LIFE IS A WATER PARTY

i thought about it a lot today and it occurs to me that life... that we are like a day at the pool. imagine… our friend is throwing a mid-summer party. everyone knows she has a huge pool and everyone says they’re going. That’s life and everyone is invited to join in the adventure of living to the fullest. You and I… we are going to the party. We will be looking, watching, being present… being aware. We know this party is a reflection of life and how we face it.

You and I… we arrive first. We are excited to swim, and several follow right behind us - they are also eager to join the party and swim. Those who show up early to the party also show up early in life - urgent, eager, responsible, and more than ready to participate. Those who show up on time are also responsible in life - prepared for whatever comes. Those who show up late are casual about life. They probably show up late in other areas of their life as well. The people that don’t show up at all… well… they probably don’t show up in their lives either and they are also not in integrity with their lives as they did not honor their commitment to attend.

You and I… we sit and watch. As we look around, we notice some people are wearing just their bathing suits, some are wearing the suits beneath their clothes, and some are carrying their suits with them. Those wearing their bathing suits are the adventurers in life and happy to be that way. They came to swim and are ready to do just that. All-in is their middle name. Those with their bathing suit on beneath their clothes are explorers. They are ready to swim as well, but they are aware that there are other possibilities out there are prepared for that. Not just single focused nor filled with urgency, they are ready for life, and all its possibilities. Those with just their clothes on (their bathing suits are in a bag with them) are the evaluators, the analyzers, and watchers. They have probably come prepared to swim, but are not committed. They are prepared to swim, may even want to swim, but they are casual about it. They also like to be in control and are not impulsive. They will plan if they are going swimming, when they are swimming, and are confident that their looks and clothes will not be disturbed by the impulse to swim. They may go for adventure, but only in controlled environments.

Okay, we are the first in the pool. We jump in the middle. We don't worry about the temperature or how deep the water is. We go for it. Guaranteed we… and those like us are risk-takers in life. We trust our instincts and our guts. We are up for the challenge and if we mess up; we get up, dust ourselves off, and try again. We are a good way to be. We never miss opportunities, take chances and are ready when possibility calls. But we can be reckless.

While in the water we look around. A few others are slowly easing into the water. They want in but don’t want the temperature shock. They get in but it takes a minute. these are the people who give new things a try, but only after checking it out thoroughly, and then only at their pace. Not impulsive at all, these people are cautious but determined. They are admirable because they don’t give up. They get where they are going even if it takes a while. They don’t miss out either - they are willing to give things and they are less likely to be reckless.

We also notice the ones who sit on the sidelines without even testing the water. These are the people who never get in. These individuals are the ones who give up and walk away from life, they don't even take the time to find out if the water is right. They give up before they have even gotten started. They have been beaten down by life. They know what is out there and they want it, but life has sucked their hope from them. They are afraid, unwilling, or just no longer able. We just look at them and you shake your head. You feel sorry for them and the opportunities they miss - and you should.

Now let’s examine the people on the sidelines testing the water. the ones who just test and test. These individuals are just playing at life. They want to get in but they can’t - their fears have them stuck.  They have let their worries and fears overtake them and so they never achieve their dreams. The best thing about these people - some of them actually find the courage to give the water a try and are usually so happy for having done so.

My favorites however, are those who get in the water just enough to get their legs wet. They walk about and stroll throughout but never get themselves completely wet. I often find them to be spiritually enlightened. They are not adverse to getting in. they are not afraid nor worried. They have simply chosen not to get all the way in, instead they have chosen to enjoy the beauty, coolness, and delight of the water in a gentler fashion… acknowledging the possibility of getting soaked, prepared to be if it happens, yet trusting that it won’t. They see life as an adventure to be appreciated at a gentler level. They are in the midst and happy watching others enjoying the water at all levels and that can be just as delightful as jumping in the middle.

The point - life is a water party and the smartest people are out there getting wet. They get in the water; they don't just sit on the sidelines. They don’t worry if it’s cold, they know their body will adjust. Besides, the exhilaration is good… energizing. My suggestion - take advantage and go for it. after all.. today is really all you have. You might as well make the best of it.

My wish for today

Hey everyone... it's been a minute... 
and it might be the mood I've been in lately, but today I wanted to say hi and I wanted to share.

Today I wish I could step into a picture and experience the scene. But maybe not a picture of my past. Those memories linger in my mind already and I don’t want to go back because memories are often tainted by subsequent experiences. Also going back in time might be painful - like visiting a moment with a loved one who is now deceased. I might not want to leave or leaving might make me sad and today I think I want to feel elation. Or euphoria. Or something like that.

