Meri's Musings

Once, a few years ago, I attended a writing conference on the campus of Brown University.  The summer session was taking place, so there were lots of students around (some of whom thanked us for coming,  because the food in the cafeteria improved when there were conferences on campus). One day, as I was walking between workshops, I paused to watch a young man who was practicing his skills as a tightrope walked. He had a rope tautly stretch between two large trees, perhaps two to three feet off the ground. Enough height to practice, but not enough to break bones  if balance didn't outwit gravity. He moved slowly, with determination, a look of concentration on his face. One foot. . . then gingerly, the next foot. Sometimes his arms shot out to steady him. And sometimes, his arms weren't enough and he'd fall (or self-propel) from the tightrope. He'd shake off the mishap and mount the rope again, always lookin...

Let go. Why do you cling to pain?    There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love?                                -- Leo Buscaglia We often cling to our memories, even the painful ones, because we don't know who we would be without them. We mistake our history for our destiny. It's time for me to invent new stories.  Care to join me?

Tomorrow is   a day of thanks for Americans. A day of sharing with family and friends. Can you remember to give thanks for joy and pass us a plate full of delight here at SHARE THE JOY THURSDAY? I'll be giving thanks for things that bring me joy, like family and getting to see the magic of the world through the eyes of the next generation blue bottles on a ledge the splendor of color especially when it's backlit through a window and sparkles like gems  having learned that time is precious and we should be mindful of each moment, using our talent to cultivate joy instead of focusing on shoulds and what-ifs and if-only, things that waste minutes we can't recapture What gives you JOY? Tell us. ------------------- To play along: 1. do a post that tells and shows us what gives you joy. 2. capture the URL of the specific post and paste it into the Mr. Linky box along with your name. 3. visit other players -- as many as possible -- and let their ...

Mother Nature is a master teacher. She shows us by example how futile it is to hang on  to something  when the time for hanging on has passed. To blossom when the time is right. And how to just BE.

Passages. Movement from one place to another. Sometimes from a place of light to a place of darkness. But then, squeezing out the other end of sorrow, into joy once more. Sometimes we willingly travel the path. Sometimes we're sucked into the vortex by forces too strong to resist. All passages we must travel to arrive at growth and resolution.  

One of my dearest friends made an observation in a conversation not long ago that's bothered me a lot. She said, of my former husband, "He was the love of your life. You completely and totally adored him." And yes, she's right. I did adore him. Utterly. I loved his scent, the texture of his skin, the sound of his voice, how gifted he was at working with people. His soft green eyes melted my heart. My heart skipped a beat when he came through the door. He made the best Spaghetti Carbonara, Veal Scallopini, and Fettucini Alfredo I've eaten anywhere, including in Italy. His touch undid me, made me shiver with delight. He provided amply for our family and was generous with friends and family. There were times when he made me feel so loved, though now I wonder if that was just illusion created by a master manipulator because so much of his secret behavior was inconsistent with loving me and actively undermined our marriage. In any event, his good points as well as the...

Sometimes things aren't what they seem. We settle in somewhere, thinking it's going to be safe and hospitable and just what we hoped for, a magical haven that provides us shelter from harm. Then reality sets in and we realize that we were mistaken. That soft place to land turns out to be quite a bit less soft than we'd anticipated. In fact sometimes things get downright hard and cold and unforgiving. Not at all what we expected. Do we stay and make the best of it or fly away to build a new nest somewhere else? Sometimes the most valuable lessons come from learning to see the beauty right in front of your eyes. Sometimes we bloom most gloriously when we learn to thrive just where we are and come to love just what we have. Maybe each of us is exactly where we need to be, learning lessons custom-made for us.