The warmth
that envelops you and the smile that practically makes your jaws ache?
On
Thursday, Warren and I were a part of something so simple, and yet, something so profound
for another young couple.
You know
that rehabbed house we’ve been trying to sell for a year?
Six months
into the listing, when we began to feel anxious about the lack of activity, I
began saying “The right buyer is coming along.”
It’s sort
of been my mantra, one that kept me from falling into some abyss of fear and
speculation.
Guess what?
It turns out the right buyer did come along, but more importantly, that deal
landed in our laps at exactly the right time.
Almost like
it fell from the heavens. Seriously.
You see,
the woman who took care of our children and laundry and dishes and floors and
pets, who started when she was just a preteen herself, recently entered into a
situation where she and her family needed a helping hand.
She and her
husband had found their dream property, one that was ideal to their family’s
unique needs, but the stars weren’t aligning and they ran into one unforeseen
glitch after another, right up to their contingency deadline, and the seller
wouldn’t budge.
This young
couple had been watching this home for months and were as elated when their
offer was accepted as they were heartbroken with an impending collapse of the
deal.
Warren and
I found out about their dilemma one week after we closed on that
flipped house.
We had
mentally allocated the proceeds from that sale from the day we’d completed the
project, but days before we spent that money, Warren heard about their dilemma.
“You know,
we were in this very position two years ago,” he said to me after we’d
approached them with some assistance, “but the timing was bad for everyone we
knew.”
“It just
feels good to be in a position to help someone else out, doesn’t it?” he
continued.
Journeyer,
we were able to buy that land and entered into an agreement to sell it to them
when they are ready.
It’s a
win-win situation.
My heart
nearly burst when I stopped by on my way home to find them with their toddlers,
who excitedly told me about the pond and how they were going to go fishing with
papa, the adults discussing how they want to revamp and revitalize this
old home after gutting it of its original lath and plaster walls.
When we
build kindness and hope and love, when we believe in the spirit that resides in
each of us, those things come back to us, Journeyers.
I believe
that with all of my being.
As
frustrating as the minutia and mean-spiritedness and mind-boggling shit can be,
I keep willing myself to come back to that place of peace and kindness and that
of a more settled brain chatter.
As I drove
home from that new place, remembering the little girl exclaiming, “flower!” and
pointing to the matching color on her striped sundress, this week’s title came
to mind, and I thought about longing, about lost and regained hope, about
desire and dreams, and the beauty of this universe, one that bears the power of
it all.
Always,
Journeyer, even in our darkest of hours, there is something that brings us joy.
It might
simply be a fleeting flicker of hope, an occurrence that brings a faint smile to
our lips, or an event that makes us chuckle out loud or laugh a side-splitting
guffaw.
Regardless
of how brief the moment might be, it bears a measure of happiness, and when we
give it credence, when we give it a voice within us by honoring it, then we are happy.
My week’s field
has been scattered with all different kinds of fresh and beautiful symbols of
joy.
Here are a
few images of the gorgeous land laid out before me as I made yet another trip!
I’m super
happy to report that this time I’m traveling strictly for myself and this work
I love!
As I
pre-prepare this post, I am aboard Delta flight 1500, bound for a Hay House
Writer’s Workshop in Denver.
I’ve been
following this organization for a while now, and couldn’t believe my good
fortune when I clicked on the e-mail link, a correspondence I almost overlooked
in my daunting stack of unread mail.
Not only
was the timing excellent, the gathering was to be held two days after the
official SCHOOL’S OUT bell rang, we had the money to cover the costs, and it
also happened to be in Squirrel’s hometown, where her mother was thrilled to
put me up and offer me a car to take me to and from the venue.
I just love
it when things come together so nicely.
Now flash
forward with me three days, where I sit aboard Delta flight 1343 returning home...
Wow. Just
wow…
Exhilarating,
exhausting, engaging, inspiring, and ever so rewarding!
I not only
listened to some brilliantly inspirational people like Gregg Braden, Reid
Tracey, and Nancy Levin, I also met several new friends like Jenna, the girl
who swears I saved her life this past Saturday morning.
Coming in
late, Jenna copped a squat on the floor after the woman next to an open seat
told her the seat wasn’t available.
I had to
meet this woman, Journeyer, for this is exactly the kind of thing I might have
done in that same situation.
Well, I’m not going to let a selfish being or a lack of
space stand in the way of my day or my dreams, I imagined our thoughts.
At the
break I practically leapt across the women between me and her and introduced
myself, explaining how I admired her moxie (courage mixed with creativity, as I
later told her.)
She
explained that she was late coming in because another car all but ran her off
the road, that she’d only had two hours of sleep the night before, that her
empty stomach and the adrenaline from the “near-death experience” weren’t
jiving too well, but that she was there, and nothing was going to prevent it.
How did I
save her life, you want to know?
A bag of Trailmix
plucked from my purse.
Imagine
that. Making someone’s day or saving a life is a simple as a smile or a bag of
peanuts (and chocolate, of course.)
In other
warm and fuzzy news, my accommodations for the weekend included these furry
friends which made my stay even more like being home.
Mopsy, my roommate and little Mother Hen!
Blue.
(He wasn't grouchy until I insisted he pose for this picture!)
Willy.
And last, but not least, Snoopy, who was so excited I couldn't capture one still photo of her!
A Saturday
night stroll took us by the Riverfest event and gave me the chance to meet Squirrel’s sister, who is as equally
charming as the rest of her family.
I’ll be
able to put it in this Barnes and Noble mug one of my kindergarten students
gave me on the last day of school.
Speaking of
my students, they loved the end-of-year parting gifts I made for them:
Fortunes!
Here are
the other documentations of those things that filled my past week’s happy…
Though this
smiling pooch wasn’t a part of my Denver package, this image is one that kicked off my
week’s joy.
This
rainbow was part of my welcome mat to Denver!
And the
skies and those mountain peaks!
Downtown
Denver’s 16th Street Mall courtyards are filled with pianos awaiting
someone, anyone, to sit down and play!
On my last
morning in Denver, I spotted this custom label on this bottle of wine. The
image is from an actual photo taken (with a cell phone, no less!) of my friend’s
tiny cottage high above the city’s chimney tops.
The
daughter who took the photo and put together this gift, seems to understand all
too well the meaning of that quote she included, one written by poet Marsha
Norman: “Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about
you.”
Journeyer,
one of the things I’ve been doing as I’ve traveled is sprinkling about Digging for the Light bookmarks or
signed copies of the book.
What about
you, Journeyer? Will you join me by sharing a snapshot of a single moment that
brought your soul a measure of happiness?
Until
next we meet again, yours in healing and hope and happiness…
~AE
Oh, and one
more thing before I go: After nearly a month, I finally succeeded in advancing
beyond Level 323. It's the little things...
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