sepia charm began as a little seedling last new year’s eve. as i anticipated the end of 2010, i wondered about my next move. i love my life as mommy and wife, but i can start to feel restless when i am not honoring all of my talents and gifts. thru the years my hubby has supported every big idea and for that i am truly thankful. but this time there was no big idea, just a small little seedling…a quiet whisper to just start writing and see what happened. of course, as with many previous resolutions, i wasn’t completely resolved and it took another 6 months before i got the nerve to actually publish something. (click here to check out my first post) even then i wasn’t exactly sure of my point-of-view (and i’m still not), but this blog has given me the opportunity to reflect on a variety things that i enjoy. it has also allowed me to share some personal stories, some of which i hadn’t recalled in years! forty-six posts later, it turns out some of you guys are reading it and enjoying it, which charms the heck out of me . i have loved being able to connect with old and new friends, and even a few fellow bloggers, thru this experience.

so here i sit, quietly anticipating a new year and a new chapter. i have no idea what 2012 has to offer or what’s in store for me, but i plan to continue to water my little seedling and see what happens! if you’re reading this and feel encouraged to plant or nurture your own seedling in 2012, consider this as your little whisper morphing into a giant shout and just go for it!

AS a quiet little seedling
Lay within its darksome bed,
To itself it fell a-talking,
And this is what it said:

“I am not so very robust,
But I’ll do the best I can;”
And the seedling from that moment
Its work of life began.

So it pushed a little leaflet
Up into the light of day,
To examine the surroundings
And show the rest the way.

The leaflet liked the prospect,
So it called its brother, Stem;
Then two other leaflets heard it,
And quickly followed them.

To be sure, the haste and hurry
Made the seedling sweat and pant;
But almost before it knew it
It found itself a plant.

The sunshine poured upon it,
And the clouds they gave a shower;
And the little plant kept growing
Till it found itself a flower.

Little folks, be like the seedling,
Always do the best you can;
Every child must share life’s labor
Just as well as every man.

And the sun and showers will help you
Through the lonesome, struggling hours,
Till you raise to light and beauty
Virtue’s fair, unfading flowers.

-paul laurence dunbar

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

xoxo,
deena