March 2017

Impressions! First or Last, They Count!

March 28, 2017 / / Life and Living, Life's Impressions

The longer I live…the more I seem to learn….or, is it the more I remember?  This is a good question!

I have been thinking a lot lately.  I’m facing a milestone birthday of the chronological length of time I have been on this planet [this go-around, anyway]; I have been reflecting more on a lot of different things.  Putting pieces into better place in my Life Puzzle, and also sifting through some of my CONSISTENT GRATITUDES that have lingered with me throughout my life,  because they are HUGE sighs of relief (relief that I ‘made it through’ some of the not-so-good experiences I chose to have)!

Let’s take people who have come into, stayed, and then left during my life.  There are memories that spring into action as I muse the first time I met them, and the last time I saw them or spoke with them.  Most represent a long span of time, and my first impressions are definitely not my last impressions!  No sadness, nor resentment…more, my feelings are, again, gratitude that they came and stayed, then disappeared,  by both of our choices.  People change.

There are others, however,  although newer relationships, that now linger with a sweetness of heart – a kind of love, if you will – that reached me at yet another depth, and grabbed those strings that play the fervent melodies.  Passionate Life Chords that I know play more of a fulfillment of my Being.  (Hard to explain, but I’m trying.)   It must be that I can identify and treasure these feelings because I am ‘ready’ by virtue of my own maturity and increasing spiritual understanding.  It is I who pursue this side of my life now – it is I who have the fervor within me and I want everything I can garner in this lifetime toward my joy, happiness, and peaceful fulfillment.

How many times I have said,  I ENJOY THE PRIVILEGE OF LIVING MY LIFE!  This statement means more every time I utter the words.

IMPRESSIONS!  Whatever makes an impression of any kind, COUNTS! I welcome my pensive feelings as I write my message this day.  I love that I have come in touch with mySelf in this way today.

I AM ALIVE!   

 

The Chips Have Fallen Where They May [Have]…Clean-up Time!

March 22, 2017 / / Life and Living

I love this picture of myself – some may recognize the area of the country, Sedona, Arizona.  It represents who I am to ME!  I love horses, days of the Old West, and above all, I feel FREE in the Wide Open Spaces!

I’m recognizing a space within me that is trying very hard to emerge…a place where I want to feel more compassion toward others as well as myself.  We all have this wonderful emotion, but for some of us, it lays deep, almost dormant.  Why?  Because the art of survival closed off this place as we worked our way through more difficult times of our lives – Speaking for myself, of course.

All these many years later, I am fully aware I no longer have any need to survive, but instead,  have a NEED to unearth my compassion and love so I can envelope my own Self in this warmth of my soul.  I’m realizing that even though I have forgiven others as well as myself through the years, there are ‘chips’ … residue of certain downed trees of my life… that have remained.  This blanket of chips restricts me from  living out complete inner warmth toward everything within and without and around my whole being.   It is only now that I have been able to get in touch with this part of ME.  It is the place where all of the daintiest, most intimate of my experiences have been kept for safekeeping – until now –  when I am capable and willing to resurrect them so they may take their sacred place in my heart where I may nurture them in the sunlight of my privilege of living my life.  This desire to enlarge my heart space toward compassion is  compelling, and I am deliberately  drawing my awareness to these wonderful feelings.    Clearly, this destiny outweighs all else.

I recently spoke in a video of the place of joy that I discovered within myself, and this is yet another awareness toward fulfilling a joyous aspect of human existence, and I’m touching my essence.  I feel my connection with Self.

I have no axes to grind, I want no chips on my shoulders that weigh me down from the pleasures of my full life.  I am demanding release from my emotional blindness.

My Open Spaces are Wider and I  savor this newly introduced Freedom. Blessed Be.

 

Intimate Strangers…….Really?!

March 15, 2017 / / "Real Friends", Life and Living

I got to thinking the other day what a friendly person I really am!  By ‘friendly’ I mean talkative and outgoing.   It’s easy for me to speak to strangers and I’m very able to keep a conversation going on just about any topic  – whether it be personal to me, or even asking what some may term a ‘personal question’ to someone else.  How else do we begin to know anyone?

How often it has happened when I ask someone how they are, and the answer is “Fine”.  Gosh, that doesn’t tell me anything.  So help me, when someone asks me how I am, there’s a story coming – it’s not that I’m going to blurt out some great litany of complaints; but rather, I’m likely to give a synopsis of some last few hours or even days of what has been going on in my life.

I’ve  been examining my friendships lately.   Clearly, if I were to get specific, several have dropped off because I think I grew tired of making the call to keep in contact, and go through the perfunctory questions, so I would know more of the ‘in between’ stuff since we last spoke.     I’m also aware I have stayed away from one person who always seemed to ask me questions about the most painful subjects of my life.  When I got in touch with that fact, I ran –  not walked –  away, fully realizing making me reminisce painful times, certainly didn’t make me feel good.

Art Linkletter said years ago, “People are Funny!” – yes they are, and not always funny “ha ha”.  I think people like to hide.  They like to keep their little secrets so everything looks good on the outside.  My mother was like that, and I think that’s why I’m such the opposite.  The thing is, those of us who burrow into it, who, in my case, are only seeking to strengthen a friendship, not pry, feel instantly when a person is withholding.  Keep in mind, we all have free will to respond, “I think your question is too personal”, or “I’m not prepared to discuss this with you”, or something like that.

I think one of the greatest rewards to being open and forthcoming is the kind of friendship that can come from it.  I can’t help but think there must be a lot of pain inside a person who remains superficial with even those closest to them.  Some may say there has to be trust before one can be self-disclosing.  I’m not talking about sharing deep dark family secrets, opening up the closets where the skeletons are.  I’m just talking about sharing day-to-day living experiences and feelings – the kind we all have that are not at all threatening in the scheme of things – I don’t believe anyway.   I’ve always run the risk that what I say could cause a person not to like me.   Then, too, just the reverse could happen.  I repeat…HOW DOES ONE  GET TO REALLY KNOW SOMEONE?

It may not be about trusting the other person at all.  Instead, I think it’s more about acceptance of oneself.

What’s there to lose?  Maybe a really good friend like me!  And, for a fact, I need the same thing back!

Here’s to intimacy and authenticity and going for it – and settling for nothing less in return!  Blessed Be.