(not necessarily in that order)
Our Ananda Village choir resumed rehearsals this week after an extended pandemic hiatus and several failed comeback attempts. We’re hoping and praying that this time choir is back for good!
Although Ramesha and I aren’t there to participate yet, we’re thrilled to know it’s happening. And even more thrilled to receive this photo of everyone sending us love.
How sweet is that?!?
We can’t wait to be singing with our beloved choir family once again.
This was the message I received on my Momentum Dash the other day. Not surprisingly, it made me think about, not just the current challenges I’m facing, but how best to approach living in general and life itself.
I believe it’s basic human nature to want to deny and reject experiences that we find painful, difficult, or uncomfortable; I’ve done it myself time and time again throughout my lifetime. But it’s contractive, which is not a good strategy for actually rising above those experiences.
In order to accept and wholeheartedly embrace what in front of us — no matter how painful or difficult or uncomfortable — we have to raise our energy, draw on inner strength, listen to intuition, and be open and receptive to all kinds of help.
And that’s expansive, which is our best, most excellent strategy for creating a life experience filled with love, joy, peace, and abundance.
I find this fascinating. All extremely common words, but it would never in a million years have occurred to me to compare the number of letters in each one.
But I’m grateful that it occurred to someone (thank you, whoever you are), because it has caused me to reflect on how important it is to choose rightly.
So along those lines: I choose love, friends, and truth; I choose to be positive; I choose to rise above and to live in joy; I choose to be happy; I choose what is right; and I choose to heal.
And so it is.
Talk about duality.
Yesterday I shared a photo of a beautiful little girl blissfully embracing Divine Mother in the form of a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Today a friend shared the GoFundMe link of a little girl who suffered serious burns after catching fire while standing too close to a propane heater.
I don’t know the little girl, Gardenia, or her family, although they live in our general area.
What I do know is how overwhelming it felt getting the cancer diagnosis and navigating all the details of treatment and finances, and becoming familiar with the realities of the medical system and its lingo.
And that was with me feeling well, Ramesha having flexibility in his schedule to accompany me to virtually every appointment, and the tremendous support of our worldwide community.
I cannot begin to imagine how this family is coping, with Gardenia undergoing constant surgeries and intense medical care, while they have two other small children to care for at home, and with all the driving back and forth they’ll have to do for months and years.
Not to mention the trauma this little girl has gone, and is going, through. It breaks my heart.
I realize there are so many people suffering in the world right now, but Gardenia has been brought to my attention and I feel compelled to do what I can to help. So, I’m sharing her story.
If you feel to donate, great. If you feel to share, perfect. If you feel to pray for Gardenia and her family, wonderful.
There’s even the option of checking out their Amazon Wishlist of various foods, medicines and other forms of nourishment and comfort.
Most important of all, let’s channel Divine Mother’s love to Gardenia.
Today a friend shared this photo, taken during Springtime at Ananda in Crystal Hermitage Gardens.
I found it so completely precious that I had to share it here.
But really, the picture says it all. I have nothing to add.
I overcame my phone resistance today and was rewarded with a lovely chat with my dad and sister.
I’m not sure why I have such a hard time picking up the phone and calling people I love, but I’ve been that way pretty much forever.
Oh well. 🤷♀️
Jyotish and Devi have been on fire in their classes this Inner Renewal Week.
They express so much wisdom, love, and joy in their every word and action, it’s a thrill to be in the room with them.
And most wondrous of all, is being able to call such great souls our friends.
I would never have guessed that receiving this much love, this much support, this much attention would be such a humbling experience.
But it is.
In fact, I’m beginning to think this is the first big lesson — test, even — of my health journey.
The fact is that I’m not all that comfortable with lots of attention. Of course, if I say that to someone, they’re surprised, because I’m obviously quite comfortable standing up in front of lots of people and performing.
But you see, when I’m performing, it’s not about me; it’s about the music and that makes all the difference.
So, I understand that a big part of my job right now is to focus on being open and receptive to the blessings that are pouring in from all sides.
I’m concentrating on breathing it all in and accepting that God really does love me this much.
I can hardly believe it, but today was the eighteenth Valentine’s Day I’ve shared with Ramesha.
For our first Valentine’s Day in 2004 we had dinner at a pizzeria in Ciriè, Italy (outside Torino), where my singing group was staying for a few days.
We had gotten engaged exactly one week earlier, on February 7. Ramesha was planning to ask me on Valentine’s but couldn’t wait. 😊
And here we are, almost twenty years later. What a blessing. 💗
…is love, sweet love! 💖
And this little gnome is doing his part to spread more love everywhere!
I didn’t realize it when I found myself thinking about this meme and wanting to share it again, but I originally posted it exactly a year and a day ago — on December 21, 2020.
And here’s Dionne Warwick in the late 60’s, singing about what the world needs…now and always.