Giving Thanks

How often do you feel gratitude for what you have? Personally, I keep forgetting. I remember all those things I don't have: time, money, a ten-minute ride to work, energy.   Sound familiar? When reading the Celestine Prophecy, I would run into nature (yes, I was running then..), and feel such incredible gratitude to the trees. Gratitude for their beauty, their fortitude to withstand the elements over so many years, the homes they provide for animals, the shade they give to anyone who stops long enough to enjoy it, their colorful leaves in summer and fall. Now, I wonder why I don't give gratitude for the long car ride to work so that I can listen to a book on CD, think deeply, clear my mind.  I wonder why I don't release my focus on time, and both enjoy and appreciate the time I do have.  I wonder why I can't stop thinking about what money can buy for me, when I have so much already to be grateful for.  Why don't I think about the energy I do have, and feel appreciative of my ability to do so much?  So maybe it is time to stop again, notice the trees, appreciate my life. We are so like trees, we human beings.  We live through so many storms that come our way, so many changes that hit us when we least expect them.  We provide shelter, love, and color to those who love us.  It's time for me to begin again to appreciate all the gifts I have been given and to share them with others.  What do you appreciate?

Carolina Woods

My husband took an unexpected turn onto a dirt path that looked no bigger than a foot trail.  We were on our way home after a 30-year reunion and a great visit with his mom and Uncle Ray (Dad), with an eight hour drive ahead of us, when our adventure deep into the woods left me breathless with laughter. Camera in hand, I escaped from the car before our two little dogs could follow.  Looking around, it was such a delight to see fall colors intertwined with a pine forest full of quiet, peaceful beauty. What we experienced could only prove that there is a greater spirit that created this splash of perfect color and design.  Each leaf, pine needle, branch was amazingly synchronized into one perfect picture. I have attempted to capture these moments to share with you. When you double click on each picture, it will fill your screen with color:)

Changes

Venice at the Rialto Bridge

Butterfly on the Cinque Terre Trail

Monterosso from the cliff trail

Monterosso del Mare, Italy

Vernazza in Cinque Terre at Night

Vernazza

Life is tricky business.  Have you noticed that just as you get used to things being status quo, sure enough, something big changes everything? Sometimes, we make it happen: a new job, a divorse, a marriage, a baby, a new car, going back to school, or a thousand other possibilities.  More often, it comes unexpectantly: loss of a job, illness, injury, breakup of a relationship, a surprise pregnancy, a bad economy, new love in our life, and the list goes on and on.  I guess it's not that each change is good or bad, but how we decide to handle it.  If we see change as a natural part of life, and with each change is an opportunity to grow, will that make it more tolerable? Each time I have had a major change in my life, I have grown from it.  I have tried to look at who has it worse than me, and felt appreciation for what I did have.  I am so fortunate to be surrounded by love of my new husband, my sweet children and family, my friends, and my students.  That love has helped me to survive many changes, and embrace each change with a new perspective on life.  We can deny, regret, feel guilt, and live in torment over each new change, or, we can thank Goddess for what we do have in this precious life we have been given.  What do you choose?

The Sweetness of Night

William Shakespeare said, "Here will we sit and let the sounds of music creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night become the touches of sweet harmony."  Baba Ram Das said, " THE QUIETER YOU BECOME, THE MORE YOU CAN HEAR." I believe that the night can be filled with our deepest thoughts, dreams, and fears.  Only when we embrace the night, embrace our thoughts, dreams, and fears, can we then live fully.  To be still, past the darkness of night, toward the light within, reaching inside to our most empty spaces, void of thought, dreams, and fears, is to allow the possibilities of our life to unfold before us.  We fight so hard to resist, to deny, to wish for everything we do not have, rather than give gratitude for what we do have.  To look inside the darkness is to see the beauty of the light just beyond, for every night is followed by every day.  Thus, to see the possibilities of our life, to give gratitude for what we do have, is to live fully.  Only when we plunge into the darkness inside, be very still, and listen, will we truly hear and truly see.  I am grateful every day for the gift of life, the gifts of nature, the gifts of family and friends.  I am still learning to be still and allow all possibilities of the miracles of life to embrace me.  Are you?

San Diego, California