Escape from the screens

January 15, 2013 parenting, shasta

It’s been cold here in California for the last few weeks. The kids, used to spending a lot of time outside playing in paradise, have taken to sitting in front of screens. And then, when they aren’t in front of iPads and computers, they are bouncing off the walls. I have had to make more efforts to get them out doing things. Neither of them are interested in snow-related outside activities, which is a real travesty living here in the land of world-class skiing and snowboarding. But I follow what they want…

Yesterday, I took them to Ashland, Oregon for some play time. We’re members of the Science Works Museum and it’s one of our go-to places for indoor activities. For a max-claire-sciencesmall town, it’s quite an amazing kid’s museum. Of course, Max is turning into a teenager and turned his nose up at most of the activities while Claire was attacking everything head-on. I did get them both interested in the nanotechnology exhibit, though, so that’s something.

After the museum, we headed to Kaleidoscope Pizza in Medford. As a Chicago girl, I am not thrilled with what the west coast thinks of pizza. Kaleidoscope is the exception. Great pizza, fantastic salads, all in a beautiful restaurant. It’s usually packed, even at 2 pm. God help you if you want an evening table.

We’ve been looking at cars lately. I’ve been driving a Honda Civic Hybrid for years now. I’m really happy with my Honda. It’s given me exceptional gas mileage and great reliability. I’m almost to 100k miles on it. It’s seen every time zone in America. It’s been to the southeast, the northwest, and everywhere in between. It is a GREAT car.

It is a light car, however, and I live in the land of frozen ice packed streets. Last week, I almost slid into a concrete wall. I often have a hard time hauling large loads. Vacations are like car-packing tetris, arranging kids, adults, and a dog who wants to go everywhere with us, not to mention our stuff. If it was just me, I would stick with a smaller car. However, it is never just me in the car. So, I need something larger.

First thought has been to go back to an Audi. I had an Audi before I had the hybrid, and I love Audis. I miss my Audi.

Max, however, has been looking at Mercedes. My mom drives a Mercedes. And so, we decided to look at Mercedes. We stopped at the Mercedes dealership in Medford to check out an M class.

The kids had other ideas. Ideas that involved convertibles and no back seat. The salesman was awesome and let them explore and play.

max-mercedes

claire-mercedes

Funny how they choose cars with no back seat when they’ll be spending most of their time in the back seat of the one I get myself!

I’m sold on an M class for reasons I can’t even enumerate. It’s time to get a new car. And I’m sold on the M350 at this point.

Of course, as soon as I make that decision, I see Audi Q7s everywhere. The universe sure does have a sense of humor.

 

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Happiness versus Meaning

January 12, 2013 making things right, mindfulness

franklThere was an interesting article recently in the Atlantic entitled There’s More to Life That Being Happy. The article is on Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning, which was one of the most influential books I’ve read in my life. I suppose I owe a thank you to whichever college professor assigned it to me at this point, but I cannot remember which one did!

According to the article, most Americans say they’re happy. But they don’t have much meaning in their life.

We are blessed to live in an amazing place, where most of us have abundant resources at our immediate disposal. We have everything that we could ever want or need. We have a general state of happiness. But we seek to fill the hole of a seemingly meaningless existence by receiving even more. It doesn’t work. And we numb the hole with addictions.

A movie (available on Netflix streaming) called Jeff, Who Lives at Home, deals with a similar issue. I highly recommend it; great characters, great writing, and a great story.

Jeff finds that, even though he has all the comforts of home, he hasn’t found meaning in his life. So he follows synchronicity that leads him to do something extraordinary, something that gives him that feeling of meaning. He finds it. I won’t spoil it, but I will say that it underscores Frankl’s message.

According to Frankl, happiness comes from receiving. Meaning comes from giving.

I would argue that to live a good life, you need a little of both. And I’d also argue that if we think we aren’t receiving or giving, we’re not attuned to our nature as human beings. We’re always giving and receiving. It’s part of our existence here on earth.

Inspired ManifestationIn Mark’s book, Inspired Manifestation, he talks about our natural place in this cycle of life. We’re constantly in a state of giving and receiving. Even if you feel you’re at the end of your rope, you are receiving something.

Even if all you are doing is breathing, you are receiving. And as you exhale, you are giving.

At your most basic level, you have all of the elements of both happiness and giving available to you now. You are giving. And you are receiving.

