Prayer of St. Francis

#Truth...

First thing last week, I read an incredibly inspirational post from Dr. Wayne Dyer (one of my favorite authors) about the Prayer of St. Francis.  I absorbed every word of his post and strived to live the philosophy all week.  As I sat down to write this blog, I reviewed Dr. Dyer's words.  I don't think I can say it any better, so I'll be sharing his words along with the original prayer and a lovely vocal version by Sarah McLachlan.

There's nothing else to say.  These words were like a guiding light for me all week.  Once I adopted this mindset and applied some practical applications a few times, I walked with a sense of confidence and peace.  That's what I'll carry with me this week.  :)

Namaste,
T

The Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understand,

To be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.

Sarah McLachlin's vocal version...

Click here for Wikipedia article on Saint Francis of Assisi

From the Facebook page of Dr. Wayne W. Dyer (posted on Nov. 11, 2014):

"Lord, make me a channel of thy peace.
…That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
- from The Prayer of St. Francis

Perhaps the surest way to find happiness and joy for yourself is to devote your energies toward making someone else happy. If you make an effort to search for joy you will find it elusive, largely because you will become engaged in the search itself. Your life will be about striving. However, if you try to bring happiness to someone else then joy will come to you.

How To Be Happy 

You come into this life with nothing and you leave with nothing. The only thing you can do with your life is give it away. This is the true essence of feeling purposeful. This is the way to have joy in the face of sadness. You experience joy when you attempt to bring it to others. This is what Saint Francis understood to be the goal of life.

The entire second part of the prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi is a testament to the truth that we find joy by giving it away. And in order to give it away, we must possess it ourselves.

…grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;

I have found that most of the times that I am engrossed in sadness due to a problem it is because of something that someone else has said or done, or failed to do. So this is the “problem.” I am sad because of the actions or inactions of others. Now, of course, this is an illusion; something that I have created in my thoughts. It is in my mind that I am experiencing the “problem.” So, what is the solution? It is always so simple.

Would You Rather Be Right or Be Happy?

The solution is to align with Spirit and attempt to bring some joy to someone else. When engaged in helping others, my sadness disappears instantly. I send joy to the people whom I perceive to be the source of my sadness. That seems difficult. After all, my ego reminds me, they are wrong and I am right. And, of course, my ego would much rather be right than happy.

But I tame my ego, and change the thoughts I have of being wronged to thoughts of joy for those who I perceived have annoyed me. Instantly and permanently my sadness dissolves like magic. By sending joyful loving thoughts to others, particularly to those whom I have perceived to be the source of my sadness, I end the problem, which only existed in my mind to begin with.

Find Joy By Giving it Away

As you get better at finding joy by giving it away you will find that another shift takes place. First you were working with your thoughts only, which is where you experience sadness. As you transform those thoughts of sadness into joy, your emotions will follow. You will experience a shift in your sense of physical well-being and begin to feel better. You will feel lighter, more comfortable, and healthier. Your feelings of despair, anger and depression will begin to dissolve, and then your behavior will change to follow the path of joy. You will reach out to those who have “wronged you” with forgiveness and extend a helping hand to those who used to be classified as your enemies.

From thoughts to feelings to behaviors, your entire life shifts away from problems when you find your purpose by giving joy away."

Thank you Dr. Wayne Dyer!  That was just what I needed.

Unchartered Territory

At the beginning of the week I saw a few online posts like this...

"If you want something you never had, 

you have to do something you've never done."

- The Mind Unleashed (Facebook)

"An open mind allows you to explore and create and grow.  

Remember that progress would be impossible 

if we always did things the way we always have."

- Dr Wayne W. Dyer

So I started trying to think of things that I've never done, and then do them.  

I found a new gym and signed up for a trial membership.  I quickly decided to join and took a Zumba class (never did THAT before).  The gym membership included a complimentary physical assessment with a personal trainer.  I liked the session so much that I signed up for twelve weeks of personal training sessions (never did THAT before either).  The fitness routine with the trainer included many new exercises, some on machines that were new to me and which I was excited to learn about.  After realizing that Russ could be added to the same membership, I brought him to join too, and we both took a cycle class (spinning class) together.  THAT was new for both of us and was NO JOKE!  WHEW!!!  That was a serious workout.

Thursday and Friday included meetings in the city and in a spirit of adventure I went to two new restaurants that I had never been to before.

