Where The Light Is

Where do we find the light hidden in the tiny crevasses of winter?

So easy to see when the sun shines upon glistening snow

or when firelight catches someones eye,

in their naked truth.

Sometimes it's simply hidden inside the silent words we read

or the familiar melodies we hear

or in the tenderest of moments we see,

just beyond our reach.

Or in the hand we touch and draw slowly to our lips,

softly nibbling a knuckle.

Merry Christmas Crafting

Christmas is one of those love/hate traditions for me. I love crafting, wrapping gifts, making cards and being together but I don't like all the commercialism and the pressure to get everything done on time. This year I successfully stayed out of the mall, purchased some things online and made lots of felted wool garlands while my youngest daughter baked her heart out and also made these fabulous gingerbread candlesticks that I posted about several years back.

This year she also sliced oranges and baked them slowly in the oven at 200 degrees for 6 hours. A garland of them is hanging in our kitchen window and looks so very beautiful when the light shines through them.

I made a little video for Instagram of the ramshackle Christmas chaos in our kitchen over the last several days, as it all came together ( see below).

Wherever you are, I hope you are safe & sound and have friends or family around you.

Merry Christmas, from my home to yours.

xo,
Louise

Elements of Resilence

Above all else, let us remember that we are all spiritual beings on a path of discovery, love and awakening.

Even in our hardest moments.

Above all else, let us remember to take utmost care of ourselves, regardless of what swirls around us and within us.

Fresh air, keeping our bodies in motion and nourishing all 5 of our delicious senses,

but also remembering to love who we are, just as we are, and knowing that we're all connected to an energy greater than ourselves, regardless of how alone we might feel.

We really are.

Above all else,

let us remember to keep searching for what inspires and ignites our soul.

Because it is in these moments that we connect with, not only ourselves,

but with each other as well.

When The Tide Comes In

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, near and far. To those of you I know and love and to those of you I have not yet met and probably will never have the pleasure of meeting.

I hope that when you find your way to Lines of Beauty it is a comforting place to land, on this long and winding road to growing older.

This has been the hardest year of my life but in it I have found an inner strength I never knew I had and more gratitude for everyone and everything that surrounds me in my life.

As time carries on, I will share more of my story.

Several months back I created a "Jar of Gratefulness", a ceramic jar that resides on the island in my kitchen. I made a small pouch on the side of the jar and put little slips of paper in it to write on. When I see it, it is a reminder for me to stop and be conscious of something new to be grateful for.

Or something old :-)

Old or young, I am grateful for all of you, my dear readers.

Sending love your way, on my favorite holiday this Thursday.

May peace be with you,

Louise
xo

What's The Secret

At almost 96-years-old my mom is having a good day, which hasn't been the case lately. Frequently I ask her questions and write down her answers to tuck away and have when she is gone.

Me: Mom what's the secret to a good life?

Mom: You tell me.

Me: No you tell me.

Mom: A happy smile.

Me: I like that.

Mom: I don't think I'm going to be climbing any mountains any more though :-)

Jody's Story

Thinking & Growing

They Are The Sweetest

On Finding Peace

The other night I was driving home from swimming and looked up and saw the brilliantly shining crescent moon.

Suddenly I felt that all is right in the world.

That our country, through all the craziness and disbelief that is before us, is at the place that it is because we're learning and preparing for a better version for ourselves. Together we have to go through this darkness to get to a better place. We have to be woken-up and released from what isn't working.

The same is true in our physical environment with all the hurricanes recently.

And also for whatever we are all going through personally in our lives and being able to trust the process of our growth for a happier and more enlightened life.

I leave us today with this wonderful quote and hope for a better future.

With love always,
Louise

22 Minutes to Bliss

Along with doing more yoga, I've been searching for meditations to help me relax and this one is really wonderful. It sent me right into slumber land.

I hope you are all well out there.
In love, peace and health,
Louise

Finding Peace

In a world that tends to make the cause of everything outside each of us,

we are robbed of our power...


On the brink of the last holiday weekend of this summer of delicious weather,

 I leave you with what I think is one of the Dalai Lama's most profound quotes ( simply click on photo to expand).

I wish you peace & joy & love,

Louise

Our Souls Must Notice What We Do With Them

"Our bodies shrink, crumble, lose their robustness, while the face gains distinction and beauty. How sad that we don't see enough old faces in the youth-crazed west, I thought. Surely some ethical damage occurs when the faces of old people aren't on view, or their faces have been tucked, pulled and made-over, preventing wisdom from seeping through the cracks. It seems dishonest to keep hidden what becomes of our true faces. Our souls must notice what we do with them."