The key is to notice the most basic level of your place in that cycle, then extrapolate that back up to something much larger than that. Expand your notion of who you are. As you claim your place in the cycle of giving and receiving, you expand your experience and attention given towards your place in the cycle of All That Is.

Expansion Beyond The Self
Your ego, or your sense of self, divorces you from that cycle and divorces you from your ability to receive and give, and give and receive. You think you are the end-all, be-all. OK, ego, you have a place. Thanks for protecting us from being hurt. From bears. From saber-tooth-tigers and angry jerks. But you don’t run the show, ego.

We are a part of something much larger than ourselves. We are no more divorced from the ocean as a drop of water, to be cliche. We are a part of a large community of billions of souls on this planet, and we came here with purpose. With meaning. With something to do. Everyone you touch gives you an opportunity to give, and an opportunity to receive. Every interaction gives you an opportunity to expand a sense of meaning.

Says Frankl, “Being human always points, and is directed, to something or someone, other than oneself — be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself — by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love — the more human he is.”

In becoming more human, you become more than human. In embracing your place as a giver and receiver, you become all that you were destined to become. You find your meaning. You find out who you really are. And you make the world a better place with everything you do.

If you seek more — whether it be happiness, meaning, or experience — then expand your sense of who you are. Live up to the responsibility of who you chose to be here.

You are an amazing human being that has immense meaning on this earth. And like your breath, all you must do is notice that you are. The evidence is already there.

See, isn’t that great? Meaning and happiness are already there for you. Just notice it. No heavy lifting here.

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2013

January 5, 2013 shasta

snow-flake

We survived the holidays. Barely. Max came home from school one day with a sore throat. Of course, that was the day before the snowstorm hit. Within 48 hours, we were all sick. We also had about 6 feet of snow in the driveway by the end of it.

I was grateful I hit the stores before the storm and sickness, grateful for not having anywhere to go, and grateful that the kids seems to process through the virus quickly. I was even more immensely grateful seeing my awesome neighbor with heavy equipment in my driveway during one break in the snowfall. He cleared the driveway just enough for me to get out to the store and get some more kid’s Advil. Apparently grape flavored Advil is so last year and completely unacceptable to Claire’s discerning palate.

christmas-2012-snow3

I tried clearing the driveway again the next day, but the plows had come through and made a rock solid berm of snow that made me cry. Literally. I stooed at the edge of the driveway with a shovel and realized that there was no clearing the Luckily, awesome neighbor bailed me out again. And as a return favor I had the pleasure of babysitting their awesome dog for a couple of days.

christmas-2012-snow2

I may live in the snowiest microclimate in all of California, but I have awesome neighbors and great views and it makes it worth it. Also, escaping to a warmer climate takes all of 45 minutes.

I really should take up skiing or something if I am going to live here. The locals seem to really enjoy the white stuff. I suppose after 3 years of living in Mount Shasta, I should do as the Romans do and stop pining for paradise.

Can I blame the Midwest for ruining me for snow?

I am not complaining. I lived in Texas for 2.5 years. I think after that, I can live anywhere and be happy about it. With apologies to Texans I actually like (all 5 of them), I didn’t like Texas very much.

I have high hopes for 2013. We continue to be blessed in ways I cannot enumerate. The kids are healthy, growing, strong, kind and hilarious. My work keeps turning into adventures of exploration. I have great friends both near and far.

I have many goals for 2013. I plan on doing about 1,500 miles of hiking, running, and walking. That’s about 30 miles a week. So far, so good. But 1,500 is a lot of miles, you know. Good thing it will be a long year.

Santa brought us a piano, an ice cream maker, and a soda stream. I plan on learning at least 10 songs on the piano, making all sorts of frozen treats that aren’t loaded with sugar, and lots of carbonated water.

I also plan on writing more, taking more pictures, and being more public about the truly amazing miracle that is my life.

Life is so good.

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Healing after Tragedy

December 17, 2012 making things right, mindfulness

I’m devastated by what happened in Connecticut last week. Horrified. I’ve cried and hugged my kids tighter, and I’ve prayed. I’ve wondered why. I’ve engaged in precisely one conversation about gun control.

That was enough.

I understand that people are upset and they want a solution RIGHT NOW. They want someone to pass a law to make things better. They want better mental health treatment. They might even want to ban video games. It is horrific what we’ve all had to watch. And it’s more horrific that parents are waking up days before Christmas without their beautiful babies.