You see, what I really want is to able to jump into a photograph of a location - like Glacier National Park in Montana and experience the scene. I want to step into the picture and experience the moment. Like a moment at Carnival or a moment standing under the waterfall at God’s Bath in Sonora, California. Or how about feeling the exhilaration of a late spring rain from atop a roof or a summer mist in the middle of a rain-forest? Or what about sipping wine from a little cafe in a winery in France.?Or imagine actually smelling the sweet fragrance of fresh roses in a huge rose garden or tasting an orange just picked from nature.

And there are many advantages. For example, you wouldn’t get lost. The picture would take you right to the spot you want so you wouldn't wind up in the middle of a volcano or the depths of the ocean - unless that is what you want (though why would you). Also it’s a moment in time. so you wouldn't get stuck there for years or hours, days or decades. You would get a few minutes and then you would return to the present. You couldn't get stuck in a time continuum and you wouldn't misstep and land in the middle of a wall or something. You would return from whence you came.

Ah, respite my way... or your way. What a way to spend a lunch break, right?  So today I imagining myself stepping into a picture and experiencing that picture for five minutes. Just enough to whet my appetite for some elation. And what about you? Do you wanna join me? You could experience some elation as well. Or satisfy a curiosity about a place or a thing. Anyway, that's my wish for today. What's yours?

Sometimes I Am So Greedy

Sometimes I Am So Greedy -

Sometimes I think i am so greedy - I want it all.

I want a serene life; one filled with moments of prayer, moments of meditation, moments of silent contemplation, and walks in nature. - where I actually hear my inner voice and feel at peace with myself, others, nature, and the world.

But that is not enough. I also want a life like a bottle of champagne on New Year’s Eve - a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud with joy at the unexpected tickle such pleasure brings.You know what I mean - all dressed up and looking and feeling good. I’m at or going someplace gorgeous, surrounded by lovely people whose company I enjoy the most, eating deliciously decadent foods off beautiful china and drinking luscious campagne from gorgeous cut and tinkling glasses, while laughing, listening to beautiful music, and dancing.

I also want a life filled with beautiful things - flowers, music, dance, art. I want to surround myself with beauty; that I might become beauty; that my heart, soul, and spirit might be filled with beauty; that the world might become a place of beauty. Imagine a world where we see the beauty in everything, appreciate the beauty of differences as well as similarities, where ugly is such a distant memory, the word no longer exists in dictionaries or vocabularies.

And yet I also need space. Space to let myself go, space to just be, space to feel free. Minimalists seem to need very little. To release my need to have things, to hold onto things - this I crave. I think my attachment to things correlates with my reluctance to let go of the past and my issues with change. I need things,however my need of things is diminishing. Nowadays, I seem to need things less and and am loving the concept of empty space more. However, I have yet to say I want to live in a minimalist interior.  I say I love the concept of minimalism. I think that is because minimalism, though lovely to look at, feels distancing and cold. Still the thought of minimalism does appeal to me. It provides space… space which allows the expansion of my soul.

What else do I want? At the end of each day, I want to be able to say I did more than just work to make money or that I just did the things I need to survive. I want my life to be more than a collection of events I did to get through each day. I want to go to bed thinking it was a great day and wake anticipating this new day is going to be at least as amazing.

Yes! I am greedy!

I want to be able to eat what i want, when I want…. within reason; to do what I want, when I want, so long as I hurt or harm no one. I want to sing out loud in the car with the windows open and stay up all night laughing. I want to paint my walls the exact color of the sky at the beach on a early autumn day and always wear the colors and outfits that reflect the strong, loving, sexy, confident, powerful woman I can be.. I want to fall asleep quickly and easily on clean. heated, soft sheets and wake to love. I want to eat cheesy omelettes with sweet tangerines, cold, thick, slices of tomato and slices of warm bacon. I want to throw avant garde parties where people get to know each other without talking. I want to listen to music so beautiful I cry, see and enjoy art so lovely I fill with emotion,  and read books so good they make me bubble over. I want to Iove and be loved by a man so deeply I give all of me with no thought and he shares with me all that he is. I want to commune with my soul, with the souls of those who get me. I want to see the magic and beauty in each moment and share the joy of living with others. I want to be so infectious with my joy and love, I make a difference I want to live in gratitude and light. I want my everyday to make The Great I AM smile, glad that he/she gave life to someone who loves the gift.

we live inside of relationships

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about how we… as people do not realize that we live inside of relationships. it’s sounds great but just what does that mean… we live inside of relationships. i’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure that out. if we are constantly being told to love ourselves first, because the most important thing to know is that we spend more time with ourselves than we do with others, that means we live alone. alone is the opposite of relationships. If we are also told that we live inside of relationships than that means we are not alone and then perhaps we should love ourselves second. but that makes no sense at all. can we love ourselves first and still exist inside of relationships?

