The Value of Life

Love this earth. Love each other. Period.

The value of life does not depend upon the place we occupy. It depends upon the way we occupy that place.

-- St. Thérèse de Lisieux

Put a Grateful Thought in Your Heart

L to R my brothers Richard and Christopher (who I am forever grateful for) and Me.

We are never more than one grateful thought away from peace of heart.


— Brother David Steindl-Rast


This morning I woke up with a overwhelming sense of gratitude for my family. In particular, my brothers. They were both such cute, sweet babies (they are five and eight years younger than me so they will forever be babies to me:-) and somewhere along the way they have become wonderful, talented grown men. Still not sure when that happened...how time has flown.

Today and every day I can take a moment and look at this picture on my mantle, or in my heart where I carry it always, and the gratitude just rolls in. How lucky am I to have these boys in my life? Quite lucky I think, quite.

Take a moment and pause in your day. Take a deep breath. Find a picture in you pocket, or in your mind that fills your heart with gratitude.

May your heart be filled with peace.

Love, and Jai Bhagwan (Victory to the Light)

Truth and Love Will Always Win

Image via Wikipedia

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.

Think of it - always.

- MK Gandhi

Grateful for 15 Days and Counting

Only 15 days until my wedding. And for this I am truly grateful.

In large part because I am grateful because I get to marry my wonderful Michael. We have such a joy-filled life together. He makes it easy to be grateful for everything, and to forget the sorrows of the past. Here are some pics from our adventures, in the Emerald Gorge, China; and snowmobiling in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

I am also grateful because creating a wedding is a lot of work! You know, I had heard this many times, but our wedding is so small, only 26 people...including us! How could it be so much work?!

I have had to pause many times during the rush and whirl of planning, and just rest in a few minutes of silence and deep breathing. What I find there is always the same; the touch my soul has waited for this whole life, rich and alive, and unbelievably mine. And then I can go back to resting in calm...

at least for a few minutes:-)

15 days!!!

Grateful for Technology

Image via WikipediaI am grateful for technology, and in particular SKYPE! Because of it I have been able to talk to my fiance Mike over the internet, this whole week that he has been in Germany, for FREE!

Ain't technology great??

We use this in my family to keep up with each other, and so that we can see all the new cute babies we have going on. It makes the miles between seem shorter.

Check Skype out, it is a great tool for lots of things.

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In Gratitude for Love

Tonight I am so grateful for missing Mike. I feel so lucky to have him in my life to miss. I searched, and searched for so long for him; lost hope of finding him a hundred times, at least. Now, that almost seems silly sometimes. It was impossible that we would stay lost to each other in ths life for long. Like the poem by Rumi on our wedding invitation says...

The minute I heard my first love story,

I started looking for you, not knowing

how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere,

they're in each other all along.

– Rumi


Only 6 days until he gets back from Germany...and only 27 until we are married in the mountains. I could write about my gratitude for this man, and this time in my life, for volumes every day.

If you haven't found your anam cara, your "soul friend", yet, don't suffer...keep your eyes and your heart open wide. He or she has been in you all along...

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Recognizing Gratitude

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God
in everything.

Thomas Merton
Thoughts in Solitude

Thomas Merton so concisely expresses the fullness that a moment of gratitude can bring into our lives. It only takes a moment of mindfulness, of recognition of the great gifts we have in our lives, to feel filled-up by sensations of joy, security and love. A fullness so enormous and complete it goes beyond the small ego-bound selves of our minds, and into the greater Love of our Souls, and the collective expression of that, whether you name it God, the Universe, Source, or some other term.

Take a moment to breathe into mindfulness.
Find something that fills you with the Love of God in everything.
Bask in this love – never forget how you are loved – pass it on to others.

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My Beloved, a Tale of Hide and Seek

Image via Wikipedia
The minute I heard my first love story,

I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere,
they're in each other all along.

– Rumi

Today I am grateful for my beloved.
For being so beloved.
For a game of hide-and-seek
in the woods with Michael.
I couldn't find him anywhere!