YES to gratitude (my corner)

Last week, a visit from a dear friend gave me a reason to visit the Washington Coast. 

I spend a lot of time at home...working...living. And I do take time to notice the beauty right outside my door. Standing in my backyard and taking five deep breaths is almost daily self-care first aid around here. But sometimes I forget that I really can get in my car and drive just 90 minutes to the ocean (and that is why I wanted to move here almost 10 years ago).

It is like a reboot for my soul.

I'm deeply grateful that when I stand with my feet in the sand, looking "eye to eye" with the ocean, I hear my soul's song. I feel deeply at home. I find myself dancing until I find the rhythm that I need to make sense of things. I'm so grateful for this gift.

In the comments: What are you grateful for about where you live? Let's make a community gratitude list this weekend! Share a few words in the comments today.

Extra Credit: Get outside and take a little video of your corner of the world. Upload it online. Come back and share a link. (I might even pin to my YES board.)

Blessings and love to you today,

Liz

*****

This November, I'm exploring the idea of saying YES to gratitude in all its gorgeous, sometimes confusing, heart-expanding ways. And I'm inviting you to come along on the adventure here on my blog.

Throughout the month, there will be a practice in letting others know I'm grateful for them, a few stories, a collaboration or two, inspiration from others, some giveaways, a special Etsy sale for my newsletter subscribers, and a few other good things. 

You can find all the YES to Gratitude posts right here. 

i'm thinking about you..

The above quote is from my video post below. The video is a little letter from me to you today. 

video URL: http://vimeo.com/53613292

In the video, I read the poem "For strong women" by Marge Piercy (from The Moon Is Always Female, you can read the poem here).

Thank you for being out there sharing your light, your stories, your you.ness.

Blessings,
Liz

PS The poem has a couple of words that might not be okay for little ears. 

thoughts from here

I think this could be called, "The one where I muse about how I think our soul chooses our family and how my role isn't to keep Ellie beside me so I can grab her hand when I need it and how it all connects to daycare and making the best choices for our family." It's about 13 minutes, so settle in with a cup of tea and a muffin or a glass of wine and dark chocolate.

But if that doesn't appeal, well, come back Monday for another story...And if it does, trust that I really mean the part at the end about continuing the conversation about the things we are "afraid" to blog about.

Anyway, these were thoughts that needed to tumble out of me yesterday afternoon even though I wasn't wearing any make-up and my hair needs a little something something and this morning, my heart tells me to share them here.

I mention my yoga teacher Laura Yon Brooks and one of her teachers, Eric Klein, in the video.

Happy weekend,

Liz

unpacking the stories (as i unpack the studio)

One side effect of unpacking into my new studio space has been uncovering a few stories along the way. I expected some of this - pieces of past ArtFests, sewing projects I'd begun but not finished, reciepts I had tucked in odd places, and so on. But there have been a few unexpcted stories that have found there way in, and today, I want to share about one of them in this video.

I hope it is a reminder to you (to me) that we must continue to create space for big and small griefs and that forgiving ourselves in one of our most important practices because it helps to make even more space for joy, beauty, and being present to all that is this moment and the next.

May your day be full of lightness...

hand holds

Hand Holds: Practices for Reflective Living with Liz Lamoreux from Jen Lee on Vimeo.

The Gift of This Moment has a trailer! 

Everything about this video makes me so so happy. It was such a joy to be able to share the pieces of this kit with a few of the ladies at the Your Story Retreat. And, I read from my own book of poetry for the first time. Surreal and beautiful. (More on that soon.)

You can purchase this Home Retreat Kit here.

Learn more about the stories behind this new collection of good things in this series of posts.