Six word memoir

Posted by Anita Bondi on April 3, 2012 under Anita Bondi | 10 Comments to Read

I am a seeker. I seek inside myself and I also look to the outside world for support, affirmation, and communion. I am a maker, as Tom Mann said at the recent workshop I attended. I make things with my hands, with my body, and with my heart. In an article I read yesterday in O magazine, the author asked us to sum up our lives in 6 words. A six word memoir did not seem as daunting as writing a whole book. Actually, it might be more difficult. How to sum up a life in 6 words? Oprah, said that she just did hers for this time in her life. Whew! That seemed much easier. It wasn’t.

I had to go off to the jewelry bench and make something that symbolized the internal seeker and the external maker.

Here is what i came up with:It is a vessel, a sacred holding space for all that lives inside, with an open, yet protective way to interact with what is outside.

Or something like that. It is still in process. It did help me with my memoir though. I am choosing to share it with you in the hopes that you will share yours with me.

Opening to Beauty and Inspiration daily.

Your turn! Thanks for being on the path with me.

In this very moment

Posted by Anita Bondi on March 27, 2012 under Anita Bondi | 2 Comments to Read

My friend Miki, from Journeys of the Heart, always signs her emails to me by saying, “Life is what is happening in this very moment.” I often wonder if she just sends that to me, knowing that I am so often not living in this moment, and am also one of those people that thinks that, “life will really start when I lose 10 pounds, have a good relationship, or fill in the blank.” I am suspicious that she really does send this just to me and that she knows that it is the message that I need to hear most often. Miki is one of those people that just seems to “see” me, seems to look right into my heart, and soul. She is a two or maybe three time cancer survivor, tiny in stature woman, who packs a huge energy punch every time she enters a room. She does not let life pass her by. She does not seem to be waiting for anything or anyone. She is living NOW. Fully. Completely. She just turned 60, rented a big house in the Poconos, and invited a supportive, loving tribe to gather and party with her. I made this necklace to honor her, to thank her, to celebrate her, and mostly just to remind myself that, LIFE is what is happening NOW.

Happy Birthday Miki! Here’s to another year of living in the moment: this moment.

Spring Sming

Posted by Anita Bondi on March 20, 2012 under Anita Bondi | Read the First Comment

In my family it is traditional to stand an egg at the equinox. this pic is from my brother in California

Today is officially the first day of Spring. Most people are excited in the part of the world that I call home. It is in the 70′s, sunny, and everything is budding and bursting. I am not that happy. While everyone is busy smiling and walking around in their shorts and t-shirts, I am stubbornly wearing my polar fleece vest and scanning the forecast for a hint of snow! I love winter. I feel ripped off this year because we did not have any true winter season. Mostly we had Spring. Now the real Spring is here and everyone is happy and hopeful and wanting me to get on board. Okay, the daffodils with their bright, cheerful faces do make me feel good and the purple crocus create an awesome contrast against the new green grass – but – and – I still want the crisp, cold air against my cheeks and the fluff of snow underneath my feet as I walk the dog in my neighborhood. I still long to sit in front of the fireplace, curled up under a blanket with a cup of hot cocoa. And most of all, I still want to put on my snowshoes and be the first on the trail, capturing the absolute quiet that comes over the world with a heavy dose of the white stuff.

Maybe that is really the problem. I never captured the quiet. I never got the respite that snow days offer. I never slowed down, hibernated, nor rested. I am tired and Spring is all about energy and life waiting to be grabbed by the proverbial horns. I am not ready. I did not prepare properly. With everything growing fast and furiously, can I step back and move at a pace that goes against the rest of the world? Will I honor what I know I need now that I realize it?

Today is about balance. The equinox offers that gift to me and I obviously need to take it. The new season is here, whether I am ready or not; even if I insist on leaving my polar fleece vest on!

Special orders don’t upset us…

Posted by Anita Bondi on March 13, 2012 under Anita Bondi | 3 Comments to Read

Am I dating myself with that title jingle? Amazing how those kind of seemingly senseless things can be called up from my mind years later. And I can still sing the entire thing. Amazing or sad? (especially that particular one – thanks Burger King)

This week I am honored to make two special order necklaces with names and birthstones. What a wonderful way to celebrate the children in our lives. The cut out heart, with the name peeking through, and embedded birthstone is an original idea – well, at least I have never seen it before. I am happy to make one for you. Just send me a note.

Special orders don’t upset us, all we ask is that you let us serve (make it) your way. See there I go. It is stuck in my head now. Amazing? Sad? Your choice.

Hafiz did it.

Posted by Anita Bondi on March 6, 2012 under Anita Bondi | 3 Comments to Read

Hafiz did it. He got me to dance. He got me out of my head and into my body. The leader for our Journeys of the Heart retreat this past weekend was funny, smart, gifted, and very intellectual. Her brain excited my brain for sure. I loved the power point presentation, all the amazing quotes from authors, scholars, and well respected people in the field of psychology and self-help, and the way she zipped along with all the information. I was grinning from ear to ear. I was engaged in all of the small and large group dialogues. I was journal writing like mad.

Enter Hafiz and his poem, I have learned so much, and that is where my mind began to unravel. Thank goodness for my body and its infinite wisdom and longing.

Our instructions were to journal, reflect and then share in a small group dialogue. I read the poem at least 10 times and then got up and promptly walked out the front door into the bright sun and crisp winter air. I could no longer deny my body and its need to move. It was the only way I could make sense of the line that was inspiring me and confusing me:

Love has befriended me so completely  It has turned to ash and freed Me of every concept my mind has ever known.

There are some things that the body just knows so completely and fully; the mind pales in comparison every time.

Note for Tuesday: Trust the body! (and dance for heaven’s sake.)