Waterfall art inside Rosa Mexicano restaurant - NYC

On Broadway

So, by week's end there were a number of new things I had done.  I soon realized that they had all cost money and wondered if I should do something new that didn't cost anything.  What about volunteering somewhere?

I Yelped "volunteer opportunities" but nothing came up in my area.  What did come up required advanced training and an application that would take time to process.  As "coincidence" would have it, my gig on Saturday was a fundraising event for an organization that is dedicated to developing and promoting volunteerism.  It was one of the same organizations that came up on the search!  The idea was reinforced, and I knew I was on the right track.  Although several meetings that I attended this week involved volunteering my time and efforts for various causes, I wanted to find something NEW, and to do something I have never done before.

At the gig with Joe (bandleader/guitar) and John (bass)

At the gig with Dean (drums)

Sunday brought with it just the opportunity I was searching for and I seized the moment.  After church service, I approached the gentleman who had made announcements, and introduced myself.  I knew that they had been looking for volunteers for various tasks in the past, and asked him what types of things I could help out with within the parameters of my usual "last minute" type of schedule.  He was very nice and welcoming and offered several suggestions of things I could help with - even though I am only a visiting guest to that congregation.  He insisted that Russ and I join the gathering downstairs for brunch and fellowship.  There we were met with friendly faces, hot food and a lovely sense of community.  There was a table near the door with signup sheets for various volunteer activities.  I smiled and stopped to sign up for a few before I joined Russ, who was conversing with a couple of people.  It just so happened that they were talking about the concept of "ask and ye shall receive" as I approached.  I smiled again at the recollection of just how true that had been for me all week.

Just as soon as I had looked for something new to do, I had found it.  Just as I (literally) had searched on Yelp for volunteer opportunities, circumstance had placed me directly at an event held by an organization at the top of the search list!  Just as I set out to find a more immediate opportunity to volunteer, I found several.

Today, as I sit here writing this, it occurs to me that there are many other new things that we can do that cost nothing.  We can forgive someone.  We can love greater.  We can care more.  We can shift something inside of ourselves to a new level.  We can strive to understand someone better.  We can let go of some anger or resentment we've been holding on to.  We can smile at a stranger.  We can go the extra mile on almost anything we do.  We can surprise a loved one with something unexpected.  There's always something new to learn.  All of these things would fall under the category of something "new."  They can cost nothing, require little time and can have great significance!

Russ surprised me with this bouquet :)

This week, I'll keep my eyes open for anything new.  I'll seize moments and take new steps forward.

Namaste!

T

Change Change Change...

Has the world gone mad?

I attended a meeting in the city where a woman stood up and wanted to discuss the rights of pixels.  Yes, pixels - the little dots that comprise the picture on your television and digital images everywhere.  Apparently, people worry about the rights of those little dots.  I was almost convinced the evening would prove to be a complete waste of time, and was teetering on the fence between amusement and irritation.  It seemed I had trudged my butt all the way into the city for no apparent reason.  Thankfully, my attitude turned all the way around when a lovely and perfectly sane casting director got up to speak.  She was inspirational and motivational.  I was fortunate enough to meet her and she invited me to submit my résumé to her.   Suddenly, I was launched forward into résumé updating, photo shoot scheduling and online submission forms, etc.  I felt good leaving the city that night and had a nice sense of accomplishment.  It turned out to be a wonderful way to start the week after all.  I fully expected this blog to be about forcing yourself to just put one foot in front of the other until something makes sense, as it had done that night (Just keep going!  One step at a time...), but as the week evolved that idea changed.

It was a busy week of travel and photo shoots, but I also managed to spend some time in nature...

"Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee."

- Job 12:8

I don't normally think of this as my favorite time of year.  It seems kind of depressing when it gets cold and dark.  The winter coats come out of the closet and the patio furniture gets put away.  I start thinking about shoveling and I get the snowblower tuned up.  Air conditioners, bikes and summer dresses are put away.  (Sigh)  I wanted to get out and take some pictures of the pretty trees before all the leaves disappear. 

Funny how nature reflects everything...

Change and growth...

The beauty of things...

The climb...

Out of the darkness and into the light...

The sometimes ominous look of things...

The fork in the road...

Crossing that bridge when we get to it...

