Don't Worry - Be Happy This New Year!

.   "Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."    Thank you for your wise words, Mother Theresa.

This year is starting off with an air of impending doom on so many fronts, with the heaviest clouds darkening  the environment and world peace.   Some Happy New Year- right?  It is a difficult task lifting those heavy blankets and checking on the beauty that is still there, huddling underneath.  But it is there in so many forms.   Every day we are given the opportunity to contribute more beauty, more positives, more smiles to life's balance sheet.   Let us light up the darkness with a barrage of  kind acts, big and small - I know that so many of you already are.  I do not pretend to understand all of the complicated causes of depression; what I do know personally is that each time I decide to make a plan to help another, to turn my focus on another,  my happiness ratchets up many notches.  Therefore, my New Year's resolution will be to increase my awareness of others' needs, and to step out of my self-absorption more often.  I will invest in moments of prayerful silence and step often  into my "Happy Place" to restore my spirit and my kindness quotient;

My Happy Place - A Meditation

There is great peace in solitude,  

While walking in a peaceful wood,

But walking through a stressful day,

With problems blocking every way,

I need to find a happy place,

A memory room,  a welcome space,

A glistening, calming ocean shore,

An oasis deep within my core.

Breathing deeply, in I walk,

Letting go of time and talk;

At times it's hard to struggle through,

When answers are obscured from view;

Yet, in that silence, I'm aware

That someone's always waiting there,

A grandma's hug,

 A friendly tug

From one who says, with humble grace,

"Welcome to

Your happy place."

Feel The Sun - Be The Sun!

The sun is still up there, just wanting some quiet time and has closed its curtains for a much needed break.  It doesn't mean to offend us by this gesture; perhaps it is just setting an example and giving us some protected space to take our own time for reflection. 

 I try to help the sun out by creating my own small bits of sunshine, for myself and for my fellow life travellers;  some of my favourite attempts come from a paint box of words.  I try to steer away from the depressing colours of complaints, and those that create poor images of myself and others. The words that paint harmful gossip, and inspire only uncomfortable laughter will slowly but surely turn all of the other beautiful colours to a muddy grey - best to avoid!

In the grand scheme of things, we each have the potential to create sunshine by just being honest with ourselves, appreciating and sharing ourselves with others, complete with all of the faults that make us who we are.  The best way to turn a grey day into a sunny one is to take ourselves less seriously - to laugh at ourselves and to share in the humble humour of our humanness: (say that 3 times fast!).

Miss Patient!

Miss patient was a person

With a problem and a pain;

She went to see a doctor,

And she asked him to explain;

“I have a list of symptoms,

Though I don’t like to complain;

I wrote a few things down for you

To try and make it plain:

I’ve a pimple on my elbow,

A cracking in my knee,

And a funny sort of  popping sound

That really bothers me,

A ringing in my ears, a tingling in my thumb,

I can’t put my finger on it,

‘Cause my finger’s feeling numb!"

The doctor was quite patient

As he diagnosed her pain;

"The answer is not easy,

But, I'll keep it short and plain -

It seems to me, Miss Patient,

You've a hyperactive brain!"

Life's Relay Race

I have attended two funerals this week, each for a beautiful lady who I'm sure wondered to the end if she had run her race well; whether the love pressed into the  baton that she carried would find the hands of her loved ones, and be passed on to the next runner, and the next.  As I stared into the candle that I held at this morning's service, my thoughts were suddenly hijacked by my sixteen year old self:

As a grade eleven student, very small in stature, and clutching a miniscule piece of self-confidence, I somehow found myself in the school's track and field relay race. As I stood there, waiting for the baton to be slipped into my hand, my mind suddenly went completely blank; all of my focus was in the present - preparing to run with all that was in me.  As I tore down the track, I looked up to see my mother's face watching from the sidelines, pride and worry battling for first place in her emotions.  I don't remember finishing the race, or anything of the outcome - I just remember someone saying, "Did you see what you did?"  To this day, I don't know whether I did well, or if I totally blew it, and rather than destroying the fragile hope that I held onto,  I have avoided finding out.

We all have traumatic events in our past that have had dramatic ripple effects on our lives and our accomplishments; We too are left questioning how we have lived our lives, where we could have done better.  Rather than running our race reliving or regretting the past, let's seize the present moment, grab that baton of hope, and give life's relay race all we've got.  I know that's the advice that these two ladies would want to pass on.

As Green As It Gets!

"That's as green as it's going to get!"   An exasperated cry from our Grandson made us laugh at the time - a good wake-me-up that jolted us out of the serious impatience that we felt one day while sitting behind a slow mover at the starting line of a downtown traffic light.  Why do we insist on treating life as a race, having to get to our goals at the expense of the beauty that passes us by along the way?

