Michele Lee Sefton's Blog, page 18

Berrielicious breakfast

Where have these little gems been hiding my whole life? A perfect bite-size blend of sweet and tart. A delicious discovery. Yummy!

Nutritional Value: 125 grams of Kiwi berry fruit contains 22 grams of carbohydrate, 4 grams of dietary fiber, 360 mg of potassium, 1.5 grams of protein, 0.7 grams of fat and 7 mg of sodium. HealthBenefitsTimes The Vitamin C content is missing from this site; I found this: “a 100-gram serving of green kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) provides 93 milligrams of vitamin C” HealthFood

And I thought I knew my fruits and veggies. Thanks for visiting and a pleasant weekend to you! Michele

my “Prankster” photo / photo of woman holding fruit taken by Luis Molinero

2019-2024 myinspiredlife

Nature restores

Breathing in earthiness,
a richness layered with bustling life
and soundless death,
flavored with a scent I can’t detect,
though its sweetness so robust
I can taste it.

Thank you for stopping by! Warm regards and sweet wishes to you. Michele

my photos, last night’s sunset from a life-giving riparian area

2019-2024 myinspiredlife

A learning life

Before I get into some learning, I’d like to start with some giving. Thank you, my WP family for sharing your kindness over the last few days, in response to the loss of one of my dancing darlings. Some people show up with so much spirit, it seems they are destined to live forever. She was that way. Though we all know death is going to find each of us, eventually. I am blessed with beautiful dancing memories and will carry her smile and shimmies with me.

I am grateful for each of you and the gifts that you bring to this life and my good fortune for having crossed paths with everyone who shows up for a friendly visit. Even if you never leave a word or choose to remain anonymous behind an image not your own, I am uplifted by genuine caring, not just recently, but since I began this blog. Life and loss can be relentless at times and leave us wanting to retreat or sleep. After a series of emotional life events, that is what I am dealing with, however the show must go on, as they say, so I am doing my best to balance a little extra TLC with the demands of this thing called life. Now on to the learning…

A few months ago, I was notified by KDP (online book platform) that the AI voice feature was having issues reading my published poetry collections for Audible distribution. The issues had to do with line breaks – the robot voice not knowing where to pause and begin again. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was annoyed at first then delighted by the admission and acknowledgement that robots really can’t replace poets. After my little poet happy dance, I was left with a few options. Ditch the idea altogether, find someone else to do it, or set about figuring out how to do it on my own. Of course, I chose the latter which has me visiting the local library once a week, after discovering that they have a studio space available. The space offers a few things including an audio interface and two quality microphones (one is behind the soundproof curtain). The laptop and headphones are mine (in photo). What the space does not have is a sound/audio book expert to guide me through the process, so with the help of YouTube and trial and error I am figuring it out, one click at a time.

I felt overwhelmed at the start of this technical learning journey a few weeks ago. By the end of my first session, I decided to let go of that feeling and give myself the patience and grace needed to move forward, not in a stressful pushing motion, but with a discovery mindset, embracing learning and welcoming progress over instant perfection.

The audio file I’ve shared is really for my learning but if you feel like listening, that is great too. It feels a long way between where I am and uploading a quality audio book (to ACX/Audible), but I will get there. This reading includes a brief intro of this project’s purpose and the Preface from my novella, Honeysuckle Heat, shared here for the hearing impaired:

One more note about book learning… I recently fixed some margin issues with my novella, Honeysuckle Heat. If you have a copy with margins that are too tight in a few places, I would be happy to send you a revised copy, if possible. My gratitude to those who’ve read and reviewed my book and apologies for any impediment to reading that a lack of white space may have caused. The learning continues. Thanks for stopping by. Warm regards. Michele

my photos: Oregon rose, library studio space, the Preface pages from Honeysuckle Heat, and a framed quote by Eleanor Roosevelt (one of the few items I kept from my classroom)

 2019-2024 myinspiredlife

The hum of a mini-fridge

Between sleeping and waking
I find myself
questioning
my location
            my existence

