“The world needs this right now, we have received thousands of comments from people who say this has come at such a perfect time,” said Klein about the treasure hunt.
Did you read about the founder of Jelly Belly brand jelly beans, giving away one of his Candyman Kitchens, with a golden ticket/Willy Wonka style? How fun! How intriguing and inspiring and heartwarming and charmingly evocative!
Most of us would agree with David Klein, the inventor of Jelly Belly candies, in his statement, “The world needs this right now.” But what is “this” that he is referring to? What is the golden ticket that the world needs right now?
Is it fun? Is it a focus on the light-hearted, happy stuff? Is it excitement? Is it smiling, bright-eyed anticipation? Is it curiosity? Is it wonderment? Is it sweetness? Is it frivolity? Is it sugar-coated happiness? Is it innocence? Is it faith, hope and love?
Whatever “this” is which we all seem to agree that the world needs more of right now, we can try to be a little bit of “this“, today, right now, in our own spaces and our own places. If the world needs more of “this” and we have the ability to give the world more of “this“, why not try? Why not be a golden ticket in our own corners of the world? At the very least, we can be our own little flavorful jelly bellies. (I’ve been working on my jelly belly since quarantine started. It’s coming along nicely.) What flavor are you today? I think that I will be “this” flavor, just for today.
Every day is a new day of a new version of ourselves. The experiences we had over the weekend, our emotional responses to those happenings, and the wisdom we gleaned from both our experiences and our responses, have added a new layer to this energy, we each call “me.” This morning I have curated quotes from my many inspirational quote journals that sort of go along with this same theme. I am sorry that I am not sure who to attribute these quotes to, but I don’t claim any of them as mine. I am just thankful for their inspiration and sagacity.
“You can’t go back and write a new beginning, but you can start from here and write a new ending.”
“I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday.”
“Today is a new day. Begin it well, and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”
“When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That is what the storm was all about.”
“When you are a better character in your story, your story gets better.”
“Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about un-becoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.”
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today, I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
“Your past is meant to be a guidepost, not a hitching post.”
“Believe with all of your heart that you will do what you are made to do.”
“I am my only project. Fully embracing this idea gives me so much freedom to do the many things that I have been born to do. Others are in our lives for a reason, but they are not present as our works in progress.”
“Never think of yourself as a self-made person. Thousands of hearts, souls, hopes and hands molded the form that became you.”
“Anything I can go through, I can grow through.”
“Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
*****My heart and my prayers are with all who are affected by Hurricane Laura.
I so appreciate the picture shown above. It shows the humanity, and the empathy of the people who I know, and it depicts the good hearts of the many, many people who I have met, throughout my almost 50 years of life. This has been such a terrifying, painful, unbelievable year for so, so many people, all over the world. Today, let’s just rise above the noise, and the hatred, and the fear, and the anger, and the judgment, and the loneliness, and the bewilderment, and the need for control, and let’s just hold each other tight. I am so thankful for all of you who read my blog. Please, just feel me holding you tight. Close your eyes to all of the frightening appearances, close your ears to all of the competing, senseless noise, and only allow yourself to feel the soft, peaceful, yet impenetrable embrace of Love. Rise above it all and let Love sustain you. You are Love. You are filled with Love. Love cannot be destroyed. Let Love sustain you.
One of the more hip, modern daily horoscopes that I read, told me that today was a day that I needed to “Shield My Field.” There is no greater shield than the power of Love. Today, let Love “shield your field”. You are made of Love. It replenishes. Give Love freely to yourself, and to others, and to the clear, bright-lit vision of what the world really is, underneath all of the maddening noise, made by the weaker side of humanity (hello, egos), to provoke fear and helplessness. You have all of the materials that you need, to “shield your field”, every single day. Embrace that fact, and walk boldly into your life today. You are shielded with the most warm, calming, powerful, peaceful, eternal force that has ever been, or will ever exist, until the end of forever. Accept your shield. You can do whatever you need to do today, with the power of your shield. You are protected. The lower parts of all of us, and in all of the world, cower in awe and humility in the face of Love. And Love picks up those low, low, scared, trying desperately to control, hopeless, full of fear, full of pain, parts of us, and Love embraces them, and Love shines a Light on them, and Love cleanses them until they disappear as if they never existed. Because they don’t. They are just figments of our own imaginations, in stories that we have made up about our lives. Love shows us that we can always take up our shields and walk away from the shadows. This power of Love has NEVER left us. The world is just the world. We can pick up our shields and we look at the world through the lens of Love, or we can stay mired in our dark and fearful thoughts. That’s our free will. I think what the world needs now, is for more of us to pick up our shields of Love, and to walk confidently and calmly, with the force of Love. When we remind ourselves of the reality of what really makes us, and what really sustains us, forever and forever, others cannot help but to be reminded of that fact, too. Others are reminded to pick up their shields of Love. When we are holding our shields of Love, and we do this all together, we can open our eyes again, and we can open our ears again, and we will see a whole, new beautiful vision of the world. We will see our world as it actually is – Love. Nothing more, nothing less. Pure, Beautiful, Eternal Love.
