I’m 2015 I was gifted by the Universe with an intimate friendship that touched and healed a part of me that had been wounded from childhood. We shared laughter, reading books, joy in nature trips, and much more. There was an invitation for a foreverness that surprised me. And there was a familial element that I knew would be destructive and non supportive to me. I needed to say goodbye. I think of this dear “heart healer” now and then, grateful for the couple of years we shared.
It seems my teacher has gone from my life, and It breaks my heart. His memory for sure will continue to deeply impact me. May all blessings be with him allways and wherever he will be.
My Mom’s friend Nan who became my friend after my Mother passed away. We could talk about anything and have very deep personal conversations that were very sacred to us both. She was full of wisdom that I hold dear to my heart each and every day. She was a huge support to me. My children were very young when my Mother passed away. She was like a step Mom/step grandmother to my children.
I have to say also that I reconnected with my HS boyfriend when things got very bad with my Ex. One reason was to tell him about my Mom passing. My Mother had told me he called after I was married. He also helped me mentally come to terms with divorcing. At the time he was my rock in that decision.
Today’s page(s)
are so full of grief and honor
that I am quite moved . . .
with the joy I feel at hearing about these wonderful friends,
mentors, and family members,
I feel the deep sorrow of their loss to the person who shared them.
It is all very profound,
the love that circulates here
and out in to the world and the vast universe.
It almost enables me to hear the tears and laughter
down through the generations
We are all so human
and yet each one of us
carries the Divine somewhere in our hearts.
This Divine
is offered up to those we honor in the past
and is carried forward to the people who will remember us this way into the future.
I feel that I have entered a sacred room
where footfalls leave no trace,
where candles all burn with heartfelt remembrance.
I think I’m like Charlie,
gathering bits and pieces
of everyone who has impacted my life,
even in the smallest of ways
to form this conglomerate that has been rolled and pasted together,
rolled in the hands,
smoothing off the corners
and picked up again each day
as more wisdom comes in . . .
from you,
from the store clerk,
the crows in the trees,
from the cat,
the man who cleans my furnace.
They seem to find connection on their own,
hopefully building me a better me . . .
that is the hope.
That is the dream. ♥
.
Joe – who still gives me great advice. One of my favorite hopes/fantasies about what comes next is finding him there, waiting for me.
Mama – who prays for me and my kids with her magical prayers as she did when she was here.
All three of my kids – absent out there in the Wide World, trying to make their own ways. So grateful they came to live with me for a little while.
My mother. It’s almost a year she’s gone. When I had non-Hodgkins lymphoma 25 years ago, she was there for me every day. We even shared a hospital bed one night. I had problems with her earlier, but she wiped all of that away.
I wrote a long response, and then poof, gone. Oh well. A chance to ponder the ephemeral nature of life. 😁
Many people have touched my life. In fact everyone that I have interacted with has had some impact. Now, “deeply impacted me”? I’m not so sure. I’ve never had a mentor or a guru who has offered me sage advice. But, I have taken bits and pieces from so many people. I am an amalgam of all of this life.
Your comment, “ have taken bits and pieces from so many people,” is how I feel too, and I also have had no mentor, so I just gather insights along the way.
My oldest brother Mike passed away March 2021. We were good friends and spoke often, mostly over the phone since we lived in different cities (me, Portland and Mike, San Francisco). Mike was kind, generous, thoughtful, sensitive, and always cheerful despite his many health, and related challenges. I was a single father for many years, and he’d sometimes visit us and help us out at home. And me and my 2 children would visit him on occasion in SF, and he’d show us around and we’d all have a good time. I miss him, our friendship and close bond as brothers. It pains me to reflect back on the last time we spoke over the phone, while he was in hospice care, and he called me in the middle of one work-day afternoon shortly after I had returned home from visiting him. I believe, now, he was calling to say goodbye. Meanwhile, I was preoccupied with far less important matters and not present for him and his call, which was the last time we spoke. I am grateful for my brother Mike. His memory continues to deeply impact me. Through his actions and words, he, in some/many small but important way/s, taught me how to live a grateful life, and to focus on what truly matters.
Dear Brian,
I’m so sorry that you deal with regrets over your last conversation with your brother.
I have regrets about not reaching out to my youngest sister
before she unexpectedly passed away.