Everything I saw inspired thought.  I thought about that fence between amusement and irritation and how easy it is to go over the brink.  I thought about falling back (just like the clocks) into old habits and how effortless it is to just write off other people when we don't understand them.  (I'd been battling irritation all week and posted this link on Thursday:  "Sometimes, the first step toward forgiveness is realizing the other person was born an idiot" -DJTOD.)  I was searching for a way to keep from sinking into the negative and to keep a bright, positive spirit - even in the face of challenge.

On Sunday, I met the most wonderful and amazing woman.  She wrote a book, "From Stage IV to Center Stage."  She was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in her throat/neck, and was given three months to live.  Twenty-two months later, she sang the National Anthem at Fenway Park.  Nine years later, there I was, sitting in church listening to her story and hearing her say, "Challenges are nothing more than doorways to transformation."

"Denise DeSimone is an ordained interfaith minister, an inspirational/motivational speaker, a singer, and is also certified in multiple alternative healing modalities.  She is a wellness coach to cancer patients.  Denise also created Pray Peace, a multimedia offering of personal and global peace."

- from the back cover of her book, "From Stage IV to Center Stage"

click here for Denise's website

I attended her workshop on sound healing and had a most wonderful experience.  Before beginning a guided meditation that utilized vibrational sound energy, we set deliberate "intentions" for the experience.  My intention was "love space" - the place of positive energy.  I don't want to be in a negative space, or think that other people are idiots, or waste ANY time being anything but joyous.  I know that we can transform any thought, any idea, any pattern.  I know we are capable of letting go of old ideas and habits, and capable of change.  I wanted to bring in the happy and the new, and weed out all sources of irritation at the core.  As Denise introduced us to sound healing, she spoke about how easy it can be to transform an irritating sound to the point that you don't even hear it.  :) :) :)

Perfect!!!!!

This week, I'll continue the meditation practices she taught us and learn more.  (I bought her book and her CD.)  I will not have to resort to thinking of anyone else in a less than favorable light just to make myself feel better.  I'll train myself to hear joyous sounds and see miracles everywhere.

"There are two ways to live: 

You can live as if nothing is a miracle; 

or you can live as if everything is a miracle."

- Albert Einstein

"We cannot love without evolving 

and we cannot evolve without love."

- Denise DeSimone

Namaste!

T

Making a List, Checking it Twice

(Ring Ring...)

Tan:  Hello?

Mom:  Are you writing your blog?

Tan:  No.  I don't know what to write about.  I got nothing.  So, I'm organizing my closets.

Mom:  Write about that.

In church today, the lecturer spoke about distractions.  She reminded us about how we are all connected to each other and to the Divine and that we are ALWAYS connected that way - but sometimes we forget.  Sometimes we have "Divine Attention Deficit Disorder."

That explains a lot.  Could that be the reason why we can feel lonely for no good reason at all or why good friends can feel like unfamiliar strangers all of a sudden?  Is this why it can feel like we're not going anywhere or don't have anything - when in reality we have absolutely everything we need and are exactly where we are supposed to be?

It reminds me of the holidays and how easy it is to get distracted.  It's all too easy to do what we, in our family, call twirling.  Twirling is what you do when you're not sure which way to go.  You start to go one way, then something catches your attention in the other direction so you turn and go that way instead.  This keeps happening until pretty soon you feel like you're running all over, but you're really going nowhere except around in circles.  If it happens when you're Christmas shopping - that's when you know it's time to go home and get organized.  Make a list and stick to it.  

Okay.  Can't we apply that solution to the spiritual twirl as well?  Let's see... if a list were to help me out of a spiritual twirl, what would that list look like?  Something like this?

This week, I'll try to stay focused.  I'll make lists for tasks to be accomplished and get something done.  I'll also carry around this spiritual reminder list.  If I feel myself beginning to twirl, I'll go home and regroup.  Maybe I'll organize my closets or something.  :)

Namaste,

T

P.S.

Ever since thinking of this title (Making a List, Checking it Twice),  I've been walking around the house singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."  So, I found this on Youtube:

xoxo!!!