Yesterday, I was reminded of one of my favorite little tomes of all time, Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. We had a family boating day, and while my husband and my middle son were silently fishing, my eldest son and my daughter and I swam over to a tiny little island to explore what treasures might be found. My gift from the sea, yesterday, was a lovely, surprisingly vivid, pink feather. My gift from the sun, yesterday, was a not-so-lovely pink sunburn. We used up an entire can of 50 level sunscreen, and yet still, the entire family is donning our (in various shades of pinkish tan, all the way to glaring red), badges of shame. It’s disconcerting to reach the age in life, where you have lived an entire cycle of boastful pride to shameful mortification, for the exact same behaviors. When I was a kid, having a tan was a badge of pride and honor. Any level of obvious sun exposure to your skin, suggested that you were lucky and prosperous enough to visit somewhere (even if it was just the neighborhood pool) to have enough leisure time to lay out and bake in the sunshine. We didn’t have iPads or phone games back then, so picking at our peeling skin was a strangely satisfying past-time. Now to be clear, I have witnessed family members and friends, deal with various degrees of skin cancer, so I know that where we are in the cycle of “it is shameful to have a suntan”, is where we should probably stay. Progress is not a backwards motion. Lately, it seems to me that rapid changes in societal beliefs and technological advances and scientific discoveries are happening at such warp speed, that it makes me feel like perhaps in a lot of ways, in a lot of my life, I was doing everything entirely wrong, and that I was often looking at things through a faulty, cloudy lens. But that’s not really true, is it? Growth happens all of the time. We start from a tiny little speck and we grow from there, constantly being influenced by internal and external forces, that help mold us into our latest uploads and versions of ourselves. We are works in progress, all of us, and that is true of all living things. Most of us are doing the very best we that we can, every single day. We deserve to give ourselves a break, like perhaps a relaxing day on the beach. Only next time when I give myself a restful day outside, I’ll bring two cans of sunscreen and a wider-brimmed hat. I’m not too prideful, to learn and grow from my experiences, in order to become the latest, best version of me.
Did you read about Clawde, the blue lobster, who was almost someone’s dinner at an Ohio area Red Lobster restaurant? Clawde was saved by an employee, who saw the lobster in the tank and realized that Clawde’s blue color is a one in two-million anomaly! Clawde now resides and is lovingly lavished on, at the Akron Zoo and luxuriates in an enclosure which they have dubbed “Clawde’s Man Cave”. (despite the fact that Clawde is actually a female lobster) In short, Clawde will never be anyone’s dinner.
There are 7.8 billion people on Earth at this moment, so that makes you, one in almost 8 billion. There is no one who is exactly like you on the face of this Earth. You are a blue lobster to the nth degree. You deserve a man cave or a she-shed, and tons of adoring onlookers and witnesses to your utter beauty, your unique qualities and your unrepeatable example of another amazing living miracle that the Universe has lovingly created and nurtured and cherished. Realize this. Let the truth of this fact, seep into your core. Be yourself, in all of your own authentic glory. Don’t you ever let yourself be anybody’s dinner.
I read this on the internet the other day. I think that this quote was from Think Smarter (Twitter), but I can’t say for sure:
“There are two types of “tired”, I suppose. One is in dire need of sleep, the other is in dire need of peace.”