A mind preparing for morning
reaching
for proof
            for direction

A hum, not human
robs my attention
disturbing
the free flow of information

the answers, just beyond my fingertips
            slip

In the floating formless
I find myself
rested
content
in the not knowing

Thank you for stopping by. A moving celebration of a beautiful life took place yesterday in the foothills of the majestic Catalina Mountains. It was an honor to dance a final class with a long-time dancing friend. She will always be a jazz connection for me, only now my song suggestions, sent to her, will arrive in heaven. The spirit of a midwestern born, Boston educated (university/theater), Tucson retired play director & jazz dancer/teacher, was with us, soft stepping and beaming in joy. The playlist of a life well-lived. Wishing you a pleasant week ahead. Michele

my photos of morning moon (Sonoran Desert) & red roses from celebration

© 2019-2024 MyInspiredLife

Our Collective Song

Breathing in the Desert’s gentle strength
for the moments ahead
warm embraces will become a soothing intro
across a waking Desert, the first note will echo
the music will be hers, showy with a touch of bluesy
stepping to her rhythm, we will invite improv sprinkled with shimmies
each tear that falls, will be transformed to our collective song
nourishing the ground below, while our spirits soar

I am waking in the Old Pueblo this morning. Here to say a proper farewell to one from my Tucson dancing tribe. She was my dancing sister who loved jazz. She didn’t just dance to jazz, she was jazz: a multilayered woman who found her own rhythm in life, including how she embraced the end of her life, surrendering and inviting beauty, memories, and open sharing to fill her final days, not Cancer treatments that gave her little chance of living a full life. Watching scattered clouds move slowly across my window frame, that looks out onto a lone saguaro, desert creosote, and a bird’s nest in a mesquite tree, I am sad, but I can’t think of my longtime dancing friend without smiling. Thank you for sharing this moment with me. Warm regards. Michele

A music video share and song that will forever remind me of her: All That Jazz – Chicago the Musical

featured photo by Krisda Ponchaipultawee / my Sonoran Desert photos (last night’s sunset and full moon)

P.S. The tag keys aren’t working, beyond the common. Concerns for another time.

© 2019-2024 MyInspiredLife

Driftwood Dancer

Driftwood dancer and her broken branch audience.

“Oh Woman, come before us, before our eyes longing for beauty, and tired of the ugliness of civilization, come in simple tunics, letting us see the line and harmony of the body beneath, and dance for us. Dance us the sweetness of life. Give us again the sweetness and the beauty of the true dance, give us again the joy of seeing the simple unconscious pure body of a woman. Like a great call it has come, and women must hear it and answer it.”
― Isadora Duncan, The Art of the Dance

“Each woman has potential access to Rio Abajo Rio, this river beneath the river. She arrives there through deep meditation, dance, writing, painting, prayermaking, singing, drumming, active imagination, or any activity which requires an intense altered consciousness. A woman arrives in this world-between-worlds through yearning and by seeking something she can see just out of the corner of her eye. She arrives there by deeply creative acts, through intentional solitude, and by practice of any of the arts.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run with the Wolves

Thank you for stopping by! Never without its challenges, I hope life is treating you kind and that you are finding the time to do what brings you joy. Dancing breathes beautiful movement into mine. Challenge, too! Inspired by the driftwood dancer, I’ve included a few songs from my dance playlist for those who might be interested in some midweek movement motivation. Enjoy! Michele

On Tuesday, November 26th, I will be hosting our second Creative Call – a welcoming online space where creatives can come together to discuss their creative processes and projects. Sharing and learning. Please email me through my contact page if you are interested and to those who attended last month, thank you, I will send you a note then you can let me know if you will be joining us.

Dance playlist: Solo Dancing by Indiana, Rival by Ruelle, Picture You by Chappell Roan, Be Your Love by Bishop Briggs

my beach photos of upright and scattered driftwood and solo seagull taken in Newport, Oregon (Photo note: when I first saw the “Driftwood Dancer,” I thought of an airplane propellor and imagined it falling from the sky, then a dancer leaning back, with arms stretched, came into focus. Of course, connections can be made between a dancer and a propellor and when I noticed the pieces of wood to her right, my line came to mind.)

© 2019-2024 MyInspiredLife

His Letters are Treasures V (w/audio)

Thank you for joining me for my fifth Grandfather post and fourth audio reading of one of his letters sent home while serving in WWII. A brief history about this personal project, for those who may be new to my blog: after inheriting dozens of my grandfather’s handwritten letters, medals, photographs, newspaper clippings and official letters, personal documents, and other war memorabilia, I felt it a responsibility to share these historical documents. A privilege too, and having lost my grandfather at a young age, it has been an intimate way to get to know my grandfather, a gentle soul and Bronze Star recipient. Although he was always friendly with me, mostly he was lost in Louis L’Amour western books.

