Fragrant Bait 孫子兵法

Thanksgiving marks the time of year where we, as a collective, celebrate life with family and friends. It takes place in environments filled with our favorite foods and drinks as we commiserate and fellowship with those most dear or connected to US. It is also a time to express thanks and gratitude for all that we’ve been given, shared or even overcome. We finally get an opportunity to reconnect and put side past/present interpersonal human infractions understanding that most of it means very little in the grand scheme of things anyway. Embodying the spirit of forgiveness, however, does not necessarily equate to full reconciliation but we can often coexist with civility choosing to enjoy and celebrate together for one day in peace and harmony.

孫子兵法. 

Family is more than blood. It’s the everyday people you
want and choose to share in your life’s journey.
Photo by Karan Mandre on UnsplashOK ..

Okay ..we get it … now chill the f**k out. LOL

So today, I wish to express my extreme sense of gratitude this holiday season for life itself and all of YOU. My tribe, those who supported and challenged me directly with positive energy and criticism, have been invaluable. I am also grateful for people and events that triggered me negatively. Fragrant Bait comes in many different and provocative forms to flavor this life making it interesting, tasty and colorful. We definitely grow from all experiences and lessons no matter how wonderful or difficult. So thank YOU for all of it and remember the old  saying – – “It’s not what happens to you but what you do with it”  – – that matters the most. 

Something has been said!

We can coexist in peace and harmony this holiday season.

YOU have definitely CHANGED me tribe (hopefully for the better) and I intend to use every scrumptious “dish” for a purpose yet to be “unveiled.” Did I remotely impact or influence YOU?!? Perhaps not but I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my musings and ramblings this 3ACT. The only question resonating for me the remaining 2021 is related the new Fragrant Bait awaiting an entrance. We must be cautious tho cause when it appears there is sure to be a hooked fish on the end. All one can do in preparation is to welcome everything with a grateful h^art and savor each delicious morsel (no matter how meaty or bony, sweet or spicy, sautéed or blackened) while completing your life’s path and purpose (certainly not perfect but divinely orchestrated, enticing, fulfilling, and possibly Nu).

孫子兵法

Thx MC Justice!

Fragrant Bait still awaits tribe.

I know who hears me and will order my steps.

Thanksgiving Deferred

Photo by Flow Clark on Unsplash

=== === ===

I bless Thee, Lord, who hast restored my sight;
Where were my thanks through all my years of light? 

Thou liftest me again; Thy praise I tell;
Where was my gratitude before I fell? 

Thou healest me; glad thanks to Thee belong;
Alas, my thankless heart when I was strong! 

My fetters Thou dost loose; all praise to Thee!
And yet I praised Thee not when I was free. 

I bless Thee, who dost all my ills remove;
But ah, when all was well, where was my love?

=== === ===

Written by Anonymous

A Gift

Who is that creature   

and who does he want?   

Me, I trust. I do not   

attempt to call out his   

name for fear he will   

tread on me. What do   

you believe, he asks.   

Photo by Jennifer Marquez on Unsplash

That we all want to be   

alone, I reply, except when   

we do not; that the world   

was open to my sorrow   

and ate most of it; that   

today is a gift and I am   

ready to receive you.

Written By Kathryn Starbuck

Be Thankful

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.

It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.

o o o

Written by Anonymous

Celebrating Femininity

Women evolve and CHANGE over time as life experiences create opportunities for growth. There is also a definitive and natural aging progression hard wired into our DNA. As women, we often spend so much time at each stage of life just trying to BE somebody (friend/mother/lover & noticed/loved/respected) that we forget to appreciate and enjoy US at each stage of WOMANHOOD  – – until one day we reach the end.

Listen and Learn

Listen 0:00 – 17:22
Can we respect, embrace and honor the voice of the Maiden-, Mother and Crone?

Today’s post was triggered by me thinking about aging and what it means to grow older as a woman. I have always personally respected and enjoyed the companionship of older women because of their life experiences, humor and wisdom. They were my friends and mentors who taught me a lot influencing my personal journey into womanhood. What I can share with you now from both observation and my own experience is that authentic and high vibrational women do not necessarily cease to be interesting, vibrant, beautiful and even sexy as they grow older. They simply become even more authentic and “unfiltered” willing to “unveil” aspects of what made them/THEM (insecurities, vulnerabilities, hopes, dreams, faults etc).