What are your dire needs this weekend? Attend to those needs first. Your body will lead you to where it needs attention, with a crumb trail of little aches and pains and stiff knots and cravings. Your mind might just need some relief from the difficult life challenges of today, with a little more focus on fun. Your mind might enjoy having inconsequential things to figure out, like crafts and puzzles and games, and the victorious feeling of completing something hard, yet relatively insignificant and manageable. Your spirit probably just needs to be noticed and recognized. Your spirit just wants to remind you, that you can always rest inside your heart. Try resting in your heart and in your spirit, a little bit this weekend. Stay still in prayer or meditation or just purposeful awareness, in a space or place that you consider to be very peaceful, and notice that your spirit is a plentiful, gurgling, clean fountain of renewable energy and joy. All that your spirit ever wants for you, is to remember that it will always sustain you, if you allow it to flow.
“Anxiety, heartbreak, and tenderness mark the in-between state. It’s the kind of place we usually want to avoid. The challenge is to stay in the middle rather than buy into struggle and complaint. The challenge is to let it soften us rather than make us more rigid and afraid. Becoming intimate with the queasy feeling of being in the middle of nowhere only makes our hearts more tender. When we are brave enough to stay in the middle, compassion arises spontaneously. By not knowing, not hoping to know, and not acting like we know what’s happening, we begin to access our inner strength.” – Pema Chodron
The above quote arrived in my in-box this morning. It is the Daily Peace Quote. Yesterday, when thinking about things which I wanted to write about in my blog, I jotted these three words down: stabilizing, equilibrium, balance. The Daily Peace Quote goes along with those three words quite nicely. Something/Someone is trying to get the message across, I think.
This is some of the definition of equilbrium – a state of rest or balance due to the equal action of opposing forces. equal balance between any powers, influences, etc.; equality of effect. mental or emotional balance; equanimity.
We all know what it takes to get to our own mental and emotional and physical equilibrium. It’s not rocket science. Sleep, good nutrition, removing toxic people, places and things and habits from our daily lives, exercise, nature, breath work, spending time with people and pets and activities that bring us joy, prayer, meditation, gratitude, are all things that help to bring us back to our beautiful heart centers. Where are you out of balance right now, in your own life? What can you do to bring that area of your own life, back to center? We are right in the middle of what has turned out to be an unprecedented and difficult year. This is the perfect time to look at our own personal scale of equilibrium, and see if it is tipped too far, in any one direction. Then we can carefully and purposefully, place our intentions and actions, on the opposite side of the scale, to get our beings back into a peaceful, centered space.
Friends, today one of my daily inspirations/meditations said this, in a text: “Not only is this the 183rd day of the year, but there are 183 days left in 2020. Despite what’s happened, you are halfway to 2021. Be encouraged and keep going.”
Everyone I know, seems to need this message right now. In some ways, if feels like a lot of people in this world, are at a collective breaking point. This year has been “A LOT” and it feels like we are quickly heading to “TOO MUCH.” I’ve never craved boring and mundane and uneventful, more, in my entire life. I know that we are all going to be okay, but still . . . . enough already.
On a happier note, my middle son turns 22 today. I cannot believe that my children are really, really adults. I look at that age and I can no longer be in any more denial that my son is still a child. Being a parent is a constant cycle of surreal moments. Beautiful, sentimental and surreal moments.
July 1st was never an ideal day, in the way of birthday parties, when my son was growing up. Most of his friends were on summer vacations and trips, with his birthday being so close to July 4th. Some years, we celebrated my son’s half birthday. We had a big birthday party when he turned 8 and a half, during the winter, at an indoor rock climbing venue. We served a birthday cake that was cut in half. The above quote reminded me of those half birthday celebrations.
I think we all need a laugh today. This quote cracked me up (or maybe I’m just crackin’ up):
Right before this coronavirus thing really took hold, I swam with manatees. It is easily one of my favorite memories of 2020. Go to your happy memories, today. Go to your gratitude. Look for the stuff that makes you happy. Make lists, and make writing the lists of “your happy stuff” a priority today. This will be your best fuel for a quiet, moody Monday in 2020. This will keep your energy light and bright and clear and strong.