I don’t like guns either. I don’t like violent video games. I wish that I could make them ALL go away and live on a peaceful planet where we work in harmony to make the world a better place. I am very idealistic in this regard, I know, and I will leave figuring out the best course of action policy-wise to those who have done their research.

I am fully aware that the solution to this problem is beyond me. I can’t make it all go away. And that’s very disempowering.

Being disempowered does not make for a productive, happy self. And I know a lot of us are feeling rather disempowered, unhappy, fearful and depressed.

It’s easy to take aim at what we think the problem is and try to cut it out of our reality and make it go away. But we aren’t going to do that in this moment.

This moment is all we really have. We can’t change what happened in the past. We can’t wish it away. We can’t disarm the whole world and force people to love each other. We can’t even change the future; it doesn’t really exist.

All we truly have is this moment.

You have an opportunity right here, in this moment, to make the world a better place. You can say a kind word. You can do something for someone. You can say a prayer or send some love & light. You can simply close your eyes and tune into something within you that makes you smile.

You can’t change what happened in this moment. But you can do something in this moment that makes you/someone else feel better.

Empowerment comes when you can let go of the things over which you have no control and seize control of the things over which you have absolute control.

There are things, in this moment now, that you have absolute control. What will you do with that control?

  • Will you spend this moment arguing with someone about what must happen next?
  • Will you spend this moment reliving what happened by watching the news or reading an article?
  • Will you spend this moment curled up in the fetal position rocking back and forth in fear?

Not to say that we shouldn’t grieve, as grieving is healing. Not to say that we shouldn’t consider a healthy course of action for our legislation going forward. Not to say we shouldn’t look at the psychological causality of such of an event.

But if we wish to be empowered towards a change, we must remain mindful as we do everything in consideration of the event. And we must take control of the things we have control over, which isn’t much in the face of such a tragedy. But in reality, it is all we have.

We can say a kind word. We can forgive. We can send love. We can pray. We can take a moment and do something kind for someone that makes their day. We can find something that makes us happy and bring more joy to our own lives.

In this moment, there is something you can do to make the world a better place. As we all do that, the positive in the world is magnified. As the positive in the world is magnified, so too is our ability to make real changes in the world as a whole.

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.” – Gandhi

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121212 Concert Blew Me Away

December 15, 2012 music, parenting

I rarely watch TV anymore. In fact, we don’t have traditional television, only a Roku. Well, Claire is a huge Chris Martin/Coldplay fan, so I loaded up the 121212 concert for her last night so she could see him.

I have always enjoyed music. While I look back on some of my high school music choices with wonderment (just why did I like Adam Ant so much?), I think I have some fairly decent and eclectic musical tastes. But in the last 10 years, I haven’t listened to much music. Well, unless you consider the myriad renditions of Itsy Bitsy Spider that I’ve heard true music appreciation… then I suppose I’ve listened to music. So when I fire up some tunes, I’m usually jet setting back to the 80′s or earlier.

I made a commitment earlier this year to listen to more music. I bought myself a Pandora One account, and I started telling it what I wanted to hear. One day, Coldplay The Scientist came on my R.E.M. station. I thought, wow, this is a beautiful song. I wonder who sings it? Then I listened to it a few more times.

Claire, always present and listening along, decided that it was her new most favorite song ever. We watch the video. Who is the guy? I go look it up. His name is Chris. Thereafter, she would only listen to a song if Chris sings it. Our Coldplay appreciation grew. She has her favorites (Clocks, The Scientist, Paradise, Viva La Vida), but she also appreciates many of the more obscure Coldplay songs.

One great thing: she wants to learn how to play the guitar and the piano because Chris does. Bingo. I’ll capitalize on the fangirl crush and we’ll make that one happen! At least I have one kid interested in music; Max could care less.

So, I turn on the concert and go about my business. Oh look, there’s Roger Waters. Eddie Vedder. Holy crap, Eric Clapton. By the time they got to The Who, I was full on singing at the top of my raspy cold-filled lungs and dancing around to Baba O’Riley embarrassing myself in front of my children.

I may have scared the dog.

But seriously. Roger Daltrey blew me away. He’s freaking 68. He and Pete Townshend freakin stole the show.

