The People Our Children Become

I'm just coming off of a 10 day visit from my mom. It was really great to have "Yaya" in town, for hours of tea drinking, kitchen table-sitting conversation. She always loves to come here to see the grandchildren, because she says it is so much more revealing to see them on their own turf. When we are at her place, there are inevitably many relatives around, which results in a different snapshot of the kids. My 24 year old niece flew in for the last 3 days of the visit. What a treat to see her, not to mention the "almost wet your pants laughter" that the weekend was laced with. Putting my mom and Lexi together is always a recipe for fun!

I was struck by something interesting, after watching my niece,my daughter, and my mom interact. We all "become". This is not news to me, but there it was in front of my eyes. A multi-generational soup, simmering along for the weekend. What a gift to be able to be part of the evolution of these women! Each one offering her own brand of specialness, each one sharing little threads of common gold. Each one still becoming.

Unexpected Sparks

"Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks."
~ Samuel Johnson

Some of my favorite quotes are found on the Celestial Seasons tea boxes! I have a little notebook that holds years worth of quotes I have gathered, from many sources. Once in awhile, I open it up as if it were a treasure chest. It is, to me. The bits and pieces of wisdom shared by others are worth so much!

The other day I met a truly wonderful lady. We were just standing in line at a local coffee shop ( Virgils in Saratoga: check it out if you have not!) We struck up a conversation while waiting in line and it became clear to us that we had many things in common. We met for coffee to follow up on one of these threads a few days later. What an "unexpected spark"! One of the many topics discussed was menopause. Before you groan, consider that there are so many women out there who are going through ( or have at some point) the various phases and struggles that this chapter can bring. Just like the tea box quotes, I find these conversations sometimes hold buried treasure. Our meeting not only brought me many laughs, some worthwhile reality checks but also a book that might shed some new light. The day I met my new aquaintance was my birthday. I consider it to be one of the nicest gifts I got this year. Unexpected sparks ... bring gladness.

Super Heroes

I came across some old photos the other day. There were two adorable shots of Kristofer and Em when they were about 3 & 5 years old. They had their cute little faces peeking out through the face of a superhero. You know, those wooden, cut-out, standing, picture taking frames...the ones where you put your face in the right spot and when the picture is taken, it's you in the costume of...a super hero! I can't even recall where we had these taken but what struck me immediately is how much they both still look like they did at that age.

That's a simple thing that I can lose sight of. I'm not referring to the physical appearance as much as to "how much they are still who they were then". I could see it in their eyes, in how they were smiling, and it is SO much like the 13 and 15 year olds that I live with now! There are many days when I simply forget where these teenagers have come from, and focus perhaps a bit too much on who I think they are now or who they might be tomorrow. Just like this recently turned 46 year old, they have grown over the years in many ways. I don't want to miss out on the amazing people they have been from day 1, but that is hard to hold onto sometimes, when you wonder "who are these teenagers? where did my children go?!"

Donning their funny costume poses that day, they became someone else for a minute or two. They continue to try on different poses each day of their adolescence, and I hope I can help them step back and see that no matter what they decide they want to try on, or try to "be", they are super heroes through and through.

Home improvements!

So who doesn't have a list of things that fall under the category of "Home Improvements"? I know mine, and it is not getting any shorter! But for now, many of those things will have to wait. Meanwhile, I came across something yesterday that reminded me of the things I can be doing to improve my life at no cost! Check it out:

The Four Agreements ( based on a great book by the same name, authors Don Miguel Ruiz &Jose Lois Ruiz):
1) Be impeccable with your word.
2) Don't take anything personally.
3) Don't make assumptions.
4) Always do your best.

Not only is this a terrific way for me to focus on my own self-growth, but it's also a powerful bit of feng shui for my family!

Expectations Don't Always Match Reality

I have been following an interesting blog on the Wall St. Journal site: Laid off and looking. I told my husband last night that it's almost overwhelming to read the comments that are posted. So many people are out of work, and have been looking for replacement jobs for a long time with no success. These times are really holding a mirror up for anyone who is so inclined, to take a good hard look. What we expect, or expect to see, does not always match reality.
Then we have a choice: look away or try to adjust your expectations and actions to better match reality. We make it into a much more complicated issue sometimes. I'm not saying the solutions are easy, but at least the choice to course correct is in our hands.
But back to the blog: I am really frustrated because I feel that I have a great business model that might be of real help to some of these umemployed folks, but I am struggling with how to best get the information to them. Creative ideas are most welcome!! Meanwhile, back to cleaning my mirror.