Out With the Old/In With the New

It is a new year. Happy 2023 everybody. To kick it off here is my first post of the new year. And I am sure it is a familiar subject for most if not all of you. It is out with the old and in with the new. That means we get rid of the old in order to bring in anything new. That leads me to my very first quote of this post. Eileen Caddy says “Life is full and overflowing with the new. But it is necessary to empty out the old to make room for the new to enter.” In other words we pretty much need to de clutter in order to make room for anything new. So this is the end to this post because although I could go on and on about this subject, but I will stop here.

Out With the Old, In With the New

I say goodbye to all the people and things weigh me down
Because if life taught us anything it is the fact that we do not
Deserve it when our megawatt smiles turn into sullen frowns.

Say goodbye to the things that turn our stomachs into knots
Much like a lasso that does not untangle or come undone.
Sometimes we miss the people we used to know and spots

Where we used to hang out. We are more worthy of the sun,
Moon and stars when we trust the people who give them to us
Instead of questioning their motives. Some days we have spun

Out of control, but we learn to let go of the things we fussed
Or fought over. Much like we shed the things that no longer fit
Us like the clothes and skin we used to wear, we adjust

To the changes and loads we must carry. So as the world sits
And watches just remember to breathe and never quit.

Blessings

Life is always a roller coaster ride, filled with many ups and downs. Sometimes we tend to focus on the bad or negative things. On the flip side we sometimes ignore the good or positive things. Whether it is good or bad, positive or negative, it does not matter. What matters is that we need to focus on our blessings. You know that saying a blessing in disguise? That is what this post is about. We can say that when things are going bad it it is a blessing in disguise. That leads me into the first quote of this post by Oscar Wilde. He says “What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessing in disguises.” So when we think of something as bitter or bad or negative it is actually disguised as a blessing or something good.

I could go on and on about this topic but I will conclude by sharing one last quote and this poem to end this year of 2022. Manisha Shrestha Bundela says “Hard times are often blessings in disguise. Let go and let life strengthen you. No matter how much it hurts, hold your head up and keep going. This is an important lesson to remember when you’re having a rough day, a bad month, or a crappy year. Truth be told, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your spirit needs most. Your past was never a mistake if you learned from it. So take all the crazy experiences and lessons and place them in a box labeled ‘Thank You.’” And with that I wish you all a merry Christmas, happy holidays and a happy new year. See you next year!

Good Blessings

I tumbled headfirst yet I still keep
My footing on stable ground.
The light was there as I was deep
In the darkness. I was crowned
With so many blessings even as
The blessings turned ugly and had
Thorns, but my foot was on the gas
Pedal going through all the bad
Patches and weeds trying to slow
Me down. I held my head high
As the constant ebb and flow
Was trickling. Saying goodbye
Was right there on my tongue,
But the blessings kept coming
And made me forever young.
I was walking instead of running
Towards everything I was once
Afraid of. Nothing is diminishing
My spirits or keeps me from the suns
As I am one step closer to finishing.

Simple Gratitude

I thought this post would be great to share with Thanksgiving around the corner. I know I have probably talked about gratitude before, but I will definitely be sharing more about this topic. I have talked about gratitude in the big and small things. In this post I will be talking about having gratitude for the simplest things. That leads me into my first quote of this post by Randy Pausch. He says “Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” Something as simple as gratitude goes a long way and makes this world a better place in the end.

There is that one person who we show gratitude for because they make have brought us from a dark place and brought us into the light. They may have saved us time and time again. That is what the poem I am posting down below is all about. We think about gratitude in terms of objects but gratitude can also be showed in person form as well. That person can be a loved one like a friend or lover or family member. That person does not always need to be someone else because we can also show gratitude towards ourselves. That leads me into my next and final quote of this post by Albert Schweitzer. He says “At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” I want to conclude this post by saying how grateful I am for everything life has to offer.

I am also grateful for the air I breathe, the roof over my head, the clothes on my back, the food on the table and the job I have. Most of all I am grateful for the people who I have surrounded myself with who have been nothing but supportive as I go through good and bad things. Thank you for being on this journey with me. This poem is for you. I also wanted to share that this poem won runner up position for a competition I participated in on DUP.

Visual poem titled “Simple Gratitude.”

Community

I just want to apologize to everyone for the long hiatus. Things have been just crazy with life in general. I am sure that you heard my story of how I got started in poetry. I started writing in middle school and have been in love with it ever since. I use it mostly as an outlet… a way for me to try to get my feelings and thoughts out on paper so I had it somewhere instead of just in my head.