  'The goal is the journey'  is an expression that one of our dear friends  used to use at the conclusion of her e-mails;  It always made me stop and re-think the goals that I had planned for that particular day - to give my to-do list a thorough review, to make sure that I was going to be living the day rather than just getting through it.   That difference meant that I made sure to leave some precious time for a creative process of some sort - something that would add a smile, a drop of encouragement, some beauty to the world.  I didn't forget the value of a love-filled baking session as one of those processes either;  It seemed like the perfect work of art on days when sunshine and smiles were at a premium.

  Heading into another week sprinkled with lots of raindrops, and with the grass and garden waiting patiently,  I decided to entice some poetic sunshine to come forth - That's as green as it's going to get today!

After The Rain

After the rain,

There will be light,

And a breeze to lift

The robin's flight;

After the rain,

The sun will shout

 With welcome warmth,

"Come out!  Come out!"

"Shake out your smile,

Add yours to mine,

Let's have some fun -

It's gardening time!"

Nice Ta Meetcha!   - The Power Of A Biscuit!

That's it!  I've Had it!   Time to bake biscuits!

Enough of all of these doom and gloom forecasts, whether political or weather-related;  It's time to bake  some love into some biscuits. Whatever form your biscuits take, whatever your 'knead' may be - let's sit down with a nice cup of tea and take a healing time-out  - calories be darned!

Each time that I recreate my mother-in-law, Joan's wonderful shortbread biscuit recipe, I find myself adding something extra to the mix that might make it even more delicious.  So far the ingredients are coming from Toronto, B.C., Ontario, Quebec, Indonesia, and the U.S.   How exotic is that! 

As I lovingly work the ingredients into small crumbs, on their way to the final mix, I am aware of the dependence of each of them on the others in order to form. These ingredients had never met before today - stayed in their separate cupboards, but once introduced and the more I let them combine and work together, the finer they have become.  My trained ear is hearing them as they compliment each other at great length, with 'Nice ta meetchas' happening all around!

I have now come full circle, contemplating world issues again, but through the lens of a biscuit baker.  We are all part of this wonderful recipe called mankind, and whether we admit it or not, we are all dependent on each other in order to get from crumb to delicious biscuit, to reach our full potential;

 We each have something to offer that no one else can give, but we can't find out what that something is until we start coming out of our cupboards and offering our 'nice ta meetcha's.

 Ah, the zen of the biscuit - may its force be with you!

The Chain

The Chain

I believe that we are being born anew every day - given another chance.

Who we are,  our essence or spirit, is in the process of becoming with each breath that we take;

our spirit does not require a diet of huge achievements - it is constantly feeding off of our attitude,  It grows more beautiful with every positive thought and accomplishment, every smiling link that we add to the whole.   With each act of kindness, we are strengthening our link in the chain of life, and feeding it the energy that it needs, to be strong for all of the other links - our parents, children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, friends - all those that we hold in our hearts and who count on us.

 When the seas get rough, we can secure our vessels with that wonderful supporting chain:

Hold onto the chain,

In the midst of your pain,

Trust in the strength of each link;

Though doubts may obscure it,

Have faith and be sure, it's

Stronger by far than you think.

With great love they speak,

Each voice so unique,

Timeless, they're born yet again,

These links built of love,

Drawing strength from above,

Hand in hand forming the chain.

A Mother's Reflection:

My newborn slept against my breast,

And I whispered, "How beautiful."

I held him out to the world,

And it echoed, "How beautiful."

I sent him into the world,

And the world touched him

And I felt pride, and I felt fear.

He came home wounded,

And I held him against my breast,

And I whispered,  "How unfair."

Then I sent him out again,

Armed with tools that I hoped would help:

Love, faith, patience, tolerance, kindness, listening skills,

And I said to him, "Be my peacemaker."

He came back home confused and wounded,

And I said to him, "Don't despair, you are growing, and I am so proud of you,

This pain will be part of your strengthening."

And he went back into the world,

Bruised, but determined and hopeful.

Then he laughed,

And the heart of the world skipped a beat,

For he had touched the world, and it had responded,

He became aware of a unique something within that he possessed,

That was his to build, develop, and share.

He wondered aloud, "Who am I?"

And a voice answered;

He knew that voice,

It whispered, "How beautiful."

And again,

"You are mine, you are more precious

Than you can possibly imagine."

And this mother echoed in gratitude,

"How beautiful!"

Just Call Me Smiley!