I did not expect to enjoy the 121212 Concert as much as I did, but it was exceptional. (Except Kanye. Why Kanye, I will never understand. There are multiple east coast based rappers that they could have chosen that would have been more appropriate and interesting. I am glad Kanye was singing rather than speaking, given his poorly chosen incendiary words during the hurricane Katrina fundraiser. I wonder if Mike Myers ever recovered.)

And then, after staying up late to see her beloved Chris Martin, Claire jumps up and down and hugs the TV. Then he brings out Michael Stipe. Oooh, more fun for me. Poor Claire… she was rather disappointed! I let her watch the Coldplay 2012 concert today to make up for her disappointment. And she asked, “Where are Chris’ friends?” She actually noticed that the rest of Coldplay wasn’t there.

And oh, Chris Martin, I hope you are rocking as hard as Daltrey/Townshend in 40 years. Still blown away.

And of course, DONATE. Lots of people on the east coast are hurting big time after Hurricane Sandy. I hope you were as inspired as I was to reach out and help others who need it.

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Rewriting Greek Mythology

December 11, 2012 parenting

Every night, the kids gather around and I read to them. Being kind of a nut about classics, history, and meaningful learning, I was scouring our overfilled bookcases for something meaningful that they would actually enjoy. In Mark’s bookcases (which are usually off limits to us; he’s kind of obsessive about his books!) we found a book about Greek heroes. It took about a week to read every story, and they loved them.

I then supplemented with another book about Greek mythology directed for younger audience.

Max now has been asking me to read Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth. The dialogue between Moyers and Campbell is a little over Claire’s head, but Max is REALLY into it. So far, he’s really interested in how the creation story is similar across different cultures. However, when he starts asking for more specifics about an indigenous mythology, I’m a little lost on answers.

Claire is missing her Greek heroes, so she decided to write her own stories. At age 4, she’s re-writing some of her favorite stories. Perseus, noted as the killer of Medusa, is now only allowed to kill wild boars. Atalanta, previously a killer of wild boars and destroyer of misogyny, will now be the slayer of Medusa. Apparently, Claire has bigger plans for Atalanta. She has her own little book she made from pieces of white copy paper stapled together. And here’s what she wrote:

Claire wrote “Perseus killed the wild boar.”

I helped her with spelling, and of course some of her letters are a bit challenged, but the girl certainly has some initiative. Here’s hoping she didn’t make Zeus upset by demoting his demigod son!

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Miracles come in all packages

December 1, 2012 shasta

We’ve been getting an immense amount of rain here in Mount Shasta, and they’ve predicted that the snow up on the mountain will break previous storm snowfall records… of course the previous record is on Mount Shasta, too.

The winds the other day were immense. So much so that an 80 foot tree on our property fell and nearly hit the house.

Alex and Riley sniff the new bush. That’s the cherry tree that got slammed by the tree.

I had loud music on in the other room (it was probably Coldplay, due to Claire’s recent Chris Martin obsession), so I didn’t hear it. I felt it, though, and figured Mark had dropped something upstairs. I went to investigate.

The tree roots. A very small tree in front of them. Our house in the background.

It was a tree that had fallen. It narrowly missed the house.

Had it fallen two feet the other way, it would have damaged the house.

The very top of the tree was resting on the back porch. It almost hit the house.

It’s pretty amazing that an old 80 foot tree would fall in the least damaging place possible, by a matter of inches. Of course, we have many other trees on our property that could be toppled by wind, which left room enough for paranoia that an entire room might be taken out. But we survived.

We also got some more firewood, always helpful in a Shasta winter. And we’re taking the very top of the tree, as mangled as it is, for our Christmas tree this year.

This year, 2012, has been quite a challenging year. We’ve had all sorts of things pop up that changed the game. Each one of them had a karmic depth of challenge that was unusual. And each one was dealt with, bringing a new level of manifestation mastery. Life is better because of the challenges, not worse.

When we were living in Texas, I knew deeply that we were to move to California, and it was only a matter of time before it opened up and we were to move. Within hours of letting our landlord know that our time in Texas would be limited, we received a phone call letting us know that a house — this house — was opening up for us. We thought that living in this amazing house was only going to last for a few months. However, we’ve been gifted with an opportunity to live here for three years now.

The house here has been a huge gift for everyone involved. It has given us inspiration, a sanctuary, a place of connection, and clarity. That’s been a gift from being in Mount Shasta, but this house is a huge part of it. Some of the circumstances around the house might not be clearly a miracle, but the actual end result of being here has been miraculous.

