Wild Flowers

 Do you think it knows what it will become?

We probably don't know what we can be either.

What if we went wild?

Are we ready to take off our training wheels...

and see?

Here's wishing you a beautiful week!

Love,

T

Wild Blue Yonder

 Is it Monday again? I've entered a whole new world.

I was that crazy lady spraying and wiping down everything I touched (even though I am fully vaccinated), but MAN was it good to be on stage once again!

And it was beyond beautiful to be with all these lovely people and fine talents!

With Mark

With Levi Ruffin, Nate Hughes

With Lanise Hughes

Lanise, Me, Nate, Cheri, Randall, Maxi, Tom, Eddie, Levi, Oscar

Two shows, three hotel rooms, and four planes later, I think I'm getting the hang of this new world of safety protocols. Hand sanitizer, wipes, spray and gloves are at the ready in various accessible pockets of my crossbody bag and I've got the use of public restrooms down to a science. 

SMH at how much of everything we took for granted, and how amazing it is that some of these kids coming up now will have never known a world before COVID.

May we all stay safe, healthy, happy and grateful.

Love you all, 

T

Flying High

 Sorry I'm late.

It's been a little hectic.

It was 113 degrees here in Vegas today! Whew! So glad to be here rehearsing again though! I can take the heat :) This week is going to be AWESOME! It's such an honor to work with Rick James' Original Stone City Band!

Blessed week everyone...

The sky isn't even the limit anymore ;)

Love,

T

Twisted

 There have been A LOT of twists and turns this week.

Then our sunflower reminded me that twists and turns are a part of nature. (Yep. It actually grew like that!)

So we can just remember that and fly high!

Life can be a beach, even through the crazy curves.

Here's wishing you all a great week!

Love,

T

Look! God!

How lovely it is when we create the opportunity to follow our train of thought. 

Sometimes, during the week I jot down a random idea that may or may not become that week's blog. This week I thought of God and how in Bible stories we hear of instances where, when God appears, people turn their heads away. I think the thought stemmed from a conversation I had with Zachary about why all the animals bow down before the king. Anyway, what I wrote down in my own notes was this:

Why did they shield their eyes?

Why were they afraid to look?

Why are we terrified of our own divine and block our blessings?

Google search results of "Why did they shield their eyes" began with a CNBC article with Dr. Anthony Fauci concerning the use of goggles and eye shields as preventive measures against COVID 19. (The world we live in - SMH.) When I added the word "God" the book "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston came up and my original little random thought opened up into a whole world of literary content, commentary and the life and times of an amazing author who died over sixty years ago.

Click here for "Their Eyes Were Watching God" on Wikipedia.com

I'd better go do some reading now. Here's wishing us all the time and peaceful quiet required to follow our own little random thoughts this week... Blessed be.

Love,

T

Memorial Day 2021

To all those Angels who sacrificed everything for this country, for the idea of this country and for what it meant to you...

Thank you.

Also, I am sorry. 

You would think that one common enemy would have brought people together, but we continue to be a work in progress. I am sorry for not working harder, for not understanding more, for being too busy, and for not being involved enough in our democracy's processes. May we all remember you with the deepest respect and move ourselves to action in renewed commitment to this same country that you died for. May we all honor you - better than we have. May we arrive ever closer to those ideas of liberty, justice and freedom that so many have strived for - and ultimately make you proud.

May our efforts show our gratitude and appreciation.

Love,

T 

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