Boeuf Bourguignon

As I sit down to write my first blog with my twice-warmed cup of market spice tea, I am recalling the first time I watched Julie & Julia. I cried. Not because of the delicious recipes or stunning performance by Meryl Streep. It was that the character wrote, and people read what she wrote. It hit me like a wave of longing, catching me quite off-guard.

To write - I imagine one of my daughter, Sophia's, rocks or shells wrapped up special and stowed away in one of her little treasure boxes. There is a time and a place for treasures. For me, writing has been wrapped up and stowed away in my little box like a dream for another day. The ache comes and goes just to take it out, look at it and toss it around or even to display it on my shelf.

And Facebook comes along. It's the 'tease', the appetizer. Little tidbits of writing here and there, but mostly just leading me on.

Several days ago, as I am contemplating and processing our current difficult and 'poor' phase of life, it all started to come together in my head in formed thoughts and sentences and paragraphs. And out it comes, in written form (thanks to facebook!) No rocket science, literature or beautiful poetry. Just real life. Just me. So here I am, blogging...certain that what I have to say isn't anything you haven't heard before. I am not the authority on matters related to really anything at all, and what I think about things has been thought of before. But this is what I have to offer. This is my skating performance, my concert, my 'Starry Night', my 'boeuf bourguignon'! I'm telling you, the little wrapped up treasure jumped out of its box and hit me on the head. And it begins.

I hope that opening up this window into my life's struggles and joys will inspire you to remember your wrapped, boxed up, hidden away treasures. If this isn't the time and the place to display them on the shelf, just don't forget them there! Dust your dream off, look at it fondly and put it away for another day if you must. But don't forget it. Because let me tell you, they are needed! When I look at Rhae Etheredge's photos, or hear Aaron Gray's music, or see Charity Carmody take over the business world (as a stepping stool to taking over the whole world), or watch Deanna Ingalls be the best mom & teacher to her kids she can be, or enjoy the Olympics...in essence, seeing people doing what they were made to do? It's inspiring. It pushes me to write, to create my own boeuf bourguignon!