Summer Bliss

poetry prompt + writing + inspiration = summer bliss

I must admit that summer has touched my soul in a positive way. Even the sweltering heat and torrential rains are prompts to write. Inspiration flows in quiet corners of my garden where the herbs and perennials share the bed. My gardens flourish in the heat this year and the constant series of rain replenishes their thirst. All equates to summer bliss. So just what is the prompt I am using to open my mind to positivity?

Yesterday as host of Spiritual Journey Thursday, I offered a theme to reflect upon: Nurturing Your Summer Soul. The eight SJT writers were from the Poetry Friday and Two Writing Teachers communities. The responses to my prompt were unique but the commonality was that they were rich with personal thoughts, word choice, and inspiration. Please take a look at the writings linked to my host blog. Click here. I appreciate the awesome photographs, inspired poetry, and narratives written by:

1.	Linda M. at A Word Edgewise	5.	Karen Eastlund	9.	Ramona
2.	Margaret Simon	6.	arjeha- Bob Hamera
3.	Ruth	7.	Denise Krebs
4.	Susan Kohler	8.	Fran Haley

If you move over to the Poetryliscious padlet you will see the graphics, photos, and poems attributed to the work created by the above writers. Click here to access the Poetryliscious padlet.

There is a restorative aspect to summer, even in the teeming rain. Last summer, I lost many beautiful plants and herbs either to Virginia soil (Did you know that Virginia soil is full of clay?), heat, or the deer and the rabbits. This summer, with constant care no matter what the weather conditions were, the gardens reaped the rewards of full blossoms and beautiful green leaves. They nurtured my summer soul. The statement, "We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course, it's our garden that is really nurturing us."

Our trip to the Virginia countryside provided my soul with more nurturing and poetry writing on the effects of the aftermath of a storm. You can read my gogyoshi poem, Nature's Shimmer Touches Life, here. Below is another gogyoshi poem about a beautiful butterfly plant found at a nursery in Orange, Virginia.

A Touch of Summer

butterflies sweep the sky

slip into a bush for sips of nectar

in a singular sweeping moment

our souls connect with summer

nature nourishes our souls

©CVarsalona, 2022, gogyoshi

Next Sunday, I am off to the ocean with our family. I cannot wait to "Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly."- Van Morrison

🌅

For now, I will let my spirit fly over to the Poetry Friday Roundup at Molly Hogan's blog. Molly is sharing her response to the prompt from her Inklings writing group challenge. "Write a poem about any sport you have a connection to = one you participate(d) in or love to watch."

Seasonal Bliss-SJT

This year, I am on a journey to discover a balanced life. There are many facets to my journey. Being rooted in faith is a fundamental element. Spiritual rooting is essential but I also need physical rooting. In the yoga studio, I work diligently to root each foot into the earth before readying myself for balance poses. Finding a healthy balance in life is my quest for this year. 

One consistent step to finding balance, my 2020 one word, is to observe nature's symmetry. Stepping outside to see the beauty of a winter day can be enough but a walk at the beach is exhilarating.

Inspiring scripture verses also guide my journey. Ecclesiastes 3:1 connects faith, balance, and nature, "To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven." In 1966, Judy Collins beautifully shared the scripture verse with Pete Seeger's song. This gentle tune brings reflective time to ponder my thoughts on seasonal bliss and the importance of balance.

The song also leads to play with language and write about nature that lifts my thoughts as I coddywomple through life.

The unique word coddywomple was introduced to me by my poety writing colleague and photographer, Molly Hogan. I found it as a hashtag on Twitter and Instagram. The definition of coddiwomple is to travel in a purposeful manner toward a vague destination. The word inspired me to create the above digital inspiration with another writing buddy's (Ramona Behnke) one word light that is an uplifting word by itself.

Travel in a purposeful manner.

Treading lightly on the paths you cross.

On your way seek and enjoy

each one of nature's beautiful seasonal delights. 

As host of Spiritual Journey Thursday, I invite you to add your thoughts on seasonal bliss below. Do you sense it? Where do you find nature's bliss? Why is it important? Enjoy your reflection time and continue to find the beauty of the seasons. 

Postcard Collecting

Collecting postcards has been part of my practice for many years. Many of my  postcards are dated between 1904 and 1914, the time period when "postcard collecting caught the national eye." I am a postcard collector, a delitologist, who really enjoys the feel and look of antique and vintage ephemera. Over the past few years, I have added to my Victorian and vintage postcard collection with poetry postcards. 

Last week, after posting that I received more poetry postcards, some new ones were delivered by my friendly postman. The three that arrived were sent by Poetry Friday friends.

Diane Mayr created a Year of the Rat poetry postcard for both the calendar and lunar New Year's celebrations.

Molly Hogan offered this beautiful photograph and inspirational poem.  

Christie Wyman mailed this wonderful poem on waiting for the falling snow to come.

I wish to extend my thanks to all my poetry friends who sent me their original poetry postcards. Each was unique and beautifully rendered. I showcased all of them with my winter decorations in my foyer and living room. For those who did not receive my New Year poem on a digitized photograph postcard, I would like to share it.

Oh my, I found a typo too late!  

On this Thursday, February 5, 2020, I am hosting Spiritual Journey Thursday. My topic is "Seasonal Bliss". Stop by to enjoy reading the posts or join our small group of writers. at my #blogpost. I designed this piece of digital art for Spiritual Journey Thursday.  

It's Poetry Friday, hosted by the marvelous librarian poet, Jone MacCulloch, who created the Poetry Postcard Exchange. Jone shares some of the poetry postcards sent to her provides news of a giveaway, showcases a special, original haiku. Join me.