Visualize Whirled Peas

 I admit it — I’m a dork. I love puns, and I easily laugh at silliness. This serious business of having a human experience calls for all the levity we can muster. Holy Joviality!

I can feel much more gratitude for a situation when I can find that absurdity, whether overt or hidden. It makes the issue less personal, and more from a temporary reality. I’m referring to generalities here—there are certainly times when finding the humor would be both extremely difficult and enormously inappropriate. Even there, though, I can find humor in some of my reactions, though usually in retrospect.

Today, I’ll turn those wonderful Emily Latilla comments into my mantras, from stopping the violins to visualizing whirled peas (though I’m not sure that was hers). 

And whenever I can, I’ll smile sweetly and utter her famous catchphrase: Nevermind.

Standing My Ground

  Whether I’m right or whether I’m wrong   Whether I find a place in this world or never belong    I gotta be me, I've gotta be me    What else can I be but what I am    Walter Marks

I’m grateful to be me, right now, in this place, experiencing all that I am going through. Life school is still teaching me, and I like to sit right up front. Current lessons seem to be about finding the holiness in every situation as I recognize it’s passing through my life.

Joy, happiness, hope, anticipation, a little bit of fear and apprehension; they’re all woven parts of the tapestry of Now, and they all add their unique colors and textures. The tapestry’s name is Sandy, and it has it’s own beauty. There are pulled threads where I’ve tried to hang on, holes where I didn’t grab ahold of opportunities, and many serendipitous scenes which seemingly emerged out of nowhere.

It’s not finished, this tapestry named Sandy. The weaving continues, the surprises emerge, the stitches may hold or may unravel a little bit; it all adds to the texture. I live in Today, still learning to be myself, as I watch it all unfold, day by day, as I sit in the front of my class of one.

I’m deeply grateful for those who see me, understand me, stand by me, love me, encourage me, and let me be me.

This is my ground. This is where I stand, love, learn, and watch the tapestry of me continue to be woven.

Answering the Call

You are the heart, you are the hands, you are the voice of Spirit on earth. And who you are, and all you do, is a blessing to the world.  Karen Drucker

I believe we are all emissaries of the Divine. One person prays, one person delivers. If I am open to the nudging from Spirit, I can find myself in the Holy Flow, all while unaware of how what I do, say, or offer may positively affect another.

As an example, I went to my spiritual home last night night for the simple offering of salads and sweets prior to a teaching. This is the normal schedule for Wednesday nights. I asked one of the women who had prepared the night’s meal how people signed up to help out. As it happened, she was the one in charge of volunteers, so there was that. I said I’d like to bring a salad sometime, so she offered an open date, which fit my schedule. 

After the teaching, the other woman serving told me that the first one had confided to her that she had no one to help with the date she offered me, and was a little bit concerned. Very soon after this, I had made my offer of assistance. Boom!

This is a small, seemingly insignificant example of Spirit in action, but that’s what it’s all about to me. Nothing is too small, nothing is too insignificant, nothing at all is too big for the Creator of All to orchestrate. We are the Eyes, we are the Ears, we are the Hands, we are the Heart. We are the Givers and we are all the receivers of lessons and of blessings. 

I am grateful to be a part of this Holiness. All I have to do is to take action when called.

Gratitude in the Middle

 I have projects going. I love it when I can imagine each ones’s completion. 

My main project at the moment is an overhaul of a bedroom set I purchased in 1988. It was full of the glory of it’s era: orange-colored oak (I suppose “golden” would be it’s description), brass and ceramic pulls, some of which didn’t make the transition to the present, and all the wear and tear that just happens. 

This project has been years in the making; What color? How? Where to do it? How do I start? and all the other Master Procrastinator’s excuses. Finally - finally - the end is in sight! The progress is unmistakable, because it no longer comes close to resembling it’s original state. I’m so pumped by this project that I will throw a Bedroom Set Party! Consider this post your invitation! Date and time TBA.

This has taught me some lessons, or at least highlighted some of my self-sabotaging ways. If I never begin, then I don’t have to worry about the end product not being “perfect”. If I don’t use any of the materials I’ve amassed for other projects, then I’ll never run out of them. Always ready, never moving. 

Well, not anymore! Here’s one nearly done! And the sense of gratitude I feel runs deep. Thank You for creative thoughts. Thank You for supportive friends. Thank You for the income which allowed me to buy the needed materials.

Thank You for the view from the middle!

In This Moment

 Praying. It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch a few words together and don’t try to make them elaborate, this isn’t contest but the doorway into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak.  Mary Oliver

We certainly know that there aren’t always the obvious things—the irises—which give rise to an easy offering of gratitude. There are those stoney moments which challenge me to gratitude. What, right now, am I grateful for? The slow healing of a sudden fracture; the refreshing breeze through my balcony door; the coming-together of a project in all it’s imperfections and it’s beauty; the joy in watching my cat have the “zoomies” followed by his complete relaxation; those flutters of hope which keep me in a state of expectation.

I’ve had my coffee. I’ve made my bed. I am ready for this day. In this moment, I am right here, right now. I will hold times of silence and times of prayer throughout the day. I will be reminded to return to Now, and I will do so.

In this moment, all is well, and for that, I am grateful.

It’s Not Set in Stone

 Gratitude appears in many divergent ways. If I have a set idea of what outcome will lead to gratitude, then I’m simply off-base. When I envision only one way to express gratitude, I have limited my own creative expression. 

Today, I am thankful for the lovely day I had yesterday. The weather was perfect, people were out enjoying their day, the overall mood was one of happiness. How wonderfully easy to feel gratitude for all of that!

Also today, I didn’t feel rested and restored when I got up. In fact, my body had some things to say about what it felt after a day out. Well, fine then. I have the ability to change plans, and my friends understand that sometimes I have to do just that. Gratitude! I missed being in the building, but since the service I attend is live streamed, I didn’t miss out completely. Gratitude! Going back to bed for awhile and taking my pain meds allow me to now get back to my day, gently. Gratitude!

Looking for and feeling the gratitude in all circumstances is sometimes easy and sometimes difficult, but finding those elements for which I can express true thanks keeps me in the higher vibration in which I want to live. 

Gratitude has many forms, and is found in a multitude of ways. It doesn't need me to define how it will show up, or how I will find it. Expressing it will change my outlook—and that is set in stone.

At Ease with What Is

 Today, I feel the freedom of being just fine with life as it is. My needs are met, and I have extra to give. I know how very fortunate I am.

I take dips from time-to-time in the Pool of What-If, but I don’t stay long. Much more often, I find myself in the space of excitement about what’s next. This moment is beautiful, and I know I will experience so many more just like it. It’s a feeling of complete joy. 

I think these moments are when I’m closest to my Creator. I feel the wonder of creation and the loveliness of Now. I have the memories gathered today to see me through the challenges I will face—and I will face them. It’s Life at it’s fullest.

Today I’m taking a field trip to see the tulip gardens and magnificent views of Ananda Village. This is a yearly pilgrimage, and I’m being treated to it by friends. What joy there is in all aspects of that! A beautiful, bountiful, joyous day!

All I need to do today is relax into the wonder of it all. Aahhhh…