Happy Christmas

I'm going to ask you for something.
I'd like you to watch this video. To read this post.
To not look away.
Not to watch it later. Not to deem yourself to delicate...too busy...too stressed...too overwhelmed...
I'm going to ask you to open yourself...just for a moment.
I'm asking for 3 minutes of your life.
I'm asking you to let your eyes sting... to not fight back the tears. To let them come.
To not separate yourself. To not be "us" and "them" to not be "here"
rather than "there"
Just for a moment.
You may feel a sob in your chest. Would it hurt to let it out? What would happen if you felt it deeply? Would it ever be okay to wonder how tomorrow could ever follow this one moment?

This may seem like a departure from my norm, but in truth it is not.
You may ask about my usual sparkly words and inspiration, and this is, in part,
my answer. Those sparkly words and eyes for beauty are mine because of what I share with
you. This is my inspiration for living. This is the dark that allows my light.
Though I normally share with you what may seem like my more inspired moments, the truth is
that I feel inspired by much more than beautiful scenery and a wonderful life. I feel inspired by
these things because I understand, in every moment, what a gift it is to simply be alive. How lucky we are and how much I see
the ying yang reality of the world. I want to share more of my inspiration with you.
Then go ahead and read my wish for you.
Please.



My wish in sharing this is not to give you sadness.
It's not to give you images of horror.

My wish for you is hope.
My wish for you is vision. Clear vision and understanding.
My wish for you is hope. Hope for us.
Hope that we can do better.
Hope that we can be better.

Hope that we can remember. Not just at the holidays. Not just when we are confronted with images.
Hope that we can remember always that we are the privileged. We are the ones.
We can do better. We can change.
We can stand up and we can speak the truth.
We can look in the mirror and we can understand our role. That we can understand the need for a new way.
That it isn't something that happens "There"
That no war is righteous.
That Just because it doesn't say "Made in a factory by a 9 year old boy" DOES NOT mean that is made by a happy grandmother in Switzerland. That no plastic walmart toy is.

It's hope. Yes Hope.
Hope for you. Hope for me.
Hope that we remember that nothing is free. Nothing is cheap. Except Freedom.
Yes, that's right. Freedom does not come of money. It does not come of war. It does not come of pain.
Freedom comes of changed minds.

It comes of freed minds. Freed souls. You can free no one but your self, but you may inspire.
The flight of your soul may inspire and lift thousands and by the thousands shall lift millions.

You need not rescue or heal a child. You need only give them the hope that they may... because you do.

This is my hope for you. For me.
For us all.
Free your soul.
Walk through the pain, look it in the face, hear it's words. Fear is the only evil and you do not need it.
Knowing will never hurt you - it can only free you of the fear of what lurks in the shadows. My wish is that you will look bravely

inward and find that unaskable, unthinkable, unfathomable and ask, see, understand. Don't look away, but let it seep out into the light... through your tears...through your questions...through your sobs or your screams...but let it disolve in the light and the power of your knowing. Be thankful if you will, but don't believe that because it is "there" it could never be here.

My wish for you is hope.

I love you.

In this Christmas let us remember not what was, but what is. Let us not dream in what should be but to be propelled higher - to be *inspired*.

~* Be. Inspired. *~

My wish for you.

xoxo

Be Inspired

Via Superhero Journal

Create something today. Just for you. Just because.
Look for inspiration...everywhere.
Look until you see it everywhere!

xoxo

It Is Being

In watermelon sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar. I’ll tell you about it because I am here and you are distant.

