"SAFE PLACES TO LEAVE YOUR HEART"

 Bella-Grace (stampington.com/bella-grace) is that 'bookazine' I'm drawn to.  Pricey as it is, I buy many issues, and read some in the bookstore for free.  The paper feels rich and the photos are a delight.  It is ad-free and reader-written.  As you can tell, I'm a fan.  

There's an inaugural issue out now of their Book of Lists.  This is inspiring me no end.  It's a lovely before-bed read.  The opening list is "Safe Places to Leave your Heart."  My Safe Places are different than this writer's; we don't have lilac groves in North Carolina and I don't go to graveyards at night--though I love cemeteries, places to ponder eternity. But the author includes empty churches and I also visit churches wherever in the world I am and light a candle.  And lists deep green forests, like the one where I live.  I wonder what comes to your mind.  

Here are a few of my Safe Places to Leave my Heart.   

in my Journal

in a song 

in a poem

with a child

with God

in a book

in a prayer

with someone who won't judge me

with a person who would never betray my trust

out loud to the sky, or to the trees in the woods

into my pillow

given to the soul of my mother  

It's the idea of thinking about safe places that is so appealing. We are all seeking safety in so many ways.  Some day-to-day, in housing or on the streets or for country or neighborhood.  This is true for all peoples. Think of the displaced.  Safety to express our feelings and emotions too.  That's where our heart comes in. I made this quest into a writing prompt for myself, propped on pillows last night before turning out the light.  

Hoping for a little free time for everyone for these kinds of fruitful thoughts.  

                                                             In peace, Nina Naomi