I think the answer stems from our understanding of love. love is the energy we live in. we are created from love, born to love, designed to spread and share love and we start first by loving ourselves. once we are able to love ourselves we can love others and that works because other than when we are alone, we are not.

We live in a universe filled with people. everything we do and everything we enjoy involves someone beyond ourselves.  the car we drive was created by someone. when we bought it we dealt with someone. the food we eat was raised by someone, farmed by someone, manufactured by someone, sold to us by someone. the bed we sleep on was made by someone, stored by someone, delivered to us by someone.and so we live inside of relationships, many different kinds of relationships, but still.. relationships. therefore, if we do not acknowledge this, we are missing a major part of life.

If we do not open up to and acknowledge that relationships shape our lives. we will miss out on many things, on many experiences. if we embrace the concept and become aware of the many relationships we experience daily, we realize we are not ever truly alone. once we realize we are not truly alone, we can begin to see how it is that we live inside of relationships. once we get that, we also get that the driving force behind this world is love. and once you open yourself to love, everything changes.

Once you really begin to love yourself, you love to overflowing. once your love overflows, loving yourself will not be enough. you will begin to share that love with others and that love will overflow. you will then want to share your love with the world. once you start to share your love with the world and your love still overflows, you will begin to change the world. once you become a source of overflowing love… your life will change. and we want that to happen because that is our purpose… to love. once we begin to be the source of love, life as we know it will change. The light of love will fill this world and all will be well.

And so, i get it. we live inside of relationships and with those relationships we can change the world. but it all starts with us… and with love.

Addicting Autumn

Addicting Autumn

Autumn can be addicting. You may act as though Autumn is just another month, but it calls to you. “Come, marvel at my colors, cavort in my leaves. Come, dance in my rain, surrender to my mist. Come, savor my petrichor, and sniff my pumpkins. Come and enjoy my season.

You walk around amid rain and changing leaves, amid cooling temperatures and lengthening days. The air is invigorating, the wind crisp. You leave your home in the dusky morning, return with the setting sun. And as the leaves begin to fall, you watch… fascinated… waiting for one to fall at your feet, or on you; as though it was the leaf’s choice, as thought it had moved there on its own, just to get your attention.

Autumn is claiming you. Calling you to pay attention. Now, it is saying; now is the time to let go of things no longer necessary to prepare yourself for the new things awaiting you. Clear out the cobwebs and debris in your life. Make space for the new and improved.

Many people find Autumn an unnecessary season. But I love it. Sometimes it's a comfort just knowing Autumn is around the corner. I marvel at her colors, rejoice in her fruits, even bask in her constantly changing moods. Ah, the delights of Autumn - it reminds me that nothing stays the same, nor should it. It reminds me that I am constantly changing, growing, transforming - inevitably as well as by choice. It helps me when others or things change unexpectedly. I say, "ah, this is their Autumn”, and I remember and understand.

Why do I love Autumn so much? People constantly ask me that question? I have no short, definitive answer. It’s like asking why I love? Because I do. Autumn, has changed me, is the season of change for my life, And Autumn, if you let it, will change your life too.

be present

art by Fred Matthews

When we were children, even though we didn’t realize it, we lived each day fully. We gave no care to yesterday or tomorrow. We were present to the moments and vitally aware of how fun life could be. We laughed and loved easily and constantly. Until our spirits were broken, if we were a child that had our spirit broken; we always got up, always recovered, always were willing to try again, to love again, to laugh again. We never second thought - things would work out, things would get better. We knew that, we trusted that, we expected that, and that was it. It was a good way to live.

When we were children, we had no concept of time. There was only now. We could not see to tomorrow, we never gave a thought to tomorrow. But we got older, we grew up. Life, people, events broke our spirits and taught us that things we wanted could not happen now, we had to wait for tomorrow. We learned that tomorrow was more important than today because that was when things happened. Sadly, now that we are older, we know that this is not the way to live.

As we have gotten older, life’s experiences have chipped away at our childhood innocence… our childhood beliefs. Now, as adults, many of us live lives of intense caution - afraid to trust people, to do too much, to not do enough, to make the wrong move, to make the wrong choice. We laugh less, ignore our perceptions and instincts, choose not to love, refuse to trust, and are afraid to live in the present. We don’t have time, don’t make time to smell the flowers, savor our coffee or tea, soak up the sun’s warming rays, or enjoy a cool fall breeze. We barely have time to appreciate good music, food, and drink, do the things that bring us joy - like spend time with people we care about. We definitely don’t see the humor in life.

