“If not in the moment, where do you propose to live?” shares author, Na’ama Yehuda.

A beautiful question, yet one often missed in the bustling hurry of our day.

In our rush, we grumble at the iciness of rain; yet, miss the gloriousness of drops cascading through trees.

My darlings, if not today – then when? When will you experience the raging fire of this life, as embers, nearly spent, yield their last light towards heaven.

Are you so convinced there’ll be another way, another day? Or, has fear kept you from living the life you always dreamed, but never dared.

If not now, then when?

When will you finally concede to the notion, that this life is your to do as you wish?

A little something to consider my dears, if not now – then when?

❤️

When I was a little girl, I wanted everything to be ok. More so, I wanted peace within each moment, and understanding to lead the way.

Even at the youngest of age, my Buddha heart was being revealed.

Oh, and how I hated unrest – so heavy and textures with distress.

At times, I’d even run away – more interested in “peace within the moment” than facing the true source of my unsettledness. Though, as Pema Chödrön once said, “Difficulties are inevitable—AND helpful.”

Oh, but how easily we forget that latter half. We want so desperately to ease our heart – but, have truly considered at what cost?

“Rather than treating your life experiences as some kind of deviation from what is supposed to be happening,” she shares. “(Know that) the more difficulties you have, in fact, the greater opportunity there is to let them transform you.”

My darlings, it’s these difficulties which help to remind us of who we really are.

Beautiful, dynamic, compassionate sparks of the Universe.

Perhaps, with openness of heart, we might someday learn: that it is only through this transformation, that our Buddha heart might finally be revealed.

And, if we ran away each and every time – my goodness, we might not ever know it.

Namaste, my loves – a little something to consider on this day.

❤️

“To me, to be alive is a miracle – the greatest of all miracles,” shares Thich Nhat Hanh.

It’s true, to live deeply is the greatest of all miracles – one touched delicately throughout every sumptuous moment of our day.

And, celebrated with each new breath – our anchor; humbled with the gratitude of pure freedom.

“Only the present moment contains life,” he shares. “If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.”

Though our minds may be entrenched in a million different worries, it is inevitably this breath – this consciously engaged, soul-filling, dynamic breath – which carries us ‘home.’

And…

To be ‘at home’ in this present moment, my loves – is by far, the greatest miracle of this precious human life.

So, tell me now, my dearest darlings – what is it that’s keeping you from living ‘fully alive’?

A little one bought me coffee today. He couldn’t have been more than 4 years of age, as he sat eating donuts with his Mommy.

He peeked first from behind the chair, his hair tussled and messed from a night full of dreams.

His mother had left the change from her purchase at the center of the table. And, as he nibbled upon his breakfast treat – I could see those wheels of kindness beginning to turn.

I made my way to the counter, ordering my favorite – a medium “hot” with cream and two sugars. And, as I stood there patiently waiting he smiled – leaping up with sudden purpose restored.

And then with all the good manners in the world, he walked over, reaching up upon tiptoe to plunk the change on the counter.

“Is that for me?” I asked. With sleepy eyes, he nodded.

“May I give you a hug for your kindness,” I asked, lowering down to his toddler height. Without hesitation, he gave me a squeeze – and then disappeared back to his Momma.

I was so moved by his kindness, I had to share – as, it further reinforced my belief that love is something we’re born with, not learned.

A little story to begin your day, my loves ~ and a reminder to let the energy of your manifest undeterred.

Namaste ❤️

We create our own suffering.

That’s right, I said it – stop looking away. At some level, you know it to be true.

You can feel it when it begins – a tightening, perhaps. It wraps itself around our being, and threatens to steal our happiness away.

In our minds, we are unable to distinguish – between that initial sharpness of pain to pass, and that which continues to linger. The lingering is by choice, my loves. For, without the willingness, Heart is incapable of moving on.

It’s the clinging which becomes the fuel for our suffering. And, yet – even knowing, we are challenged to let go.

“Do you not see,” shares author, John Keats “how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?”

When we view each instance as part of our learning, our awakening – we begin to shift our hearts from pain to gratitude.

A little something to consider, my loves – that we might view trouble as a source of inspiration, as the means to deepen awareness as we move through this world.

In this way, even the greatest of challenges may become our most prosperous ‘reward.’

