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“Life is full of beauty.
Notice it.
Notice the bumble bee,
the small child,
and the smiling faces.
Smell the rain,
and feel the wind.
Live your life to the fullest potential,
and fight for your dreams.”

by Ashley Smith

It’s worth reading a few times and passing on to your friends. Love it.

Peace, Jill

This has definitely been a bestseller. Seems to apply to most people!

Buy it here.

I love various things

In high school I competed in Iowa High School Speech religiously. I still hold IHSSA very close to my heart and was recently reminiscing about Individual Speech competition my senior year. I was the only person from my school selected to perform at All State that year and I went in the category of poetry with this slam style poem by Meliza Banales. It still haunts my dreams and I find myself referencing it often in my life as a poet when I feel that poetry is the only way to fully express myself.

Peace, Jill

So here it is for you to enjoy:

Flood, by Meliza Banales

I wanna write you a poem
because I think it will fix you
because I think it will make things right again
because I think I might forget important subjects
like bread, dying, and love

I wanna write you a poem
because I was never taught how to do
anything else
because no one in my family told me I couldn’t dream
and because so many in your family told you
dreaming was wasteful

I wanna write you a poem
because things make sense
when they’re broken into lines
things that are broken
can be called verse instead of disasters
things that are broken
can be fixed
             even if it’s just with words
             even if I can’t find the words at that moment
             you can find them later in this poem

I wanna write you a poem
because I’ve made so many mistakes
broken promises and missed chances
to say things the beautiful way,
              the breath-of-fresh-air-way,
              the right way in a one way situation

because I think there is magic in here
I think there are prayer songs in here
I think
if I wander around long enough
I will know what it means to be
here

I wanna write you a poem
because for two pages or three minutes or six-hundred words
I am strong,
I am spiritual,
I am praised,
I am appreciated,
I am selfish,
I am noticed,
I am encouraged,
I am good enough for this world and all its faults
I am at fault and I take responsibility

I wanna write you a poem
give you something to remember the good in me
                               the descent human-being in me
                               the one who’ll loan out her last five bucks in me
                               the patient me
                               the still standing after all this time in me
when you’re angry at me
and think that holding onto me is a waste of your energy

so that you will know my name
whisper it in my ear dozens of times
           in dozens of streets
           in dozens of cities and parks and bars and neighborhoods
so that you will know how to smell me in the dark

I wanna write you a poem
because it’s the most expensive thing to do
because it’s the path less chosen
because it’s the craziest, stupidist, most ridiculous risk I could ever take
and I want to spend it on you
    I want to throw it on you
    I want to shower it, scream it, blanket it, push it, smother it, hand it,
on you

I wanna write you a poem
because, really, it’s all I’ve got

and I know you may not believe that –
you may think there a hundreds of other ways I could communicate
to you
you may think
poetry shouldn’t be the center
that split pavement and loose vins on brick walls and ghettos and noise
shouldn’t be all I have

but despite what you think
despite the doubts you might have in me
despite miles of things I may never come to understand in this universe
despite all of this,
I’ll give it to you anyway
this writing
this wanting
this poem
is yours.

 

I was (and still am) such a huge fan of the Chronicles of Narnia. Those books changed my life and I can’t help but hope just a little bit that Narnia really is out there somewhere!

Buy it here.

I routinely check closets for Narnia!

In December I opened a new etsy store called Unresigned to sell super adorable pinback buttons! I will be featuring different designs on here every few days so check them out! They are all avaliable almost all the time here.

So we’ll start with one of my personal favorites. Too cute Buy it here.

That's pretty illegal... even for us.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech

I reread this every few days. It is so true. Think about how many times you’ve back down from your best because you didn’t want to seem too sure of yourself. I know I’ve done it many times.

Think about it.

Peace, Jill

I recently self published my first anthology of poetry, Drops of Ink, which was the culmination of about a year and a half of intensive writing, finger drumming, editing, and staring at a blank screen. But eventually 95 poems came together well enough to be suitable for public consumption so this lovely little book is the result.

The title is taken from a quote of

Here’s what the back says:

“The beauty in the path lies in not knowing where it leads unless of course, you thought you did.

Drops of Ink is a compilation of poems that tries to look at the world with open eyes, seeing the pain, but not without appreciating the exquisite beauty. It turns life over in its hands, feeling the textures, noticing the colors, and embracing the feelings. It will take you down a path, and the beauty lies in not knowing where that path will lead you.”

It’s avaliable over at LuLu in paperback for $8.97 or for download for $5.00. Check it out here.

(And, as always, remember that young artists are starving artists. Please show the love by buying a copy or downloading!)

Peace, Jill

Wow… I can’t believe it’s been so long! I haven’t posted in much, MUCH too long, but never fear. I am back.

I’m going to try something new with the site now, and so look for lots of great new changes around the site. In my sojourn from the blog I have been busy writing books, starting a second small business, acting, and oh yeah… going to college.

I have realized in the last year that I have a lot more to share than just my jewelry. I am developing an artistic philosophy that I think deserves a stage of it’s own and so I am renaming, redesigning, and reclaiming this blog to help me gain artistic exposure and test drive the things I’m learning about art and what it means in our lives.

Hope you stick around to see what happens!

Peace, Jill

I finally got down to business and uploaded some more new items on Etsy. I’ll post a few pictures to peak your interest, but you’re going to have to head over to my Etsy to get the whole story on these little lovelies! Enjoy!

Peace, Jill