I thought I would share the very special cake that was made for me today. Not only was it made with love, but topped with glittery lettering and filled with rainbow cake. Happy Birthday to Me!
song of the week- with a little help from my friends
It took me a long time to realize that I don’t have to go it alone. There was a time when I was convinced that asking or needing help was unsafe. It meant I “didn’t know” and that someone else did. What did I need to do to earn the help? What if I needed more than someone could offer? It all seemed so uncertain, so vulnerable and so trusting.
Today I had coffee with a friend that has been there for me over the years and who I think would also say that I have been there for her. She is someone who has helped teach me that I can show the darkest parts of my life and be held.
During our meet up, she paused the conversation and motioned toward her bag, saying she had something for me. Out of her bag she pulled a key on a bracelet. She called it a “giving key” that was once given to her during a time when she needed strength. The word strength in inscribed on the key as a reminder.
She explained that I take the key, wear it and hold onto it until I feel that someone else needs it and then I give it away. And right now, strength is just what the doctor ordered for me.
As the Beatles originally put it, I get by with a little help from my friends. This week’s song of the week, a remake of the classic, is a reminder of the strength in love.
To my friend, thank you for helping me get by.
no love for you like mine
“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.”
– Maya Angelou
29 finish something
will get brighter
one that sings
“The Real Work” by Wendell Berry
It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey
The mind that is not baffled is not employed
The impeded stream is the one that sings
we choose to love
“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth… Love is as love does. Love is an act of will – namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.”
-M. Scott Peck