Have a Cookie

I really had no idea what I was getting into when I took a gig singing with Zoe's Big Band Bombshells last week.  Whew!  That was a fair amount of work - AND AN AWESOME GREAT TIME!

sound check - my view from stage

The gig was for the after party for opening night of the Broadway Show "On the Town" - a show that originally premiered on Broadway in 1944.  We played big band style songs in full costume and wigs in lower Manhattan on Thursday night after guests made their way down from the Broadway show at the Lyric Theatre.  We learned Andrews Sisters harmonies, played some big band classics, and also performed some modern pop songs with a 40's style twist.  I had an absolute BLAST!

sound check - as dancers rehearsed

I've always loved the art of "the show" - by that I mean, the careful consideration to costume, hair & makeup, harmony, song selection, set lists, song arrangements, and dance movements along with the contagious emotional energy of the performance.  This show had all of that, complete with rehearsals and plenty of practicing.  I was so impressed with all of the work that our fearless bandleader Zoe put into this performance.  Every detail seemed to be handled with the utmost degree of professional attention and loving care.  (I seriously think she might really be Wonder Woman - but that's another story.)

Me, Zoe, Zhana

The crowd seemed to really enjoy themselves, based on the dancing, the compliments, and the fact that the party was extended in length.  :)  It was such a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of it.  Zoe and Zhana were truly wonderful to work with and I hope I get the chance to do it again soon.

Zhana, Zoe, Me

click here for Broadway.com's pic of us performing

The rest of the week kind of pales in comparison to that.  There were phone calls, a doctor appointment (follow up for the poison ivy - and I'm fine), a lovely street fair where I bought some very pretty stones for myself and officially began Christmas shopping, a lot of yard work, and a church service filled with dogs.  (Apparently it was "bring your dog to church day" where they had a Blessing of the Animals.)

If there was a running theme this week, it finally became apparent after I loaded twenty-plus bags full of mulched leaves into big paper bags for disposal and decided that it was time for a cookie.

Before

After

I remembered hoping, after all the work that went into Thursday's show, that Zoe had taken a relaxing day off and enjoyed a sense of accomplishment afterward.  I remembered talking to a friend (who is interviewing for some amazing career opportunities) and hoping that, while he is so humble, he can also take pride in and celebrate all of the hard work he has done and all of his accomplishments thus far.  I remembered another friend who enjoys one day off a week from a strict workout and healthy eating regimen to dine at a favorite restaurant.  I realized that the whole after party was a celebration of the fantastic achievement of opening night on Broadway (and like a giant cookie, of sorts).

In church, you could hear thumping sounds as dogs wagged their tails against the pews.  People shared incredible stories about pets - some tear-jerking, some comical.  All of the collection money was to be given to an animal rescue organization, which had a representative there with one of their rescues, Kingston.  Kingston is a very friendly Pit Bull who wouldn't stop kissing every person and dog in sight.  It was hard to believe that just three years ago, he was so fearful of everyone and everything that he appeared aggressive beyond reason.  With love and positive reinforcement he learned to trust again, and is now free to be the genuinely happy creature he really is.  We were reminded of how loving and how forgiving pets are, and how much we can learn from them.

Bentley is a rescue - but we didn't bring him to church on Sunday

The dog two rows behind us kept crawling under the pews trying to meet new people and collect pats on the head.  I remember her owner trying to get her attention by asking, "Do you want a cookie?"  Maybe that's why, as I was admiring the practically leafless lawn later on, I decided that it was "cookie time" for me.  Do we remember to celebrate a hard week's worth of work by doing something enjoyable?  Do we have enough time, or are we always on to the next thing?  Are we always so busy that it seems there never are enough hours in the day or days in the week?  I'll try to remember that it's alright (and even healthy) to sit back for a minute and enjoy a well-deserved sense of satisfaction for a job well done.

I'm going to have a cookie.

Namaste!
T

"Take a Cookie" scene from "The Matrix"

Hot Flashes... Can You Blame the Dog?

Yes.  Here's how...

Bentley

Step 1: Leave a roll of packing tape on the floor, well within reach of your dog who sometimes has separation anxiety.
Step 2: Go to church.
Step 3: Come home to find that dog has eaten much of the roll of tape.
Step 4: Travel by car for eight hours with said dog in the back seat.
Step 5: When dog throws up in back seat, stop at an exit ramp to let him out and clean up the car.
Step 6: Arrive at destination several hours later to discover that you've been bitten up by mosquitos while walking around on a strange exit ramp with dog. Apply Hydrocortisone cream and deal with it.
Step 7: When symptoms don't go away four days later, go to a clinic where you discover that you do not have mosquito bites, but poison ivy (from the dog tramping through it on that exit ramp and transferring it to you).
Step 8: Go to the pharmacy and fill the prescription they gave you for Prednisone.
Step 9: Accept the fact that a potential side effect of the steroid medication is hot flashes.