Wherever you are, we must do the best we can. It is so far to travel, and we have nothing here to travel, except watermelon sugar. I hope this works out.
-Brautigan

Life can be really tough sometimes... obstacles coming so fast and so deep as to evoke that age-old exclamation, "You must be joking!" But, I think the universe is no jokester... all business and purpose... timing and all. The trick... the lesson... it seems is to learn to float rather than thrash when life turns into raging rapids.
When you "fix" your furnace for the 6th time only to have it break again...
when your furnace fix sticks only to have the cab heater close...
when the heat is flowing and now the engine won't start...
when the engine starts but the batteries won't charge...
when the batteries charge but the lights won't come on...
when the lights are on, but the gas tank starts leaking...
when the tank is patched but the transmission vacuum didn't like the exhaust fix you didn't even mention...
when where you want to go is the opposite direction of where you are going...

when you've been trying like hell to do the same thing for four days and the Universe keeps saying, "NO!"
You take a deep breath and relax into the flow - to find that it is not so much whipping, bruising or rushing as it is flowing strong, purposeful and willing to carry you over anything.
You look to your friends, or to any souls around you... or even within yourself and you feel grateful for the beauty or just for the opportunity to ride!

Peace.
Peace on Earth.
Peace of Mind.
Peace be with you.
The message is everywhere I look and today I swallowed it whole.

and now, It is also with me.

xoxo

Like A Band of Gypsies

Transition mode. That's where my mind has been these last few days.
Oh, I've tried telling myself, "Self, do not be captive to your mind."
Bah, my self will not listen. No, it is busy listening to my mind make lists to gear up for our return to the road...

groceries? check...
laundry? check...

I say to myself, "Self, you must write about your incredible adventures in DC!" but my mind says, "DC? That was a year ago! We are preparing to travel again!"

Ah, it is a losing battle this time, so I have planted my butt in front of the computer as that is something that I seem to still have authority over ;-p


DC was fantastic, inspiring, surprising, difficult and I know many of you are waiting for this information:
Jack. Jack was also fantastic, inspiring, surprising and not at all difficult ;-} He's the real deal, y'all. Honest, genuine, educated, thoughtful, patient... His courage inspires me and gives me comfort in my own, and the loving attention that he showered on my children was totally unexpected and completely marvelous.

We spent days touring the monuments and museums. We walked up and down Georgetown and Dupont Circle and even had time for a family tradition... viewing The Polar Express and getting all weepy.
We even saw a few Christmas trees and talked to strangers, which got me to thinking...
How often do you talk to strangers? I try to do it every day. Actually, I've found that I don't have to try at all. It just happens, and the more I enjoy it, the more often it happens, and the more often it happens the more I come to appreciate the extraordinary conversations.

On our last night in DC we were brought together by the stars. Literally. As we came out of the museum we were immediately caught by the sight of the cresent moon flanked by both Jupiter and Venus. It was really something to see and as we stood on the steps talking about it I questioned the astrological significance and a lady next to us answered my questions. We kept talking as we all headed toward the subway. Our kids played together as we walked and our conversation turned, as if often seems to, to the location from whence we came. It turned out that in that conversation, we were not the only full time travelers, and she already knew who we were. We shared a train ride and swapped stories and our kids (as nomadic kids are apt to do) became best friends over the course of that hour. I was also invited to a dinner party, complete with live music and late night chats over the squeals and laughter of children, following a conversation with a complete stranger! I highly recommend it.

All in all, my favorite part of our DC experience was my trip to the grocer with Jack.

Now, we are here in Virginia preparing to leave and all feeling a bit sad at the thought. Our time here has been much more than lovely. It has been restful and happy, as well as filled with fun, and the scenery can't be beat. Just this morning we had a small town Christmas affair, complete with a private museum tour, carols around the town tree with the townspeople, a parade, hot cocoa and bounce houses. So. Much. Fun.

Then, not to be outdone, this afternoon my handy partner surprised me with the announcement that we now have FORCED AIR HEAT THROUGHOUT THE RV! He managed to fix both the furnace and the cab heater, so we will now be warm not only when we stop, but also while we are driving.
WhaHoooOooo!!!

So, the laundry is done. The RV is stocked to bursting with our favorite healthy foods (thanks to access to a reasonably sized whole foods grocer) and tonight we will begin loading our things back onto the RV to spend our first night there - testing and trying before we depart.

We'll be headed back to Wisconsin, one last time, to celebrate my sister's graduation from UW as well as Christmas with my family before we finally head south...where an RVing family should be in the winter!

xoxo