The Angel

The Angel in my room, the one that lights up, twinkles, and sends dancing patches of light around the walls every night has stopped.

I could take this as an ominous sign: The Angel has left, its light extinguished.

Then again, its absence of light can serve as an example of faith: We must believe even when our path is not lit. The Angel is clearly still there. Its lack of illumination only indicates that we must believe in what we can not see, have faith through the darkness.

Then there's the reality that I am just out of C batteries. As soon as I put the new ones in, it will light up again.

What's really real is that I can put C batteries on the grocery list, but that light will not go on until I actually put them in and flip the switch. It's on me.

Blessed week...

Love,
T

#WishMeLuck

Well THIS happened... SMH

And Zachary's music class was NOT cancelled - as opposed to the last time snow was expected but no snow came and everything was closed down anyway. I still have not recuperated from Easter. In fact, Zach and I are both sick. It was "just a little stuffy" but now I'm calling it "sick" - sick and tired. The snow came one day before our scheduled road trip, so we were forced to adjust our plans.

Time keeps marching right on regardless, so throughout the chaos I've been deep in thought over a "paragraph" I have to write. It will serve as my letter of introduction/intent for something very important to me. It has caused me to review the whole of my life and career to pick out some shining example that clearly demonstrates who I Am and why the letter's recipient should work with me. It's a daunting task (I'm NOT going to say "impossible").

How can you describe a lifetime's worth of hopes and dreams, accomplishments and aspirations in a "paragraph"??? I can only give it my best shot. I can not predict what one thing to say that will make others want to believe in me. I have no idea what magic phrase to include. I'll do my homework and speak with honesty and integrity. That's all I have to go on here.

Faith is going to have to take over. That is to say that I am exactly where I am supposed to be and I will get to exactly where I am supposed to go. I'll try my best, then trust. That's it. That's all I got.

Wish me luck! Wishing you all the best in all you do this week too...

(I was going to end the blog here.)

Funny. Things seemed to be out of place all week. Just now, I thought I had a serious problem and that I wouldn't be able to post on time because my charger refused to plug in. It turned out to be a tiny little screw stuck to the magnetic power connector, which was blocking the charger from plugging in completely. I found other things in odd places too...

Yep. I guess that's it. Trust that even when things seem out of place and off schedule, they are really just exactly as they should be. We are right where we belong. (Smile. I love when the Universe tells me stuff.)

A lovely week to us all... xoxo

Namaste,
T

A Bigger Dream

This was the recurring theme all week: faith, acceptance, belief. It came up over and over again in different conversations with different people. I was reminded of one of my favorite Oprah clips.

Here's to a faith-filled week.

Namaste,
T

Believe in Miracles

I had forgotten about this Angel that I got last Christmas.

Now when I look at it, in this season of miracles, I'm reminded of all the Blessings that came my way in 2016. It's as if my last-year self was given a message to keep the faith - good things were about to come.

Here's to believing in all the Miracles that are still to come, to keeping the faith.

Christmas and Hanukkah at our house

Continued Blessings to all in the new year...

"There can be miracles when you believe"

- Stephen Schwartz and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds

Namaste,
T

#SingLouder

On Sunday, a most lovely speaker told the congregation that when we encounter someone who seems different from ourselves, we should talk to them. We should try to find the "sameness" that exists between us because the world now requires us to join together.

I believe she was right.

Love and Peace to all of us...

Namaste,
T

Blowing in the Wind...

A Little Faith

I went to church twice last week. Once for a funeral, and once for Sunday mass.

Richard Joyner, or "Tricky" as we called him, was a good, kind man. He was a talented musician, singer, sound engineer, and friend. He was always helping others - he just lived his life that way. He helped me get my demo ready when I first moved to the NYC area, and he encouraged me greatly. He will always be remembered for his talent and kind heart.

