True Becoming

Her-Story: La Loba

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The sole work of La Loba is the collecting of bones.  She is known to collect and preserve especially that which is in danger of being lost to the world.  Her cave is filled with the bones of all manner of desert creatures: the deer, the rattlesnake, the crow.  But her speciality is said to be wolves.

And when she is sure, she stands over the criatura, raises her arms over it, and sings out.  That is when the rib bones and leg bones of the wolf begin to flesh out and the creature becomes furred.  La Lobasings some more, and more of the creature comes into being; its tail curls upward, shaggy and strong.

    And La Loba sings more and the wolf creature begins to breathe.

    And still La Loba sings so deeply that the floor of the desert shakes, and as she sings, the wolf opens its eyes, leaps up, and runs away down the canyon.

    Somewhere in its running, whether by the speed of its running, or by splashing its way into a river, or by way of a ray of sunlight or moonlight hitting it right in the side, the wolf is suddenly transformed into a laughing woman who runs free toward the horizon.

(adapted from) Women Who Run With Wolves

Clarissa Pinkola Estes 

Have you ever been followed by a concept, theme or book? Like a lesson that the universe has deemed it essential that you learn? Well, Women Who Run With Wolves was one of these books. It first appeared while i was house-sitting. Then, years later it came in the form of my deepening interest in goddess myth and lore. Again, this book appeared while trying to choose a roller derby name; the notion of creating an alternate person-hood (which is why i landed on "La Loba Lewis"). Not only the book itself, but the concept is one that has sewn itself through every experience i've had in the past decade, and perhaps even before that. Each experience has presented itself as a call to become stronger, to live out my will, and to encourage others to do the same. It's as if the ultimate lesson for women is to learn and appreciate their personal power; to own their strength. Is this something you can relate to?

 

Image 1, Image 2

p.s... Happy International Women's Day :)

Sharing Circle: And it Goes Round & Round

 

It's not a Sharing Circle unless lots of people share. Check the Sharing Circle starter, Jill, at LUNE Vintage. I had such an awesome time reading her Sharing Circle... and laugh-out-loud moments, I just had to join in. Isn't it so very lovely how when we share our most quirky selves, we reach other quirkiness and find a sense of community?  I think so. Here's my shared self on this early Monday morning:

I originally joined Roller Derby simply because I thought it would make me cooler. I'm pre-occupied with being cool. Now I do it for some many other reasons... coolness still a factor.

I hate filling ice cube trays. Have I mentioned this one before? Just want to be clear about that.

When I'm feeling down, I watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My friend Sare once told me that life is never worse then Buffy's. So true.

Food and fun drinks are motivation to get me to go almost anywhere. Free food/drinks = my attendance.

I'm self-conscience about my legs. But I still wear spandex. Ha.

The first time I found out about Romeo and Juliet was by reading a Sweet Valley High book, remember those? I was really affected by it. Then, when the Leo movie version came out I went to see it in the theatre twice and was MAJORLY affected by it. In fact, I used to re-enact parts of it, paste my picture on top of Claire Danes and I even had an old mini-bar Crowne Royale bottle with a purple heart painted on it that I used for my vile of poison. I told Ry this on our first date to truly test his interest in me :) Now i've told you. blush.

If I had my way, I would stay up until 2am a few nights a week. It's my best working time.

I'm horrible at taking directions; I may look like I know exactly what you're talking about. I give the social cues of nodding... but I walk away still lost.

The reason I love shows like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm is because, as Ry so perfectly stated the other night, "they are about the inconvenience of having to share this planet with other human beings" I do, admittedly find it to be a inconvenience.

I can be funny... you just have to really listen, as I also mumble.

Treeplanting gave me a true blue streak; this is where my crude sense of humour and sometimes surprising potty-mouth comes from.

I too (like Jill) talk about the zombie apocolypse a lot. Ry, Alex and I have had many a conversations about this. Perhaps it's a little too much Left 4 Dead and Zombieland, but we are all in agreement that we do not fear the zombies, we invite them. We have a plan, you can't scare us. I even gave Alex a Zombie-themed Christmas present this year, complete with a plush zombie, a hand-painted zombie painting (by me) and the Zombie Rules t-shirt (which consequently he's not allowed to wear to school).

 

Have a splendid Monday and JOIN IN THE CIRCLE HERE!!!

