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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Magnifique nouvelles

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

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.

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!

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.

Brilliant facets

TV had a long-lasting soap opera called Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. That title tells the truth about love. People in general who have a relationship find that the other person has parts to her/his behavior that all fit together. But the package comes as a whole, not as a bunch of parts. So, we have in our language a saying we use when someone's many facets combine in such a way that they "fit" a certain job or skill set. It's called the "complete package." You hear in athletics, for example, that someone is the "complete package."

I don't know if complete packages exist in a relationship between two people, but I believe I have seen it. It also would be a high probabilitythat it occurs once in a lifetime , so carpe diem and eureka are the watchwords if a complete package is seen in a relationship. I'll be listening to the echoes of these two phrases from people who have experienced complete packages. Shouts of these two phrases will happen intermittently, probably, and some people may experience the complete package early in their lives, others late. But, I am certain the echo of these phrases sounds beautiful as the cries waft through the air.

Let me join them. Carpe Diem! Eureka!

Road of happiness

One thing I really have liked this weekend was feeling the cold air of the Rockies again. I grew up in Wyoming, so I developed a liking for the cold. Moving around in freezing temperature was different for a change since I haven't lived in cold air for quite some time. But, it was easy to rearrange my thinking about cold air since I reverted to childhood habits fairly easily.

And speaking of adjustments to thinking, I believe a person has to do that when looking at life. Sometimes, what makes for happiness for a person presents itself when least expected. I am very thankful for such a presentation of happiness - so-o-o-o thankful to the one who brought it to me.

Climate change

This morning I woke up to record temperature lows. This evening I am going to sleep with record temperature lows again. I am not much of a low temperature person. So, walking on the streets in 18 degree weather at 8:30 in the morning was noticeable and uncomfortable. I was dressed warmly enough for it, it's just that it was so cold that my face was cold, my hands were cold inside gloves, my legs were cold despite two layers, and my torso was cold under 4 layers. Snow, 18 degrees, and a little wind made for unexpected change.

Since last January, a change in the weather occurred; it is a change for good, a change for beauty. Now I anticipate days with energy. I look forward to them - all due to one unexpected, beautiful change.

Moonlit

On a recent trip the moon shone brightly enough where I could see the countryside while driving even though it was very dark and late. And like the Earth with its singular moon shining brightly down upon it, a person is so very fortunate when rays of encouragement, care, and affection are felt shining in on him from someone close.

Back from the deep end

I read a novel recently called The Deep End of the Ocean. The title was used from a conversation in the book in which a little 3-year-old was swimming in a pool. His mother invited him to swim with her to the deep end, and the boy said no, that he didn't want to go to the deep end. It would be like going to the deep end of the ocean. The rest of the book is about how the little boy survived being kidnapped and finally ended up back with his family. The symbol was that the boy was destined to go to the deep end of the ocean whether he wanted to or not.

The book was excellent. The emotions described on the family's part when they thought that their son was dead were very accurate. The way that that perception of a lost child worked itself out in the family who lost the child showed exactly the kinds of issues that arise between the family members after a loss. It was an excellent book.

At the end of the book, the relationships in the family had almost completely unraveled. At that point the author put a twist in the ending. Generally, the place for a twist in the plot is not at the end of the book, but this one was appropriate, especially since it realistically represented what life brings to people. The author left the reader to wonder what the outcome of the twist would be. I generally don't like that tactic either. In this case, it would have been better had the author been forthcoming with the outcome of the twist because the twist had too many ramifications to it for the reader to choose from.

I thank the person who gave me this book. I have also been to this place where the child did not want to go and have come back like this child did. In both cases there were certain alterations that took place. I would differ from the book in that from the dark cloud hanging over my experience, the most shimmering of all silver linings emerged - clear and beautiful. It has been 6 years since I was in the deep end, but as the pieces of life have rematerialized in my life, the last 9 months have come together in such a way that it is more beautiful now than it ever was before, has more vitality now than I can remember!

Sharing time & space

There's nothing more important than being there. That's the opening line from the Amica Insurance Company commerical seen on TV. I know the truth of this statement. My daughter had a wreck recently and I was not there. I was out of town. Of course, she understood, but she had called me to come to the scene of the accident. How disappointing for both of us when in a moment of need, I was not available.

