Gratitude For Eight Years On WordPress

I got a note from WordPress today telling me that eight years ago today, I began my blog.  It doesn’t seem that I have been writing for eight years to you all, but I’m assuming WordPress knows what it’s talking about, don’t you think?  Ah, the benefits of blogging!

In eight years, much has changed in my life.  My initial focus was to help other women battling cancer, specifically breast cancer as I endured it myself and I am still here.  But as life developed, I have written about other subjects too including:  poetry, pets, children, parents, relationships, Mother Nature, horseback riding, Alzheimer’s and Dementia, holidays, angels, spirituality, religion, Rabbit, Rabbit, photography, SendOutCards, amazing books and movies, inspirational quotes, life in general and even death because I had first hand experience with all of those topics.  While I was enduring hardships, you were all there for me with your loving support and I am ever grateful.  I wrote to share my experiences in hopes that I would be able to help someone else along that path.

I am ever grateful for the loving connections that have evolved through our blogging community which we have grown through our writings and by reaching out in kindness, generosity and always with a loving heart.  Friendships have blossomed through our writings that have cemented many of us soul to soul in miraculous ways.  From WordPress comments to emails to actual phone calls, I can count many deep friendships which span the world now for which I am honored to be a part of in this lifetime – and yet, we have never met face to face.  But the love is there, without ever being in each other’s physical presence.

It’s so interesting to me that I have yet to meet anyone face to face that I met through blogging and yet I count many of you as true friends.  What a gift this Presents of Presence has been for me!  I pray that you feel the same way – that my writings, my comments and my love for all of you shines its heartlight and helps to raise the energetic vibrations of this world’s energy to encourage peace, love, compassion and understanding along with connections to all.

May your heart be lifted today and may your heartlight shine for all to see, for I see you out there dearest friends and I am ever grateful, as always, for our connections.

Shine On!

xo

Saying Goodbye Is Never Easy

Being in a memory care facility, like the one that my family members were in Savannah, is like being with family.  Residents all sit at the meal tables with the same group and become, over time, a soul family.  A family of people who aren’t related by blood nor marriage, but are family all the same in the best sense – the sense of belonging together, sharing meals, supporting each other and caring with kindness that goes beyond, goes deeper than simple connections.

One might say that in a memory care facility, residents don’t always recognize other people nor interact, but we were truly blessed.  Not only did the residents bond with each other, sharing stories (sometimes repeatedly – it was always a joy to hear them), but the families of the residents bonded in ways that we couldn’t have foreseen.

What binds us together is a love connection – the innate understanding that we get it – we know how it feels to have a loved one living in a memory care facility and all that goes along with it and we’re grateful for the unexpected friendships that accompany our experiences.

So when I got the phone message that my friend’s Mama passed away the other morning, the tears burst out of my eyes and I began to cry while listening to her message.  My phone volume had been turned down and because it was in the bottom of my purse, I missed her call.  Immediately I called her back, but she didn’t pick up.  I tried not to weep too much, but I left her a message telling her how sad I was to hear the news.

You see, her Mama and my loved ones were best friends, having lived in the same home for two years.  Every meal, they ate together, shared stories and smiled.  They bonded in the most beautiful way.  I am getting weepy remembering how in the last few years of their lives, these strangers shared a bond, connected and loved one another as if they were family.  I could regale you with so many stories of special moments we shared together.  My friend and I took special care of each other’s loved ones when we were visiting them.  It was truly a blessing.  I pray that someday when I’m older, if I should go to a home, that I find such loving residents (and caregivers) to call my soul family.  That’s how strongly I feel and why I am so sad about her Mama’s passing for it is the end of a chapter in our lives.

Her Mama is at peace now for which we are all grateful.  But there’s that part of me, the one that wants one more hug, one more smile from Wilma and one more story.  I want to see her needlepoint again and hear her laugh.  I know for sure, that she is up there in Heaven, happy to be reunited with her family, her husband and my loved one again.  I know I now have another special angel looking out for me from Heaven and I am ever grateful that we connected so long ago.   Rest in Peace Miss Wilma.  God Bless.