Did this actually happen?  Yes, except I didn't want to start the oral medication until I arrived back home from the gig in West Virginia, where the clinic diagnosed me.  So, I have the hot flashes to look forward to this week.  :)

The week prior had been a long one - with rehearsals, meetings and a flat tire incident that had me wandering through Jersey looking for a gas station with a working air pump.  Then there was VERY EARLY morning travel and a serious lack of sleep.  By the time I arrived at the airport, got on and off two planes, ran (about five miles) from one end of the airport to the other to make the connecting flight, and rode two hours in the van to the hotel (where the room wasn't ready yet, so we went to eat lunch before finally checking in), the last thing I wanted to deal with was bright red itchy spots on my arms when I took off my sweatshirt to take a much needed nap.

Classic band shot - en route to hotel

As I looked down at my arms and said, "This doesn't look right," I could hear the voice of my friend Paul Anthony echoing (from his TV episode of "Unsung") in my head.  He said, "You MUST be proactive.  You don't wait."  I considered waiting until Monday when I would be back in NY and could see my own doctor.  "You MUST be proactive.  You don't wait."  OK FINE!  I looked up health care facilities and spoke to a lovely hospital nurse who guided me to a clinic that was less than a mile from the hotel, and walked there.  Poison ivy.  I'm glad I listened.  Thanks Paul Anthony.

I laughed out loud at the pharmacy counter wondering if life could get more ridiculous.  I should've known not to ask that question.  As soon as I did, the pharmacist told me my prescription coverage had expired.  I laughed harder, waited while they looked up my coverage another way, and eventually bought the medicine.  I walked back through the rain to the hotel, applied the topical cream they gave me, wondered if makeup would conceal the red marks on my arms, thanked God that I'd thrown a long-sleeved dress in my suitcase as an option for the gig, and tried not to scratch.

The gig was great and the band was awesome!  I was one of five singers on the bandstand and they are all amazing performers!  I wore my long-sleeved dress and put a little makeup on my splotchy arms.

with the super-talented singers:  Brian, Chevonne, John and Charles

I recalled the chain of events and realized the humor in the fact that because Bentley had eaten a roll of packing tape, I had poison ivy and was facing hot flashes.  When I rewind the tape of my memory further though, I remember that I was the one who had left that roll of tape on the floor.  There was that brief moment when I saw it there and thought of picking it up, but I had been in a rush to get out the door and left it there instead.  If I had made a different choice in THAT moment, poison ivy may never have entered my life.

It looked like Heaven outside my airplane window on the way home

On the way home, when people asked how I was doing with regard to the poison ivy, I responded that it was a real exercise in mental discipline not to scratch like crazy.  (It really is too!)  It reminds me of the "blame game."  Oftentimes it's easy to place blame.  We do it all the time.  Sometimes it's hilarious!  Sometimes it's not.  While it might be funny to blame hot flashes on the dog, sometimes it's a real "exercise in mental discipline" to take responsibility for our own actions, consequences, happiness or unhappiness.

I'll remember that this week.  I may play the blame game from time to time (we're all human) and sometimes it's all just too funny, but I'll take responsibility for my own happiness and create my own destiny accordingly.

Today's calendar page from Louise Hay

Let's make it a GREAT week!

Namaste
T

Here We Go... #Fall

After finishing up some planting and handling the business of the week (OMG you are going to LOVE the videos we are working on), I drove off to attend a friend's wedding.  Russell, Joey and I wrote the song (not released yet) that would be played for their first dance and I had the final mix in hand.

Since I was there a day early, I volunteered to help set things up the day before the reception.

WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND WONDERFUL TIME!

The room started off as a perfectly blank slate in the town's fire hall, but slowly and steadily it began to fill.  The transformation was fascinating.

First, boxes and bins were carried in from cars and trucks.  The empty kitchen was soon brimming with dishes, candy, flowers, ribbons, tablecloths, candles, bottles of water and cans of pop (that's "soda" for all you other people - lol).  Decorations, champagne glasses and everything you could think of all started to spill out into the hall where tables were being unfolded, carried and arranged to fill the space to capacity in neat orderly rows.

The decor followed a Fall theme and after the cream colored tablecloths were laid, and the head table's gold leaf patterned overlays were lovingly placed, after skirts hugged the gift, coffee, cake and head tables, some hundred plus chairs were carefully counted and put into place.  Then the flowers, vases, dishes, and candy migrated from boxes and bags in the kitchen to become the pretty and warm-colored center pieces and table settings.

