In general pets are good teachers. They teach us about patience, responsibility, discipline, even love.
Pets have a way of providing comfort that a human can’t. When we don’t want the company of other humans pets are there for us. Non-judgmental, eager to be still with us.
We hold them in our hands, on our laps, they rest their head on ours, we rest our head on theirs and no language is spoken. But words do not need to be exchanged, we can feel that presence of companionship, love, healing…
They help us not to feel so lonely, they make us laugh when they do funny/cute things. They let you do silly things to them and they just go with it.
Pets are like angels. They give us much more than we can ever give them.
What’s the biggest risk you’d like to take — but haven’t been able to?
Allowing myself to be fully transparent on this blog. Ugh, sometimes there are things that I really want to share but I just can’t yet. And truthfully it frustrates me.
I feel like if I do allow myself to be completely raw it will be like opening Pandora’s box and that kinda scares me.
Well, let me tell you about our neighbor Bill. He’s an awesome neighbor.
First let me share how I met this particular neighbor of ours. A couple of years ago I was driving home and pulled over to check the mail. I had my 3 daughters with me (the oldest ones were 3 I believe at the time) and our little dog, Calbie (bless his heart and soul).
As I was checking the mail Calbie jumped on the window and locked the car door from the inside. Which then locked me out with nothing but a mail key and a handful of junk mail.
I just stood there for a moment processing what had just happened. I was proud of myself for not really panicking. I was more like, “damn this sucks, my phones in there too…..”. I tried to encourage my girls to unbuckle their seatbelts to unlock the door but they couldn’t. Can you believe that! Ha!
All of a sudden this guy pulls up in a white truck with a trailer of landscaping supplies (thank goodness I wasn’t standing there long!) . He asked me what had happened, I explained, and come to find out in that small moment that he lives in the house behind ours.
Long story short another neighbor (John, whom I just pretty much met as well) pulls up close to the same time and immediately takes me to my house while Bill (the neighbor I just met too) stays and watches my kids so I can get the spare set of keys.
Essentially I got in the car with a stranger and let a stranger watch my helpless children. Trust good vibes.
Just in that small moment I saw how amazing my neighbors were and still are.
Bill particularly has become one of our good friends. Came to found out he’s a retired executive chef too, so we get to reap those rewards often. It’s awesome, he made these bacon wrapped dates this one time that I still think about. He also makes this amazing soup filled with shredded meat and lots of veggies that can cure any stress in your life!
He spoils our children with goodies weekly and our kids just love him. I joke that our dentist needs to send him a thank you card since he gives them so much sweets. We’ve come to know his wife and kids and on occasions have all got together for a game of cards or lunch. His wife and daughter have horses (they are barrel racers) and we often pay them a visit during evening feedings and our kids enjoy that. Especially one of our daughters whom they have let her ride a few times!
But our neighbor Bill is a real gem. He is always willing to lend a helping hand or make us laugh with joke just to cheer us up. He thinks of us and makes us feel special.
I don’t need to know you or see you to know that you reading this, dear reader, are beautiful.
Sometimes we need to be reminded how special and unique we are. Allow me to remind you.
You are a once in a lifetime. Shaped and molded in a way that cannot be duplicated. A rare commodity.
You aren’t perfect my friend, and guess what, nobody is. Each of us is flawed in our own way. But isn’t is wonderful?
How boring it would be if we were all the same and shared all the same experiences. It’s our differences that bring color and vibrancy to this world and universe. It’s the differences that help us to grow and grant us permission to see through the many different filters of life.
Celebrate those “imperfections”. Learn to love yourself. Learn to see yourself. You are worthy of your own love. Love yourself. You are loved.
There is no need to seek approval from the outside. When unkindness greets in those unexpected moments you shake it off immediately and most definitely don’t take it personally.
But again, I don’t need to know you or see to know that you are beautiful. You are. You are a miracle. You are here, you are alive. You’re doing it.
You’re a gift, you know that right? You truly are. You have purpose. You have value. You have magic flowing in you. There is so much light in you, even if right now the clouds are blocking the view. It’s there glowing brightly.
It’s 9:47pm on a Wednesday night. What am I doing…..
