Welcome back to Picture Love Friends. So here is a friendly public service announcement. If you've not had a glass of water in the last hour or two, go get yourself another refill. I'm gonna share a couple stories with you today that are light. This is a break from all of the heavy stuff. But it is really, really impactful to me and I hope somebody here will feel filled up today. May your Metaphorical, Energetic Happiness cup be filled by these stories and the common thread that I'm going to loop them together with. And the first one is regarding my obsession with Bluebirds. Before we moved into this home, we were in a rental for a year and there were regular visits from Bluebirds and I didn't do anything special except I just took a container from the recycle bin, rinsed it out, taped it to the railing, and I would fill it up with dried mealworms, because that's what bluebirds love. And I kind of got spoiled. It was just very easy to sit there and watch them, and they're so pretty and they're vibrant colors and I just, I felt like we had a little friendship going and then I moved. In the new home I did the same thing, except they didn't come. And I did see them around the neighborhood and I, and I really missed my bluebirds. And so when Christmas rolled around, my family loves to share wishlists 'cause it just makes shopping so satisfying when you know somebody's gonna love what they're unwrapping. I put a bluebird feeder on my wishlist and I received it. I was very, very excited when it came. So soon as the weather was dry enough, 'cause we had a rainy patch, I went out and I filled it up with the mealworms and it's caged so that squirrels can't get into it, but the birds could hop in, have a place to stand, eat, and it's even sheltered so that the mealworms don't get all funky from rain or melted snow. And my point in telling you this is a week passed by and nobody paid attention to it. They ignored the beautiful new bluebird feeder. And another week went by and it continued to get ignored. And I know they're in the neighborhood. I know they can see it because I put a, a shepherd's hook, you know, a freestanding yard hook in the lawn right where I saw them next to the fence, where I've seen them perch. So I know it would be easy for them to find. And I, for two weeks, they ignored it. So the following weekend, I'm talking to my husband and I'm just baffled like. "Why are they ignoring this beautiful buffet I set up just for them right where I know they can get to it and where it's not gonna be interfered by other birds?" No sooner did I walk out in the yard, take it off the hook and walk from the left side of my yard to the right side of my yard where the big tree is. And I'm looking around in the tree wondering, should I hang it in the tree? Should I move the hook over here? And I look over. There is a bluebird standing on the hook I had just vacated. Okay. That might just sound like a coincidence to you. I don't believe in coincidences anymore. But anyway, so I look at it and it's watching me and I, I'm baffled. I'm like, okay, well, you know where the hook is if you're standing on it. So after I watched it for a minute, I didn't wanna scare it. I started to slowly walk back. And it, of course moved off the hook and farther down the fence. So I rehung it. It went flew on the opposite side of the yard where it had just come from by the tree. And it's watching me as if to say, "oh, I thought you were gonna move it over here." So I'm playing in my mind. I'm like, this bird is playing with me. What is this? Maybe these birds are little tricksters. And I couldn't figure it out. And it stayed there and it watched me. I'm like, I know that you know where this hook is. I know you know where this feeder is. I'm gonna leave you alone and see how hungry you really are for this. About 15 minutes later, I look out. Yeah, they're all gathering by it as if it's an office, water break and everybody's gathered by the water cooler. I gotta tell you, it really baffled me. And I looked it up on Google and it said, sometimes birds take a while to trust their new food source. I'm like, okay, that makes sense. But the timing of this exchange really made it look like it was messing with me on purpose. So I had a few giggles over that. Well, the next day, my husband was taking, his first business trip of the new year and took him to the airport. And I'm driving home and I'm like, Hmm, it's a nice day. And for some reason I just had this spontaneous feeling like I'm gonna buy myself some roses because I can! And I picked up a dozen roses. Well, I thought they were dozen roses and I picked 'em based on the color. They were this beautiful. Pinkish purple and they had like bright pink edges. I just thought they were so gorgeous. So I picked the one that I thought looked the least tired of the bunch. 'cause it wasn't like a florist or anything, it was just a, you know, an everything store. And so I brought home the dozen flowers, only to unwrap them and trim the ends. And I was filling up the vase and I discovered. There are 12 stems here and 11 blooms. One of the heads had been cut off. I'm like, well shoot, should I go return it and swap it out for another? 