Shine On!

xo

Honeybee Spirit Totem Animal Message

I thought that yesterday’s post about my 3 encounters with the honeybee might interest you as to what I found the message to be for me.  Perhaps you’ve had a visit from a honeybee as well, so I thought I’d share what I found from here.

When the honey-bee spirit animal appears to you, it’s calling your attention to your everyday miracles. Just look at your honey-bee totem which is so small yet able to achieve so much.

The honey-bee symbolism is also of community and teamwork. Use your talents to help humanity and make your personal contributions to change the world for the better.

Add your voice to the collective consciousness. Raise the vibrations of the world you live in.

Wow!  Who knew the honeybee was such a powerful totem?  And as I begin my next chapter into uncharted territory, I am grateful to that sweet little honeybee’s message.  I love our community of bloggers and the friendships we have made.  I am hoping now that we are transitioning into our new home, I can begin again to write, to read, to comment and to grow our community.

Please join me in raising the vibrations of the beautiful world we live in!  It’s time to spread our wings, band together and fly like the darling honeybee!

Shine On!

xo

 

 

 

Letting Go of Expectations

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions?  Truthfully, it’s been a long time since I’ve tried to do it myself.  But I’d love to know if you do make resolutions and if you stick with them?  And if you are successful, would you let us all in on your secret?  Pretty please?

Because this year, I’m not making any resolutions in the traditional sense.  Instead, I plan to build on lessons I’ve learned and to expand them.  Does that sound confusing?  Well, let me try to explain.

For example, I have a hard time with expectations.  Perhaps it is unrealistic, but somehow I expect people to be kind and to communicate because that’s what I try to do.  However, my unmet expectations gave me so much unrest in 2016, that I am finally letting them go.  Just because communication is important to me, I realize that it may not be so important to others.  So I’m releasing that give and take expectation and just accepting the reality of the current situation.  I think it’s healthier for me and in 2017, that’s my goal!

Do you have certain expectations which fall short in your life?  How do you handle them?  If you have any advice, I’m open to reading any suggestions you may want to share.

May 2017 bring you peace, joy, health, wealth and love!

Shine On!

xo

Who’s In Your Family?

When asked the above question, most people will, without thinking, rattle off a list of names which includes parents, siblings, spouse, children, grandparents, inlaws and may even begin to delve into further branches of the family tree.  An occasional animal lover may include pets, both present and past as leaves in the family tree.  We consider family as the blood-line or those connected through marriage or living situations.

I get it.  Because that’s what we’ve been taught.

But what if everyone in the world were a part of your family?  What if your family wasn’t confined to your DNA gene pool and instead based on loving connections with other souls?  What if kindness, understanding, friendship and love were the basis of family?  Could you imagine your soul family then?  Would it include those in your traditional family unit?

I am a leaf/branch/part of a traditional family unit.   I could rattle off names of family members both past and present with ease.  But I am learning about soul family units as well and I’m finding it really interesting so I want to share what I know from connecting with others.

A Soul Family is one which may or may not have DNA included in the dynamic.  In fact, many times, those who are part of a soul family do not share genetics nor any other branch of the traditional family unit as we know it.  They are souls who connect on a deeper level if you will.  I’m not saying that traditional family members do not have the ability to do this as well, because I have witnessed it myself.  But there are ties that bind us in a soul family that defy earthly rules.  For we are all souls with earthly bodies.  Just because you aren’t related to someone doesn’t preclude being a part of a soul family.  We are all connected as energy and expanding our loving connections only helps to heal and raise the vibrations of peace to this world.

Have you ever heard of a soul family?  Do you have anyone in your lifetime with whom you’ve connected like family and yet there’s no traditional family tree involved?

Shine On!

xo