A handful of the most lovely people worked like elves in Santa's workshop as candles came out of boxes and were placed at each seat as a "thank you" gift to each guest.  Hundreds of cloth leaves came out of plastic bags and the team began to line the walls with them.  Decorative bales of hay were placed at the entrance and lovingly arranged with fall colored flowers.  Floral arrangements, baskets of candy, plates of cookies, and a beautiful satin card box filled the entrance table, and hanging fall decoratives draped from the doorway.  There were wreaths and rows of lighted leaves and fall colors everywhere.  It was a totally different-looking room.  

Then the DJ arrived and unloaded his corner-full of speakers, stands and CDs.  As he tested equipment, music filled the air and we all danced as we taped extension cords to the floor and more leaves to the walls.  You could really get a sense of how the room would feel when family and friends would arrive the next day and fill it even more with laughter and love.

Amazing.  Simply amazing.

with DJ Bear - the first person to play "Our Song of Love"

The ceremony was so heart-warming!  The bride was beautiful.  The groom was handsome and just the right amount of nervous.  The music was gorgeous and the bride's two college-aged children were the best man and maid of honor.  Two sets of young twins served as flower girls and ring bearers.  "Ave Maria" (sung by the bride's daughter) sounded as if it were sung by an Angel.  We all smiled and remembered how perfectly wonderful it is to be in love as we looked on and witnessed the two becoming one in love and family.  They lit their unity candle, were proclaimed husband and wife and kissed.  We clapped, took pictures and wiped away tears of joy.  I smile and warm up just thinking about it.

We all journeyed back to the hall where music, voices and the aroma of coffee were softly beginning to fill the room.  That morning, even more leaves had been placed on the walls, and balloons and additional flowers had arrived.  The kitchen had been bustling with people preparing vegetables and dinner rolls and the smell of delicious chicken had wafted in from the grills outside.  Magic was beginning to flow through the air.  As I looked around the room admiring the warmth of what had been just a blank canvas only the day before, my eyes fell on a cloth leaf and I thought of Fall - and falling in love.  How perfect.

I had been thinking about change and Fall all week.  You can't help but notice the change in the weather and the colors this time of year (especially when you're out raking leaves and trying to hurry up and plant things before the frost comes) - and what about "falling" in love?  Do we really "fall" or do we choose?  What if it's both?  What if the Truth is that we CHOOSE to fall?  What if an idea is born, then we choose to trust and believe in it, and allow ourselves to fall right into it?

I like that thought - and isn't that what we do all the time?  Don't we get an idea, then plant it?  Don't we have to nurture it, water it and trust it to grow?  Isn't it beautiful when two people believe in each other and blossom together?

Fall.  This is the time of year when we're reminded that things are changing and growing all around us all of the time.  We must change too.  Why not fall?  Why not choose an idea then trust it and fall all the way in?  Isn't that how we create our destiny anyway?  

A friend reminded me today, that we create our future whether we are consciously aware of it or not.  So why not fall on purpose and renew ourselves - just like the trees and flowers and everything in nature this time of year?  Isn't that how we carve out our hopes and our dreams and make ourselves and our lives better?  Won't this lovely new family be better and happier and stronger for doing it?  Didn't they inspire us all with their commitment to and belief in each other and by "falling" in love?

Eventually all the the toasts were made, the cake was cut, the dances were danced, and joy was had by all.  Guests began to filter out, and plates were cleared, food and flowers were carried out and tables and chairs were packed away.  Decorations were taken down and the floors were swept and mopped.  Cartons and boxes were loaded in cars and delivered back to houses.  The room became a blank slate again.

It may have looked the same, but it wasn't.  Love had been there - and it had made an imprint.  A new family was born.  Everyone who was there and inspired and joyous will now go out into the world and remember it - and be better for having experienced it.  Pictures will be shared and stories will be told about it for years to come.  Nothing ever stays the same.  Everything good gets better.

God Bless the newlyweds and their family.  God Bless everyone there - and all of us in this Earth family.  

As we all travel into the Fall season, let's try to make the changes good ones.  Let's choose to trust in the good ideas and feelings worthy of our belief in them.  Let's trust and then fall.

Here's to Fall... Here's to falling...

Namaste!

T