'cause I knew, I knew the store wouldn't question it. But I was like, no, I picked these roses for a reason. I really like them. They're really beautiful. So I'm trimming the, the stems of the 11 roses. I do like the number 11. Master number for those who are into that, and I arranged them and I'm just telling 'em how beautiful they are. And I wrapped a ribbon around the base and then I put it on a table that I have very close to my front door, but in an area where I can appreciate them from the dining table, I appreciate them from the front sofa, I can see them walking in the front door of the house and so it gets beautiful diffused light. But I discovered that the place where I put 'em, it gets all my attention many times a day. And every time I walk by I'm like, gosh, you're so beautiful. Well, a week later these roses looked even better than the day I brought them home and I was marveling over that. I'm like, I didn't expect these to last more than a week. They're gorgeous. And every time I walked by, I just got, I built this like. This conversational relationship one way, I guess sort of not really the energetic conversation with these roses, I'm, my gosh, you're so beautiful. You just get prettier and prettier every day. And would you know it today, the day this episode is live, they are four weeks old. Four weeks old. I bought them four weeks ago, and these roses are so gorgeous. I have 10 now. I mean, one was just a little too crispy and dried, so I took it out and I just kept changing the water and give 'em a fresh clipping at the end. And every time I look at them, I just, "You're so beautiful. Thank you for just smiling in my space." And I think that these roses are kind of like those blue birds. I think that with the positive attention I gave them. The roses were reciprocating their beauty. I really do. I feel like it is not one way like we've been taught, you know, I think, and there's so much research to prove, you know, you, you speak love to a plant, it grows. If you ignore it or speak ill to it, it doesn't do as well. And there are many other, many other examples of that. And it's true for people too. You say loving things to them, beautiful things come out of it. If you treat somebody with neglect or mistreatment, not good things come out of it, right? So why would a bird or 11 roses be any different? It's all energy, right? We're all energy. Well, that's not the common thread I was going for. The common thread after I really was pondering this was I was present. I was present and my thoughts were quiet enough and I wasn't in my hustle culture muscles that I have developed so well, being in this crazy world, I was in my presence. I gave myself the present of being present. And I started writing about it today and it felt so good to just write about like what is presence in the first place? What is it? Because it's more than paying attention. And I started writing and then I got, then I started thinking, oh my gosh, this is kind of sounding like it's in rhyme, almost in rhythm. And I was like, Hmm, this looks like poetry. And I took what I wrote and I popped it into ChatGPT, and I said, okay, let's do some creative writing. Take this and rewrite it as if you're the voice of Dr. Seuss. And I love how, I love how all those beau beautiful books and writings, have rhyme and, and some kind of like nonsensical words that we totally understand in the first place. So, and it spat it back at me and it was cute. It wasn't, it wasn't really completely my heart, but it was rhythmic and it was rhyming. And so I rewrote that. And then I ended up with something that felt really, really good to write and to read. And so I thought, thought I'd share it with you today. And I titled it, "The Present in Your Presence". Presence is noticing bright eyed and true, from the most being place that belongs just to you. It's where curiosity, wonder and senses aware, all meet for a picnic in the freshest of fresh air. It happens with breath, body, and mind, all showing up in unison, none lagging behind. Relaxing the thinker. Imagination is the guide. Your listeners, listen, the moment won't hide. Presence is still like a tree- No demands. It offers with warmth. It holds both your hands. To be seen without labels heard, without spin, just openness and soft landing you can fall right in. No ribbons or bows. Just radiating real. No glitter or gimmicks, just recognition you feel. A garden of ease. Lanterns of grace lights up for all who enter this space. Discovering the YOU-iest you, you'll ever discover, the warmest wonder. A joy to uncover. No need to struggle to earn or to buy. Inhale and then whisper. I'm here. Your spirit will fly. Presence will sing through wind in the trees. It will show you glyphs in the frosty degrees. It lets you smell snowflakes before they arrive and shiver with knowing your truly alive. Noticing echoes from lifetimes ago with lights turning on, where shadows mellow. It says, "I saved you the seat with a view". You instinctively leaned back to see stars shining at you. Presence is faith. It's quiet, it's clear. It never gets loud. It's patiently right here. It never speaks shame or shows a false grin. Its essence is truth and it draws you back in. So if you forget or don't know where to start, just pause for a moment. One hand on your heart. The way into presence is simple as a dot. Just a breath, a soft notice, a curious thought. Because the present of presence is always for you, and it's always the bravest way- to be YOU. I know it reads like a children's book. I love children's books. Nothing wrong with that, but I just thought, you know, I'm so grateful that I was present enough to pay attention to these birds because if I had just gone and moved around the feeder and went back in and didn't look back out again, I wouldn't have had this fun, playful exchange. And if I had come home and plopped those roses in the water and complained about 11, not 12. I would not have been setting myself up for a four week visit. I'm sure of it. I'm sure of