Michele Lee Sefton's Blog, page 31

Art, rubbish

Snapped
Tossed
Dropped
into a lake,
manmade

Submerged
floating
perfectly still
waiting to become
erased

Noticed
by a woman
riding
stopped abruptly
capturing a moment
waiting to become
a perfectly framed
still

Click here for song Vapour Trail, by English band Ride, if music video doesn’t load. Enjoy!

The world is full of museums with priceless art, protected from the elements. Sometimes worthless rubbish can be equally captivating. Thank you for visiting and reading. Michele

my photos: floating branch taken with my cell phone during a recent golden hour ride and this morning’s sunrise (February 21)

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Citrus Honey Sunset (sugary remnants)

A honey drizzled horizon
crystallized
to perfection
during a winter’s night
when dreams skipped
when toes touched
the sticky before taking flight

A morning covered
in sugary sprinkles

Today is Presidents’ Day, a Federal Holiday in the US of A. A holiday calendar no longer in sync with this poet’s path. The rewards are different… intrinsic and far sweeter. Thanks for stopping by. Warm wishes from the Sonoran. Michele

my sunset photos (February 18)

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Citrus Honey Sunset

Thanks for stopping by. Warm wishes from the Sonoran. Michele

my sunset photos

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Midnight to Morning (singing w/MishCatt)

Midnight Sun

One last dream and I promised not to think about it
Too much loving is not enough not to doubt it

I see you talking but I can’t hear a sound
I keep on falling but I don’t hit the ground
The world is moving and we’re spinning around

We built the strings of love
Together we fade out slow
We see it glow
Under the reverie
I see the sun on you
You see it too

Oooo where is the morning?
Where is the morning?

Three dreams later
We’re far away from where we started
Four more seconds we might have already departed

I see you talking but I can’t hear a sound
I keep on falling but I can’t touch the ground
The world is moving and we’re spinning around

We built the strings of love
Together we fade out slow
We see it glow
Under the reverie
I see the sun on you
You see it too

Oooo where is the morning?
Where is the morning?

Songwriters: Pontus Winnberg, Patrik Berger, Michelle Gonzalez, Fabian Berglund

My sing along with artist MishCatt. I discovered this song, Midnight Sun, recently and have enjoyed the singer’s gentle voice and the song’s moving melody a few times since. While singing along yesterday, I became enamored and fascinated by the echo effects of singing in an open interior – a different location from where I normally record myself. Wanting to hear the effects became my motivation for recording. A result perhaps annoying to the technical sound perfectionists, but that I am not. I am a dedicated dabbler who appreciates noticing and experiencing life’s shifts, sometimes subtle, sometimes seismic.

Click here for Midnight Sun (acoustic version) by MishCatt if video does not load. Wanting to learn more about this artist, I spent some time reading about her this morning. I discovered that the Costa Rican singer/songwriter’s name is Michelle Marie González Telford and that when she hears music, she sees colors and shapes; she has a unique condition called synesthesia*. It was a joy to sing with her.

Midnight was once the nursery of nightmares, born from stars crashing in the daylight hours. Eventually, I left that childhood bed, surrounded by stuffed animals lined to protect. Through many midnights, I have stepped. Stars poking through, growing stronger in their brilliance with each season, passing. Midnight now offers inspiration and colors, magnificent, whether I am awake or sleeping. Thank you for stopping by. Michele

*Reference: MishCatt Biography

featured photo by Denis Belitsky / my purple, pink, & blue photos / my photo by Larissa

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

A love letter long overdue

A first love letter written when I was a teenager,
            the words have never left me

Love I’ve felt, but my romantic pen suffered a long dry spell

Until April of 2020, when my passionate pen did tremble and wake,
            pouring embers and fire from its volcanic spill

What had long been sleeping, burst forth
            singeing pages
            igniting my core

A delicate feather, giving my hands and heart wings
            a contrast to its pointy end
sharpened with every dip
            into an inkwell deeper than any black hole

A winged instrument sourced from a bird flying in the cosmic realm
            protected and treasured
on this Valentine’s Day
                        loosely held

Tapping a rhythm, familiar, while its shimmering feather
            sparkles and winks

There’s one love letter I have yet to write
on this Valentine’s Day
            it shall be written

To the one who has been with me since the beginning:

First you were a Lady in Waiting, a girl not knowing
Then a Princess, unpredictable and unsure,
            life and passion always flowing
                  pain too
Now a Queen, a Pearl brilliantly glowing

I can’t show you off, or parade you around
            that would not be very ladylike
Your secrets never shared
Your name never spoken
            for reasons aforementioned

on this Valentine’s Day
            I honor you, and others of your sacred kind

I celebrate you
            and thank you for all you’ve given

From you life was delivered
Within you multiple heavens are experienced

on this Valentine’s Day
            I am replacing the ‘lentine
            with Gina
            and making the day hers and mine

on this Day
            I bow to thee, my Queen V

Click here for Wild Flower by Patrick Watson.

