Passion

Someone sent me a quote today that basically said; "Passion is what allows dreams to become a reality." Ain't that the truth!

Without passion my dream of writing a book would have never become a reality. Without passion my desire to do the kind of work I do would not have happened and I would not be where I am today. Without passion to follow my truth I would not be living the kind of relationship that is right for me. Without passion I would find it difficult to get up in the morning looking forward to my day.

Passion is filled with hope and excitement. Passion is the burning in my gut that won't allow me to give up or let go even if I don't know how I will get there. Passion allows me to enter the dream world and to believe in the power of possibility in making my dream become a reality.

My grandmother, at 16 years of age had a passion for painting. She never had any training, never took a class, never studied painting in any way. She just let her passion guide the way.

Crazy Week - Expensive Weekend

Hoping to get back on track with writing and other things after a crazy busy week at the office plus a lot of hours that went into completing a contract job for an elderly person who had to relocate to Edmonton. Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in a day.

Feels good to get back to writing even if it's just a few words here (blog) and there (journal) for now. I need/want to get to a long overdue hand written letter off to a friend in Armstrong.

Does anyone still do that - write letters by hand I mean? It seems to be a lost art. People look at me as if I'm from another planet if I say I'm writing a letter with pen and paper and posting it in the mail. Let me tell you something though.

Writing a letter the old fashion way feels much more real somehow. It comes wrapped in time, effort, attention, presence and love. When I write a letter by hand I feel like all of me goes into it.

When I receive a response and hold the paper the other person wrote on, it feels so much more personal. It's like the other person's spirit comes alive through the words on the page.

Besides, who doesn't like getting something personal and meaningful in a box full of utility bills and junk mail.

How easily I trail off and get off topic. I was writing about the crazy week and expensive weekend. Wasn't I? (That's the beauty of a blog or journal writing though. You can trail off whenever you want to wherever you want and it's all good.)

The expensive weekend. A trip to Grande Prairie and a shopping spree. A long list for Costco, where we always end up with a few more items in the basket then on the list plus some badly needed and long overdue winter wear. The last winter jacket I bought myself was when I had little kids at home and my youngest is now 36 so that ought to say something.

We also found a coat for Andree who was in desperate need of one too. Plus I went a step further (pun intended) and bought myself a pair of winter boots! Having spent all of last winter with a pair of boots someone lent me because she didn't want to see me freeze my feet, I figured it was time I did something about that too. They are not the prettiest things but they are supposed to keep me toasty warm to -32.

And how nice it was to just get away and not do anything work related. Andree got herself a pedicure and I got my face waxed to get rid of my beard. We went out for supper, took in a movie, shopped and had a sleep over at Andree's daughter's place. Yup, I'd say it was an expensive but hell of a good weekend. Thank you for that.

Who me? I didn't do it!

What do you mean you want this chair?

Being Human

On a personal level, many things that have happened lately have made me realize more and more that "the spiritual work of being human is learning how to love."

Loving through the good times and loving those who love us is the easy part, but loving when love is not reciprocated, or loving through adversity is when the real challenge of being human comes into play.

When I reflect on the people who have the strength to walk through my office door to seek help with the issues they are facing, I can pretty much say the issues, in some way shape or form, have to do with love.

Not feeling loved, now knowing how to love, love being withheld, losing the love they had, wishing they had loved more or been able to express it more, the mistakes they've made when it comes to love, the lessons they've learned or what they feel is the lack of love in their life.

It's all part of being human and our journey in learning how to love.