make these things

Every minute someone leaves this world behind.
Age has nothing to do with it.
We are all in this line without realizing it.
We never know how many people are before us.
We cannot move to the back of the line.
We cannot step out of the line.
We cannot avoid the line.
So while we wait in line:
Make moments count.
Make a difference.
Make the call.
Make priorities.
Make the time.
Make your gifts known.
Make a nobody feel like a somebody.
Make your voice heard.
Make the small things big.
Make someone smile.
Make the change.
Make yourself a priority.
Make love.
Make up.
Make peace.
Make sure to tell your people they are loved.
Make waves.
Make sure to have no regrets.
Make sure you are ready.
This world will often leave you wishing you had just 5 more minutes. Feel free to share this powerful reminder on perspective and wake up each day realizing it is a gift and to make the most of it!

Author: Marianne Baum

things i want to say to you, most i already have

i love you and no matter how may times i say it, it doesn't lose its depth or meaning. 

i'm afraid, because time will continues to pass and i want to spend as much as i can with you.  i think of a life with you and then i question if that would even be fair to you. 

i'm envious of the woman you live with and i believe no matter what you may say she does not and cannot appreciate you like i do.  i don't believe it's within her experience to do so.  it makes me somewhat angry that she doesn't know what she has and i do, and i want you to be mine so you can feel loved, desired and appreciated every day.

i cry too often when i think of you and us and how much i love and miss you, your touch, your face, your love and affection.

i feel all this love bottled up in me that is constantly waiting to be given to and shared with you so sometimes i cry just because my need to express these feelings is so overpowering and there's no way to touch you or hold you or care for you.   

i cannot go to bed at night without thinking of you touching me and me touching you as i lay there waiting for sleep.

i love your kisses and crave your mouth on mine. 

too often i wonder what you are doing as the day progresses.

your eagerness and desire thrills me.  i imagine your hungry kisses and your arms around me and i melt at the thought.  you stir me in ways and to a degree that no one ever has.  i've never known this level of chemistry.

my heart needs you.  my soul needs you.  my body needs you.

i can hardly stand the thought of you making love to another woman.  i'm not proud of this, but it's true.

i admire your character.  you are a good person and i recognize this. 

i think you embody the perfect balance of reason and romanticism.

you strengthen me and build my confidence.

i don't want to need you but i do.

i want what time we share to be enough, but it seems to never be enough.  it only makes me want you more. 

i believe some people were just meant to be together and few are fortunate enough to find each other. 




   

these things

every day i have fear
about love
about life
about survival

and

every day i cry
about love
about life
about survival

and

every day i pray
about love
about life
about survival

and

every day i hope
about love
about life
about survival

and

every day i give thanks
for love
for life
for survival

3-25-2020

words to live by

i awoke at 5:30 this morning.  it's a bit aggravating that i can seldom sleep more than 5 hours a night especially at this point in time when there's little reason to be awake at that hour.  but here i am.

by 6:30 i caught the sound of birds chattering outside my kitchen window.  i thought it funny how nothing has changed in their world while ours seems a bit surreal.  the birds go on greeting the day as always, doing what birds do every day of their lives.  squirrels scurry across the yard, frolicking from tree to tree with no concern, doing the same.  the small, wild things, (as my grandaddy used to call them), carry on undisturbed by the concerns of man.

i am not a religious person nor do i adhere to any specific dogma.  yet this morning while thinking about the birds and squirrels and battling my own insecurities, i could not help but consider a quote from the bible's book of matthew:
  
“therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. are you not of more value than they? and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ..."

now i don't know if we're of more value than the birds of if god is even paying attention.  actually i don't know for sure what god is any more than anyone else, despite claims.  but there is relevance to the thought that our being anxious serves no purpose and that we could take a lesson from nature at this time of uncertainty.

as i focused on thoughts like this, in serendipity, a friend shared the following poem by john o'donohue today on facebook.  we all need a little reminder of faith and hope in the face of adversity and it is so often the words of others that inspire our own fortitude.  