Another reason why I enjoy writing poetry so much is that it gives me a way to connect with others. I really just happened to stumble across Deep Underground Poetry and thanks to a friend of mine who also joined. I am thankful to that friend because Deep Underground Poetry has become a community. It has given me a chance to connect with other writers and it is an environment I feel safe in to be myself and share my work. Here is a quote by Mary Karr who describes it the best. “Poetry is for me Eucharistic. You take someone else’s suffering into your body, their passion comes into your body, and in doing that you commune, you take communion, you make a community with others.” That is what poetry really means to me, especially in the poetry community.

This post is dedicated to the Deep Underground Poetry community and to Bluevelvete who’s work I have been following. The following poem is a competition I participated in and received runner up. Thank you for being an inspiration and giving me the push and drive I need to keep writing. I thank each and everyone from the bottom of my heart. This community has been welcoming and has welcomed me with open arms.

Soft like Velvet

Just like flower petals you open up.
When life is feeling empty and
Extremely heavy you are the cup
That always remains full. You hand

Me parts of your soul and spirit
When mine is giving up. Your words
Bring hope. They are my one ticket
To the light in the darkness. Like birds

You fly me to a safer place. So my
Darling, I hope you never stop letting
The words float across the page die
Away. You are the soft and safe netting,

Protecting everyone. You are the ying
To my yang and the sweet to my sour.
You are like my miracle in the spring.
So I am thankful for you in every hour.

War

I apologize for not posting in a long time. I know that there is a lot going on with the world right now, but the main thing I’m thinking about is the war going on with the Ukraine and Russia. I feel like war is never the answer because it only brings pain, suffering and does not resolve anything. That leads me to my first quote of this post by Janet Morris who says “Wars don’t bring lasting peace, only lasting death.” And I feel like that quote is so true. On the other side of the spectrum is peace. That is something we need more of every day. I could go on and on about war and peace, but I think I will just leave it here.

“War Survivor” visual poem.

Real and True Love

I know that this post is a week late with Valentine’s Day just a couple of weeks ago, but I guess it is never too late when we talk about this subject. I just recently had a conversation with my closest friend who went through a bad breakup. I won’t go into all the details of what happened because that is her business. With that conversation and with everything that I have gone through in the past with past relationships I will talk about this subject of real and true love. I feel like this is a subject we can all relate to in one way or another. I think it is what a lot of us aim and strive for when we are looking for that right relationship. And for the most part it will find you rather than the other way around. That leads me to my first quote of this post. “When love is real it finds a way.” This echoes almost exactly what I said just before. It is what my best friend said to me once upon a time. True love will find you, especially when you least expect it. It could happen at work or it could really happen anywhere and with anyone.

We tend to think of love stories of having an ending, but I think the truth is that true love never has an ending. That leads me to my next quote. Richard Bach says “True love stories never have endings.” It is like what I said before… true love does not have an ending. I think that is why it is sometime called never ending love. It is love that never ends. A love that lasts until the day you both die. A love that you makes you feel cool and calm. I probably shared this quote already, but if I haven’t here it is. Monica Drake says “The Buddhists say if you meet somebody and your heart pounds, your hands shake, your knees go weak, that’s not the one. When you meet your ‘soul mate’ you’ll feel calm. No anxiety, no agitation.” Usually people tell you that your soulmate gives you butterflies and makes your knees go week. This quote is saying the opposite. Your soulmate should make you feel calm with no anxiety. They can still give you butterflies (the good kind).

I am fortunate enough to have a great example of what true and real love is. I look at the example of my parents. They have love that is undeniable. Yes, they fight and argue, but at the end of the day they still love each other. Love is imperfect. Once you find that real and true love you fight hard to keep it. You just have to make sure that love is mutual. That means if you love them they should love you back in return. In other words, it should not be a one sided type of love. That brings me into my next quote. “Love isn’t perfect. It isn’t a fairytale or a storybook and it doesn’t always come easy. Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together, holding on and never letting go. It is a short word, easy to spell, difficult to define, and impossible to live without. Love is work, but
most of all, love is realizing that every hour, every minute, every second of it was worth it because you did it together.” In other words, love has its imperfections, but sometime it is worth all the hard work, especially when you work together, not against each other.

I could go and on about this, but I will say this… it is a little piece of advice a friend once gave me, especially after leaving a relationship. Take the time to sit down with a piece of paper and make what could be kind of a checklist of everything you look for in a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/future spouse. I keep adding to the list and I know that it is still floating around somewhere. If I ever do find it I will definitely share it with you all. She said to include it in your vows whenever you do get married.

I will share two final final quote with you all. Ali Larter says “You know it’s right when you feel this undeniable connection and chemistry.” In other words, you just know when it is the right type of love. Love goes way beyond chemistry. You can just feel it in your head and heart. The second one by Pierre Alex Jeanty says “True love will come. It will not bring pain, but healing. It will not
bring confusion, but clarity. It will not awaken your insecurities, but put them to sleep. Real love will come and wipe away all the wrong experiences. Hold on.” In other words, hold on until you find that real love. That quote ties into one of the other quotes of this post about finding someone who makes you calm. Your soulmate is like a teammate or parter. They support you and have you putting away your insecurities/doubts.