Lately, all of the protests, the political divides, and the attention to injustices and systemic racism, has made me more self aware. I’ve been trying to look at everyone who I meet and I see and I know, under the lens of what our similarities are, instead of our glaring differences. Recently, I had an “aha” moment, awakening me to the fact that I may not be as open minded as I like to portray myself to be.
I share practically the exact same sense of humor with two people in the world. The first person is my sister, and the second “person” is a furry named Rex Masters. Several months ago, someone “normal” who I follow on Twitter would retweet hilarious memes from a Twitter thread by someone who goes by the name of Rex Masters. Rex’s Twitter profile picture is a dog, or more so, a person in a fancy, colorful, furry dog suit, much like a college mascot. I started following Rex on Twitter, and it never fails, every single day, he gives me something to laugh about, usually something worth a hearty, laugh-out-loud guffaw. Now to be clear, at the time that I started following Rex, I was very, very naive. I didn’t know about “the furry subculture.” For those of you who are as “innocent” as I am, this is what Wikipedia says about the “furry fandom”:
“The furry fandom is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and wearing clothes.” Wikipedia
Now, for the longest time, I didn’t realize that Rex was part of the “the furry fandom”. I honestly didn’t know that the furry fandom existed. I just figured that Rex had the dog picture on his Twitter as a way to keep his privacy and to be cute and funny. I figured that he liked dogs as much as I do. I didn’t realize that Rex was a hard-core fur-suit wearing member of the furry fandom, until I started noticing Rex’s posts about where to buy fur suit items and other posts expressing disappointment about furry conventions being cancelled due to COVID. So, I did some more research, to try to understand what the furry subculture is all about. It turns out, that a big part of being a furry, is having an alter-ego and often acting out that alter-ego, in a fur suit.
I pride myself in being a “live and let live” kind of a person. Or, at least I try to be. My thought is, whatever your hobby or interest is, as long as it doesn’t hurt you or anybody else and as long as all of the activities concerning the hobby, are among consenting adults, that is your business. Variety is the spice of life. I can’t pretend that I fully understand the appeal of being an adult and wearing a fur suit around for the “fun” of it, but of course, I am a menopausal middle-aged woman who is hot and sweaty, almost all of the time. Right now, in the midst of menopause and summer in Florida, even the act of wearing clothes, is starting to lose its appeal for me. Perhaps I should look into nudist colonies?!
Nonetheless, when I figured out that I was following a “furry” on Twitter, I got a little nervous. I wondered if I should “unfollow” him. What would people think?? What would this make people think about me, a middle-aged woman with a mommy blog, following a furry on Twitter??? Would people think that I was a furry?? Would people think that I was a kinky furry???
Now, I’ve always hated the question, “What would people think?” That particular question always brings out the righteously angry rebel in me. I usually bark out, “I don’t give a sh*t what people think,” any time that I hear that question being asked out loud. Still, I wish that was entirely true for me. While I may not be as image conscious, or embarrass as easily as some people, I still have my own large load of insecurities that I am weeding through. I care about what people think, more than I care to admit that fact, to myself or to anybody else.
I decided to keep following Rex Masters on Twitter, but I found myself refusing to ever retweet any of his tweets. Instead, I would take a picture of my computer screen with Rex’s memes and send them to my family and friends, almost daily. I would take a picture of just the memes – never, ever, ever including the source.
Recently, my eldest son, called me and asked me, “Mom, where do you get these memes?? They’re hilarious.” Now, I don’t make it a regular practice to lie to my children. So with a big sigh, I confessed that Rex Masters, the furry – a card carrying enthusiastic member of the furry fandom, was my source of my funniest shared memes. My son laughed out loud. I started giggling, too, mostly out of embarrassment and a little bit of shame. Why did I find the need to hide the fact that a person who wears a fur suit around as a hobby, makes me laugh almost every single day? I was more focused on outside appearances, than the very real connection and joy, I get from having a very similar sense of humor, to a man in a fur suit who calls himself Rex Masters. His memes have added a great deal of laughter and joy to my life, at a time in the world, that laughter is direly needed.
Rex Masters typically posts funny, silly, irreverent memes, but he shared this meme about thirteen hours ago:
Me, and a guy in a dog suit, think alike, in a lot of ways and that is what I need to keep my focus on. Good boy, Rex! You are a good, good dog. You deserve a treat, my friend!
