XO, Isabel

Hope and Courage: Our Surrogacy Journey

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Inspired by Haiku

September 27, 20133 Comments

I sift through this process of grieving and balancing living the new normal. There are plenty of topics to cover about the subject of infertility, miscarriage and baby loss. I have organized my thoughts and created calendars and made notes of what I’ll write next.

Today, I decided to simply take a mental break from the brainstorming of my daily work routine. I took to writing haikus. Actually, I was inspired by my mother-in-law. She just began to share some of her poetry, the first two being haikus. I’m no poet, certainly not, but I liked the idea of creating a haiku. I adhered to only the simple rules of syllables, as one would with a haiku. The rules of 5, 7, 5. Five syllables. Seven syllables. Five again to end. I embraced this challenge. Although I could be free to write what I chose, there is a set of rules, boundaries. They’re short. There was no excuse.

Today, I wrote three.

XO, Isabel - Haiku - Loud Expecations

XO, Isabel - Haiku - F. Demise

XO, Isabel - Haiku - Hope

 

These, of course, are about my experiences. The last, about hope.

Because, as Emily Dickinson says, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” and oh how right she is.

xo-isabel-hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers

XO, Isabel

P.S. All images, photography and writings in this post & blog are of my own creation (unless noted). Please do not modify in any way. Thank you! 🙂

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Filed Under: Daily, My Work, Quotes & Images Tagged: haiku, poetry

Quote: Yellow by Coldplay

August 24, 2013Leave a Comment

song-quote-xo-isabel-yellow-coldplay

Coldplay, one of my favorite bands. Yellow, one of my favorite songs.

Here are some of my favorite versions of this song, from the original, of course, and beyond:

XO, Isabel

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Filed Under: Daily, Music, Quotes & Images Tagged: coldplay, music, quote, yellow

Vulnerability

August 24, 2013Leave a Comment

quote-xoisabel-vulnerability-brene_brown

Vulnerability. This is what writing this blog is all about, right? Opening my Kimono and bearing all to a whole world of friends, family and strangers alike.

I used to fear being vulnerable. Being vulnerable meant that I could be hurt. I instead built walls all around me so that I could protect myself. I had already begun to tear the walls down and learn to be a little more vulnerable with each passing day.

Being vulnerable used to feel like weakness. I don’t feel this way anymore, if anything, I find great power in being vulnerable. It means I can receive love and learn to love back. And that is never weakness.

Quote from: Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW

XO, Isabel

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Filed Under: Daily, Quotes & Images Tagged: brene brown, image, quote, vulnerability

Quote: Truth

August 20, 2013Leave a Comment

A tough one yet true and liberating when we understand pic.twitter.com/GXeQpkmCx2

— Rebecca Perkins (@rebperkins1) August 20, 2013

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Filed Under: Quotes & Images Tagged: healing, reb perkins, truth

Photo: Empty

August 19, 2013Leave a Comment

One of the ways I deal with my grief, pain, experience, whatever-you-want-to-call-it is through creative expression. Whether it be with my camera, iPhone or my own hands, I love to create.

This particular image I took the next night after my D&E procedure. I remember I couldn’t sleep. I was tossing and turning until 4:30 am. I took this photo in the dark, because that’s where I felt I was. And after I applied some Instagram filter, it created the image I wanted to depict:
An empty womb.

XO, Isabel

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Filed Under: Daily, Leo, Loss, Miscarriage, Quotes & Images Tagged: art, create, empty womb, instagram, photography

Oh Deer! An animal spirit

August 19, 20131 Comment

This was just right outside my window at home. We often see this mum with her two bambis.

I posted this image on my Instagram feed as well as on Facebook. And, I received some interesting comments and interpretations on what the presence of these beautiful animals right outside my window could represent. They varied from hope for the future or signs from elsewhere that things are okay.

What I found most interesting were some comments left about the concept of Spirit Animals. I was linked to here and here.

From both articles, I found these words to be comforting:

“When you have the deer as spirit animal, you are highly sensitive and have a strong intuition. By affinity with this animal, you have the power to deal with challenges with grace. You master the art of being both determined and gentle in your approach. The deer totem wisdom imparts those with a special connection with this animal with the ability to be vigilant, move quickly, and trust their instincts to get out the trickiest situations.”

“Deer teaches us to be gentle, to touch the hearts and minds of wounded beings who are in our lives. Don’t push people to change, rather gently nudge them in right direction, with the love that comes from deer. Love and accept people as they are. The balance of true power lays in love and compassion. 

When a Deer totem enters your world, a new innocence and freshness in about to be awakened. New adventures are just around the corner and there will be an opportunity to express the gentle love that will open new doors for you.”

I guess I better get in touch with my inner Shaman.  😉

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Filed Under: Daily, Quotes & Images Tagged: deer, instagram, photo, spirit animal

Hello. my name is Isabel and this blog is all about my experiences dealing with infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, and our new adventure as intended parents in our surrogacy journey. Also, a little bit of everything else in my life. Welcome! read more...

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