I just encourage everyone to never give up on true or real love. This post is dedicated to my best friend since elementary school. I love you. This post and poem is dedicated to you. I hope someday you find someone who can give you that real feeling of love because you deserve it!

The Purest Love

All I wanted for you to do was to take me
Home, but every time I look into your eyes
I am already there. With your clothes
Thrown around my room and in this bed
With my head against your chest I think
To myself… this is all I ever really wanted.

With you in my head and my lungs I see
A bright future. All of the other guys
Could have me, but with all the oaths
I made to you the oaths stand true. I sink
To my knees because you are in my head
And heart. Others have never haunted

My dreams quite like you do. Somehow I
Thought every man before you was going
To save me, but I had to save myself and
Be okay with being by myself before
I could ever let anyone else in. I let you
In even with a protected and guarded

Heart. I saw my reflection in your eyes
And saw myself as you saw me… glowing
And filled with happiness. With your hands
All over me I was home. With the door
Of the past closed I could breathe. Too
Many times I thought I would be discarded

On the side of the road like I was totally
Forgotten about, but you picked me up
When the darkness became too much.
I just wanted for the good parts of our
Story to be what people remember when
They think about love. I was never afraid

Of losing to love, but losing the brokenly
Parts to my enemies who wanted my cup
To remain empty. It was your firm touch
That saved me. With every waking hour
I just want to to spend them all within
Your loving embrace. I never prayed

For anything more than what my parents
Have…. A strong and gentle love. An
Equal partnership. Love that lasts until
We are old and gray. Something that holds
My hand and heart with such carefulness.
Someone who will say I do at the end of

The aisle with sureness and assurance.
Promises with vows and rings with plans
For the future, giving my heart stillness
And not shakiness. When the truth unfolds
You will dive in with me with fearlessness
And with no room to be afraid. This is love.

Coffee Break & Tea Time

I know that a lot of people drink coffee or tea. I am one of those tea people. I remember my mom always told me to drink tea when I needed to calm down or when I was feeling nerves or when my stomach was upset. Whatever it was drinking tea was the solution. This brings me to my first quote of this blog post by Bernard-Paul Heroux. He says “There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.” That quote is so very true because no matter the situation I feel as if a cup of tea solves a lot of problems, no matter how big or little. It makes us re-evaluate any situation and get a bird’s eye view of what is going on.

Just taking a moment to step back and reflect helps a lot too. That brings me into my next quote of this post. Letitia Baldrige says “Tea time is a chance to slow down, pull back and appreciate our surroundings.” That is why I feel like we should make time almost every day for tea or coffee. That is why it is called tea time or coffee break. I feel like tea time is a British term. It really gives us a break during our busy days and a time to take a much needed breath or two. It gives us a clear had. There is so much more I could say about this subject, but I will stop here. I hope that all of my readers take the time to take a much needed tea time or coffee break when they need it. I hope that you enjoy the following the following poem.

Starting the Day with Tea

They always say it starts with a fresh, hot cup of tea
Because that is all I could think about with you and me
On the forefront of my mind. Just like the tea kettle
That is whistling and the tea leaves that begin to settle
On the bottom of my mug, you stir those forbidden
Thoughts rattling through my heart. Those hidden
Memories are brought back to the murky surface
With every sip and swallow. I just want to trace
Your face one last time with my fingers like I follow
The mug’s rim, watching and feeling the hollow
Sound of your heartbeat. But then the tea becomes
Stale and cold in my delicate hands. Then comes
The reality that we could never go back to how things
Were before because the truth is that everything stings.

Life-Changing Moments

Here is my first post of the new year. Happy 2022! What is a better time than talking about life-changing moments. I feel like the last few years have given me a lot of life-changing moments, everything from moving to getting a new job, developing new relationships (romantically and friendship wise). I know it is a topic that I have talked about many times in this blog and it is something I will talk about in this very post to start off the new year. Sometimes things change for the better and sometimes they change for the worse. I am talking about every life-changing moment, whether they are good or bad. That leads me to my very first quote of this post. Delta Goodrem says “Anyone who has gone through a life-changing experience will tell you there is a different understanding of what is real and what is important, and when you are going through different moments, you can reflect and go, ‘I have been through worse.'” In other words, every life-changing moment or experience can shape us in every which way. Every one of those moments really make you realize how lucky you are to go through them because I feel like they can help shape who you are. In that moment it can feel like you are going through something really bad but in reality you could have gone through something way worse.