By Laurie Gough

Thank you for your beautiful wisdom Laurie.

From her book, Kiss the Sunset Pig

 

And So It Is

I've been struggling lately with the world dragging me by the hand.

I bet some of you can relate.

It seems that the only remedy recently for me is to get out in nature, write in my journal or slip under water and swim. So many concerns and details swirling around me.

In my life I have loved ones being challenged. One in each area of the body, mind and spirit. I'm trying like the dickens to not let their struggles be my struggle but when you love someone it's hard to do. I keep reminding myself that we are all on different journeys.

Getting involved with someone elses's journey is like picking up someone else's knitting project, painting on their canvas or eating off their plate.

It's easy for me to not turn on the news and ignore all the concern about North Korea and the culture war that is happening at the University of Virginia. This is one of the biggest gifts to myself perhaps.

I think that the best thing for anyone to do is to detach with love and keep doing what we brings us pleasure and take very good care of our body, mind and spirit.

And also remember that almost all things shall pass.

Hope you're all having a good week.

With love and light,
Louise

Reaching Further

“According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness.

The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don't bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy.

The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous.

― Deepak Chopra

Les Oiseaux et Les Abeilles

I don't often like to travel away from the topic of spiritual aging but this video is perfect for some Monday humor.

Sending love and lightness,

Louise

Happy Full Moon

"It’s impossible to account for the kind of wealth that self-knowledge produces. It’s something that never leaves us. Something that no situation can take from us. Something that we have to earn through intense effort. 

Self-knowledge doesn’t come from the pretty pictures that we post. It doesn’t come from presenting what is pleasing. It doesn’t come from the platitudes that crumble in our hands when we need something real to hold onto. 

Cures come from the most curious sources.

Seek out the ones that you need in this moment. Seek out what keeps you grounded. Seek out the spaces and places that allow you to take a break. Seek out what helps you to make use of your struggles and what gives your more painful experiences a meaningful context. 

There is always more to learn about ourselves. More to uncover. More to empty out. More to make peace with. Your ability to accompany yourself on this transformational journey is fundamental to your well-being. Your ability to tend to the less glamorous aspects of your life can keep you on track. Your ability to keep up with the metaphorical and literal chores can make a world of difference. Sometimes self-care is excruciatingly boring but doing those menial tasks can be undeniably healing."

By Chani Nicholas ( who writes the most incredibly delicious astrology)

Happy full moon my friends and family,

Louise

Truly

Have a nice 4th of July weekend dear ones.

Have fun,

breath it in,

lie on your back and look at the trees & sky.

Summer will be over before we know it.

XO,

Louise

Healing Waters

Not only this, but water is a great healer. Nothing feels better for me, after a long day, then to get in the water and swim it off.

When I am at my worst, I know I need water's healing powers the very most.

Even a short little swim.

Or a shower or a tub.

Alone with our thoughts, as our bodies move through atoms of hydrogen and oxygen.

More on the joy of swimming here.

Sending love and healing out into the world to you.

xo,
Louise

A Few Things

The above is so in keeping with the quote, "Where attention goes, energy flows"

A lesson for us all.

Also this week, entrepreneurial coach, Brenda Stanton, has an excellent piece on approval addiction.
 
On the lighter side... former Lines of  Beauty, beauty of the week, Gigi Schilling, has a new book out called Ageless Bride, for brides over 50. Check it out if you know of anyone in their 2nd half-century getting married soon :-)

I hope you're having a nice weekend everyone.

Sending love to you,

Louise

Love & Light

My mama turned 95 in January and I've been wanting to post this video of us singing happy birthday to her ever since. It was a fun celebration, with all 5 of her kids and spouses and many of her grandchildren. The perfect size for someone with growing memory problems. One of the things that we did to honor her was to all wear her favorite color (purple). She also requested that we all wear name tags to make things a little easier for her. We put one on her too, as you will see in the video :-)

I've wanted to post this because not only is it funny but it shows her continuing love of life and sense of humor, even in the adversity of losing her memory.  You'll see what I mean at the end of it.

Love and light cracks open the darker spaces, always.

Sending both to you,
Louise

 
Untitled from Lines of Beauty on Vimeo.

Swim Suit Season

We've been in the middle of a crazy & chaotic omgoddie kitchen renovation lately but I wanted to hop on here real quick amidst the dust and post this video. This Imomsohard duet are pretty funny.

Here is their latest.
I love how they start out with what "dudes get to wear to the beach."

xo

The Silver Lining

It's undeniably true that hard times can bring strength, even when we feel weak at the same time.

It's funny how this works!