I have included previous Grandfather posts below and would be honored if you gave them a visit, should you be so inclined. Thank you and in honor of those who have served in the spirit of protection and peace, both past and present, I offer gratitude. Warm regards. Michele

“His Letters are Treasures” February 25, 2023

“His Letters are Treasures II (w/audio)” March 25, 2023

“His Letters are Treasures III (w/audio)” May 27, 2023

His Letters are Treasures IV (w/audio) November 11, 2023

Visiting my grandfather’s grave site yesterday and leaving him flowers made for a peaceful and beautiful Sunday afternoon. I am grateful for his bravery and the dozens of letters he left behind.

© 2019-2024 MyInspiredLife

Slow sipping Saturday

“I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.”

(Audrey Hepburn: Many-Sided Charmer, LIFE Magazine, December 7, 1953)
― Audrey Hepburn

Thank you for stopping by. Pink and yellow Lantana in the morning sunlight caught my eye and nature’s beauty, I love to share. Thanks too, to those who encouraged me prior to my live poetry reading, Wednesday evening. Most helpful! I had a wonderful time sharing and connecting with other participants, mostly musicians.

I am looking forward to more opportunities to share my poetry in live settings in the coming months, returning my focus to recitations. Something I did more of in the first few years of this blog. Memorizing poetry requires time and discipline, but worth it when I can remove my reading glasses and express myself through movement.

Poetry shared: “Torn From Home” and “Finding Home” ~ included in the anthology, Wounds I Healed – The Poetry of Strong Women, published by Experiments in Fiction and edited by Gabriela Marie Milton. My two poems tell a story of childhood adversity (having to abruptly leave my childhood home and a difficult situation that followed) and adult victory (realizing that “the home with the strong foundation, is me”). I have never shared these poems on my blog, and I am not sure that I ever will, however, if you are interested in reading them, please let me know through my contact page. Take care and kind regards. Michele

featured photo of woman on a balcony drinking from a yellow coffee cup & holding a book taken by New Africa / my morning photos of lantana flowers / photos of me taken by artist Asher

© 2024 myinspiredlife

Thank you, A Cornered Gurl!

Sending glowing gratitude to trE at A Cornered Gurl who generously shares her time, creative talents, poetic voice, life observations, support for others, and detailed book reviews. She shines a light in this world that is uniquely hers. Thank you, trE, for reading and reviewing my novella and for inspiring in the many ways you do!

Honeysuckle Heat Is Full of Passion & Heartache

“Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

my nature photos: golden sunrise shining through trees onto a silhouetted porch with windchimes and a string of Edison lights / red Dahlia flowers

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Unfrosted “Cornflake Girl”

Just “be happy” is a constant message
endless ways to hush the sadness
that lives in some of us
            more remedies being developed each day

some of us just aren’t cut from the happy-go-lucky cloth
            some of us walk a different path
            feeling every jagged stone
            and splinter torn
            choosing to not numb the pain away

some of us were born with notches in our shoulders
a recessive gene, carved across generations

might be a character flaw
to show up contemplative
in a world so quick to “get over it”
but it’s just who some of us are
divinely made, splintered stars

I’ve tried happy on; I’ve tucked and tapered it
it just doesn’t fit
by the water I am leaving the unsuitable garment
to do as it happily wishes
while I try on acceptance
dancing to my own rhythm of quirky and intense

The world just wants us to be happy
            “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”

Sugared flakes are sweet
but after the milk’s been poured
there’s nothing left but a soggy mess

Some of you might recognize the song title, Cornflake Girl (in my post title). Waking this morning to lyrics from Edie Brickell’s song, The Wheel, led my thoughts to the 1994 Cornflake song by Tori Amos. Funny how the mind works. The lines my mind woke to were: “The wheel keeps on turning and turning and turning and / Nothing’s disturbing the way it goes around.” An interesting mind connection the morning following a U.S. election. Tonight I will be doing something that I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while but haven’t been able to for various reasons; I will be reading two of my poems to a live audience. It has been too long, and I am very nervous. All the more reason why I know this poet needs to do it. Thanks for stopping by. Warm regards. Michele

featured photo of woman brushing her hand along growing wheat by Polyanskaya Olga / my river photo with bridge in the distance taken in Oregon

© 2024 MyInspiredLife