by ingrid on February 5, 2010

You, Love, are my earthly joy,
My village and my song,
My reason, my belonging,
And the good that makes me strong.
With your arms around me
My heart knows blessings, blessed.
With you here beside me
Is how I love life best.
~Ingrid

I love you like a fiddle tune.
I love you like a jig.
I love you like the month of June.
I love you like a fig.
I love you like a hoppy brew.
And a warm down feather bed.
I love you like a dream come true
And berries and butter and bread….
( Ingrid’s note: I don’t actually love figs…but it went so well with jig. Now my secret is out, I promise I am still sincere. … These wonderful candleholders are made by The Mad Potter on Martha’s Vineyard. The video below was sent to me by my friend Heather. It’s so joyful and free and, well, it made me cry happy tears.)
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by ingrid on February 5, 2010

To say thank-you and I love you:
20% off all orders in February.
Use coupon code: valentine
by ingrid on February 5, 2010

I rested into the morning, caressed,
deep pleasure, measureless being,
I rested until I heard
the song of the day call me out.
Come. Take joy. Awake.
Come and see my treasures.
Only then did I rise to take
my pleasure into the world.
by ingrid on January 6, 2010

I love how Winter takes me
in its cool white arms, and
holds me in a seduction
of silence and elation;
full emptiness hangs in the air
after a night of heavy snow:
the breath of morning comes
a promise, or desire.
And I open as if haunted
for this deep and rich receiving,
inviting the seeds of darkness
to enter the mud of my womb
for a time of fertile waiting
I can not push or name, until
flows a spring of emergence,
celebration, birth, or fire.
Sometimes after months it flows.
Sometimes after one hot prayer.
~Ingrid Goff-Maidoff
by ingrid on January 6, 2010
“Wisdom is the art of living
in rhythm with your soul, your life,
and with the Divine….Wisdom is
the way you learn to decipher
the unknown which is our
closest companion.”
~John O’Donohue, in an interview with
Krista Tippet, Speaking of Faith
“After you jump and
before you land
is God.”
~Gabrielle Roth, Maps To Ecstasy
by ingrid on December 4, 2009

“Poetry is a life-cherishing force.
For poems are not words, after all,
but fires for the cold,
ropes let down to the lost,
something as necessary as bread
in the pockets of the hungry.
Yes indeed.” ~Mary Oliver
Our poem which is Infinite
(A love poem for my husband)
Tonight your words draw me back
into the poem in which we are living.
It is a rich and merciful poem
and it spins its warm story around us
drawing our bodies down
into the urgency of our belonging.
How is it that we, neither holy nor wise,
could live in this beautiful poem?
It is the fire we tend with our kindling,
the table we cover with bread,
the altar we make bare for offerings,
the pitcher we empty and fill.
~Ingrid Goff-Maidoff
This week I have been savoring Kim Rosen’s Book, Saved by a Poem. If you love poetry, even if you fear poetry, this is a beautiful invitation to enrich your life through poems. I am tongue-tied, in awe, and cannot recommend her work highly enough.
by ingrid on December 4, 2009

Holiday Special: I will enclose a free Wisdom Box with every order from now until December 20th with extra love and thanks!

by ingrid on December 4, 2009

“Earthly things must be known to be loved;
Divine things must be loved to be known.”
~Blaise Pascal
by ingrid on November 24, 2009
“Such blessings we receive,
such gifts of grace.
If we have wandered from the path of gladness,
point us back to life!”
~Ingrid Goff-Maidoff
Happy Thanksgiving to all. As is my habit, here are some excerpts from my book, Simple Graces for Every Meal. I penned these graces in hopes that they would be comfortable and inspiring in all kinds of company. Joy to you this holiday season, Ingrid
in the sweetness of this hour
with full and thankful hearts;
thoughtful and generous minds.
~
We are gathered together
in a circle of plenty,
a circle of love, and a circle of light.
With peaceful hearts, we welcome each other.
With grateful hearts, we give thanks.
~
With joy and reverence we give thanks
for the wondrous power of growing things,
and for the sustenance our lives receive
from the beauty of the earth
and the fellowship of all beings.
~
Life that gives us life, we thank you.

To all who live on Martha’s Vineyard: The Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven has honored me with a lovely display. I am very grateful to have a year round outlet for my work there. I’ll also be at the Artisan’s Fair on Friday and Saturday this week, so please come! And my work is available at the Holiday Cooperative Shop on Main Street in Vineyard Haven (near Leslie’s).
by ingrid on October 23, 2009
Last night before the sun set, I ran out with my camera, chasing beauty…

Sometimes, when I can not do a lovely thing just for myself, I am so grateful that I might offer it to you instead.