The Buffalo News - Notice for Richard G. Joyner

The minister spoke about Tricky's character. She spoke about faith. The songs were beautiful, the memories shared by his family touching, the message inspirational. I can't possibly do the sermon justice here... but we were all reminded how truly special it is to be someone who likes to help others - as Tricky was. She talked about how we all leave this world eventually, when our sacred assignments here are complete, and how in times of sadness we need to keep praying. I thought that Tricky would probably want to comfort anyone who was sad, and that he wouldn't want us to stay that way. Of course there is a grieving process - especially for those experiencing the unexpected loss of someone close. Tricky would understand that. Of course he would do whatever he could to let his loved ones know that he is ok, and that he loves them dearly. Of course it's hard to believe that in your heart when you are hurting from the loss of his presence.

On Sunday, I went to mass. The message there was all about faith too. It was interesting how the two sermons echoed each other - even though they were different churches, different religions, with different stories and hundreds of miles away from each other. The priest told a story of a dog named Luna who was lost at sea and presumed dead after an extensive search. After five weeks, she turned up unharmed at a Naval base two miles from where she was last seen. Her owner was overjoyed, having not known all that time that she was alright. The fact that Luna was okay, even when she couldn't be seen, reminded me of how I felt at Tricky's service... that he was alright even though we could not see him.

"Lost at Sea..." npr.org

The priest also spoke of helping others. The church has a program to help feed needy families. We were reminded that some families are in desperate need. One family had told the priest that despite having recently lost their home, that they would be okay and did not need groceries delivered. The priest had them delivered them anyway and they called him in tears, overwhelmed with gratitude that the children had nutritious cereal to eat that week.

We don't always see the whole picture. We don't have to. We just need to try to hold on to our faith. When we feel it slipping, we can ask for help. We can lean on others. Eventually, we'll get to a place of gratitude. We will get there. Eventually, we can turn our minds toward the Blessings that we have - and help others as best we can.

Prayers for all those in need... be it need of comfort, of a friend, of a kind ear to just listen, and for those in need of basic necessities. Prayers of gratitude for all that we do have, and for the strength and will to help others however we can.

"Help Me Believe" - Kirk Franklin:

Namaste,
T

Remember the Polka Dots...

Last week, I had the distinct privilege and honor of working with a group of awesome kids! (Tell you all about that project next month.)

At one point, I was sitting at a table coloring with a three-year-old little boy. He was showing me the car he drew and indicating which parts he wanted me to color in for him. There was a mass of dots right in the middle and I wasn't sure if he wanted me to color over them. I asked him what they were.

"Polka dots," he said, as if I should have known.
"Oh! I forgot about polka dots," was my reply.

As I heard the words come out of my mouth, I was stunned. How could I forget about polka dots!!!??? To the other adult in the room, I said, "How sad is that? I FORGOT about polka dots." She agreed that it was indeed pretty sad.

"I remember," said my little friend. He was telling me that it was ok. He had my back. He would remember the polka dots and all would be well.

I smiled. "Good job. Good job remembering the polka dots."

He might as well have been talking about magic or imaginary friends, superheroes, fairies, angels, Santa Claus, even God - or any of the wonderful things children believe in without hesitation. I certainly wouldn't want to forget about any of those, and I don't want to forget about polka dots either. How could polka dots have left my mind? I decided to blog about the polka dots, even though I had PLANNED on writing about "awareness."

I just had some housecleaning to do before sitting down to write today's blog. I pulled out the step stool to dust a shelf and noticed something...

HA! Polka dots! I was still thinking about it when I got in the shower...

HA again!

Then I started looking around deliberately. There was my little cosmetic bag...

The tab on the larger one that I keep shampoo in...

and how about the pattern on the side?

The handle on my old travel bag...

I remembered this dress...

The kitchen cabinet...

My coffee cup...

I had just gone to the grocery store...

Check out my seat cushion!

When you look around for them, you find them everywhere! (So I guess this blog IS about awareness after all.)

I suppose it's the same way with miracles, angels, positive energy, and even God. When you look around for them, you discover they were always right there. Sometimes, we just aren't paying attention. :)

I took these pics last week, before I was noticing the polka dots...

"The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend."

- Robertson Davies

"All prosperity begins in the mind and is dependent only upon full use of the imagination."

- Ruth Ross

Here's wishing you a wonderful week filled with polka dots - and whatever else you're looking for.

Namaste,

T