Happy V Day! Thank you for visiting and reading. If you are in the mood for a more traditional Valentine tribute, I invite you to visit the “Love” category on my homepage. There you’ll find lots of love, for most every season. Enjoy the scroll. Michele

featured photo by BrAt82 / my rose photo

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Lullabies need to fly (sing it sister)

Loose elastic
once firm and secure
above tapping toes

A smudge of chocolate
on a faded felt petal
dripped years ago

Handmade pajamas
still soft to the touch
bubble baths, giggles, and hugs

Lullaby cradles to a colicky babe
became bedtime stories
under pasted glow-in-the-dark stars

Stories woven through every stich
in my heart they will remain

My daughter, now a woman fully grown
an artist with an expressive life of her own

It’s now time for this mom
to open some boxes, shed a few tears,
and turn the page

My sing-along with singer Rhiannon Giddens, singing Shake Sugaree. Sometimes you just need to sing the blues.

If video doesn’t load, click here to hear Rhiannon Giddens’ beautiful version of Shake Sugaree, without my meddling.

Last Sunday I began the task of going through my daughter’s childhood things with the intention of letting go. A most difficult task as some parents know. My sentimentality makes it nearly impossible and why I have put off going through the most treasured items. Every object has a story, if not a dozen or more. Every dance costume, doll, early sketch, book, blanket, ballet slipper… everything. These items have been in crates and boxes for years, moved a few times. It is now time to swim through the sentimentality, cry or sing when I need to, take breaks when I need to, and take photos of a few items before I let them go. It’s time to free these butterfly memories.

I have used the phrase “my creative journey” many times since I began this blog in the late summer of 2019. Too many times. Something occurred to me while pulling out dozens of hand stitched dresses, pajamas, dance outfits, and costumes… I’ve been creating all along.

Thank you for joining me on this creative life journey. I am enriched by the fellow creatives in my life. Transforming sadness, pain, and grief into art is a survival skill, helpful for each of us, however we choose to express ourselves. Michele

note: I made all but the first white dance outfit (quite a story with that one that I will share if asked).

Featured photo by Zoteva / my garment sunset photos / my photo by Larissa

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Moody Sky Gallery

Enamored
are my thoughts
about a tree
in the distance
who keeps me
company
who captures the light
like mighty Apollo
who keeps me
enchanted
with an everchanging
backdrop
Close
to the eyes
and heart
Too far
to touch

If you have the time, I believe this creative music video will offer some smiles. Click here for Send the Sun by Nikki Lane.

Thank you for spending some time with me and a beautiful moody tree that is beyond my office window, beyond my reach – a place for me to cast my daydreams.

A grand thanks to blogger Archer for reviewing my novella recently. What a wonderful surprise! Click here to read his carefully crafted and generous review. With a nod to Homer’s Odysseus, he helped me see my book in a fresh light. Kind regards. Michele

my photos of a distant tree that captivates me – taken over the last couple of days (w/telephoto lens), just a sampling of its many moods

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Inviting light

from Front Porch

If never you find what you’re looking for
Come on back to the front porch
Say my name through the screen door
Come on back to the front porch
Whatever you’ve done it doesn’t matter
‘Cause darling we’re all a little splintered and battered
But the light is on, what you waiting for?
Come on back, come on back to the front porch

Songwriters: Joy Williams, Liz Rose, Emily Shackelton

Click here for Front Porch music video, by singer Joy Williams. [image error]

I just discovered this music video for the featured song that recently found me. A beautiful song that I am enjoying singing this Sunday morning – the video has me crying. Prejudice is ugly. Welcoming light and unconditional love are beautiful. Thank you for stopping by. Michele

my photos: first is recent rising sun of a place down yonder (telephoto lens) / other two are Saturday night’s sunset (natural gradient-no filter)

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Thickets and Venom

Venom flowing
through tangled thickets
            ancestral blood
she’d been given

Generational curses
she never thought
to question

Sidewalk whispers
she heard
as hisses

Wearing their self-righteous
judgment
without due process
or argument

Her future tightly woven
with past decisions
made by others
not hers to own

Her fate sealed
by a toxic wax
she dared not
touch
or tear open

A false belief
strengthened
by poisonous words
and bitter souls

All was changed
            within her
when moonlight’s tender
glow
became an alchemy
melting harsh into water
            pure

exposing her truth
purifying her blood
and cleansing her soul

Click here for Ain’t Gonna Drown by Elle King if video doesn’t show.

