Marrakesh: and a tale of Spring cleaning

I was thinking that Spring is the time for many things.  Like Spring cleaning.  It's a time to get out our brooms and tackle the debris under the bed and couch.  A time to open the closets and toss the faded¸ dingy, and unused.  

But more than our homes, Spring cleaning should tackle the dust balls that reside in the corners of our minds.  Those dark and wintery ideas that hold us down.  The thoughts that are old, crumpled, and unnecessary like, I’ll never get there,  or she’s so much luckier, or no matter what I do  I will always be overweight.  These thoughts should be tossed in the bin, along with the stained shirt and the broken appliance.

Spring is also the time to get rid of the Only Ifs that keep us tethered and constrained, like If only I had more time, If only I had more money, If only I had more skills. Because really, Only Ifs are just excuses in disguise blocking our path to where we want to go. 

Spring, yes Spring, is the time for possibilities.  And new growth. 

Images of the white rose gardens at Peacock Pavilions in Marrakesh.

PS My book tour for Marrakesh by Design starts tomorrow!  More on that soon but I'll be at the International Fair for Books and Press in Geneva from Wednesday-Friday, April 25-27.  Morocco is the guest of honor and will have its own Moroccan Pavilion.  If you are nearby please come say hello!

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Marrakesh: and a tale of friendships

I was thinking about friendships.  How complex they are and how fragile.  How they must be treated with respect.  I think that the best friendships are a give and take.  They aren't a give-give-give or a take-take-take.  There's some sort of equilibrium.

I long for friends.  Very much.  But recently I find myself questioning some of my friendships -- worried about hidden agendas and saddened by slights.  I’ve been finding solid ground in those friendships that date back years.  But yet I crave new friends with new intimacies and new sharing.  And so I wonder how to best navigate through this place that I’m in. 

I would love to hear your advice or stories of your own friendships.

These two friends have known each other almost since birth and were delivered by the same doctor.

Here they are comparing the doctor's belly button technique:-)

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Morocco: a tale of the Cirque du Soleil and the secrets of the universe

They don’t let you take pictures at the Cirque du Soleil.  Perhaps because they have the keys to The Point.  To What It's All About.  To the Secrets of the Universe.  

At the Cirque du Soleil, no one is governed by fear, only driven by curiosity.  

No one says Oh No! What if........?  They say Oh Yes! What if..........?    

Can I do 3 flips, not 2?  Can I reach farther, sing longer, jump higher?  

Can I be better?  Better than I am?  Because at the Cirque Du Soleil, mediocrity will never do - not for me and not for you. 

And if it is that the Cirque du Soleil thrills us, perhaps it is because we, too, wish to know all we're capable of.  To not stand in our own shadows, playing it safe........

        but dazzle in an electric sunset of our own making...........

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Marrakesh by Design: and a tale of relief

I had told you about the trepidation.  About how it sat in the cardboard box, unopened -- my book, Marrakesh by Design.  

My husband peeked his head through the door.  Well? he said.  

No, I replied. Not yet.

The night passed, the day passed, the night passed.  My book sat in its cardboard box, the seal unbroken.

And then I opened it quietly, with no one around.  

It was bigger than I thought. 

I opened to the first page, and then the next page, and then the next. And then I put it down.  And then I picked it up.  And I opened it again and read another page, and then one more, then several.    Then I closed it and opened it from the back.  And I read it, well, backwards.  

A wave of.... of relief washed over me.  {Why, it was okay.  It was, even, well, good!}

I gave it to a close friend.  A designer friend.  I knew that she would tell me the truth.  

She liked it.  She liked it a lot.

Oh, thank you, universe.

I hope you'll like it, too.  Please, oh please, do.

PS I've been teaching my 12 year old son, Tristan, how to take pictures.  The ones above are his.

PPS My jewelry is from Bouvier.  Rebecca is my favorite jeweller ever.

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