..... The work is not in obtaining Joy & Love but in holding it.  I am committed to understanding all that is found in my depths and seeing what can Become from the Light.  ONLY in knowing how the two exist within me am I honoring my Self as Human and Spirit.  Love lives in my depth and allows me to be Home.  I welcome the miracle of Love into my life and know how infinitely blessed I am to be Loved.  

Pain can be transformative. 

My relationship to pain has evolved over time.  I have clenched at it’s approach, resented it and ignored it, fought back at it, felt helpless towards it, I have put my shoulders back and chin up in it’s spite, and I have created a place separate from where it lives.  I have learned to release it and to find forgiveness and healing, allowing a space for myself to heal and grow, yet still separate from it.  Today, I learn to sit with it, to learn from it and know it before it leaves me.  I thank it for holding beneath it, the Love.  When there is more pain, it is because there is so much love running through it.  I will acknowledge the heavy until it reveals the Light.  When it is ready, not me.  In that way, I evolve.

The Dalai Lamma says that we should thank our enemies for they teach us ways about ourselves that we may never have the opportunity to learn. Consider not just those across the continent that we are told to disapprove of, but your own difficult relationships. What brings discomfort brings our attention towards an aspect of ourself that needs healing. In this place, we are asked to be non-judgmental, honest, and loving. These discoveries are endless.

Who are you at this moment? What defines you? What is your Truth?

My mother's father Stephen, was born on Dec. 26. Grandpa was born into a Catholic family and his parents chose to name him after the Saint that he shared a feast day with: St. Stephen. I recently considered and learned about why Stephen was "made into" a Saint. As many Saints were, he was martyred. Putting that aside, he was noted for speaking his Truth during a time when all that he knew did not support his views. He was moved and inspired to spread a message that he so believed would help others to live with happiness, fulfillment, and love. He took chances. He spoke his Truth.

We have just passed through the first level of the "Holiday Season". Thanksgiving which has its own personality and is an amazing opportunity to realize how crazily blessed we are, does open the door to December 25. We are reminded by the store front decorations and the added genre button on our Sirius or XM radios, but what beckons this holiday season more is memories.