We do our best to live good lives, and to give love to those who are dear to us.
I try to forgive myself for missed opportunities with my sister,
and use the energy of my emotions to remind me to stay connected
to those I love, especially my sister’s sons and grandchildren.
I hope you can be kind to yourself about your last conversation with your brother.
If only we could be perfect beings, and get all these moments right.
If only we could go back and re-do them, informed this time by hindsight.
Maybe we can give ourselves a break and instead of regret
we can spend that time remembering the good times we had with our loved ones,
and remembering all the ways we showed our love for them.
Wishing you peace, Brian,
and many joyful memories of times spent with your brother.
My father. He was humble, yet a giant of a man in all ways. Kind, generous and loving towards his children and grandchildren. He was highly respected and loved by many. I was lucky to be his daughter.
My parents, especially my mom. Much of how I think of and treat other people stems from her modeling of kindness, empathy, and being aware of how fortunate I’ve been and how others may not have the same luck and opportunity.
This question reminds of the one about gifts from our ancestors the other day. When I’m knitting, which I do often, I’m embodying the muscle memory of my grandmother’s instruction.
A former boss gave me a piece of advice that stung at the time but it has made a difference for decades. I was working in higher ed in a “regular” job for the first time in a long time. I’d held elected office for four years before that, which meant I’d basically spent four years expressing opinions, and I was quick to speak up in meetings. He coached me that I didn’t need to demonstrate that I was smart–everyone who worked there was smart. I’d be better served to wait until others spoke, then synthesize their points and sum up, adding anything they had missed. Possibly the best work advice I ever got. In meetings I listen and encourage others to speak before me. Lo and behold, I learn things I didn’t know and ideas come up that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. Magic.
My mentor (RIP) for over 27 years. His wisdom and his dedication to helping others still deeply impacts me. I also want to share profound words from another mentor of mine, Fr. Richard Rohr. This is his meditation for today. https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-choice-for-love/
“There’s no other way we can know who God is—or who we truly are—but to love and be loved. Take that as an absolute!”
. . . in a nutshell.
Thank you for posting this today,
dear Carol Ann . . . .
I am reading “The Gentle Art of Blessing”
and this pairs beautifully withe where I am in the book. ♥
Thay – the zen master who returned a few years ago now is someone who has had a lasting impact on my life. I recall way back when I was getting yoga teacher training and I read so many of his books and listened to his lectures. His calmness and radiating strength of peace is something that I love dearly . He was definitely someone I wanted to emulate in my life. He embodied peace and I named my yoga business after him – CorePeace . It’s been my sankalpa that I wrote a long time ago to become corepeace . There isn’t anything more that makes me truly grateful and happy. Thank you Thay for being a guiding light 💡.
Thank
You Patti but my “business “ is mostly a volunteer job and a journey to Truth. I’m just grateful for the universe:god that has actually made everything come True ! That’s what is so grateful!
I would say my grandpa, who passed away this March. I’ll never forget the times when my twin sister and I were little girls and he would ride us to school on his motorcycle, from kindergarten through early middle school. I miss him.
I was going to say “Paw Mu”, but I’ve become at peace with her and what she’s taught me. Of course, the root is the same. Not only have I branched out, but my ways are more widely accepted. Best of all, having our ways being accepted from our partner, especially our spouse, makes it easier to sleep, because we see them all day and night which is the case more so with Ngoc and me since neither of us have too many friends. She doesn’t have any peers within our age group, and I only have a few. Beside, my ways are more accepted nowdays, because it’s coming from the root of compatability rather than rebellion and Ngoc is getting more used to life in the US. With that being said, I’m going to take a left turn.
I have my former boss, Tyson, who I talked about yesterday. I love the method of obedience out of power awareness. It’s greatly helped me deal with people incompatible with me like Tracy as talked about from yesterday’s answer.
My maternal grandmother. Her daughter, my biological mother, died at 38 and I was 21 months. She also had 3 sons, my uncle’s, in the war. I can’t imagine her grief and worry. She was so kind and patient with a quiet joy.
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I’m 2015 I was gifted by the Universe with an intimate friendship that touched and healed a part of me that had been wounded from childhood. We shared laughter, reading books, joy in nature trips, and much more. There was an invitation for a foreverness that surprised me. And there was a familial element that I knew would be destructive and non supportive to me. I needed to say goodbye. I think of this dear “heart healer” now and then, grateful for the couple of years we shared.