The novella I am working on is set in the American South which has me drawn to soulful bluesy sounds that I associate with the region. A genre I love. Listening to King’s song this morning led me through the thickets of my mind to discover the lines for this character, who I am calling Lily (temporarily at least) and whose likeness may appear in my emerging story. Writing will reveal the plot and her storyline fate. Thank y’all for stopping by. [image error] Michele

featured photo Boiko Olha / my tangled moon photo 12/28/24 / my photo by Larissa

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Vibrant Living (writer spotlight)

Laughter and energy poured from her as she blew out a bubble forming on the surface of her fancy drink. An exact date, I do not recall, however I will never forget the first time I saw Cindy Georgakas, or Gregarious Georgakas as I like to call her, embracing life and lifting others through the screen. Shortly after my introduction to her signature spirit, I watched another video of Cindy; she was doing stretches on her outdoor porch, inviting others to join her. Warm, welcoming, outgoing, authentic, and giving were my early impressions of her. A few years have passed since Cindy first shared her outgoing personality, kindness, and abundant hearts with me through comment interactions. My initial curiosity about this woman with animated expression and unconditional love for others has evolved into genuine appreciation and admiration.    

Cindy’s debut book, Re-Create & Celebrate – 7 Steps to Turn Your Dreams into Reality, published by Experiments in Fiction (May 2023) is my first book highlight of 2024. Purchased months ago, I held off reading this book, sensing that the start of the new year would be a fitting time to read this genre. Re-Create is categorized as a Happiness/Success/Motivational Self-Help book. Fitting given Cindy’s background in fitness, healing modalities, and life-coaching. The author’s diverse and interesting professional and life experiences enrich the pages of this book. Similar to Cindy’s commentary and blog style, the tone is comfortable and conversational – like she is speaking directly to the reader, guiding them toward discovering or reconnecting them to their passion and purpose.     

There are many directions I could have gone with this book highlight, as there are many inspiring directions Cindy takes her readers, her blog, and her life. I chose the direction of health and vitality because when I think of Cindy, I think of her boundless energy which cannot be maintained without a focus on health and physical well-being which she weaves into her book, along with attention to the mind and spirit. As expected, Re-Create was an excellent choice to begin my new year with. I highly recommend Cindy’s book for a wellness boost, any time of year.   

Cindy’s book, presented as a workbook style, invites the reader to fully participate in the reading experience and one that can be revisited again and again as life unfolds. It was difficult to select only a few standout quotes and passages, but here are five that stood out to me, now tabbed, and highlighted, of course.

Step 2: Finding Your Purpose

“My current purpose… To take such good care of me, that I can be a reflection for others to do the same and empower them to live the life they want to have” (p. 59).

“I wish that I and everyone else would have come into a loving environment free from friction, dysfunction, and hardship, but that would have robbed me and you of the lessons we needed to learn to arrive at a place of acceptance, gratitude, and love” (p. 53).

Step 3: Finding Your Want and Why

“… Start small and build every day. You are on your way to making an internal shift that will then show up externally, and yes, picking one thing can make a change in many areas of your life” (p. 67).

Step 4: Plan of Action – Reaching Your Goals

“Life is a journey to be explored: take risks, feel the wind beneath your wings, change course, live the life you imagined, and feel the blessings that life has to offer you each day” (p. 77).

Step 7: Falling off the Wagon, Burnout & Support

Food as Medicine: “… eating real food, not processed foods with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins, and staying hydrated with good healthy fats is the best way to care for our bodies” (p. 125).

Cindy’s unique blog can be found at uniquelyfitblog.com. Click here to learn more about her book, read reviews, and a preview. Thank you for visiting and reading! Michele

featured photo by Darya Roe / my book and citrus photo

© 2024 MyInspiredLife