Timed Rhythm

 Love is strange word. It means different concepts to different people.  Other languages have captured the concept of "love" to a much deeper extent than American English.  Greek and Latin, for example, both have over 5 different words to explain the feelings associated with "love."   American English uses one word: LOVE.   I LOVE tacos, my grandmother, my fiancé, my dog, and the sunshine. Perhaps in American English the concept of "love" has been simplified into meaning: something that gives our heart warmth and pleasure?  "So," my friend asks, "what does it mean to fall in love then, in this world where "love" seems so fickle?"  I am not an expert at this. Friend:  "So, how do you fall in love?" Wise Human Nearby: " Oh, deary, you CHOOSE to love someone. You just let yourself trust them completely with you.  You choose to jump in." Friend:  "...uh...that sounds super scary!" Wise Human Nearby:  ...

The Zombie apocalypse has been a recent and deep concern for the future of all humankind ... perhaps ever since Y2K or the end of the Mayan calendar... or perhaps since the world began?  Although the general views of zombies are of humans who are mad and cannibalistic, perhaps there is a more present danger among us: the not-so-cannibalistic zombie in hiding. Zombies in hiding do not eat other humans, but they do suck up the positive energy in the room and replace it with a general feeling of despair and sorrow.  They are usually hard to get together with because they are afraid of inflicting another person with their personal raincloud, and so often go quiet to the world until they turn back into a normal human.  This may take days or weeks or months or years.  Zombies in hiding are very good at hiding, and it has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with their fears of bringing you down.  They are staying away because they want to protect you from them...

High school is a time when teenagers slowly turn into young adults.  It is a time that many hate with a passion, but I LOVED high school.  Perhaps it is because my high school days were carefree?  Perhaps it is because I was so active and engaged?  Perhaps it was because high school was when I finally had the bravery to step into myself and slowly climb out of the shell I hid within. " How did you become brave ?" one might ask.    " Well, " I would answer, " I decided to join drama. " -----------     -----------     ----------- 1.  If you can't motivate yourself to change, put yourself in a place that you must.  Talking in front of people was always HARD for me because I hated being looked at, felt like I was always judged, and had ZERO desire to be on stage for everyone to criticize.  This is why I joined drama.  When you run out of tools to grow, you must move to a location where new tools and responsibil...

It has been said that the most important things learned in school were not learned in the classroom.  That doesn't mean that classes aren't important, but rather that there is much beyond reading, writing and arithmetic to learn.  Here are a few of the lessons I learned from my school years OUTSIDE of the school day: If you are afraid to jump in, just because you can't guarantee comfort, jump anyway!   In life there are many opportunities that are there for only a moment, a year, a space, and then gone.  Fear of the unknown can keep us from experiencing these opportunities.  It can keep us from experiencing life.  When we take a risk and jump, we not only learn and grow, but we inevitably find more of ourselves.   Be careful not to injure your teammates.  If you do, everyone will be mad at you.  You are stronger than you look.  Except for professional body builders, this is probably true for everyone.  We can handle m...

I looked up today after having my head 'down'... (for 7 months!!!) ...quietly escaping into the natural wilderness, or staring at my computer screen and living on Zoom, Google Meets, Skype, and FaceTime.  Inside my mind the word has felt halted, like a really long snow day: an unexpected pause in time.  Unfortunately, time doesn't actually pause.  When we put our heads down to focus, to hide ourselves, to survive, etc., time continues.  Life continues.  We may pause, but the rest of the universe is still in motion.  Even our atoms are ageing (or, rather, decaying).   It's strange, though, to think about HOW the world is changing around us when we really can't see it moving.  After COVID, things can't go back to 'normal' because life doesn't pause, and 'normal' only exists in the expected.  We have no way to prepare our minds for all the changes that will have taken place in these 7 or 10 or 14 months we live in isolation.   Mar...

Oftentimes I find myself wondering... I wonder why certain things scare some people and not others. I wonder why the world was created in the way it is (for beauty, for purpose, for desire, etc.). I wonder why death claims one and not the other. I wonder why we bottle things up instead of releasing them, talking about them, and letting them heal. I wonder why we're afraid to step outside our comfort zones...when we know growth is beautiful. I wonder why people repeat what they know instead of exploring the new. I wonder why it's so challenging to admit our hardest struggles, when we all struggle deeply. I wonder why people give-up and let go so easily. I wonder why cheddar cheese is dyed orange, why music sinks so deeply into the soul, why flying cars haven't yet been built (it is, after all, 2020, and I seem to remember a writing prompt from middle school... "Write about how the world will look in the year 2025, when scientists predict there will...

50 practical pieces of wisdom and encouragement I woke up this morning thinking about perfectionism, how it has impacted my life and the lives of those around me, and how many I know struggle as they strive to be perfect.  I couldn't sleep. So, I wrote down these simple encouragements and words of wisdom that were dancing around in my mind: You are perfectly imperfect. Fail on purpose sometimes, just to prove to yourself that you can. Those who stand with ‘perfect faith,’ but never risk a step, don’t have perfect faith. Asking for help means that you trust someone, and are willing to allow them to bless you.  You cannot be successful at deep relationships until you can do this. If you move the ‘wrong’ way, can you mess up God’s plans?  Nope! You are not that powerful. I don’t want to be friends with a perfect person.  (I’m not perfect enough for that). Prove to me that you aren’t perfect. If you never fail, then you haven't been trying as hard as y...