It seems my teacher has gone from my life, and It breaks my heart. His memory for sure will continue to deeply impact me. May all blessings be with him allways and wherever he will be.
My Mom’s friend Nan who became my friend after my Mother passed away. We could talk about anything and have very deep personal conversations that were very sacred to us both. She was full of wisdom that I hold dear to my heart each and every day. She was a huge support to me. My children were very young when my Mother passed away. She was like a step Mom/step grandmother to my children.
I have to say also that I reconnected with my HS boyfriend when things got very bad with my Ex. One reason was to tell him about my Mom passing. My Mother had told me he called after I was married. He also helped me mentally come to terms with divorcing. At the time he was my rock in that decision.
Today’s page(s)
are so full of grief and honor
that I am quite moved . . .
with the joy I feel at hearing about these wonderful friends,
mentors, and family members,
I feel the deep sorrow of their loss to the person who shared them.
It is all very profound,
the love that circulates here
and out in to the world and the vast universe.
It almost enables me to hear the tears and laughter
down through the generations
We are all so human
and yet each one of us
carries the Divine somewhere in our hearts.
This Divine
is offered up to those we honor in the past
and is carried forward to the people who will remember us this way into the future.
I feel that I have entered a sacred room
where footfalls leave no trace,
where candles all burn with heartfelt remembrance.
I think I’m like Charlie,
gathering bits and pieces
of everyone who has impacted my life,
even in the smallest of ways
to form this conglomerate that has been rolled and pasted together,
rolled in the hands,
smoothing off the corners
and picked up again each day
as more wisdom comes in . . .
from you,
from the store clerk,
the crows in the trees,
from the cat,
the man who cleans my furnace.
They seem to find connection on their own,
hopefully building me a better me . . .
that is the hope.
That is the dream. ♥
.
Joe – who still gives me great advice. One of my favorite hopes/fantasies about what comes next is finding him there, waiting for me.
Mama – who prays for me and my kids with her magical prayers as she did when she was here.
All three of my kids – absent out there in the Wide World, trying to make their own ways. So grateful they came to live with me for a little while.
Dawn Elaine, Its good to see you here! ☀️
My mother. It’s almost a year she’s gone. When I had non-Hodgkins lymphoma 25 years ago, she was there for me every day. We even shared a hospital bed one night. I had problems with her earlier, but she wiped all of that away.
I wrote a long response, and then poof, gone. Oh well. A chance to ponder the ephemeral nature of life. 😁
Many people have touched my life. In fact everyone that I have interacted with has had some impact. Now, “deeply impacted me”? I’m not so sure. I’ve never had a mentor or a guru who has offered me sage advice. But, I have taken bits and pieces from so many people. I am an amalgam of all of this life.
MacGyvering “bits and pieces” of wisdom, instead of a guru or mentor. I like that idea Charlie T.
Your comment, “ have taken bits and pieces from so many people,” is how I feel too, and I also have had no mentor, so I just gather insights along the way.
My oldest brother Mike passed away March 2021. We were good friends and spoke often, mostly over the phone since we lived in different cities (me, Portland and Mike, San Francisco). Mike was kind, generous, thoughtful, sensitive, and always cheerful despite his many health, and related challenges. I was a single father for many years, and he’d sometimes visit us and help us out at home. And me and my 2 children would visit him on occasion in SF, and he’d show us around and we’d all have a good time. I miss him, our friendship and close bond as brothers. It pains me to reflect back on the last time we spoke over the phone, while he was in hospice care, and he called me in the middle of one work-day afternoon shortly after I had returned home from visiting him. I believe, now, he was calling to say goodbye. Meanwhile, I was preoccupied with far less important matters and not present for him and his call, which was the last time we spoke. I am grateful for my brother Mike. His memory continues to deeply impact me. Through his actions and words, he, in some/many small but important way/s, taught me how to live a grateful life, and to focus on what truly matters.
Dear Brian,
I’m so sorry that you deal with regrets over your last conversation with your brother.
I have regrets about not reaching out to my youngest sister
before she unexpectedly passed away.
We do our best to live good lives, and to give love to those who are dear to us.
