3/20/16 RMB This is IT

3/20/16 RMB This is IT

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

Sifting through the puzzle pieces of our lives, the people we know, the places we go, there is a rhythm, and we spend our time searching for solutions, the perfect fit.

Sometimes perfection is in mixing the colors, in not matching, in uneven edges and off key tunes, the perfect imperfection of life.

This is it. The “it” we search for sits within awaiting discovery, amused by chaos, lulled by sound, and alive with spirit, here for now and hereafter, forever, everlasting.

To view oneself seeing, to hear one’s own voice speaking, to observe the feelings flowing through one’s own body, this is viewing oneself through an inner vision. Take that inner light to heart. Comprehend its power, its joy, and share it with the world.

Find strength in it and be guided by it. The place it originates, like the space between the notes of a song, is what holds everything together.

Togetherness, ‘tis goodness in it,

Loraine

3/13/16 RMB Remaining Words

3/13/16 RMB Remaining Words

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

On a surprisingly cool southern California day, I picked up my library request of How Full is Your Bucket for Kids, by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer, just in time to drive to the home of my nephew trio and read it to them.

The book is a bit young for their teen years, but the lesson has yet to be learned. After a day of fighting, fortunately the eldest rose above it this time, all three of them sat to hear the reading of this book. It contains an element of As You Give You Receive.

Will the words stick? Has the lesson been learned? I doubt it, not from this one encounter. This is one instance of hundreds that mount the battle in each child’s head that wages war between the choice of this or that, to do good or harm, to help or hurt, in the unfolding of their future days.

It amazes me how this man, Tom Rath, wrote words that have helped me to understand the impact of my own words. And now, he has helped me to relay the same message to three souls of importance to me.

I don’t know Tom Rath. Yet, I read his words. As with the three squabbling boys, humanity inches forward in our treatment of one another. Year after year, century after century, we carry words written in our yesterdays into our tomorrows.

The classic plot of good versus evil in our fiction, plays out in our actions daily. Here’s hoping that good wins, that the best words are the words that remain, and that we have the wisdom to continue sharing them.

                        

Onward,

Loraine

3/7/16 RMB Thunder and Lightning, oh my!

3/7/16 RMB Thunder and Lightning, oh my!

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

Today the skies let loose, rain and thunder and lightning, oh my!

Compared to an Alabama downpour, it was a drop in the bucket. Although the ground did get a complete soaking, cars are washed clean of their dust, and the trees and flowers are getting their fill to drink.

Wheels are set in motion for our deserts to fill with wildflowers, a blanket of yellow and pink with spots of white and red.

What an amazing world we live in. Isn’t it grand!

A slightly damp,

Loraine