I feel like for the most part life-changing moments are great or good because they can take you from a not so good place and propel you in the right direction. For example I was not in such a good place emotionally or physically and there was a person who was a part of a life-changing moment. That helped me get to a better place. That is what the following visual poem is all about. It is about someone who saved me from a bad place. A life-changing moment can involve a person who sometimes does not realize how much they are helping you. That brings me to my next quote that says the following. “One smile can start a friendship. One word can end a fight. One look can save a relationship. One person can change your life.” Like I said before, it could be someone who is a friend, a romantic partner or even a stranger and sometimes they do not realize how much they can change your life.

I know that I have gone on and on about this topic. I know that this is a topic that will come up again in my blog at some point in the future. I will conclude by saying that with life-changing moments come some discomfort. That is sometimes the price we pay because not every life-changing moment is comfortable or easy. This brings me to my next quote by Arnold Bennett who says “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by discomforts.” Change is never always easy. We may try to fight it but change is necessary in life. How are we going to grow or evolve otherwise? We may just stay stuck otherwise. That brings me right into my next quote. This is a quote that I have on my lock screen as inspiration and I am sure this is a quote that I have shared before. It is a quote by one of my personal heroes, Mandy Hale. It says “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.” It is a quote that keeps me going because nothing is as painful as staying in place where you do not belong.

I promise that this is the conclusion of this long post. I will leave you all with one final quote to kick off the new year on this blog. “There is no use to looking back at yesterday. I am no longer the person I was back then. Every morning when the sun rises, I am a changed person. Changed by the experiences I’ve had, the lessons I have learned, and the love I have received. It’s time to move forward and embrace the life that I’ve been given, be grateful for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon me, and start living a life of passion. There will always be ups and downs, good times and bad, losses and gains. Life is about learning lessons, showing love in the process, and growing into the beautiful souls we are meant to become. Don’t let yesterday rob you of your happiness today. Every time the sun rises, it’s a new opportunity to make your life the best of your life. Enjoy every moment.” This is my way of saying happy new year and I hope that you all enjoy the following poem. Cheers!!!!

“When Love Saved Me” visual poem.

Volcanoes

Sorry for taking another hiatus. However now that I am back for the time being I got a topic for this post. Volcanoes… I thought of this as I participated in a competition on DUP on the theme of volcanoes, especially inspired by the La Palma volcano. As a participant I received runner up for the poem I will share as the end of this post.

I think volcanoes can teach us a thing or two. One of the most important thing they can teach us about is the beginning of life. I feel like we nor this earth be in existence without volcanoes. I feel like they are the ones that gave birth to life. That leads me to my first quote of this post by Robert Gross. He says “Volcanoes are one way earth gives birth to itself.” In other words, earth comes from volcanoes and vice versa. I could go on and on about volcanoes, but I will conclude this post right here. Enjoy the following poem!

Flowing Lava

Luscious lava spilling from her center
Like an explosion. People run away
In terror but it is how this earth was
Built, from spilled lava and tremors
Like an earthquake. The earth sways
And tilts but somehow like a vase
Or a sailing ship we keep steady.

Mental Health

Just recently it was national mental health awareness day. I know that when people think of health they think of physical health, but rarely do people think of mental health. In fact, I feel like mental health is a subject matter a lot of people do not talk about or try to avoid as it feels “forbidden” or “bad” to talk about it. I know a lot of people struggle to talk about problems they have with their mental health because of this “stigma” surrounding it. Firstly, we need to get rid of this stigma around mental health. Secondly, I feel like it is something we should take care of above physical health. Yes, physical health is important, but so is mental health. If we are not mentally well then how do we take care of ourselves physically? That brings me to my first quote of this post by Mel Robbins who says “Your mental health is everything – prioritize it. Make the time like your life that depends on it, because it does.” In other words, it is exactly what I was saying before… mental health is super important and our life literally depends on it!

Like I said before we all at some point struggle with our mental health. Even athletes like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka have been open about their personal struggles. I normally do not like talking about my personal struggles either, but I have been open and honest with people about it. It is a tricky and difficult topic to navigate because where do we start when we talk about mental health? The truth is that we do not always know when someone else is struggling unless they tell us themselves. It is not like we are trying to be selfish, but for the most part we have to do things for ourselves first and foremost. I think this next quote explains it the best. L. R. Knost says “Taking care of myself doesn’t mean ‘me first’, it means ‘me too.'” It is like we are worried about others and taking care of them (I know that I worry about that myself), but at the end of the day we have to take care of ourselves too. I can make this post super long, but I will stop here. I hope that you all remember to take care of yourselves, including your mental health and enjoy the following visual poem that I wrote about this subject. Take care!!

“Survival” visual poem.