I was it.  I had become a firm disciple of Julochkaism*.   (*Julochkaism:  A doctrine I just this second made up whose principles embody: "writing as the new praying", art journaling, retreats know as "blog camp"and taking photographs of shoes, eyeballs and daily life).

In the past year Julie as been responsible for depleting my savings account has inspired me to purchase my Nikon D60 and MacBook Pro.  The only reason I don't have an iPhone is because AT&T isn't my cellphone provider.   If this pattern continues, I may find myself buying a 17-acre farm in the future.  Check out her latest project.  It's remarkable and I'm so glad that I only have to read about it and not actually get in there and clear cobwebs. 

Last December, Julie held a  contest of sorts for what she considered the best thoughts on the meaning of one of her photographs.  To my utter amazement, I won (scroll to the bottom this post to read about it).    Julie promised a handmade prize and sure enough, it arrived a few weeks ago.  I've been wearing it ever since.

Thank you Julochka for the Blue Room Earrings (named for her studio) made by your talented little hands.   More importantly, thank you for enriching my life in the past year with your constantly evolving creativity and your friendship.  I can't wait to see what you get up to in 2010.

 

What Do I Wish to Take a Break From?

Girl at Mirror, 1954
The Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1954 (cover)
Oil on canvas
The Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge (Massachusetts)

They say men think about sex every 7 seconds.  I'm betting American women think about their bodies every 5 seconds.  With me it's about every 3 seconds. 

From the time I wake up in the morning to just before sleeping at night,  I am aware of my body size.   What I actually weigh doesn't matter - thin or heavy, eating well or binging - the awareness is constant. 

I wish to take a break from attention on my body and just relax with who I am, how I am. 

What do YOU wish to take a break from? 

A Poll and a Giveaway

THE POLL
I'm trying to make a decision about something and would love your help.

In about 6 weeks, I'll be launching an online store to sell my line of essential oils.  I began selling essential oils in 1998 as a way to provide a high quality product to my  aromatherapy students when they were difficult to obtain locally.   The objective at the time was to keep sales small and local.  I didn't give much thought to naming the line so when Liz's Garden Aromatherapy popped into my head, that was the name I gave to the small company.

Now, 12 years later, I feel blessed that my career as an Aromatherapy Educator has blossomed and as a result, essential oils sales have grown and my audience has gotten wider.  I can no longer ignore the need for an online retail store. 

Here's  my self-imposed dilemma...

Do I keep the name Liz's Garden Aromatherapy or change it to The Fragrant Muse Aromatics?   This is a decision I need to make now before propelling the business further into cyberspace.  What are your thoughts, opinions or advice on names for a line of high quality organic oils?   I would also love to hear your thoughts on why you made the choice you did.  It's always interesting how a name sounds to someone else.

I have placed a poll bar on my right sidebar where you can vote until Monday, March 22.  If you have something different in mind, you can either let me know in a comment below or email me at thefragrantmuse@gmail.com.

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THE GIVEAWAY

I've decided to host a giveaway.  The prize is a 15ml bottle each of our most popular therapeutic blends:  Allergy/Sinus Relief and Muscle/Joint Relief.

How can you win?    Just leave a comment here by Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. EST.  On Sunday evening the winner will be chosen using the very non-scientific method of printing out a list of folks who have left a comment, cutting out the individual names, putting them in a hat and letting my husband reach in and draw out a name. 

Remember the contest will run through

Sunday, March 28, 2010 at
5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (NYC time).  

 The winner will be announced here on Monday, March 29th  


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Throwing Muddy Stones into Icy Water

Last fall I wrote this post about taking The Bean to the Susquehanna River where we ended up in a fever of rock pitching.   During a recent cold weekend with too much time spent in the house, I suggested we bundle up our little man and take him to the now-icy river bank and try it again.

No need to give this child instructions.

    The minute we reached the river, he bent down
and picked up a muddy rock.

 

James began skipping flat stones
(Note he's wearing his Cifelli Hat to which he's added feathers)

Some things don't change with age.