Starfish

 This picture is a repost but I love its simplicity. The candles were lit on the outside deck and salt was accidentally spilled on the table. It had been a fun party and we were goofy tired so that's when the little starfish came into the picture. "Dance with me! My foot is off but I can still salsa!" Point and click, now our moment is captured and framed in the kitchen. Do you remember your first camera? They don't make mine anymore, it had a cubed flash that you  had to throw away after four pictures. Now I have one that is too smart for me to figure out.

Remembering Christmas Past

  Somewhere between accidentally holding hands with the wrong dad in a crowded shopping center and the long drive home in the back seat on a cold December afternoon, is when she decided to become a grown up. She would never suck her thumb again, would never sit on Santa Claus' lap and definitely never call him "Daddy". Tears fell on her new Alvin and The Chipmunks Christmas album that she had saved her allowance to buy. The crowded car full of siblings didn't notice her pain while her mom shouted, "Oh, you're terrible Charles!" Yes he was, all the while hearing his words, "I'm not standing in that line another minute! You're too big to believe in Santa Claus! There's no such a thing anyway!" echoing in her head.
 Leaving her inward child was easy for many years. She played the Christmas album for the amusement of her brother and sisters, never acting excited.  As luck would have things, time turned her into a mother and that is when the little girl came back. She played Christmas carols on her stereo and waited patiently in long lines with her children to take a peek at Santa. Luck, being the good friend that it is, also turned her into a grandma. The kind of grandma who calls her dad, "Daddy".

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxzwWIxiv6A

That Was Fun

 It's a great feeling to find an old picture or even a slightly old one! They have a way of speaking. A way of nudging us that life is good.

   "When words become unclear, I shall focus on photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence." ~ Ansel Adams~

 
 

Gossip and The Permanent Record

  "If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees."

                                                                                                 ~Kahil Gibran~

     Do you know where the teachers hide the permanent record book? Hopefully, things have changed, but when I was little, it was a big threat to keep us in line and I never saw them write in it when we were good. I was about to give up this myth until Aaron was starting his first grade year. The new teacher took me aside and said how happy she was to have my son. Aaron? Tell it how it is Pooky, don't mess with me Aaron? Yes, and then she opened a ledger with the names of all the children. Next to his name was a little red heart that his kindergarten teacher drew. I had the same experience year after year with him. That little red heart followed him through high school like a lucky charm! 

     I've been thinking about this "Force". The best way to notice it is through facebook. The same people talk about how hard their lives are only to keep experiencing hardships. The same people talk about fun things, only to tell us later about their new jobs or vacations. It's all energy and wants to please so it gives what it receives. There is hope but it is hard! I've been trying for two weeks and every day I write, "day one." For twenty one days in a row, you can't complain, talk bad about others even if it feels right. That means no gossip. If you mess up, apologize and then start over. Someone told me it will physically change your insides and you will automatically refrain from negative speaking.
    "We dance round in a ring and suppose, while the Secret sits in the middle and knows." ~Robert Frost
     There is a permanent record book called the Akashic Records. It contains the vibrational records of each individual soul and its journey. "Akasha" a Sanskrit word meaning "primary substance", that which all things are formed. The Record is known in every spiritual tradition. In Judeo-Christian tradition, it is "The Book of Life" and "The Book of God's Remembrance". There are ways to access the information for healing but it will be easier to read this book if we do an inner cleanse first.

                                           1. no fear
                                           2. no guilt
                                           3. no judgement

Linda Howe   Director of the Akashic Studies  http://www.akashicstudies.com