Following and feeling part of it all...

I've been following Humans of New York since it's early days in early 2011,  when a mere 2000 people would like it almost immediately.

Since then it has stretched to new heights,  doing an amazing piece of visiting distressed areas around the world for the UN, and most recently,  Brandon visited a school in New York,  Mott Hall Bridges Academy,  and highlighted the exceptional people working there.  It culminated with Brandon photographing the principal Ms Lopez, and Vidal, the student who started it all,  with President Obama!

I feel oddly proud of Brandon's accomplishments,  as if by witnessing them I am part of them.  The Mott Hall school story has been picked up by the Atlantic Magazine - another favorite of mine.  It's like all my favorite people got together to support each other!

When it doesn't happen effortlessly....

A  client just wrote me the sweetest note, as we kept missing and rescheduling appointments - 

I am so sorry - now I can't make it tonight at 8:30.  I know I want a reading - why is the universe trying to stop me??  Any chance you are still free tomorrow at 8:30?  

And I sent this reply - We are definitely on for tomorrow.  I will explain what the universe was up to!

 

It just so happens I’ve been fluey all week, and gradually getting better.   The universe was making sure I was up to par, and so our meetings never quite worked out.  

Sometimes you are all ready and raring to go, but the other person still needs to work on themselves (or get better!) and the connections/meetings don’t happen.  Don’t always blame yourself, you may well be ready, but they are not…

 

Art by Lyle Motley

Likes

What if you put up a picture and nobody likes it? 

I was thinking about this.  I put up a picture and it got 64 likes, the most any photo of mine had ever received, and I thought, does this make it a better photo? If I loved an image and put it up and it got no likes, would that make it less beautiful to me? There is something subtly corrupting about trying to garner likes,  so that images that spoke to us, and only to us,  appear to become less valuable,  and images that we kind of liked and put up and everyone liked – are they more special now?

I’m a bit curmudgeonly, in that I like to like things I think are unique; if everyone likes it, it loses some of its luster for me.   So if only a few people like your picture, hold it closer to your heart, it means only a few get it,  but those few get you… and better to have a few close, true friends, than a thousand acquaintances.

Quote of the Day

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it...”

~ Charles Swindoll

I'm always a bit scared to quote religious leaders,  especially ones whose work I don't know well,  but whatever else he may believe,  here he and I agree 100%.  I see this all the times in my readings - how we feel about something,  the attitudes we have,  are much more significant than the events themselves.

Vaccinations - science and superstition

It may sound odd, a tarot card reader warning against superstition.  But I’m a very pragmatic sort of new age believer, and indeed, many new age beliefs just don’t work for me at all.   I believe in spiritual cleansings, but not more than I believe in the power of hot water and soap. And I do believe that sometimes the tide of energy is just against us, but then we have to see the pattern and navigate through it. At all times, we must harness our intellect, to wend our way through the world.

People who have decided not to vaccinate, because they are scared of “toxins” have just created a fearful word and then try to magically avoid it.  What they appear not to acknowledge is so many that so many things have toxins in them,  they are impossible to avoid.  The entire idea of immunity is to build up our own reservoirs of reaction to infection, so that the next time the virus comes at us, we have some immunity to it.  Want to know more about the science – go to a reputable medical website or book     

We all desire to protect our children,  but we need to use our heads as well as our hearts,  it can't be all chaos and feelings,  we need order and science as well...

Groundhog Day

 

I wasn’t born or raised in the US, so my first introduction to the idea of Groundhog Day came from the excellent movie with Bill Murray – Groundhog Day.    

It has become one of my all-time favorite movies, because it seems to say something so important about love and life. What if you had to live the same day, over and over - what would you do? Who would you become? And if someone got to see me 10,000 times (or how many times that day actually happened) would he just fall more and more in love with me?  It felt like the most amazing love story, but full of weirdness and laughter and existential angst.  Really, a perfect movie!  If you are doing nothing else tonight, I encourage you to watch it, it’s a rare, perfect jewel of a film.

PS According to this years groundhog,  we have 6 more weeks of winter.  No surprises there!