It is nearly impossible to think of you in the past tense. Your life is colorfully woven into the fabric of ours. I know you are gone, I saw you leave, but in my memory you are vividly alive, with your mischievous smile teasing the corners of your mouth. Saying “she was…” doesn’t fit comfortably on my tongue yet because you left bold … [Read more...]
Living Our Future Today :: A Devotional
"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" Matthew 19:14 In a fragment of life, pregnant with pain, I caught a glimpse of unadulterated faith in the naïve prayer of my youngest child. Her prayer came out of place of raw sorrow. I had already spent many hours face … [Read more...]
What Color Do You Live Like?
In the past few years I have been strangely attracted to the color red. I’ve got a red purse, red jacket, red camera, and red van. It isn’t even my favorite color and I don’t look good in red. But red speaks to how I want to live. I want to live out loud, vibrantly, loudly, and fully. Red doesn’t care if other approve of it. Red stands out in a … [Read more...]
The Dangers of Being Complacent Doing the Mundane
Getting complacent doing mundane tasks can sometimes add an unanticipated crisis to your day. Mistakes get made because the routine tasks are often approached with an attitude of complacency rather than attention to detail. Last year while starting to work my laundry pile I experienced the backlash of this reality. At that point in life I had … [Read more...]
Not by the Book
In April of this year, after months of delays, I finally sat down to write my book How to Make Melt and Pour Soap from Scratch. My goal was to have the book written and published in time for a speaking engagement I had on the topic in May, 2011. My plan had been to start the book in January with what appeared to be just enough time to have it in … [Read more...]
Perseverance Lived Out
Perseverance (dictionary definition): steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. Perseverance (my examples): my husband, my mom and my childhood cat Puffy. As a young child my cat taught me the first lesson of perseverance that I was able to understand. My … [Read more...]
Reviews of How to Make Melt & Pour Soap Base from Scratch
"The book, “How to Make Melt and Pour Soap Base from Scratch” is one the soapmaking industry has long been clamoring for. Noted aromatherapist, Kayla Fioravanti, has done her research, spent countless hours in the lab formulating and is now sharing her information with the soapmaking world. And we are all the better for it. For anyone who has … [Read more...]
See The Art, Science & Business of Aromatherapy on The Soap Coach blog
This week the Soap Coach, La Shonda Tyree, used excerpts of my book The Art, Science and Business of Aromatherapy in her blog post Making Sense of Scents. What an honor! Thanks for the blogsphere love La Shonda. … [Read more...]
one san antonio night
the stillness of a late night was broken by distant headlights approaching in my rearview mirror, out the open window of a chevy truck he sliced the night air with the edges of a switchblade the truck appeared beside my car and that two men laughed at my terrified face my hands squeezed the horn and it blew deep into the night. my … [Read more...]
Glimpses of Joy
My approach to daily living has been changed by the persistence of grief that has followed the loss of someone so deeply personal to me, that she went down the very roots of who I am. I’ve been through loss before and hard times, but nothing quite like the loss of my mother. It has taken intentional action to catch my equilibrium as I adjust back … [Read more...]
Live or Die :: A Devotional
“Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16 I was standing at the gathering place when I heard my mother calling me home at an unusual hour. Heading towards her I saw something that I didn’t recognize in her countenance. Apprehension consumed me. Her words … [Read more...]