I try to forgive myself for missed opportunities with my sister,
and use the energy of my emotions to remind me to stay connected
to those I love, especially my sister’s sons and grandchildren.
I hope you can be kind to yourself about your last conversation with your brother.
If only we could be perfect beings, and get all these moments right.
If only we could go back and re-do them, informed this time by hindsight.
Maybe we can give ourselves a break and instead of regret
we can spend that time remembering the good times we had with our loved ones,
and remembering all the ways we showed our love for them.
Wishing you peace, Brian,
and many joyful memories of times spent with your brother.
Bless your brother Mike,
dear Brian . . .
he sounds like a good man. ♥
My father. He was humble, yet a giant of a man in all ways. Kind, generous and loving towards his children and grandchildren. He was highly respected and loved by many. I was lucky to be his daughter.
My parents, especially my mom. Much of how I think of and treat other people stems from her modeling of kindness, empathy, and being aware of how fortunate I’ve been and how others may not have the same luck and opportunity.
This question reminds of the one about gifts from our ancestors the other day. When I’m knitting, which I do often, I’m embodying the muscle memory of my grandmother’s instruction.
A former boss gave me a piece of advice that stung at the time but it has made a difference for decades. I was working in higher ed in a “regular” job for the first time in a long time. I’d held elected office for four years before that, which meant I’d basically spent four years expressing opinions, and I was quick to speak up in meetings. He coached me that I didn’t need to demonstrate that I was smart–everyone who worked there was smart. I’d be better served to wait until others spoke, then synthesize their points and sum up, adding anything they had missed. Possibly the best work advice I ever got. In meetings I listen and encourage others to speak before me. Lo and behold, I learn things I didn’t know and ideas come up that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. Magic.
My mentor (RIP) for over 27 years. His wisdom and his dedication to helping others still deeply impacts me. I also want to share profound words from another mentor of mine, Fr. Richard Rohr. This is his meditation for today. https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-choice-for-love/
“There’s no other way we can know who God is—or who we truly are—but to love and be loved. Take that as an absolute!”
. . . in a nutshell.
Thank you for posting this today,
dear Carol Ann . . . .
I am reading “The Gentle Art of Blessing”
and this pairs beautifully withe where I am in the book. ♥
Thay – the zen master who returned a few years ago now is someone who has had a lasting impact on my life. I recall way back when I was getting yoga teacher training and I read so many of his books and listened to his lectures. His calmness and radiating strength of peace is something that I love dearly . He was definitely someone I wanted to emulate in my life. He embodied peace and I named my yoga business after him – CorePeace . It’s been my sankalpa that I wrote a long time ago to become corepeace . There isn’t anything more that makes me truly grateful and happy. Thank you Thay for being a guiding light 💡.
I love that, Antoinette! Thank you for sharing. CorePeace is a great name for a yoga business.
Thank
You Patti but my “business “ is mostly a volunteer job and a journey to Truth. I’m just grateful for the universe:god that has actually made everything come True ! That’s what is so grateful!
I would say my grandpa, who passed away this March. I’ll never forget the times when my twin sister and I were little girls and he would ride us to school on his motorcycle, from kindergarten through early middle school. I miss him.
My Ngoc, I did get to see him when we went to Vietnam together in 2023 for 2 weeks.
I was going to say “Paw Mu”, but I’ve become at peace with her and what she’s taught me. Of course, the root is the same. Not only have I branched out, but my ways are more widely accepted. Best of all, having our ways being accepted from our partner, especially our spouse, makes it easier to sleep, because we see them all day and night which is the case more so with Ngoc and me since neither of us have too many friends. She doesn’t have any peers within our age group, and I only have a few. Beside, my ways are more accepted nowdays, because it’s coming from the root of compatability rather than rebellion and Ngoc is getting more used to life in the US. With that being said, I’m going to take a left turn.
I have my former boss, Tyson, who I talked about yesterday. I love the method of obedience out of power awareness. It’s greatly helped me deal with people incompatible with me like Tracy as talked about from yesterday’s answer.
My maternal grandmother. Her daughter, my biological mother, died at 38 and I was 21 months. She also had 3 sons, my uncle’s, in the war. I can’t imagine her grief and worry. She was so kind and patient with a quiet joy.
Oh so very young your Mother passed 😥