In other news, Max is doing extremely well in school this year. He’s got perfect attendance, made honor roll, and got a good citizenship award. Shasta has been exceptionally good for him, too.

As we come up on our three-year anniversary of moving to Mount Shasta, I can honestly say that every thing that happens to us here is a miracle, even the things that seem like they’re not.

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Visiting Santa Barbara

November 24, 2012 vacation

After the fun of 2012, I lobbied pretty hard for a vacation as soon as Max’s school schedule allowed. Hello, Thanksgiving!

We drove down to Santa Barbara for a week to get a change of scenery. While I enjoy Monterey/Carmel quite a bit, we needed some sunshine. Santa Barbara was as far as we had to go to get out of the rains.

Claire loves Santa Barbara. How could she not. There is a carousel near the wharf. Each horse has a name, or so Claire tells me. This one was named “Longo.”

We ate at some spectacular restaurants. Brophy Brothers was divine. We waited a full hour to get seated at the bar, and it was worth it.

We visited Los Agaves twice. And we discovered a relatively new restaurant called Scarlett Begonia that had the best breakfast I’ve ever experienced. We had a chance to chat for a few minutes with the owner, Krista. She has the best attitude towards her restaurant… healthy, organic, locally sourced ingredients and an experimental menu.

The food was so good I broke my own rules about taking obsessive pictures of food. Presentation was lovely, but it didn’t even come close to the taste. Yes, we’ll be back.

Max had french toast with mascarpone. (Just don’t call it cheese or he won’t eat it.)

Mark had a reuben with homemade rye. Me, I stay away from bread, but after tasting the almond-apricot sourdough, jeez, it was sooo good.

Claire worked on her artwork while we waited. I did not tell her what she had inadvertently spelled out while practicing letters.

I think of all of the food we had in Santa Barbara, Scarlett Begonia blew us away.

More importantly, Krista’s story was inspiring. She breaks all of the rules. Other people told her to run her restaurant differently, but she stuck to her vision. The end result is a restaurant that is far and away better than any others I’ve encountered.

We’re not here to follow the rules. We’re here to live from our hearts, follow our dreams, pursue our passions. Krista runs a restaurant that makes me want to be a chef.

Of course, I’m never going to be a professional chef. My passions lie elsewhere, I think. But her commitment to her dream and ideals inspire me to remain committed to my own dreams, ideals, and passions.

It’s always nice when a breakfast serves you more than just food. :)

We also visited the beach more times than I care to mention. I enjoyed it immensely, but kids end up wetter and colder than they like, so it never ends well. They like to play chicken with the waves. Life lesson: waves always win.

We visited the zoo. Claire fed a giraffe.

She also went sledding with cardboard on fake grass. Who needs snow anyway?

Overall, it was a great vacation, and very much needed. It’s funny, because in retrospect, it feels like it was mostly Claire’s vacation. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, so she made that happen. Max was happy exploring State Street, checking out cars, and relaxing with his beloved computer. Mark was happy just being in the sunshine. And I was happy sampling local coffees and exploring.

And now, we’re preparing for holidays back in Mount Shasta. We missed out on a Thanksgiving dinner, so I am preparing a Sunday dinner that has traditional Thanksgiving foods. But we all still have sand in our shoes… and it will take some time to re-acclimate. Still, Shasta is a delightful place to come home to.

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Changing Seasons

November 17, 2012 parenting, shasta

I’ve not found time to write much this fall, as I’ve been focused on taking care of so many things around here. I’m happy to report that the great IRS Audit of 2012 is now over, and I did not find it as painful as I had initially thought. I felt pretty awful about the state of my books at the start of things, but after hiring an enrolled agent to guide me through the process, I’m seeing it wasn’t all that bad after all.

It turns out that the auditors were primarily looking for some things related to business in Texas. They didn’t find what they were looking for (at least not in my books!), so they’ve moved on to greener pastures.

The funniest part of the whole experience is that my expectations of what an IRS audit means drove much of my stress, created a mess that was more stressful. The actual process itself wasn’t so bad. In fact, it actually has been a REAL blessing, setting up a platform for future success.

I was actually lucky to work with both an enrolled agent and an IRS agent who were very understanding, very cool and helpful, and now I have processes and procedures to make my least favorite activity easier.

