who are you thankful for?

tell them today!

becoming real ...

i was thinking this past week, about spirit.

and how faith in a person, loving a person, can bring about their real self.

i was also thinking about the difference between knowing you are loved, and feeling you are loved.

it is possible to know, without a doubt, that someone loves you.  yet it is a completely different thing to feel that someone loves you.  and knowing someone loves you does not guarantee that you will feel loved by that person.

but the feeling of being loved completely ... allows us to be who we are, completely.  our real selves.  we know we are safe, our heart is safe, our real self is safe ...

this nurtures our spirit and keeps it alive ... 

like during the holidays, you see something similar in many of the christmas movies ... when the children (and in some movies the adults too) believe in santa claus, their belief in him makes his sleigh fly;  believing in santa makes him exist ... makes him real.

when we as parents believe in our children to make good choices, to "be good" and to do what's right, they generally rise to meet that standard.  our belief in them, in that way, makes those ways real.

when teachers believe in their students, and treat them as if they are already successful, they succeed in larger numbers and with greater accomplishment.

it is not just the christmas spirit ... it is the human spirit.

when someone believes in us and loves us, completely ... wholly, and without fail

not because of what we can do for them ...  not because of us "doing" anything at all ... but just because we are who we are ...

when someone believes in us,

like the little boy believed in the velveteen rabbit,

we become real.

we become who we really are.

who we've been all along,

since we were very young,

and uninhibited.

who we are capable of becoming

without fear 

or doubt.

i am fortunate to know with certainty that i have been loved in this way.

it gives me great peace to know

that i in turn

love

in this way...

there is a true calmness that settles over our heart when we realize and recognize this.

a lightness, a settledness (if that's a word) inside our chest, that provides a clearer and brighter path for us to walk.

(i used to describe this as a rushing inside my chest that one day i realized had stopped ...)

when we are not hindered by anything outside of ourselves, when we are moved and encouraged by love and faith (faith of any kind, in any thing or in anyone) ... we are free to live from our heart, we step more surely and believe in those steps ... as we become real.

and as the skin horse assured the velveteen rabbit ...

once we become real,

we can't become unreal again ...  ♥

live your legacy

I selected this post to be featured on my blog’s page at Inspirational Blogs.

♥

so i attended a memorial service last week and was inspired like never before.

i wrote about this beautiful experience, and guess what?

i am now a regular contributing writer for lightworkers world!

you can read my article on their website :D by clicking here:   "are you living your legacy?" 

look for more of my thoughts there in the future, including photography by my soul sister liana kvidera, of carpe diem artography:

Visit LightWorkers World: Resources to create positive change and Self empowerment

~♥~

to be continued ...

so today while i was driving, i was thinking, and having conversations in my head, you know, much like the way our thought process goes when we're in the shower.  that's not just me, right?

so i was driving after having spent some time with a friend.  not just any friend, but a friend of my heart.  a connection i cannot imagine not having. 

i was wondering why this is.  and i was thinking about whether or not it really is what it seems to be.  like, how is this such an important thing, how is it that this person's presence actually affects me in this unique way?  there was, after all, a time when this connection did not yet exist.

how is it that being around this person feels like a celebration … of who we are ... of who each of us is.  a treasured collection of moments of being who we are, and excelling at it.  and it feels like we are never finished being together, we are always "to be continued …"

i was wondering, is it me?  am i assigning more value to this because of my  extremely tender heart?  am i making this mean more than it is, in my mind?  you know how we all know we have had moments where we question ourselves because we can all overthink things sometimes.  especially when we're driving.  alone.  that's not just me, right?

and so i tried to compare this friendship to others … and i couldn't.  

i tried to explain it to myself … and i couldn't.  

i tried to define it … and i couldn't.

but what i did succeed in doing, was realizing this ultimate truth:  the quality of my life is better with this person in it.

it's really that simple.  it's really that true.  and that was all i needed to know in the end.  

i smiled the rest of the way home ...

be brave. be authentic. be you.