Marta Hernandez Studio

My most prized possessions are nature treasures such as this. I cover my space with delicate leaves and special rocks that bring the earth into my home. When I was convalescing post Covid, I am most certain that the beauty surrounding me with these precious friends, kept me from going mad, as I couldn’t leave my bed for months. And growing up in the stark prairies 🌾 never a day goes by that I don’t appreciate the grandeur of the West Coast nature.

This exquisite beauty, I found on a walk a few weeks ago. I love its delicacy and also its oddness. A small branch embedded and emerging from a wasp’s paper home. No wasps were made homeless with this acquisition, as I found it on the sidewalk! 🐝 🌲

……………………………….
Dancing with Nature.

For the past few years I’ve been listening to music when I take my daily walks. And I have to say, I often wish that I felt less inhibited, as I often feel an intense desire to break out dancing. I find the world and the way we all move around in it, so boring. It honestly sometimes shocks me, how small and contained we keep ourselves as we move in space. I’m moving my body in such big ways all day long, so I should be fine with walking more simply, but the sense of space and grandeur of nature 🌲 🦅 ☀️ just makes me want to expand and take flight. On a rainy day with no one around, I have been known to dance a little improv with the ocean. 🌊 And I do play around with different ways of walking and integrating certain new awarenesses I may be discovering within my work. But one day, I may be that old crazy lady that just doesn’t care and hopefully inspires others to move their bodies also and join!

“I am the lily that blooms in the valley of silence.”
~ Kahlil Gibran

I touched
the heavens
and the earth
to remember
who I am.

I lay
in a hammock of stars
until I’m pushed out
of the nest.
The axis askew
just as the lies
that were sold
as truth.
Plunged into
a cold bath of reality.
I live the day
as a dream.
And the dream
while I sleep
the escape.

But slowly
with age’s wisdom,
I watch
the animals
who breathe
with their bellies,
and not with their minds
to learn the secrets
of the universe.
I once walked
the path
to meet my love,
and now
I walk for me.
I count leaves
for past lives
and cement cracks
for old wounds.
This ride
wasn’t meant
to move
so fast.
My awareness
has yet to catch up.
The constant waiting
for the gift
to arrive
when it was always
there.
In the smell and colour.
In the warmth on my skin.
It was always
all alive.
But I regret
I didn’t notice.

I loop the gorgeous sounds.
and now this moment.
It can’t take away
past blindness,
but can open
my eyes
and breath
with its grief
and play.
And the forever
a dancer.
Who moves
for feeling
and feeling alone.

I’ve introduced these Chinese red dates into my breakfast cereal 🥣 and am enjoying the gentle and warm sweetness.

Jujube fruit has been eaten and used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for over 3,000 years. It’s a species of ziziphus in the buckthorn family.

Jujube fruit is high in vitamins and minerals and low in calories. It’s also high in antioxidants and helps promote and improve sleep. They are known to help with digestion and constipation. Jujube also has high fiber content and may boost your immune system, as it’s rich in vitamin C.

You can find them at T&T or in Chinatown grocers I ams sure. They are also a great addition to soups for added sweetness or congees. 🍲 💛

“I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe?”
~ Kate Chopin

“Life is the dancer and you are the dance.”
~ Eckhart Tolle