it. So I wanna encourage you to do two things today. If it feels good, buy yourself a flower or some flowers and buy it because it makes you smile. It makes you feel good. You can see it. Choose a color, a shape, something that feels good. If you're like me and you have cats, maybe put them where they can't be chewed or choose something less toxic. I had to, I had to barricade mine away from my Eddie. But buy that plant or buy those flowers for yourself and compliment them and tell them how wonderful they are- how much you appreciate them. Maybe place them near a speaker because they respond really well to vibration and music. Maybe put them someplace where they can have at least diffused light, but show love and intention. Intention and see what kind of beautiful results come from being present with that gift you bought yourself. And if that sounds good, but it doesn't sound realistic for you. Maybe just a small practice of being present. Maybe you'll wanna do both, but I would love to invite you to engage with me in a little, I would call this an elementary level, like kindergarten through fifth grade level presence activity. So if you'll stick around with me, I'm gonna, I'm gonna practice one right now with you. Something that's very simple. You don't have to go deep into the feels in order to reap the benefits of being in this presence. Practice with me and we'll make it something very, very simple. You could even do it with your kid if you're with. If you have children or if you're around children, maybe you're a teacher and you wanna practice this with your class. I always learn when I hear from the perspective of a child, but regardless, let's approach something that's easy enough for anybody to accomplish right now. And that would be as, as I said in my little poem, the present of being present with ourselves. So if you have the space to right now, sit back and take a gentle breath. Put your feet flat on the floor if you can, hands in your lap. And I'd like for you to choose one thing. To let your eyes land on, and I don't recommend it being something animated like a pet, because they might move in the middle of doing this. Maybe even just look down at the palm of your hand. The inside has so many features, you know, with all the, the lines in the folds, and maybe look down at it, or maybe you have something on your desk that, that won't move, that you can look at. You choose whatever pleases you. And just let your eyes rest on it. A few minutes. Did you choose your thing? Okay. Take a nice deep breath with me, breath with me and hold it for just a moment and let it out slower than you inhaled. And now look at your object and keep breathing in. Holding your breath at the top and as you exhale, start to start to notice color, shape. If you're touching it, how does it feel? Just how something looks on the outside and just keep focusing on your breath and relaxing your eyes. I'm looking at the palm of my hand. I'm looking at the lines. The folds, the vessels beneath my skin, like the shadows, the way the light shifts as the sun goes in and out of the clouds. Maybe you're looking after the sun has already gone down, and notice how your eyes can go in and out of focus. Notice how it feels. Notice its size. Notice shapes all the information that you can take in by seeing and maybe touching that object. Notice if any thoughts come up on this subject. On what you're looking at and let all the other thoughts just sit to the side, set them aside. You'll get to them soon. But for the moment, maybe think of one or two thankful thoughts. I'm thinking gratitude for the ability to write. With this hand I'm looking at. The ability to operate my equipment to make this episode for you. I'm grateful for all the things that these hands could do for me, like feeding a bird feeder, like trimming roses, changing the water, and after you've taken a couple more breaths. Return back to me for a minute. I hope that that very, very simple, very, very simple practice is something that you can apply to, something you find really valuable. Something and, and if you're finding you're too emotionally charged into something, maybe look at something you have less emotional value attached to. It could be something as simple as a penny or a pair of glasses or a pen on your desktop, something like that where you can just rest all other thoughts. Put them on pause long enough to take some breaths and to notice what one or two of your senses are picking up in a given moment and the benefit of that. You gave your nervous system a little break. It helps you regulate, makes it easier to breathe. A calm mind is a healthier one. A calm mind makes a calm body and a calm nervous system, and I am sure anybody listening to this episode is perfectly aware of that, but sometimes it's really nice to have somebody hold space for you to just take a pause, do what you already know, but hold space for it. I hope that you buy yourself flowers or a plant today or take that time out. Much needed. Maybe go someplace where it's a happy place for you, whether it's outdoors, a special chair, maybe just going and sitting in your car for some peace and quiet because you deserve it. And that calm and that gift you're giving yourself of being present. That's where you find yourself again and say, ah. Oh, yes. Here I am. I am here. I am grounded, and I am present with the gift of being present. I hope that helped somebody today ground into their presence. And remember something important to you because you are that something that's important. Until next time, keep picturing love, friends. I love you. Bye-bye.