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Monday, November 30, 2009

Not an illusion


"The grass is greener on the other side of the fence" is a saying of warning. If it is said, then the one saying it is trying to warn the listener that really nothing is truly greener... It just appears to be that way.

This can certainly be true. And there's a sister saying, "If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is." Another warning. And I heard both of these sayings within a two day span just over the weekend.

But I also know that sayings are just that... They are based on the usual or average experience, the typical way things turn out. It is so sweet when the grass really is greener and something really is truly good and doesn't just seem that way. I guess I am fortunate, but I am trusting my experience this time, and it is telling me that what I am seeing is really greener and what seems good, truly is. I have been wrong before, but that experience has led me to know that pure gold is unmistakably pure gold.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

The best lemonade you have ever tasted



Dante wrote one of the masterpieces of the world around 1315 A.C.E., The Divine Comedy. The first section, called The Inferno, describes a descent into the depths of hell. It is an awful place. Many readers of Dante's day were frightened at the description, thinking that it was real.

I have written several blogs about escaping the hellish environment that I worked in until last month. Yes, I feel that I have escaped the inferno. The people that ran the place were crazy, inconsistent, brutish, mean-spirited, and ghoulish at varying turns. I am thankful for the escape, but I really, really find my spirit diminished to know that I left behind a very close colleague of mine in the inferno. The two of us often mused how she had to make lemonade from lemons from the misfires caused by the craziness of the place.

I feel her great pain and wish mightily that she could also find a way of escape. I know how the pressure of the place wears on a person. It drains one's energy beyond belief and never is one led to believe that she is competent, talented, used according to her strength. I feel for her greatly!

What is little known is that the Divine Comedy ends with a section called Paradise. It is all about the heavenly spheres that the main character is led through. It is my earnest belief that her talent and competence will very soon lead her away from this inferno into the "heavenly spheres" of the work world that will showcase her strength for all to see and appreciate. She will soon have an angelic taste of success outside of the inferno.


In the meantime, she will be making a lot of great tasting lemonade simply because she is talented and brilliant.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanks giving


I didn't know that when this year started that it would yield a number of events to be so thankful for. What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time, I was not at all enthralled with what was happening in my life. This year I have been given hope... and laughter... and vibrancy... for which I am so very grateful. And I thank the one who has caused such a turn-around.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

How nice to get a raise in level


In Great Britain an elevator is called a lift. I like that idea a lot. It takes the weight of people and lifts them from one level to a level higher or more.

Today I was on the first floor of my day and had been for the whole day... until about 1:15. I couldn't get off the first floor. What a dull day. Then the phone sounded. The door to the lift opened. I got on and went up a floor. A couple of hours later the phone sounded again. The door opened again and I went up another floor. A third ring, a third floor. By four o' clock I was looking out the window from floors above where I was before 1:15.

Who would have thought that a phone call would equal a lift... but how my spirits were lifted! I don't take lifts for granted any more. I just enjoy them to the hilt when they occur.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

A lesson from late fall


Life comes in seasons and flavors them with characteristics all their own. The very late fall characteristics were evident this morning in the park I walk in. One characteristic is that the leaves are all off the trees. It's not the prettiest time of year, but leaves being gone are a necessary function for the season. When the leaves are gone it allows everything in the biological cycle to take place like the scattering of seeds and the relegation of diminished sunlight to be for the main part of the tree without having to supply ever-needy leaves with nourishment.

Trees without leaves reveal the structure of the tree without the masking of the leaves. Leaves tend to distract one from the structure because of their beauty. But when the tree loses its leaves, mistletoe and nests are no longer protected from view. In late fall and winter the nests are empty. Life is latent. Observers get in touch with the structure of the tree again.

So, in our personal lives we have seasons during which we can lose the masks and see the structure of the events and relationships that make up our lives. It's a perfect time to lop off branches, prune, and reinvigorate trees so that when the beauty of the leaves returns it can sustain life better and make the beauty more vibrant.


