OMGoodness!

I LOVE stumbling across someone I really should know and have only met on Instagram.
That’s exactly how I feel about a lovely British poet I recently “met” named Harry Baker. If you don’t know him, you need to meet him… you must “meet” him.

Click the image and you can hear one of my favorites… Joy.

Click the image and you can hear one of my favorites… Joy.

I like him and a few other poets, because I’m amazed at the ways in which they can just slow down and take things in…not just take them in but also “report back” and remind us of what we’re missing.

I’m probably much older than those of you reading this post, but I want you to understand the importance of what I’m saying… well what he and other poets are saying.

Life is fleeting.

I know this because my own children are now grown and hoping to start families of their own soon. It seems as if just yesterday that I was snuggling in to read them all the great books I write about and talk about.

I know life is fleeting because in the last few years I’ve lost my father, a man I never imagined would leave this earth and a sister that left way too early.

I know it’s fleeting because I’m now watching my mother rapidly decline. Her memories are sweet and often all she has left. Her joy left when my father passed and most days I’m working to help her find small bits of joy in each day.

The world is crazy right now. Everything seems a little off-kilter. It’s hard to stay focused, calm, and peaceful.

Whenever you feel like it’s all just a little too much, I want you to look at your child. Think about the joy that’s right in front of you. Think of the joy that he (or she) deserves.

Then, find a book. Sneak away and read.