I'm writing my story - the story of my life - moment by moment with each breath and with every action that I take. 

Day No. 24,646 (How scary is that!):

 I just finished doing a session of Tai Chi - it is a very calming exercise, meditative and thought inspiring.  A voice inside reminded me that one of our basic needs is that of creating something to pass along, of using the inspirations that we receive, to leave our mark, to build up this world in some way. 

"Edie, it said, (how cheeky, using my first name!) What inspired you growing up - a smile perhaps?"

 Well, now that you mention it - Yes, perhaps -  As I call to mind some of the many little moments and sparks that I gathered like treasures and stored in my heart, I realize that they have become a part of me.

  I remember being called 'smiley' when I was a young girl, and of feeling unsure of whether that was a good or bad thing to be - a sign of weakness or of strength?  It seemed that I needed to have an important reason to smile, or it left me looking a little simple.

 As I matured, that smiling thing became more and more of an asset.  I realized that there are no invalid reasons for a true, warm smile, but many reasons to avoid a cruel sneer or a frown -  Those sad faces pull our hearts into a frown as well, and it's very hard to lift our hearts and put it into our efforts if there is a big sad foot stepping on it.  There is much bravery in a soul that finds the strength to lift that foot and smile forth from a heart that is struggling or in pain, yet in that small action, there is healing for the giver and receiver.

I know from my own life's experiences that there are no words that wield as much power to reach out to another, to convey understanding, as the gesture of a genuine smile, and a kind touch on the shoulder in a moment of sadness, difficulty or stress.  Then again, a smile and a hug is even better, and a smile, a hug and a helping hand is the triple crown winner! 

 I wrote a little poem that I want to include in my fourth 'puddle' book that will give tribute to these three gifts:  'A smile, a hug and a helping hand'.

The ability of those gifts to spread out and gain wisdom, love, and new friends as they grow is a positive tool that I hope every child who picks them up will benefit from and use to build up his or her own world, their own life's story.

Now it's time to pull on my work gloves;  This gardener's prayer:  That we all dig into this garden called life, planting seeds of loving thoughts, watering them with a gentle rain of warm hugs, and using our helping hands to pull out the weeds of hate and ignorance; May our garden of smiles grow into strong actions to help in the healing of this precious world so much in need of hope-filled smiles - a bounty for all to share for so many good reasons!

In The Aftermath - There Is Love!

In the Aftermath - There is love!

I'm sitting and thinking, and watching rain turn into icy fingers, wrapping themselves around the branches and seed heads (still there!) on our lilac tree.  It is reminding me that the world and life goes on around us, not paying any heed to the turmoil that is going on inside of us.  The fact that I have worried, stressed, rewritten and practised before delivering a book presentation to a lovely group of seniors yesterday, seems to have slipped nature's mind!  Perhaps I should take the hint to not take myself so seriously - to get out there and find the beauty that is all around me before my short stint on this earth is done.

 As it turned out, I had a lovely time relating my poems and my life experiences - and sharing my limited musical interpretations to boot - take that you unfeeling drops of ice!

 The fact is, that every time I give something of myself, I reap a wonderful harvest of gifts that others share with me.  It may be new knowledge of my surroundings, a verbal picture that someone paints of something that happened in their past, or it may be the sharing of a dream that lies unfulfilled in them, or in me - whatever, I am truly the richer.

 The world will still be here, long after I'm gone, but it will only have the use of my life for a relatively short time, and I only have this time to share whatever joy I can.   We all have a responsibility to help in the healing and building of this world with whatever gifts we are endowed with.  So rather than giving in to those 'hot on my heels' feelings of inadequacy and smallness, I will try to use my smallness, and take  Mother Theresa's words and example to heart:

               "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

I Resolve!

I Resolve!

If I knew that this would be my last New Year, what would my resolution(s) be?   How could I grow to my fullest possible potential - what improvements would be most important?  Would I resolve to love myself just the way I am, and while I'm at it, to do likewise for the other people in my life?  Would I look at each day as the best day it could possibly be,  given life's circumstances?

  Overlooking troubles, what good could I resolve to find there? create there?   Would I measure each of my steps as a privilege,  recognize each of my actions as a ripple, and decide that those steps and ripples would lead to positive places and events?  Would I resolve to smile more, finally realizing that a warm sincere smile can lead to actions that heat up the whole world?  Would I turn those resolutions into poetry that the world could sing after I was gone?

I resolve

To be at peace;

With joyful heart,

All worry cease. 

I resolve

To share my smile,

Especially in the

Midst of trial.

I resolve

To treat others fairly,

And to be just plain silly,

Regularly!