Leaving 2023

2023 has been a difficult year for me,  both personally and seeing how the world is trending.  So I can find it hard to find joy,  though I usually love Christmas time.  

I read this article by Anne Lamott in the Washington Post - The Dressing Room Encounter that made me get Real about Aging, and it really spoke to me.  She had a line in it - "love and service make us rich."  And it is just so true.  I find whenever I am feeling lost or tired,  being with people I love or serving the community in some way,  just makes me feel better.  

When I meet strangers of a certain age I ask them how many grandchildren they have.  Six one woman proudly replied.  You are so rich! I told her, and she beamingly agreed.  Not that you need grandchildren (or children) to have riches,  but you don't need money either.  You need a sense of place in the world.  Houses of Worship can give that to you,  but so can organizations that you value.  

I belong to the CWA - the Country Women's Association,  a group of practical, down to earth women who try to fix what they can and fundraise for issues they find important.  And they are so crafty!  I so admire a woman who can go to a 2 hour meeting and walk out with a crocheted hat.  It's like magic!  I am not crafty - but I can sell - so I help them get all their hats and aprons and Christmas ornaments together and sell them to others and give the money back to women in the country.   A virtuous circle.

So if you are feeling poor in time and energy,  I hold you in my heart.  It's been a tough year.  But one source of renewable energy for me,  is Love and Service.  Don't have someone to love? Go and give service.  I know it sounds strange but giving to others can fill you up and make you feel connected and then you feel richer in energy, and then you find love - maybe from a person, maybe from a dog,  maybe from a community.  

Wishing you a warm and safe Christmas and with Love and Service to make you rich... 

Notes to Myself, by Hugh Prather

I read this book,  Notes to Myself by Hugh Prather, way back when.  But the book I read was actually the 20th anniversary addition and it had been published in 1970! 

I was reminded of it during a tarot reading recently when a client was describing a book she had written and her desire to get it into print. 

Hugh had written:

After I had written this book I told several friends.  Their reaction was polite and mild.  Later I was able to tell them that the book was going to be published.  Most of them responded with the words "I'm proud of you."  Proud of the results but not of the action. 

Everyone but I must look back on my behavior.  They can only see my acts coupled with their results.  But I must act now, without knowing the results. 

I think we often praise the results,  rather than the effort.  You won an Olympic medal, so much more impressive than just being in the Olympics and coming 20th. But that's 20th in the world!  That's absolutely amazing! 

It is easy to look at the results and decide whether it was worth the effort or not. But we will never know the results beforehand,  and have to decide whether to go ahead or not,  without any assurances.  

All new activities follow the Fool card,  walking into the future, with a song in our heart,  not knowing what will happen, only what may,  what we hope for.  And then finding the purpose of the path only after we have walked it, seeing what it taught us. 

So my encouragement for all of us,  is to start a path,  put in the action,  and let the results come to us.