We just need to let our spirit guide us and trust the process.

Sending love out into the world to all of you,

Louise

The Secret

A new 75-year-old Harvard study has found the one secret leading to a fulfilling life.

No surprises here, just reassurance.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

With love from me to you,

Louise

The Best Medicine

Another great video from one of my favorite people, Christiane Northrup, in the field of women's health.

Dr. Oz also discusses the health benefits of orgasm here. 

Natural medicine that doesn't cost a penny :-)

Finding the Good

One of the challenging things for me this past year has been receiving the news that my youngest daughter, JULIA FERNANDES, has been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune disease. She is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh.

As her mother, you can only imagine the amount of worry that this has brought into my life. Having her so far away has made it even harder. Luckily, I've gathered some very helpful coping skills in my later years that have helped me through the process. One of them was knowing that there is frequently a silver lining to many of life's challenges that come upon us. To name a few, her health struggle has brought us even closer together and has delivered us both to the doorstep of the many wonders and lessons about the mind, body, spirit connection.

I will be forever grateful for all that I have personally learned from her through her journey. She has been an incredible inspiration to me, especially in her most challenging moments.

For anyone you know that might be interested in and comforted by her story, it is here.  

With love,
Louise

Making Lemonade

My niece, Vira, posted this on her Instagram last week. So good! I've said I've been busy before and haven't explained why. Just busy taking care of me. The best kind of busy. No explanation needed to take time out for ourselves. No explanation needed anytime really, for anything.

How wonderfully empowering is this?

My nice, Vira, is an American recording artist. Her music has been featured in commercials for BMW, Coke-Zero and NBC Universal. Her latest song, Last Ride, is out and I love it. Vira comes from the Sanskrit word for hero and the Greek/Latin word for truth. She is one of my of biggest inspirations.

I am off today for a weekend away with two very new friends. Some of you may remember my dear friend Liz, who died a few months ago. These two friends were lifelong friends of hers, whom I met only once before her death.

This weekend, we will make some lemonade out of lemons. <3 <3 <3

Sending love and light,

Louise

.

Turning Anxiety

I don't have an April Fool's joke to share with you this weekend but I do have a really good video for you. (thank you Bob).

I recently heard someone say that before they speak publicly that they jump up and down and slap their thighs. I didn't get it then but after seeing this, now I do.

I can't wait to try it the next time I have a swim race or have to speak in front of a group.

Happy snowy weekend if you're here in the northeast.
Maybe the storm is this year's April Fool's joke?

xo

Remind Me

Most of us are probably familiar with the Reminders App on an Iphone.

This little app has revolutionized my life in the past year. Because of it, gone are the post-it notes on my mirror, doors and car dash board- as well as those scribbled in ink on the back of my hand.


Amen halleluja.

For instance- Need to remember to get gas? 

Just say to Siri, " Remind me to get gas today ( or tomorrow) at 8AM" and she'll set the reminder for you.

It's like we have a little assistant right in our hands.

We can also go into the app and set daily health reminders such as:

8am- take vitamins

5:00pm- drink plenty of water

10:30pm- get to bed early for optimal health & beauty rest :-)

We can set weekly reminders: 

Thursday at 9am- take out the garbage & recycling.

Remember to give mom some loving touch. 

We can set monthly reminders:

First of the month- do bills

15th of the month- renew the swim pass

We can set annual reminders:

Car inspection

Put snow tires on/take off.

Yada yada yada...

But here's the best thing-

We can set mental reminders for behavior modification. For instance, when we reach a head-butt with someone and want to skip the drama- 

"Take a breath, let it settle, go into self for a minute and then respond." 

Oh man is this one good for me.

And even better than this, we can set affirmations for ourselves. 

Oh yes, so good...

" I don't take what others are going through personally."

 "I trust the process."

"I radiate love & light ."

XOXO

You Always Have

Another great quote to share for all of us when life grows challenging.

With love and peace,
Louise

Lately

Such a great quote.

There are some things in life that cost us our peace that we can't really avoid- and then there are the other things that we can. These are the things that are especially important to be aware of, and steer clear of, to take better care of ourselves.

I am sure that each one of us can think of at least one example.

Also this week, a very interesting article from the NY Times called Aging and My Beauty Dilemma, written by the female president of Barnard College.

xo,
Louise

Trusting in Our Higher Power

With the new moon yesterday, my first grand-nephew has arrived and a friend's father passed away. It seems I grieve my own father once again every time this happens.

