I'd Like To Take This Opportunity

My friend, Otowi, passed on an award to me.  The award asks us to answer the five questions below.  I'd like to take this humbling opportunity to make an important (to me) announcement.  (Thank you, Otowi!)


1) When did you start your blog?

My previous blog, Carol For Peace, was born in August of 2005, but I started to feel like I was outgrowing it, so I deserted it for this one in January of 2009.  

2) What do you write about?

I have no idea.  Stuff...  Nuthin'.

3) What makes your blog special?

Nuthin'.

(I'm starting to feel like the kid who, when she comes home from school answers, "Nothin'" to every question from her mom.)

4) What made you want to start writing a blog?

Mr. CfP made me do it!  I started my Carol For Peace blog at the urging of Mr. CfP after I, and thousands of others, had gone to Crawford, Texas to visit our last president.  We were wondering about these wars - you know, the ones that we are, to this day, still involved with.  We wanted to tell Mr. GWB that we wanted him to put an end to the carnage.  Obviously, our words fell on deaf ears.

Since that time I have changed from an ego-based activist (not saying that all activists are ego-based, but I was) to a whatever-I-am-today type of person, so I thought that this A Peace Carol blog would give me a new canvass where I could express myself.


5) What would you like to change in your blog?

This is where it gets good.  This is what I want to change about my blog:  I want to put it to rest.  I want to say how grateful I am for this blogging experience, for the people I've met, the support I've received, the things I've learned. 

I have been noticing a loss of creativity.  Maybe it's because I have been having intense experiences and yet I don't feel free to write about them in this arena. Am I stifling myself?  (Stifle...  Hmmmm... Images of Archie Bunker arise in my head.)  I don't know.

In order to find out how long this blog has been alive, I had to look at my archives.  I read the first few posts on this blog and I thought, "I am not writing like that any longer.  I'm not feeling as alive in my writing as I once did."  

So it's time to ride off into the sunset - at least as far as APeaceCarolLand is concerned.  

Me and Buddha riding off into the sunset - without our horse.  Okay, we're walking into the sunset.

I completely expect to visit y'all a lot as I mosey around these here intertubes.  

Thank you for reading my writings and for being the awesome people that you are!
 

Goodbye, Adios, Auf Wiedersehen, Ciao!

xo 

B.E.'s Photo Meme

I picked up this meme from Border Explorer.

I am to go to the 6th folder of my photograph files and pick the 6th photo in that file, then write about it. Above is the photo and below are my thoughts.

I remember a time when I let my body lean in to my mom's, unapologetically snuggling up to feel her warmth and assurance. When my mom's arms were around me, the whole world was safe.

I remember, too, the sensation of my children against my grown woman's body. Somehow, their dependence on me gave me the strength and courage to be a mother even though I worried that I was inadequate at the task. Not much prepares one for such a huge responsibility.

I still have dreams of caring for small children. Sometimes in my dreams, I'm nursing my baby, and the feeling is as real as it was those days 20+ years ago when my body gave nutrients to my son and daughter. Those dreams are heaven on earth. No experience in my life has surpassed the beauty of the moments of breastfeeding my two beautiful miracles.

Maybe those dreams come because I no longer lean against my mother's warm body for strength. And no children are leaning against mine. And a part of me yearns for both of those times.

******

This photo was taken almost exactly a year ago. The sculpture is part of the Chapungu exhibit that was displayed throughout the Denver Botanic Gardens last year.