just in case you missed it, i am popping in to remind you that i moved. i have a new online home at elizabethhalt.com and i do hope you will come visit. i am looking forward to welcoming you. Continue reading

i have so much love for this space and for all my years here. and - i am excited and delighted to announce that i am moving. i have a new online home at elizabethhalt.com and i hope you will come visit. i cannot wait to welcome you there. Continue reading

as i was resting in child's pose on my bed in a hostel in marrakesh on the morning of my 35th birthday, one of the thoughts that crossed my mind was, "i wonder why people like me?" not in a "i wonder what it is" sort of way but in a "i can't imagine why they would" sort of way. almost immediately, it was followed by the realization that it was actually an old thought and i don't wonder that anymore. i could see that i have a good heart and that people might like me. not that i think... Continue reading

want to hear a cute atlas story? when i picked him up, sam told me that every night at the doggy ranch, atlas stands in front of his crate. sam has to bend down and give him a huge hug around the neck and look him in the eyes, and then atlas turns around and trots into his crate. one night, sam gave him a hug but atlas didn't go into his crate afterward. sam was trying to figure out what it was, and then he realized that he forgot to look atlas in the eyes. apparently it doesn't count... Continue reading

my sister is living in alicante, spain, which is where we started our adventure. there's an area of the city called the barrio. it's below a castle (a castle high on a hill) and is full of flowers and plazas and doors and windows that are surrounded by colors and patterns. i took this picture as we hiked down from the castle. it is a little over-exposed, but when i looked at it, it reminded me of how it felt to be there in the warm and bright sunshine. Continue reading

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.} the spanish light. Continue reading

i am back! do you want to hear the good news first or the bad news? let's start with the bad news: my camera stopped working less than a week into the trip. what is the good news, you say? the good news is that it all worked out perfectly! i panicked for half a day and tried everything i could think of and asked the guy at the hostel if he was a camera person and he was so he tried everything he knew. nothing worked. then, i found the bright side. (i am good at finding the bright... Continue reading

there is much excitement in the elizabeth & atlas house. early tomorrow morning, i am setting out on an adventure. my youngest sister is studying in spain this semester and i am off to spend her spring break with her. as a bonus, i am going to turn 35 years old in morocco! with that beginning, i am pretty sure that 35 is going to be the best year ever. i will be back on the 20th - with lots of photos, i suspect. (speaking of photos, did you know that if you buy a spare camera battery and it... Continue reading

on the one hand, it's been a very rainy and strangely snow-filled winter. on the other hand, it's been exceptionally mild, so we've been doing a lot of walking and wandering and exploring of various portland neighborhoods over the past few months. it is one of my favorite things to do. these days, there are signs of spring everywhere. Continue reading

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.} today, i offer up a musing on radiance from my journal. do i have a sense of myself as sweet and steady? not really. i notice [redacted], wherever he is. do i have that same sense of myself? definitely not. i feel like i go unnoticed, am passed over, which would explain why i like to be funny. humor draws attention and i am afraid that people won't notice me otherwise. i think about friends of mine -... Continue reading

let's just say that it is a very rainy week. on the bright side, i have discovered the tv show "lie to me" and am somewhat addicted, so do not mind an excuse to stay indoors. the show is a little intense for me, but it is so fascinating that i am watching it anyway and calming myself down with lots of salty tortilla chips. the main characters use micro-expressions to tell whether people are lying. if you see me in real life and i appear to be staring, please let me know. i won't mean to be staring but... Continue reading

you can't fool me! and i most certainly will not pose for a picture with you. sheesh. Continue reading

there is a veil between the visible and the invisible. sometimes, if you look closely, or if you don't look at all, the veil slips a little, and you can see into the world of mystery and magic. Continue reading

"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf." - Rabindranath Tagore Continue reading

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.} today, i offer up a thought on radiance from my journal. i wonder what it would feel like to radiate the essence of me and of love for me/others. mmmmmm. there is a sense of a sweet steady grounded happiness. Continue reading

today, i am thinking about noticing. i am thinking about how, when your eyes are more softly focused, you do notice things that are important. in addition, you see those things in relation to the whole, instead of in isolation. this feels important somehow. Continue reading

there is a post about the peculiar shame of loneliness and my related need for connection wandering around my mind, but it needs to percolate for a day or two. in the meantime, i am popping in to remind you that the birthday celebration sale in my etsy shop will end on march 25th. enter the coupon code ATLASIS9 at checkout for 18% off your entire purchase. once the celebration ends, the shop will close for most of april. if you are wanting or needing a dose of beauty, or have had your eye on something in my shop for... Continue reading

at the moment, i have two favorite coffee places: the dragonfly coffee house (in the alphabet district, on thurman and 24th) and barista (on alberta, between 17th and 18th). i was driving to the dragonfly on saturday to meet a friend. traffic was slow around and through the tunnel so, to amuse myself, i decided to look at the license plates to see if they held a sign for me. the car next to me had the letters DAT. the car in front of that car had the letters BUY. when i read them back to myself, i realized they... Continue reading

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.} another picture that makes me think of both radiance and luminosity. p.s. i was closing registration for the secret garden earlier today, when i decided that i loved the card set for the circle of aqua so much that i wanted more people to have it. so, just for fun, i am leaving registration for the circle of aqua open through monday. if you were interested in it, there are a few more spaces available, and you have... Continue reading

today, atlas is 9, so i am wishing a happy birthday to my dear little puppy. i love him more than the sun, moon, and stars. i love him times a million and forty seven and thirty three. (that's today's number. i make up a new number for him every day.) he is the best four-legged friend a girl could have, and i am grateful for every single day i get to spend with him. (insert a pause as i get up from my chair and give him a kiss on the nose, because he is watching me with an... Continue reading

i am following a number of threads, and they are all leading me to the same place - to the wanting. thread the first. for a long while, whenever i asked the question, "what is between me and earning money?", the answer that came was usually some variation of, "i don't want to earn money". this was supremely frustrating to me. it seemed illogical - of course i want to earn money. it also seemed more and more hopeless - i have worked through so many layers of this belief and yet there it would be again. it is so... Continue reading

happy monday! i do love mondays. they're such a nice fresh clean slate sort of day. even though i have let go of most of my "i'll start on monday" patterns, i still love the newness of monday. i suspect that will never change. do you remember when i introduced the secret garden? something (or somethings) you love plus a year of happy surprise, delight, and gleeful anticipation? there are still a few spots left and, in case you are thinking about it, i want to remind you that registration will close on march 15th. that's this thursday. (it's also... Continue reading