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou

I was thinking today about the stories we tell. Particularly, those created by mind – and, for which there’s no basis in reality.

These are the stories of ‘wishing we might’ ~ formed by the pages of ‘not thinking we could.’

I used to love reading as a child. I’d curl up next to the fireplace, and read through the last embers glow.

I read stories of princesses and pirates; of dragons taking flight. Through every word I learned the pace of my imagination, in spite of an often chaotic world.

And, through the years I’ve held onto these stories – holding them nearer to heart than all those “other tales.” You know the ones, the ‘stories we tell ourselves.’ The ones we’re so easily inclined to believe.

They lack the luster and magic, the sweetness of simplicity. They tend to overcomplicate our existence – keeping us from ever dare trying.

And, we’ve all done it – haven’t we? Succumbed to that inner dialogue – in which our past experiences bias our current understanding.

But, what if – we could simply let it all go? Creating a space for peace and forgiveness to grow? Perhaps, as Dr. Wayne Dyer once said, “moving on to the next act.”

“Your past history,” he writes “and all of your hurts are no longer here in your physical reality. Don’t allow them to be here in your mind, muddying your present moments. Your life is like a play with several acts. Some of the characters who enter have short roles to play, others, much larger. Some are villains and others are good guys. But all of them are necessary, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the play.Embrace them all, and move on to the next act.”

Indeed, that we might learn to embrace them all – for the gift that their energy ultimately brings. Even in those moments when the ‘gift’ is not yet clear – by moving on, we allow ourselves the space for the roots of wisdom and compassion to take hold.

Just another way of looking at this world, my loves – and making perhaps the most simple of life decisions.

That is to say, which story do we believe? The ones imposed by another’s view or the ones we create for ourselves?

It’s up to you, my loves – just how those pages will unfold.

“There is a voice in the Universe urging us to remember your purpose for being on this great Earth. This is the voice of inspiration, which is within each and every one of us.” -Dr. Wayne Dyer

My darlings, who would you be if you could be anything?

I remember the very first time someone asked me that question. It was kindergarten, 1974—well before I had learned the sadness of self-imposed limitations. She asked it once again, and, by the tone in her voice, I surmised this was perhaps the ‘most important question in the world.

“Who would you be if you could be anything?” My goodness, she was so beautiful – statuesque, with skin as fine as a porcelain doll. And always, with such a gleam of hope in her eyes.

“I want to write stories,” I answered sheepishly, though – knowing full well that I hadn’t yet learned my alphabet.

“Well, then—I can’t wait to read them,” she smiled, never once pausing to question how.

We have such a habit of talking ourselves out of our dreams—falling into that trap of, “there’s nothing to be done.”

Or, worse yet, that we are not quite good enough to step into the light of our truest being.

But, could you just imagine if the opposite were true? That no dreams would be left unexplored, nor a single wish unfulfilled.

Every child has dreams, my darlings. Even at the youngest age we are prompted by that first, critical life question, “What do you want to *be* when you grow up?”

I wanted to be a writer so that one day I might help to heal this world. And, oh my goodness – I’m so grateful I had sense enough to believe…

That all things are possible, even when we leave the tenderness of our youth.

With just a quick shift of focus, my loves – and this world, and everything in it, graciously extends itself to us.

Namaste ~ ❤️

My daughter had a rather curious habit as a toddler; when asked to hurry up, she would intentionally slow down.

Her feet would literally drag with each and every step. “Come on, already” her father would hiss. “If you don’t hurry up, I’ll leave you behind.”

Oh, he would grow so angry with her perceived ‘outbursts.’ In his eyes, she was an unruly child simply incapable of listening.

But there’s always another side to perception, isn’t there? In fact, sometimes what we’ve believed so fully all along, in time proves to be an unfair representation.

The mind is tempered always by our experience. What we believe to be becomes our reality.

“Why do you drag your feet, sweetheart,” I once smiled and asked. “When you know how much it bothers him so?”

“I like the way the light makes my shoes blink, Mommy” she answered. You see, what he had observed as ‘outright disobedience’ was in reality a little one transfixed by the pretty light patterns on the floor.

Knowing this, how could anyone ever require Curiosity to slow its pace?

There’s always another perspective, my darlings – a reflection in which what we assumed to be true, becomes something so incredibly worthwhile.

The trick is, having patience enough to see.

Namaste…❤️