I told myself that if I had to go through an IRS audit, at least I got to do it from the comfort of a spectacular home in Mount Shasta. Being here made the experience bearable. I was able to do days of accounting (did I mention it is my least favorite activity?) while immersing myself in the beauty of this place as a respite.

Summer in Mount Shasta is the closest thing to heaven on earth that I’ve experienced. Fall is pretty spectacular, too. I spent most of my free time this summer and fall getting lost in forests (once, quite literally) and exploring with a dog or two.

This morning, however, I am drenched from doing so in the cold rain. It’s nearing winter, and that means the snows are coming.

This snowstorm is for your viewing pleasure.

Last week, we had a freak localized snowstorm thanks to a car commercial filmed on our street. I rounded the corner during my morning walk, only to find that the road was blocked. Not sure which car the advertisement was for, but if it is being filmed in Shasta with fake snow, I’m certain it has 4 wheel drive.

With the changing seasons, I’ll be spending more time indoors, probably a lot more time in front of the computer doing non-accounting related things. I’ve made a commitment to write another book, blog more, and share more of my experience here. It also means I’ll spend some more time traveling and sitting on beaches.

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Magical Bubble of Experience

July 19, 2012 parenting, wealth

With Max at his dad’s for the weekend, and Mark training in Arizona, Claire has been rather dismayed that she’s “stuck home with mom.” I know, I’m so awful… the woman who feeds her, nurtures her, reads to her, and takes her all over creation to explore.

So I’ve made an extra effort to take her places while her dad and brother are away. We went to the Science Works museum in Ashland, Oregon. She LOVES this place, and for a small town like Ashland, it’s a great kid’s museum. I consider myself a connoisseur of kid’s museums, having lived and traveled all over the place with my kids.

My favorite is San Jose’s Children’s Discovery Museum, but I’ve only been there when it was crushed and overwhelmed with the and desperate, tired faces of parents on a rainy day a few days after Christmas. I hope to go soon when it is less overwhelmed with people.

Exhibit A: Happy Claire

So, Sunday was an interesting day. First, Claire was happy (see Exhibit A) to be there. But really odd things were happening. We’d end up at certain exhibits by ourselves, and it was almost as if there was a force outside of us that was doing strange yet meaningful things. A pendulum dropping sand that made an image of a heart. A ball that defied gravity to bop Claire right on the head…. twice. A heart image showing up for a moment in a bubble. Bubbles that would form perfect unmoving spheres for a moment then pop.

After, Claire insisted on going to lunch at Grilla Bites. I tried to encourage her to think of somewhere else because parking can be tricky in that area of downtown Ashland. But she insisted, and I like the restaurant, so we went there. Parking was my concern… and we ended up with a spot directly in front of the restaurant. It’s rare to get a spot in that area of Ashland, even more odd that it was directly in front of the restaurant.

These were small signs, but signs nonetheless. They were reminders that we live in a magical universe, and that if we are open to experience miracles, they show up. The additional message was to move this experience from the bubble of a day at the kid’s museum and begin applying that knowledge elsewhere.

There are things in my external environment that I must deal with. Accounting, bleh, and cleaning, and other people’s issues imposing on my reality. And the message I got loud and clear was that it is all me.

I was reminded of that this morning again when a friend said she wished that someone would do something differently. She wanted to experience support from a partner rather than having to be the supporter.

I thought to myself how I had experienced that same emotion. I experienced it as frustration without ever making it to “what if it could be different.” I finally started realizing that it is all me, my experience is all my own, and if I want something to be different, I need to make that change happen myself.

As I support myself emotionally and spiritually, reconnecting with my own inner connection to All That Is, the support I give myself becomes mirrored by my own experience in my external world.

I have had to make some changes lately in my experience, and part of it was establishment of effective boundaries of what is allowed and acceptable in my reality.

We are not victims to our external world. If something isn’t working the way we like, the first step is moving from anger and frustration into the knowledge that it is all us, that others are playing roles so that we may open to the knowledge that it really is all us.

All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.

Understanding others’ roles in our lives deflates the emotional charge. It allows us to open and allow them to be who they really are rather than just being a player in our drama. And it allows us to say what if it could be different…. and then begin to create that.

The magical experience I had with Claire this weekend was a small microcosm of magic. What it taught me is that the rest of reality is also a magical place where miracles can happen every day… if only I open to them.

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