I believe that time has come to prune and reinvigorate. Some limbs are cracked and dead. The leaves are gone to expose this. It's time to knock out the nests and get rid of the mistletoe that are leeches on the tree. When the spring arrives the beauty of the tree will be more vibrant and stunning.

Friday, November 20, 2009

I see light in the forest, not losing the forest for the trees

A confluence is when a number of events come together usually for some reason or another. Pessimists see confluence as a time when evil happens or events turn sour. Optimists see confluence as a time when events turn for the better or have a chance for new beginnings.


I want to stand with the optimists. There is a confluence going on with me right now. It's a turn for the better. I know it's true. I just check out the number of times I smile in a day, or the number of times Xanadu, the land of enchantment, enters my mind.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Higher levels


I find myself being more creative than I have been in a long time, maybe a decade or so. I wonder why?

Of course, I know why. And when I am at my highest level of creativity, I am most content. What a gift! And I am thankful to have had my horizons stretched.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Magnifique nouvelles


Buena suerta, mi corazon. Estoy contigo por todo el camino.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Stunning... life-giving


Walking in the park this morning was pure pleasure. A refreshing wind was blowing just enough to whisk leaves from the trees that encirlcle the park... littering the ground with their flaming yellow hue. The sun had been over the horizon by about an hour and was pouring its rays into the park... like a pitcher fills a bowl with liquid. It was stunning... life-giving.

The park has provided many moments to reflect on for me over the last 6 years. But this year it has provided visuals for me for the priority in my life. Today was no different. I have been given new life this year. I guess that is why the park scene this morning meant so much. It was a life-giving scene representative of this year. And it was a stunning scene this morning... because this year has stunned me out of my dull routines into a horizon that has been stretched and adventurous and beautiful!

I look forward to more stunning scenes from the park because I know it will represent new horizons of sheer beauty... full of laughter, excitement, energy, and happiness... a horizon reflecting the pure gold of the piority in my life.


Tuesday, November 03, 2009

A bright sign



I am not much of a believer in signs. I guess they could happen... but so many people just interpret events as they want to. They just match their desires to happenings that reflect those desires.

So... when I was walking in the park the last two days I was mystified by something I saw. Monday, as I entered the walkway in the park, I looked up at a brilliant moon... yellow in color... flooding the park with light, providing those who walk on the path all the light they would need to walk by. Again this morning, right over the top of the trees the full moon was again standing right over the top of the trees... light pouring over the pathway.


This is not a normal scene. True enough that I have seen the moon a number of times brightly shining on the park... but none where the moon was positioned right over the trees providing the park with brilliant light... So I took it as a sign. It would be easy to look at an event in my life and attach the moon's lighting to it. I am starting a new phase in my career... so the moon represents celestial blessing on this new endeavor... the new endeavor has a bright future.

Maybe that's true. But if it is a sign, I think it represents something else... not a sign that the future is bright for a new endeavor. I look to the source for the brightness, happiness, vitality, hope, and anticipation in my life... and that reflects not a job but one who provides such joyful essence. I should be so lucky as to have a sign in the sky devoted two days to showing me how bright my life is to share this one's essence!

Sunday, November 01, 2009

I love it when that happens


Some days just start out a little crisper than other days. I love it when that happens. There's more spring in the step, more nimbleness in the mind, more anticipation to the day ahead.

I guess the real question is why a day starts that way. A number of reasons I'm sure. But one would certainly be what the mind must have thought during the night. Dreams can happen because of the subconscious mind arranging events and people in various scenarios for the mind to play with. But, I remember no dreams from last night.

The subconscious can also produce feelings. It can trigger glia to flood the brain. Glia, in turn, changes the chemical make-up of the brain to experience pleasure even if pain or displeasure is present. So, when I start my day like I did this morning, I know that my subconscious has been at work triggering glia to flood my brain.

Of course, that is mere scientific language. In literary language terms, I know that in the most inner sanctum of my being, the deepest place in my heart, that I have made an adjustment in my fabric. My work place has changed - yes. But other pictures and voices have changed as well and blended into my soul. And that is the reason that this day started out a little crisper than normal. And I love it when that happens.