I've been thinking about the devine energy and love that resides within us all. Perhaps the biggest key in life is trust in our own higher power. Although I don't think my mom could articulate this, perhaps in simpler thinking, it is what she may believe. A widow for over 15 years, now 95-years-old and on the slippery slope of decline, she is alone in the night in nursing care and must be tapping into an energy for herself that is peaceful, trusting and grounding.

Thank you mama for your example of this, even though I know that you probably aren't even aware that you have set this and so many others for me.

My dear friend and inspiration Brenda Stanton (who walked with me in the Nestle ad) wrote a great piece recently about trusting our higher power that you might like to read if you have time, especially her Worthy Work at the end of the article.

Sending love from my home to yours,

Louise

Valentine's Day

I'm sending love out into the world today.

To those in the far reaches of the earth, who might need it most.

To those close-by, who might feel that they haven't a hand to hold, anywhere.

I'm sending love out into the world today

Because I know we're all a little frightened about what might happen next

or what might not happen.

I hope you can feel it.

It's traveling today, from my heart to yours.

Xoxo,

Louise

Message from the Sky

The older I grow, the more I love astrology.

I take it with a grain of salt but usually find it pretty fascinating.

There is a message in this full moon for all of us.

Happy lunar eclipse everyone,

Louise

A Track In The Snow

I am still sorely missing my friend who died last week. First there was shock of her sudden death, then the celebration of her life and now, the reality that my memories with her are done being made.

Especially hard I think because she is the first friend I have ever lost, but perhaps this kind of thing gets harder as life goes along.

Out of I don't know where, I gathered the strength to speak at her funeral. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I have spoken at my Dad's funeral and also my 101-year-old cousin's but this was harder. There were many people I didn't know there, she was my age and there was also a camera telecasting the service to another room for the overflow in the UU church. 

I am so glad that I honored her though. I am always glad when I do things that scare the daylights out of me, but this time in particular, I had a story to tell. I honestly think she pulled me through it.

"I am Liz’s friend, Louise.

With Liz's passing, we have all lost a glowing light in our lives.

Last Thursday morning, like the flip of a light switch, she was gone.

For years Liz has been my walking buddy.

Who knows how many miles we treaded, 

while trying to sort out the complexities of life.

Lizbeth, 

You were my nature girl.

The girl who got me to see so many things that I would've missed had I not been with you.

A bird in a tree.

A track in the snow.

The first sign of spring.

You were a confidant.

You were my cheerleader.

You radiated love.

Who will ever forget your smile? 

Your soothing massages provided my 95-year-old mother and so many others, the human warmth that we all need.

After every massage my mom would say to me

"Liz is such a kind and loving person." 

And we all know that about you-

and it is what I will miss most,

my dear dear friend."

When A Wall Comes Down

In honor of my floral loving friend, Liz

I've been flattened this week with some very sad news. This past Thursday morning I lost my dear friend Liz, who was my longtime walking buddy. She died very suddenly from complications of the flu/asthma.

When I say that she was a very kind and loving person it doesn't come close to describing her fully.

Why is it that I opened my phone to text her the day before she died, actually put her name in, got interrupted with a phone call and never got back to it?

I would have known perhaps how sick she was. I could have helped.

Why is it that she drove herself to the emergency room on Wednesday night and it was too crowded, so she decided to try again in the morning?

Eight hours later, in the middle of the night, it was too late.

Why is that this human was so prominent in my life, and yet, I have not one selfie of us together?

As my one of my daughters said, maybe this is beautiful thing.

That maybe we were experiencing more important things together than capturing a moment.

As I prepare for her funeral tomorrow, I am writing a short tribute to share.

Hold your friends dearly. We never know when they are going to slip away.

With love,
Louise

The Chakra of Love

The beautiful lotus flower represents the heart chakra.

I've been reading up on the 7 chakras and especially liked learning more this week about the 4th chakra, our heart chakra. 

The chakra of love.

Love, the ultimate healing force.

Especially important this week, in the difficult political situations we face.

When our hearts are open and energy is freely flowing, we are not only loving to others, we are also more loving to ourselves.

When our hearts are open, we know when we need to say no and do some self-nurturing. 

Try smiling at a few strangers today and see what happens.

Love and warmth will always radiate and grow.

xo,

Louise

And That's How We Know

I wish I'd seen this years ago. Such a good message.

Happy weekend everyone!
xo

What Is

In the wake of all the crazy things that are happening, such as the shootings in Fort Lauderdale recently, I'm finding it helpful to come back to what is right and what is working, and more than ever, to be very grateful for it all.

We can sometimes get so caught up in WHAT ISN'T can we not?

On the verge of the new presidency, I thought a bit of humor is in order for this week (see below).

With love to you all,
Louise