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Planting Your Own Garden of Dreams

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C.S. Lewis wrote:  “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

What speaks more of the future than planting a garden?  It’s a flurry of activity.  Skillful gardeners plan months in advance.  They germinate seeds, plot spaces where the sun and the shade offer the most effective opportunities for growth, prepare the soil with special nutrients, and watch and wait for the best time and the season…and they do it all with great joy and anticipation.  Why?  Because somewhere in the heart of a gardener lies the seed of a dream, the thrill of ripe red tomatoes on a summer day, the fragrance of fresh dill and thyme.  It’s a beautiful dream and they know with some planning and hard work, they can make the dream come true.

You may not actually want to plant a garden, but you’re in exactly the right place to cultivate some new dreams.  So roll up your sleeves and grab your drawing pad.  Take one dream down from the shelf where it simply can never bloom, and give it some air.  Pick it up and look at it from every angle.  Imagine it taking root, sprouting with the loving attention it receives from you.  Remind yourself of the excitement it generated when you first conceived it.  Talk about it with your friends and allow them to add to the anticipation of seeing it come to life.  Plan the celebration that will come when you harvest the fruit of your efforts, when all the planning and dreaming become reality.

Your future is today.  Your time to dream is now.  The seeds of incredible ideas that only you can germinate are waiting to be planted and nurtured.  Have faith in yourself and remember that faith is always a word of action.  You’re already an amazing gardener and you’ve blossomed over the years, but you’re not done.  You’re still developing a crop of possibilities that will serve others in a great way.  All you have to do then is believe in the beauty of your dreams.  You can produce extraordinary things!

As someone once said, “Bloom where you’re planted,” and then take it a step further.  Plant something wonderful where you want things to bloom.  You’re already a master gardener and the people around you will all reap a harvest as your dreams bear fruit.

It’s a great day to get started!

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Look Beyond the Clouds

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by George Davis

In life, trials and tribulations are as inevitable as the rain. And much like the rain or any other unfavorable weather condition, the obstacles in life can be just as uncontrollable. Clouds form in the sky and a big smile begins to shrink. Thunder crashes and that smaller smile gets even smaller. Lightning flashes and any evidence of happiness that existed washes away with the first drop of rain.

Regardless of preparation – the size of the umbrella, the durability of the rain coat, the water resistance of the boots – some people choose to solely focus on the rain. And while they may remain dry, they allow themselves to drown in despair and depression. The one thing they tend to forget is that regardless of the visible, seemingly miserable conditions that they’re standing in, the sun is still shining.

The clouds, like most emotions, trials, and/or tribulations, are temporary. Whether they’re visible only in passing or they stay around for a few days casting dark shadows over us, they don’t possess the power to outlast the sun. The sun will always shine. Rain, sleet, hail, or snow, the sun will shine. It is as permanent as love.

When obstacles arrive (and they WILL arrive), know that they have an expiration date. Like the rain and the clouds, they pass. In the midst of the storm, look beyond the clouds. Find peace and comfort knowing that the sun is still shining.

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Sudoku Memories Poem

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by Brian MacDougall

I.
A nearly blank canvas of mostly forgotten memories

II.
Images slowly surface,
assembling in places that make sense.

III.
Gaps take on critical importance.
Their significance remains dormant,
wisely awaiting interpretive guidance.

IV.
Momentum grinds the tumblers of
lucid definition as dream architecture begins to unfold.
Influenced by all that came before,
bottlenecked into inevitability.
V.
Craftsmanship pours forth
like automatic writing.
The rich, intricate lineage
of uniquely altered sequences
interlocking and firm.

VI.
Rapid-eye movement threading
into the broad tapestry
proceed intuitively for their
fair share contribution.
Evolution of a recollection
rounding the bend.

VII.
Momentary frustration
as once obvious positions of
impressions, now second-guessed.
Rewriting one’s history pauses to acknowledge
it all might have been chance opportunity.
Destiny, perhaps a pipe dream,
toward fulfilling expectation.

VIII.
Rank and file vignettes
switch back and forth
sifting through eleventh hour possibilities.
Blank spots unravel
and give in to the resolve
of problem solving.
The panorama ironed out
by the sheerest of wills.

IX.
Hypnotism dissolves into awe
and the veil lifts,
a landscape of extreme organization.
Retrospection plays midwife
to smiles of recognition.
Once dead end efforts
now prize monuments and keystones.
All fall into place a scrapbook
of answers and life having lived.

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Winter Warm Ups

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Brrrr…it’s chilly!  It’s a good time to find your cutest fuzzy socks and your favorite mug filled with hot chocolate and warm up.  In fact, after you take a few sips, you might try warming up by simplifying the world around you.   It’s the perfect time to think about losing a little weight, you know the weights of anxiety and frosty memories and closets that need to be trimmed.  Run some laps around the way you look at things and get a grip on what you can quickly change.

Take the first lap around your environment.  What can you do to lighten the load, or bring some light to the place where you hang your hat?  What about starting with that closet door you hate to open?  You know the one, it’s hiding the college sweaters, the party dresses from a decade ago, the velour running suit you never ran in.  Let go of those things.  Call it an exercise of love.  Give a blast of fresh air to Good Will and take a deep breath.  Golly, you’re getting lighter already.

