How Writing Helps Me With Parenting
Writing has been a sanity saving bridge which has led from processing parenting experiences to peace and solutions. Single parenting two children led me on a journey for which I have no map. Through writing, I create the map as I travel this wild and wonderful parenting safari.
My parenting journey has included many life lessons disguised as sinkholes, road blocks, and dead ends. My daughter, Lillian, was diagnosed at age 3 years old with a …
**THROWBACK TO 2016**
The Journey
A persons journey is never the same as another
With twists and turns and roads less traveled
Smooth at times, bumpy at others.
We begin this journey from our common home
And we travel to far away distant lands
In search of something we think we’ve lost
Only to realize that it was never really lost.It was simply buried beneath ideas we assumed as our own
And buried beneath beliefs that soaked deep into our cells.
So we each travel our own journey home
And although our journeys are unique
Our destination is the same.Ultimately, we all reach the destination
A destination reached at different times for each person.
We are welcomed to a home we never really departed
Welcomed into love’s embrace.
-©Camilla Downs 2016
February 3 2019:
I’m deep in “submitting my writings” mode and “working on the next book” mode. Which means searching through past writings. I come across many I’d like to share; yet usually resist the urge. Just couldn’t for this one … from March 2016 …. xoxo
Meet little 3 year old Liam’s legs and feet. He and his mom sat next to me at Virginia Lake Park in early March. Liam was fishing and I fished with him. I caught a fish!!!
It was magical fishing with him!! He kept holding his ….
December 11 2018:
Last Tuesday my entire life dissolved. It simply disappeared like sugar in boiling water. Who I am, who I thought myself to be disintegrated. In my mind’s eye, I could see creations and events literally crumbling. Have you ever had that happen?
Being me, I view this as the only way I know how … As a deeply spiritual experience. And I am grateful to be traveling this path … uncomfortable experiences, and all.
It left this one saturated with confusion and pain. I had been …
November 28 2018:
Dearest Carolyn R Smith,
To have someone
such as you
to hold a mirror
so that one may
fully see the path
she has travelled
and continues to travel.
To have someone
such as you
shower your kindness
and generosity upon she.
To have someone
such as you
to share what
she needs to share
knowing it only
deepens the relationship.
To have someone
such as you
is a blessing
of the highest
and brightest.
I am blessed
by our friendship
I love YOU
Yo Cosmic Sista!!
Camilla
Thank you for treating me to lunch. Fresh brewed sage Kombucha (oh my gosh! Yum!!!), vegan burger for me (oh my gosh! Yum!!), finished with a slice of vegan, maple walnut “cheesecake” (oh my gosh! Yum!!) Delicious food and delicious company! Love you!! 🙏💞
November 25 2018:
The Book Life
(Image: “‘The Lure of Books’ 1911 by Coles Phillips” by Plum leaves is licensed under CC BY 2.0)
A love of reading
A love of books
A love of the written word…
November 17 2018:
The Path of the Heart
The path back home
seems littered with
suffering and struggle.
What is this insane
ability to cause
one self such suffering?
Suffering by way of the
thoughts that dart
here and there,
at times stabbing
the soul as if they
were a cold, sharp knife.
When one golden day
the tides of change
bring ….
November 4 2018:
Still combing through the years of drafts saved on my blog! At least I’m in 2014 now! Hahaha!
(Thomas at Galena Creek Camp 2014)
The Beauty of All Individual Personalities and Souls
**THROWBACK POST**
February 19 2014:
When I picked up Thomas from school recently, he told me he has been asking all of his classmates whether or not they like LEGOS. Only one or two say they do and the others tell him they don’t and they like playing the Wii. He said it makes him feel bad that no one else likes them.
I explained to him that I’ve had a similar experience with feeling bad when others don’t like or feel the same way about something I like. BUT, I have learned that I am choosing to feel this way … And I can choose not to feel this way also.
He said, “That’s so hard, though”. I told him I completely understand and it takes lots and lots of practice to choose not to let it bother you. I said this may help …
October 20 2018:
When Things Come Together
And she began the walk
The walk of only she,
breathing in, knowing she was breathing in
breathing out, knowing she was breathing out
She listened to the sounds of
the stillness
the song birds
the beeping construction equipment
the roar of an airplane overhead
the creak and pop of the plastic fence
the screech of the …..
October 13 2018:
Recently, during a 40 minute meditation session, it felt like 5 minutes. I am always in awe when that happens. I find it incredibly magical … xoxo
Afterwards I wrote this; which will be the opening for my next book. Sharing this sneak peak with all of you … It’s still in rough draft status; yet, I was moved to share. Perhaps someone needs to see a word or two from this …
Walk with Me
Journey to the Center of My Soul
I had a choice to make.
I could choose not to even go near or open the door that would lead to the awakening of my true self. I could continue living life as I had been, seemingly happy and seemingly enjoying life.
Or I could choose to open that golden, larger than life door. The magical door that would lead the way to truly living life. A life of feeling all there is to feel – every single bit of it. A life of strapping into the gigantic see-saw of this path and riding my way through pain, despair, sadness, unhappiness, joy, peace, love, and bliss.