Well, in this very moment, I’m in a yoga position. Reclining hero pose if we wanna be exact. I just broke free now, my knees were hurting.
The kids are sleeping and I just wasted some time on the internet reading about some conspiracy theories. Then I decided to do some bedtime stuff, and now I’m doing some moderate yoga.
Once I’m done writing/answering this I’m going to curl up in my bed and continue to read Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets. I’ve never read Harry Potter before but I’m channeling my fall spirit and my best friend has loved Harry Potter for as long as I have known her. So I guess I’m reading it for her too.
Anywho, this is what I do most evenings. And I love it. Sometimes I drink some bedtime tea too but I already brushed my teeth. Our neighbor gave us some pumpkin cookies that I would love to indulge in right now but I’ll wait to eat with my tea in the morning.
There’s just so much to be grateful for. And even in those hard times/moments there shines that silver lining. It’s that silver lining that gives you hope and encouragement.
Gratitude carrie’s me through the dark valleys. It gifts me with perseverance.
There is so much I’m curious about. I mean, I’m curious about everything and nothing really makes sense to me.
Our very existence makes me curious. Like how is any of this even possible. The fact that we live on a planet surrounded by other planets and stars is just strange and insane to me. Even my daughters recognize how much of trip living is. One of my daughters always says, “is any of this even real, it feels like I’m in a dream”.
I’m curious about the details of life and everything’s purpose. It’s amazing… all the connections. I also wonder why certain things are certain things. An example would be why are the planets round and circular and not square or triangle. Why is fire orange and red and not pink and purple? My daughters taught me to wonder about things like that.
Our programming also keeps me curious. Some days I’m like who am I really without this programming and conditioning. Is everything just a coping mechanism? I don’t know, I think a ton. But I enjoy it in a way. I enjoy thinking about stuff I don’t know and getting lost in wonder. I am curious if we really will get all the answers one day.
People who have had near death experiences day say we will. And I do believe in God. That’s something I am curious about.
I’m glad we don’t have all the answers though in this life. This life experience wouldn’t be that great if we knew everything. There’s joy to be found in search and discovery.
Stay curious friends, always. We are all in this together.
Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.
Here’s a random one.
Not to long ago I was at the grocery store doing you know, the weekly shopping.
The golden kiwis were on sale so I put 4 or 5 little cartons of kiwi in the grocery cart.
At check out an older lady and her husband were standing behind me. Probably in their 60s. She points to the kiwis and says, “oh wow, what kind of kiwis are those? I’ve never seen them before.” I said, “oh my goodness they are golden kiwi, they are soooo good. I had never tried these before either until my stepmom introduced them to me.”
She then says, “I’ll have to get them next time. We love fruit.”
After I finished paying for my groceries I handed her a carton of golden kiwis with a smile and said, “Here. Take these.”
She had the most surprised look on her face. I can still see it in my head. Maybe it had been awhile since a human has surprised her. She kept saying, “are you sure?” And I said, “Yes, yes! Absolutely! Enjoy!”
She was so thankful. It made me feel so good too. I truly hope she and her husband enjoyed the fruit!
My husband always rushes me when we need or want to go somewhere. I can’t stand it. He will start the car sometimes while I am barely even ready!
He is always in a hurry though. I find myself saying often, “do we have an appointment somewhere? Did I miss something? Why are we rushing?”
I don’t know that this behavior will ever really change but I have accepted that’s how he is. Luckily I am able to get ready super fast. And when I get in the car I’m usually angry.
Then I look at him and say, “you should be happy I can get ready so fast and I am not high maintenance.” Then he smiles and says, “one of the reasons why I married you.” And then gives a cute wink. Then I give him a smirk like, “yeah yeah…” It’s so hard to stay mad at him for long.
But you know what ends up happening sometimes? I end up saying, “I don’t know if I unplugged the straightener?” Then he gets all mad at me that he has to turn around because I HAVE to check. And I really do! I HAVE to make sure it’s unplugged! It’s annoying! These days I literally say outload, “the straightener is unplugged.” And if it’s not the straightener it’s the oven or the stove.
That has happened more than once.
However, now when he rushes me, before he pulls out of the drive way he says, “Marie go make everything is unplugged.”
The Wild Gems 