Words from the Heart

JOY!  JOYFUL! JOYOUS!   This is the word I chose to focus on during this coming year.  For me, 2014 is the year of JOY!   So how am I going to find joy in the mundane, everyday moments of life?  How will I find it when pain, frustration and anxiety rear their ugly heads?  How will I find it when the world appears to be filled with so much terror, fear and hate? My teachers would all say, "Look within."  But, I add, "Look out, around, in between, under and over!" Joy can be found in the silences of a Sunday sunrise and in the giant's clap of thunder.  Joy lingers just outside the window on any given day!  See it in the birds at the feeder, in the snow melting like liquid crystal and in the plants morphing through the seasons. Joy appears to me in the eyes of my grandchildren.  Joy speaks to me on the lips of my loved ones.  Joy sings to me in the songs my Roger writes. Here are some examples via a little photo diary....

  We found Joy visiting the Peace Pagoda with our Bridget over the holidays. New Year's Day 2014 is nearly over.  I find myself restless to begin this new year.  There is this feeling of standing back stage waiting for your cue to be given - part fear and part anticipation.   I don't do resolutions, as such.  I believe they are traps that cause us to think less of ourselves because, almost always, we cannot accomplish our resolution. Life gives us enough opportunities to struggle, why make more? So, I dream or wish and my dreams have come true, as witnessed this year when I published another book and became an ordained minister.  This year brought friends from near and far to visit, gave me time with my growing number of grandchildren and allowed Roger and I to escape for an overnight to a lovely Bed and Breakfast in Vermont. What to I dream of this year?  My biggest dream is to go to the Provence with Roger.  We are nearly there....