But, that incident brings up another idea. That even though someone can be out of town, being there is not always a physical matter. Sometimes it is a mental matter. Someone can be allowed to have a place inside the mind or the heart. In that way being there is perennial. There's no end to it like there is to being gone physically from somewhere or someone.

I know that concept is as old as the hills. It appears in literature through the ages. When people came from distant lands to inhabit some new land, they brought their values with them because those values lived in the new inhabitants' minds all through their long journey. And when people had to be away from the ones they loved for extended periods of time, the loved ones would live in the heart and soul of each other.

It may be an old concept, but it still makes me warm when my mind recalls a face or feels a presence from within when I am out of town. Of course, it's easy today to also send and receive digital pictures. So, if I ever receive one of those digital pictures when I am not with someone in addition to the warmth from from the mind's eye and the inner sensation, I go from warm to breaking into a sweat in no time flat because it is still true that there's nothing more important than being there.

The purest gold of all

What would happen if someone ran across an article of pure gold? (S)He would celebrate beyond belief. Articles of pure gold are hard to come by. So many articles are made of pewter or silver, sometimes an alloy, or gold mixed with some other metal. So ruuning across an article of pure gold is momumental. Its authenticity would be unmistakable, its value could not be counted in dollars.



And if one were to run across another person of the highest quality(of pure gold), the same would be true, and he would be the luckiest person on the face of the earth!!!

In the eye of a needle

I wrote a note about intrigue today. The intrigue had come from a book that I had read several years ago. I learned something from that book that has inspired since that time. I learned that in order to survive in a world full of information and disinformation, that stealth is a good mode of operation at times. I learned that there is a time to strike and a time to disappear. It has helped me in my current job. I told my supervisor just last Thursday that we worked in a palace of smoke and mirrors. We spoke of honesty, but that is a commodity that doesn't have much of a place in a smoked filled house of reflections. It's good, then, that I had read The Eye of the Needle. It's about how to debunk intrigue (which happens in a house of smoke and mirrors). That is why it is my second favorite book of all time.

But, I hate leaving a close friend of mine in that environment. Oh, she is plenty stealthy, and she will survive and resist the manipulation people try to use on her, and she'll have a little sordid fun in the meantime. But, I hate it that she has to deal with the people who create such a maze of smoke and mirror operations. She has to live in the eye of the needle, but she is a master at threading it. Love that about her!!!

Vibrance inside

Tonight I was sitting on the back deck that overlooks the valley below our bluff and across to the houses nestled in the twilight on the opposite ridge above the valley. The sun had already sunk below the horizon, so lights on the houses of the distant ridge were shining and flickering in the distance. I sat musing what was going on in the houses on the distant ridge. Of course, there's no way to know. I'm at a distance.

I guess I was thinking this because of my tendency to keep people at a distance from me. Part of that trait is the result of growing up in the Dallas area where a person has to be somewhat impersonal just to survivie there. There are a number of other influences too. But I had to notice while sitting on the back deck that the light from my kitchen window was spilling out onto the deck. The kitchen light flickered at a distance to those on the ridge I was seeing. But, to me it was pouring out over my shoulder. I knew what was in the house behind me. I could turn and see into it if I wanted to or walk into it. I didn't have to guess what was in it.

A few people see me for who I am. I am not a distant light across the valley. When that happens the light inside of me burns more brilliantly, more vibrantly. I am more productive, more at ease with my soul. I don't always know about what lies in the twilight on the ridges of distant hills, but I am certain that any light shining from my windows, shines more brightly because someone sees into me, accepting me for who I am, inspiring me to greater heights because of who they are. I could only hope the same fortunate circumstance for the people in the houses across the way.

Pleasantries

I am reading an article from my Americas magazine about the country of Guatemala. The title of the article calls Guatemala, encantadora. The picture behind the title shows a beautiful landscape of mountain peaks covered in clouds with just the peaks poking through the clouds. It's truly an enchanting picture.

Trips to the lake place my family owns are usually filled with happiness and tranquility, things that make for a pleasant weekend. This trip was even heightened from that. I was driving down with anticipation of the trip being pleasant, but with a singular vision this time, one that stayed with me for the trip and into the night after I arrived. The trip has been so pleasant as a result. Truly, truly encantadora!!!