Swirling. Tossing. Bending. Nearly breaking. Getting up. Dusting off. Moving on.

It seems a cycle never ending. It's the last bit that matters most. Get up. Dust off. Move on.

Should someone peer into my mind and try to make their own sense of my thoughts, surely they'd be swallowed whole. Surely they would sink in my chaos. But this chaos is mine. These thoughts are mine. They tear me down, and they build me back up. Through it all, I'm here. I get up. I dust off. I move on.

I'm here. I'm just where I need to be. Ever learning. Ever seeking more. Ever yearning for the strings of my heart to connect to those of another. Will it be you?  Will you recognize something of yourself if what I'm putting out there? If not yet, maybe one day. There will be a day when my voice is loud enough to be heard.  When the strings of your heart recognize mine. When we connect.  When we will be gently tethered to one another as we walk our own chaotic paths.

Until then...I am here, and it's just where I need to be.

Love the journey.

Shine on,

Shannon

Time...in its ever forward motion...leaves you to be swallowed in its wake should you allow it.  It can be unforgiving, it is unyielding, and it's steadfast in its determination to just. keep. going.

Time can break you, bend you, shape you, and mold you.  It can heal you, build you and renew you in equal measure. What will you allow time to do to you? I choose renew.  Renewal of my spirit.  Recharging of my soul.  

Time won't stop for me to smell the roses...but I'm going to smell them anyway.  It won't wait for me while I walk in the warm, Arizona sun...but walk I will.  It won't freeze the faces of my babies as they continue to grow and change...so I will drink them in with unabashed greed.  I won't be swept away in the current.  I will learn to ride it.

Time is coming for us all, but life is calling.  How will you answer?

It's Friday!  The day most of us work toward all week long.  

For me, Friday is especially great because it means no school lunches to pack tonight, no homework to check, no studying for tests, no repeating for the 100th time "8x4 is 32."  But it does not mean it's the end of my work week.  Fortunately, I happen to love what I do.

Oh...and sometimes I torture my poor dog, Finnegan.  He's an Irish Water Spaniel, and as you can see here, he LOVES when I make him do ridiculous things...like wear a new necklace I've made. 

Happy Friday!

Shine On,

Shannon

As I draw ever nearer to the day that I go live, my nerves are rearing their ugly little heads.  It's hard to quiet the internal critic, the fears, the self doubt. But I tell myself to press on!  

While I worry over whether anyone will like the jewelry I make as much as I do, I tell myself to press on.  While the internal narrative tells me that everyone is tired of seeing your "latest venture," and rolling their eyes over the fact that I can't make up my mind, I tell myself to press on.  While the little naysayer on my shoulder tells me that my pieces aren't good enough, or that nobody will pay what I think it's worth, I tell myself to press on.

I press on because I have to.  The urge in me to create simply can't be suppressed. What I've come to realize though, is that I don't want to suppress it. And the negative thoughts? The naysayers? The eye rollers?  Who cares!???!?! Those who love me will support me.  Those who are comfortable in their own skin, who are doing what they love, and seeking their own dreams, will understand my plight.  So I press on.  I press on in search of something that fulfills me outside of being a wife and a mother.  I press on in search of stretching myself to reach heights I only thought were possible in my dreams.

I press on because I'm ready to fly.  Will you come along for the ride?

And just for fun...a peek at a pair of earrings I've recently made...