For those of you that have followed my blog for a while you know I get into some “deep thinking” sometimes, which I almost always enjoy. I love to challenge myself with some of my old thinking, and what I believe today versus what I believed ten years ago. This is good for me as it keeps me open to Life, open to people of all ages and to what they believe. Most importantly it helps me grow spiritually. And it helps me love me more. As Derek Walcott writes in one of his poems, …”with elation, you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other’s welcome…”.

I receive email from Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith, the Senior Minister of the international church Agape, just about everyday, with all kinds of little snippets of wisdom. Last week his email said, “There is no destination. There is no endgame.” Well, my mind picked that up and ran with it! What an amazing thought! I am a person who believes we are all infinite Beings. We have always been here and always will be, in one transformational form or another. So of course his statement made perfect sense to me. It helped me relax, to simply go with the flow of Life. It helps me with my goal of “enjoy the journey”.

So I got to thinking about a board game. One plays a board game by going up and down, and all around the board, and eventually someone wins and the game comes to an end. But our lives are not like that. Sure, we have our ups and downs, some challenges not so hard, others very difficult. We have our dreams of who we want to be and what we want to do and how we want to serve others. But what if the board game went on and on? Doesn’t that change the whole tone of it? To know there is always more ahead and choices are everywhere, and as we grow and change our choices will change too. Like the game MONOPOLY and it’s a guarantee you will go around again and collect your $200.00, except in real life you begin to understand you will always receive some sort of goodness if you keep your arms open and your heart grateful.

It seems to me if you keep your whole focus on the destination, something you may really want in life, and then when you finally get there, well, then what? I think there is a big possibility one will miss all kinds of delightful people and amazing events because we didn’t take the time to really see them, or hear them. What if we choose to enjoy the journey and not crane our necks so hard trying to see what’s coming around the next turn? What if we didn’t hold onto certain things so tight, or learn to be content when we are simply home because who doesn’t love that feeling of “I’m home”? Then when it’s time we take that next step, do the next right thing, and along the way we can stop and smell the roses, sing out loud and strong, and really trust that the whole universe is our friend, in good times and in the tough times.

Anyway, now I’m calming my brain down, and shifting into different gears. Today is my last day of the four day writer’s bootcamp. I will update you soon on all the tips I have been given. I have learned so much! Tomorrow morning I fly to Boston with my dear friends, two other Foxy Hags, Chickie and Robin. V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!! Here we come!! I will be taking my computer and plan to post here on my blog while I am traveling. My niece Kennedy and her family will be staying in Our Treehouse and care for Reddogg and Pan until I return next weekend.

I plan to enjoy the journey in so many ways! :O)

c   Love, Joan