The Grace

"The Grace." 

I heard this saying today on the news. The context was that sometimes we have to give ourselves the grace to care for ourselves - to forgive ourselves, to allow ourselves time and space to take care of our own needs. It comes to mind looking back on the last few weeks here. 

I'm working to catch up with blogs. It's been ridiculously crazy around here, but I made it. I got through the holidays, birthday parties, furnace breakdown, an oil spill, three voice specialists, a toilet clog, a call from the school nurse, a trip to the orthopedic surgeon, and an out of town show! Something had to give and thankfully, it was social media instead of me.

I had to focus on all those things in addition to healing myself. There was no room to spare because losing sleep was not an option. I made it though! We make it eventually. One of the tricky things is doing it without stressing. I'm trying to give myself the grace.

Hope you had a Blessed week.

Love,

T

P.S.

Ooh! Here's another good song...

Bleeding Heart

This past week, a sermon I had recently heard seemed to align with life in real time after I happened across this cute little flower, which I learned is called a "Bleeding Heart." It's so interesting to me when that kind of thing happens. The priest had been talking about an experiment with trees, and how we need to experience adversity or challenges in order to grow and become stronger. Apparently trees that were grown in a perfectly controlled environment were becoming weak and breaking because of an absence of wind. They needed to bend and respond to resistance in order to become strong. Like the trees, we all need to experience some level of stress for growth, and might come to appreciate the challenges that make us stronger. 

A "Bleeding Heart" seemed like a fairly obvious and straightforward parallel meaning. When I looked up the plant though, another layer of message came into focus. One of the main search results was "Bleeding Heart Care - How to Grow Bleeding Hearts." There's an actual "how to" instruction. It includes water and nutrient information but also: "Do not remove the foliage before it turns yellow or brown; this is the time when your bleeding heart plant is storing food reserves for next year’s growing bleeding hearts."

Fascinating. 

Click here for: article on gardeningknowhow.com

Maybe we could go a step beyond gratitude for the experiences that help us grow and even purposely allow a bit of stress, knowing that we will be better prepared next year for having gone through it. 

Keeping the faith...

Love,

T

All I Need

It started off a good week. I had the courage and confidence to let go of some things that were bogging down my mind and spirit. I had a great gig in Brooklyn and met some lovely people.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden - with John and Trevor

Gig selfie - from the car

Then came the stress...

So what about when the going gets tough? What about when you just don't feel like it? (Feel like what? Feel like - anything.) Fake it 'til you make it? Just go through the motions? Keep pushing through? How? (Sometimes you need to know the "how.")

I Googled and found a variety of opinions...

Iyanla Vanzant's video on courage: "Fake It Till You Make It"

The Oprah Winfrey Network's video: "When NOT to Fake it Till You Make it"

Online article: "Are You Sometime Just Going Through the Motions? Why You Must Stop and How"

Online article: "5 Ways to Push Through Discomfort to Make Positive Change"

I guess it comes down to finding something that works for YOU. As long as we don't give up, we CAN make it somehow - by faking it, or letting go, or pushing through or finding something to help. We can ALWAYS find SOMETHING to get through. 

We ARE all we NEED to get by...

"You're All I Need to Get By" written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson

Namaste,

T

P.S. 

Sometimes I need - a laugh. Here's one of my favorite scenes from "The Jerk," guaranteed to make you smile.

"That's all I need!"

Rattle Your Cage?

A friend of mine once conveyed this sentiment…

“Are you nervous?  Scared?  Do you feel short of breath?  Are you all anxious?  Are you sweating?  Heart racing?  Then congratulations my friend!  You are really living!”

Russ rides the "FireBall" at the County Fair

Russ rides the "FireBall"

The point was that sometimes we get all "too comfortable" with ourselves and just go through the motions of life when we could be pushing the envelope a bit and gaining a wealth of experiences.  A little stress (in moderation, of course) can be a GOOD thing!

Try something new!  Get out there and go for it!  Do something that might feel a little scary or uncomfortable at first – it may be totally invigorating!  You might make a new friend – or discover something you love!  - This was the point.

The Apollo - that was scary... but sure glad I did it!

Life is too short.  Our time here is so limited.  Sometimes we have to have our cage rattled to wake us up a bit and help us get into the spirit of living life to the fullest! 

These are the ideas that surround me this week as I work my butt off accomplishing new tasks and find myself thoroughly enjoying the challenges.  It feels like people all around me are echoing the idea – friends, neighbors, and new acquaintances alike. 

Hey, when it feels like the universe is trying to tell me something…  I like to try and listen.

Just wanted to share.  J

Xoxo!

While certainly scary, probably NOT the best idea to let the dog drive...
A+ for effort though Bentley!