Divine wisdom on display.

While some in society choose to deem older women as invisible or classify them as less valuable as they age because they may no longer have a youthful appearance or retain the capacity to produce life, this is really patriarchy at its most hypocritical. Why are men allowed to grow older with grace and respect but women are not given the same courtesy? Yet, many women also evolve to possess an even deeper and more profound sense of clarity, wisdom and inner beauty infused with undeniable self mastery. Older women are indeed powerful because they now hold the keys to their self identity with a full understanding of the potential threat an intelligent “free thinking” woman poses within a society. 

Triple goddess energy is to be respected throughput life.

Celebrating femininity is a life long gift that WE have been blessed to possess. It CHANGES, declines and evolves as our human form experiences the natural progressions of life (maybe grey hair, body changes, menopause etc.). Yet, femininity is more than physical exterior beauty or sexuality but rather the expansion of our innate intelligence, sensuality, spirituality and loving energy we bring into the world. Being divinely feminine remains our birth right as women even as we we grow older. Our feminine essence (aka divine honeypot) is not cheap, illicit or easily lost just because we age nor does it mysteriously disappear. Our femininity can be diminished, abandoned or given away by US but we must protect it with boundaries and continue expanding, loving and living life fully – – and authentically – – for as long as we breath. Appreciating our WOMANHOOD demands respect at all stages of life – – maiden, mother and crone – – and our feminine energy is too rich and much too powerful to ever, ever, ever be undervalued or underestimated.

♀♀♀

Maiden -Mother -Crone

We celebrate our divine femininity.

On Aging

When you see me sitting quietly,

Like a sack left on the shelf,

Don’t think I need your chattering.

I’m listening to myself.

Hold! Stop! Don’t pity me! 

Hold! Stop your sympathy! 

Understanding if you got it,

Otherwise I’ll do without it! 

When my bones are stiff and aching,

And my feet won’t climb the stair,

I will only ask one favor:

Don’t bring me no rocking chair.

When you see me walking, stumbling,

Don’t study and get it wrong.

Cause tired don’t mean lazy

And every goodbye ain’t gone.

I’m the same person I was back then,

A little less hair, a little less chin,

A lot less lungs and much less wind.

But ain’t I lucky I can still breathe in.

♀♀♀

Written by Maya Angelou

Soul Mining

Photo by Shayna Take on Unsplash

Your floating down a tunnel

In a little wooden box

Your cold and your lonely and enveloped in fog

You’ve been prized open and left here to die

You should’ve trusted your instincts

‘Cause they don’t tell lies

…

Something always goes wrong when things are going right

You’ve swallowed your pride

To quell the pain inside

Someone captured your heart

Like a thief in the night

And squeezed all juice out until it ran dry

…

You’ve been read like an open book

Page by page

You’ll never tell anyone your inner thoughts again

You were taken in

By a heart of fools gold

Now your drifting in circles

In the depths of your soul

…

Something always goes wrong when things are going right

You’ve swallowed your pride

To quell the pain inside

Someone captured your heart

Like a thief in the night

And squeezed all juice out until it ran dry

Written By The The

Missed Time

My notebook has remained blank for months 

thanks to the light you shower 

around me. I have no use 

for my pen, which lies 

languorously without grief. 

Photo by Austin Schmid on Unsplash

Nothing is better than to live 

a storyless life that needs 

no writing for meaning— 

when I am gone, let others say 

they lost a happy man, 

though no one can tell how happy I was.

🙂 (:

Written By HA Jin

I went to thank Her

I went to thank Her—

But She Slept—

Her Bed—a funneled Stone—

With Nosegays at the Head and Foot—

That Travellers—had thrown—

Photo by Jessica Felicio on Unsplash

Who went to thank Her—

But She Slept—

‘Twas Short—to cross the Sea—

To look upon Her like—alive—

But turning back—’twas slow—

Written By Emily Dickinson