Many of us choose to mistrust humankind, to hold our love in reserve, We laugh tight-lipped and smile with just our mouths. We glance so that we don’t have to look and see. We sniff rather than indulge in a full-on smell. We don;t give our all when only half-assed will do.

But limited living will lead to limited life - limited health, limited money, limited love, limited fun, limited happiness. We must stop! We must reconnect to our inner child! We must capture the childhood beliefs we abandoned by the curbside. In capturing the essence of our childhood, we will begin to see and be a part of the beauty of life. Seeing the beauty and joy of childhood will allow us the space to appreciate life in the now. Appreciation will facilitate feelings of trust and feelings of trust will help to open the doors of our hearts so we can begin to love freely and easily. A life full of love, joy, happiness, and beauty is a healthier life A healthier life in the now is a life free from limits and an unlimited life is a life of possibilities.

When do we begin? I say there is no time like NOW! How?

First, take a moment and breathe in… deeply. The air is sweeter and fresher when we breathe from a moment of appreciation rather than a rushed moment. So slowly inhale, hold and then exhale and release the stresses of the moment. All you have is now, enjoy it!

Find time to sing or dance or both. Do it easily, just because. Children love to dance and sing. They are not shy.

Share a joke a funny story. Laugh at yourself. Laugh at life. Laughing is good for the body and the spirit. It also burns calories. laugh every day. It changes your perspective. How bad can life be if you can laugh?

Hug someone, share a smile, do a kindness. It does wonders for you. In fact, it does as much for you the giver as it does for the receiver. It brightens a dark day, lightens a sad moment, enhances even the best of times - it doubles joy.

Do something that you love that you stopped because you thought you were too old. You are never too old to have fun, to smile, to be filled with happiness. Doing the things we love keeps us young and happy. A younger, happier you is a healthier you.

Love! Trust! Take a chance and love! Trust your instincts! Be open to the possibility of love! be available for love! The world is filled with opportunities to love - enjoy it.

Rest, relax, meditate, sit in solitude. Create a serenity space. You need a place within you where you can go to re-balance, re-energize, be in discovery without judgment, and find your creativity. You are after all, a creative being.

Ultimately, the way to live is to be present to life.

be present to the rain - the fat and heavy drops, the soft drops, the wetness and the mist.

be present to your pain so you can find its source, work it through, and let it go.

be present to the people you love - to the friends and family who make the difference in your life.

create moments to remember together

be present to endings - know that endings don’t have to mean wrong or right and are not judgments. Endings mean beginnings are right around the corner.

be present to everything.  be present without a reason other than to be present because NOW is all there is.. now.. and now… and now.

Back To School... Back To Work

It's been years since I have been in school and a few years since I have had to get a child ready for school. So, it was with some pleasure that I watched, on Facebook, parents preparing for a new school year and people preparing to go back to work. It made me think of the song by Soul ll Soul - “Back To Life”. The song says, “show me how/ decide what you want from me/tell me maybe I could be there for you/however do you want me/however do you need me”. I love that phrase.

For the last roughly eighteen months a phrase that has resonated with me has been “be what is wanted and needed”. I have begun to learn to trust that life has me and that things fall into place, even if I don’t understand how. Part of that learning process has been the realization that sometimes when I just show up, with no agenda, my “me-ness” has been what was wanted and needed. Being present to the moment, going with the flow, taking a  moment to just breathe, has… lately…  allowed me to look at things and life from a different perspective. It has worked out so well that now I choose to show up to places and events with no expectation other than to be what is wanted and needed when it is wanted and needed. That has served me well - sometimes I have gone to places only to discover that there is someone there who is wanted and needed by ME! So I am not only a blessing to others, sometimes someone is a blessing to me.

So, today is not a back to school day for me, nor is it a back to work day for me, but it is a “back to the present time” day for me. But it is a day to remember that I don’t live in the future ( although I do prepare for it) and I no longer live in the past (finally let that go). It is a day to remember I live in the present moment and when I find myself slipping back to old habits I remind myself to focus on the present, to be what is wanted and needed in my life as well as others. This is serving me.

For those of you dealing with back to school and back to work, remember to stop and breathe. Remember that you can be present to the moments of school and work. You can be what is wanted and needed in school, at work, and in your life. “Back to” can be a good thing. However do you want it? However do you need it? you can be it? Let’s all get back to it.