Any Random December Day

Last December I wrote, “Whether you honor St. Nicholas Day, Bodhi Day, Yule, the Feast Day of Our Lady Guadalupe, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day or are devoting December to your spectacular New Year’s Eve plans, there is cause to celebrate, over and over, if you wish. Imagine all that cheer and goodwill rippling around our globe, with so many splashing about in waves of collective delight, wow, like a well-needed global-reset to equal this holiday season chockfull of festivities to share with friends and family.” When you think about it, is there anything better to concentrate on than sharing in collective delight? Quite seriously, that is just about all I can hope for, sharing this glittery and bright joy until we are all swept up. If you take a peek around, you will find nature agrees, bringing forth uplifting vistas and epic skylines perfectly.

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Fairytale Greed

If you are privileged enough not to know anyone whose SNAP benefits were cut or has been working for weeks unpaid or suffering any indignities caused by the Republican lead government shutdown, then I guess you should call yourself lucky. You clearly live in a different America than I do. Oddly enough, the Brothers Grimm fairytale, The Fisherman and his Wife was echoing around in my mind this week. According to Wikipedia, this tale of greed was collected by the brothers in 1812, and is considered an anti-fairytale due to its tragic ending. Like most Waldorf school moms, I read this story to my young children, but due to decades teaching Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse the haunting images of the angry sea in the fairytale have stayed with me as Woolf wove the two stories together. It is the Greed with a capital G of the White House that is stirring this cautionary fairytale back into my consciousness.

the southern California coast

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Lift your Perspective

This week it took some extra effort to rise above the unraveling of so much happening in our world. But I am grateful for the reminders from nature to do just that. Walking out under a broad blue sky, hearing the screech of hawks circling overhead, watching our grandson scramble past the bird of paradise and lizards and palm trees along the hill toward the playground all shift my perspective toward a better place, one that allows for the firm belief that goodness will prevail, as day always follows night.

bird soaring in a blue sky

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