This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.

something good this way comes?

it is sat, march 14, 2020.  we are seeing fear and panic strike the entire country.  people are stockpiling and as advised, going into isolation to protect themselves and others.  businesses and schools are shutting down and major events are being canceled.  the country is in solidarity for the most part to prevent a worse catastrophe such as countries like china and italy are experiencing since the virus covid19 has reared its head.

it sounds like a scene from an apocalyptic movie as people prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  yet despite the concerns, the sudden lifestyle changes and the very real possibility of sickness, financial loss and yes, even death, something else is happening...

i've heard that the skies in china have become blue again and birds are singing, i've seen the isolated apartment dwellers in italy open their windows and join their neighbors in song.  banks and credit companies are showing good faith, offering to work with those who, due to loss of work are unable to keep up with payments.  utility companies are refusing to terminate services for the same reason.  schools are offering to deliver meals to children who are dependent on school meals and are now confined to home.  people are offering to help deliver goods to the elderly and those at higher risk.  suddenly we are showing our humanity despite political or religious differences, despite color or country of origin.

maybe this is just the wake up call the world needs. maybe we, as humans taking advantage and taking for granted, have created this need for unification and now the universe/god/nature has responded in a way we can no longer ignore.  whatever the case may be, we will persevere and get through this.  perhaps not all of us, but most of us and with any luck maybe those who do will come out of this as better, more compassionate humans. this is what the planet needs.

what is happening now is a solemn reminder that we are not in control, but we are our brothers keeper.  i believe we will be better served by holding onto hope, a generous spirit and practicing gratefulness rather than fearfulness.  these are my thoughts.  coming from someone who leans towards melancholy, is at a higher risk and lives alone, i know the next few months may be trying on my spirit but if the fates allow, i will survive.

as we venture into unknown territory i can't pretend i'm not concerned, especially for those close to me whose health is seriously compromised, but i also know the outcome is out of my hands and only time will tell.

as shift happens may peace and common sense be with us.

something good this way comes  

no fear

one word

love

...and love

is only a word

it has no meaning, no substance until someone comes along and we feel the heart become swollen with longing and appreciation and the desire to know more, feel more, experience more with this someone.

love allows us to see and embrace perfection in the imperfect.

it is patient.

it keeps hope alive.

love says, "i want you in my life and i want to be a part of your life, to create moments and experience everything with you."

it is the most beautiful and powerful human experience, yet it can be the most devastating and painful experience when those we love leave us, whether by choice or circumstance.

love...it can be beautiful and messy and only when we experience its power can we truly know love.

sc

3-14-20

a promise made

i awoke around 6:30 this morning to thoughts of J.  i'm not sure if those thoughts woke me or drifted in while i was waking, but as happens most morning, there they were.  warm, loving, sensual thoughts that seem to come of their own accord.

upon gaining more clarity my thoughts drifted to mark, thinking how quickly 3 years have gone by since his death.  i remember leaning over his hospital bed and whispering in his ear, "if you're going to fight, then fight like hell, but if you need to let go then let go.  it's ok."  he finally let go after i left the room, unable to make the decision to take him off life support despite being pressured by the hospital staff to do so.  i had prayed hard for him to make that choice because i simply could not.

this morning i sat with my coffee and wrote a note to thank mark for his love and the things he taught me about life and love in our brief journey together.  then i folded that note and tucked it into the little glass jar that i had filled with some of his ashes.  today, per his request, i will take that jar to the cemetery where his pappy is buried.  if the ground is soft enough, i will dig a small hole by his grandpa's headstone and bury that note with mark's ashes.  if that's not possible i will open the jar, perhaps read the note and light it afire, then scatter his ashes atop pappy's grave.

it has taken me three years to come to the point of fulfilling this promise i made to mark of placing some of his ashes with his pappy.  it's the very least i can do.  after all, mark made me a better person by showing me through his love, that i was more than i had believed and more worthy than i had known.  i never forgot my promise to him, but it wasn't until this past week that i knew it was finally time and that i could do this.  how appropriate it seems to me that this day is to be sunny and unseasonably warm, that we have set our clocks this morning to "spring ahead" knowing we can look forward with hope in the promise of renewal.

if you want me

i am the luscious ripe fruit

just within reach

i am the passion

the softness

the understanding

your spirit cries out for

you've dreamt of me

all of your life

the question isn't

will you deny me

the question is

will you deny yourself?

if you want me

come and get me

speak the truth

amen

opportunities