 

p.s... I chose this picture because A: I don't like it and since this is a somewhat-vulnerable post, it seemed fitting to chose a picture I didn't particulary like and B: because I'm doing the same thing with my hands as Jill is doing and well, I just thought, what are the odds?

Road Trip: Part Two (Being There)

 
 
 Ry and I have talked at length, many times, whether or not we wanted to move to Ottawa at some point in our lives. There are a lot of job opportunities for him there and he loves the city. Before this weekend I had only ever been once to Ottawa, and that was before I met Ryan and the idea of living there was non-existent. So, although I hadn't planned on it, I was silently surveying Ottawa life this past weekend, asking myself if this was a place I could live. The answer: yes. We had so much fun. There is a big-city feeling in the sense that there is so much to do, and yet a small-town feel in the way our friends were always seeing someone they knew. It's a great balance. Plus... these lovely friends live there:

 
 
The first night we got there I was immediately given a sweet ride to toot around town with... complete with an airplane for the front (baskets are so last year).

 
We had a lil' backyard bbq, complete with fresh fish, veggies and corn on the cob. Oh, and oysters for appetizers. I learned how to shuck! Aww, shucks! A little oyster humour for ya! After dinner we went bike riding (again) throughout downtown, across the Ottawa River into Quebec. It was a pretty magical evening actually; the weather was perfect, our bellies were full of great food, and we were in great company. The city looked beautiful at night.

 
Beer Fridge in Quebec... in a convenience store; pure novelty for Ontarians!

 

Ryan eating a Whalesbone sandwich. This was an epic event; quite possibly the BEST sandwich I have ever had. Nope, it definitely WAS the best sandwich. This is the kind of sandwich that has you waking up craving!!!

 
 

And finally, the reason we were in Ottawa... Roller Derby 

 Our Team's Travel Team went to Ottawa, actually Navan, which was slightly outside of Ottawa (I say that tongue-in-cheek, as it was more then slightly outside) to participate in the Blood Spill on the Hill Tournament. It was sooo much fun, I mean, like, really, really fun! We played three games in two days, which was a lot. I usually get really nervous before a game, but this was much more my style; it was more about the game, having fun and playing some amazing teams and less about the performance. I suffer from some serious performance anxiety if I feel like a lot of people are watching, so it was great having a nice, small venue with not a lot of extra viewers. Plus, our team did AWESOME! This was the first time we played together as a travel team and I think we did so well. We had fun, we danced, and we kept the beer garden open! I was very proud of all the girls and our coaches! Plus, our friends came out to watch two games, which was their first exposure to derby, enough to get them hooked :)

We left the tournament shouting " We;re Number Five, We're Number Five"

It was an amazing weekend and I'm grateful to have had a great travelling buddy, hospitable and fun friends and a great group of women to kick butt with!!!

 

My Crown is Calling

 

The sweet sound of Roller Derby calls, and of the Royal persuasion no less!!! I'm off to the great city of Ottawa with my team The Royal City Rollergirls this weekend to play in this derby tournament. Eeek! I have never played in a derby tournament before. Double Eeek! Anyway, I'm excited to get away for a few days, a road trip (which you have to know means thrifting will be involved), seeing some friends  who live up there, and oh, yes, playing derby! I'll update you on Monday!

Have a great weekend :)

 

p.s... I would just like to point out that i randomly took the above picture of my hand while playing crib last night with ry, and then it turned out to be the perfect royal shot. ha. see... take pictures... you never know when they will be needed!

 

Inside my Purse

 
 
I have seen others do this and I'm amazed how curious I am at what people carry around in their purses and other bags. Check out the master at "What's in My Bag", Elsie, ** Here **  

So I thought it might be fun to do my own version :) In honour of our Roller Derby Season Opener tonight (read more *HERE* ) I went with a gold purse as a sign of support (it's a main colour for our league)

 
 

Purse Contents: Red&White Wallet, Sunglasses: thrifted, Purple Wallet and Vintage Pill Holder: my ** store **, Pink Skull Case (which holds my smaller camera): Target, Squirrel Make-up Case: The Paper Sparrow. Other contents include: my teeny blog notes book, candy (I always have candy in my purse: I'm getting a headstart on being a good grandma - a MAJOR headstart-), lip gloss, my phone and hand sanitizer (another grandma thing).
 
luv t.