The Invitation

Generally, I am not moved by poetry, but this one spoke to me. I wanted to find the right imagery to match these words, and Carissa Gallo generously allowed me to show her work in this composition. Enjoy, and let me know what you think. 

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know 
if you will risk 
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are 
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you 
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know 
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone 
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Written by Oriah © Mountain Dreaming

All photography, courtesy of the talented Carissa Gallo

Kamakura home

To preface: Jas and I are going to Japan and Korea in a month (eee! still have to book hotels!) and I am so looking forward to being completely inundated with inspiration. And perspiration. It'll be the beginning of the hot summer months, the only time I've ever visited Japan so I don't know any better. It's also my first time to Korea and Jason's first time to Japan, so we'll take turns playing tour guide!

I could go on about how big of a fan I am of The Selby and his work, but the primary reason for this post is to share one of his features, the bright seaside home of Hitoshi Uchida-san and his family in Kamakura, Japan.

Been thinking about where to go and I wish we could tour this home while we're there. As I study to be a stylist, I realize that this kind of personality and life history is one-of-a-kind. Lifestyle is a genuine existence that can't—and shouldn't— be reproduced. The best I can do is absorb and enjoy the experience, and draw from it for inspiration. What I see in these photos is my dream: A beach house in a small town of Japan. That, or to be Todd Selby himself.

all photos by The Selby

Aside from daydreaming about stalking people in their homes, this weekend we enjoyed the warmest weather in the bay so far. To offset the cost of eating out Friday and Saturday, I rushed around the kitchen for three hours, prepping two meals from What Katie Ate to enjoy throughout the week. 

A rich, slow roasted pork and red wine ragu, and a pork, pumpkin (butternut squash) and sage canneloni (lasagna). Three things about the canneloni: 1) I used butternut squash because I couldn't find a pumpkin and I used lasagna noodles because I didn't want to use too much ricotta for a stuffing; 2) this recipe is waaaay too much for two people, and I tried to invite people over but no luck! Guess it's lasagna week, and 3) I'm determined to learn how to photograph lasagna as appetizing as Katie does. It's got to be the hardest thing to food style!

I shredded the pork this morning before work and I am so excited to get home and make worth out of the fifteen thousand steps of the recipe.

Happy Monday!

A teaser

...and behind-the-scenes of a recent test shoot. Can you tell what the theme was? Just got a preview of the photos—let the editing commence!

Braiding fibers

Bringing home interesting looking plant castoffs from the street is a hobby of mine. I don't know why these things catch my eye, but they do. When they come home with me they join their family--branch, seed or stone--and there it will sit until I figure out what to do with it next. 

I picked up this frayed, dirty leaf with horse hair-like fibers a couple months ago because it looked like a ponytail. As I was dusting this weekend—a rare sight—it came to me. I stopped what I was doing, untangled the fibers and braided it straight, then undid it to rebraid it with a curve. As a last touch, I stuck some retired orchid blossoms that I never got around to throwing away. Happy with this little experiment; will be keeping an eye out for more of these fibrous leaves...

Cheers!

Everyone, yes, I've confirmed, Prizefighter does have a dang good Bloody Mary. Spicy, strong, and bloody as hell! 

Vernal Equinox 2013

When day and night are equal and when the sun rises and sets due east and west, it is a sign of spring.... and with this change comes new growth. 

I pass under an arch of cherry and plum blossoms every day on my walk to the bus stop, and today this blanket of petals covered the sidewalk. I am suddenly hyper-aware that time is passing. How am I spending it?

I evaluate in my step how these days feel like a long to-do list, in both good and indifferent ways. I'm reminded of the Saipua blog post I read this morning — check it out, it's good — about priorities and career and calling quits on the things we don't want to do. So this season, as it happens every few seasons, instead of letting my responsibilities weigh down on me, I choose to focus on the things that I care about, and only those things.

Change is coming for me, and I welcome it.

DUN DUN DUNNN