against the grain.

I'm welcoming 2015 with my entire heart.
I'm waving goodbye to a year that took the cake.
I'm opening up my heart, my mind, and my soul to new things.
I'm ready for the next adventure.

The small space of a comfort zone is... well, lets face it... comfortable- but it has walls. It's confined. It's controlled.
This wild heart was never meant for a cage. Not this body, born of earth. Not this woman, built from fire.
No.

This year I jumped
and I grew wings.
There's no turning back from that.
There's no turning down the adrenaline of a soul that has turned that kind of key.
Goosebumps run the lengths of my arms just thinking of the possibilities.
Perfectly present.
Perfectly bold.
Beautifully awake.

I swear if I jumped, I would fly.

I wish I could share that feeling with everyone around me. I wish I could gift it to every crying soul. Serve it up like a side dish... happiness, anyone? Courage, anyone? Satisfaction, anyone? Wild, anyone?
Love for life. That's what I would call it.
Order up!

My wish for you this year is for you to stop fearing the journey that you were meant for.
Everything you want is yours for the taking. Don't let anyone convince you differently.

---------------------------------------------------------------

This year I kept a little secret...
Behind the scenes I had been learning to bladesmith.
To forge by hand, by hammer, by holy-shit-that's-hot flame. The old way. The dirty way. The best way.
and good God, it was fantastic.

Austin thought I was going to school for "copper forming."
I wanted to gift him my very first knife for Christmas.
So for eight weeks I went to school, every Tuesday for four hours, underneath the stars. (If it sounds dreamy, it was).
I'd get to school before he could see me in my jeans that it was too hot for, my leather boots that I'd never choose for comfort, my braid and bandana for the sweat. Before coming home I'd change out in the bathroom and wash off as much of the black as I could. Most nights my arms were so sore I could hardly get the fork to my mouth at dinner before everything shook off of it.
I swore he would catch me... I swear I smelled so metallic you could have stuck me to the fridge like a magnet.

My teachers name was Frank.
I can't even explain the awesomeness that this man radiated. Every day he'd show up in some kind of crazy hat, he swung hammers that I probably couldn't even lift, he praised me on my, apparently shocking (to him), ability hammer out exactly what he told me to, and if he couldn't get any cooler, his beard had been trimmed by the forge a few weeks before. Yes, I do mean it burned off. I can't be the only one that thinks that's kind of dreamy, right? Overall he was the biggest teddy bear on the planet and I don't think there was a single being in that class that didn't admire him as both a teacher and a person. How many of us can claim such a trait?

I worked my arse off.
I chose file over grinder.
I wanted it to be legit.
I wanted to really learn.
Mostly, I just wanted to be able to look back at myself and be like yeah, I was a badass. 

A few weeks ago I finished sanding it (good Lord- let me tell you how fun that was).
I made its handle and finished it off with linseed oil and a handmade leather sheath.

And I was able to gift it on Christmas, just as planned, to a man who could not be more worthy.

My apologies for the handful of poor quality phone pictures. 

 

On to number 2!

A very happy weekend to you!