Next, look in the pantry and pull out those boxes and cans of things that are never going to become tonight’s dinner and send them to the food bank.  Yes, it was a great deal when you got a case of creamed corn for next to nothing at the wholesale club, but are you really going to eat all that?  The local food bank or homeless shelter will love you if you stop by and donate things.  Bend down, hoist a few cans out of those shelves, stand up and repeat!  The pounds are just melting away.  You’re looking absolutely fabulous!

Okay, you’ve cleaned out your closets and you’ve fed the community, so what else can you do to lighten your load?  Maybe it’s time to take a quick inventory of all the stuff you carry around in your head that no longer serves you.  Let go of old conversations that sting your heart whenever your mind wanders back passed them.  Forgive yourself already and move on.  Make a clean break with the past.  Give yourself the present of today.  Today is never too heavy and it fits just right.  Remember your dreams?  You still have a chance to make them come true.

Opportunities for simplifying things are endless.  Book shelves can be cleared, the junk drawer can be cleaned, and the space where you’ve packaged up and saved your old hurts and slights can be tossed out.  Once you’ve cleared space you have room for new and loving experiences to come in.  You can run faster, more efficiently, and more joyfully. 

 With these winter warm ups exercises, you’ll be ready for the best and most comfortable moments of joy that today can bring.  In fact, you’ll be warm and toasty even when you’re not wearing your cutest fuzzy socks.

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That Love

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by George Davis

Who are you?
And what have you done with the old me?
What have you done with my heart?
I don’t even recognize me anymore.

What kind of Love is this?
At one point, I thought it was that fly by night,
it was fun while it lasted type of love.
But everyday my heart is awakened by some different type of love.
Every day, everything I thought I knew is made different.
This isn’t just a part-time type of love.

This is that…

that…”when you leave the room, you take my smile with you” type of love.

That…”when you close your eyes, the sun sets”…

that…”even just a whisper from your lips shakes the foundation of the Earth”
type of love.

This is a supernatural type of love.
The type of love that could only be conceived in the mind of a higher power.
That Esphesians chapter 5 type of love.
Two bodies and one soul.
Yeah. This is that type of love.

That “give me your hand, and I’ll give you my heart” love.

That “everyday, I say ‘I Do'” love.

That “I was nothing until I was yours” love.

Baby…this is that “you don’t only finish my sentences, you complete my spirit” type of love.

We got that “every day is Christmas and every night is Valentine’s” love.

That “when I look into your eyes, I see the greatest love poem ever written” love.

Damn!
What is this?
Where did it come from?
How did it take so much control
of so much of my soul?
I believe it started with a kiss.

————

Did this make you think of your special someone?  Send them a Valentine and let them know! A nice poem by George Davis called That Love

 

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Dream Walking

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by George Davis

Hand in hand
we walked.
Our spirits at peace,
our souls leading the way.
Towards a land
that was built centuries ago,
a land created by faith
with us in mind.
Together,
we walked
down a road paved by promise
where the victories of the past
served as landmarks
to keep us on course.
Legs weary,
motivated by Love,
we walked.
Every traveler sharing their story,
sharing their culture,
sharing their hope for the future.
We walked,
all with different points  of origin,
headed in the same direction,
guided by the same dream.
Wide awake,
we walked
Dreaming of better days.

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Salute to Friendship

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 Let’s celebrate our friendships, the ones we’ve had for years, the ones we’ve just made, and the ones that are just around the corner.  We share degrees of friendship with each person in our lives.  We may have a kind of friendship with the person who serves us coffee at Starbucks, or the person in the neighborhood who stops to say hello as we walk by.  These are the buds of friendship, the kind that may or may not blossom into late night chats, but are still important to our daily lives.  They give us a reason to smile.

 For most of us though, friendship is like fresh air, the thing that helps us breathe life in more fully.  We’re committed to each other.  We hold up the light of possibility when things are uncertain.  We listen, we laugh, we seek to understand and when we don’t understand, we let it all go.  We shop and we explore and we keep the music playing because friendship brings a song to our hearts.  We are connected and fully visible and it feels good.  Three cheers!

 C.S. Lewis said that friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another:  “What?  You, too?  I thought I was the only one.”    We don’t want to travel the world alone and so we count on our friends to serve as mirrors, to reflect back to us what’s important, or to give us a chance to laugh at ourselves when we fall down.  Friends walk with us, no matter what.

 As Albert Camus said, “Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.  Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow.  Just walk beside me and be my friend.”   Friends may bump into you now and then without meaning to, but they won’t throw you over or off the tracks.  They may get slightly miffed about something going on between you, but they’ll always find a way to make up over brownies and coffee.   Friends need each other and that’s a good thing.

 You’ve probably noticed with cherished friendships that no matter how long you may be apart, even if years pass by, once you’re together again, the connection you have is solid.  You’re plugged in, ready to give and receive more of what you share.  Friends are forever and that’s the real truth.

So, let’s celebrate all our friends, the new ones, the-couldn’t-live-without-you ones, and the ones yet to be discovered.  There can be no loftier title, no degree achieved, or no equation stronger than the one that is summed up in the word “friend.”  Hug your friends today and give each other a round of hearty applause. 

 

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