--YOU ARE SOMETHING ELSE

…I’d like to be the kind of person who can meditate.

…I like people who openly admit their notoriousness—people who unabashedly confess they are hopelessly flawed.  Those kinds of people remind me of someone I know.

…Disorderly, sloppy and chaotic aren’t always signs that things are headed south.  Sometimes it means they’re going north, but just taking a little longer.

…When I allow myself to open up to the feeling of gratitude, it typically washes over me and I end up wishing I did it more often.

…Practically speaking, pretending is efficient, uncomplicated and quick.  But pretending is the grease of most relationships.  We don’t really want to be who we really are, or at least we don’t want other people to see all sides of ourselves.

…The truth is, most of us are a mess in one way or another.  None of us are who we appear to be.  We all have secrets.  We all have issues.

…It breaks my heart and I don’t understand why no one is doing anything about this--One third of Brazil’s 150 million residents are under fourteen years of age.  Twenty-five million children live in desperate poverty.  Eight million of those are abandoned and of those, thirty-five percent of these will die before they reach the age of eighteen.

…The world’s not getting smaller, there’s just less in it.

…Even though it’s mid-winter, I often think I hear the flowers giggling outside while the bees get jealous.

…Come at me with some jelly bro.  (Inside joke.)

...The bricks will grow tired of waiting and crumble.  The cranes will droop their necks in sorrow.  The shovels will rust.  But I’ll still be here.

…The hummingbirds tell me you’re in a contemplative mood.  I told them to tell you that’s fine by me so long as you’re thinking good things.

…People are amazing.  That’s one thing I’m certain of.

…I want to be a good person.  I don’t want to fail.  I want to learn from my mistakes.  Most of the time, however, I feel like I’m running into the arms of my own clutteredness.

…Here I am, the top side of fifty, and I fail on a regular basis.  I guess that’s one way of growing.

…Take a breather, Superman.

…Unfortunately, eulogies are delivered by people who know the deceased.

…We are where we are now in the mess of our lives, the tangledness and unfixedness.  Isn’t that wonderful?

…If you write a poem, run your fingers under cold water for two minutes with your eyes closed.

…Sometimes the writing just doesn’t work, doesn’t connect.  It just lies there in a pile while I desperately try to resuscitate it.

…Desperate is a strong word.  That’s why I like it.

…Dude, it’s hard to ignore all this beauty.  I don’t know why I do it.

…I’m learning that there’s a myth of fixing one’s self.  There’s no silver bullet, that one big fix.  It’s one foot up, then down.  Next foot up, then down.

…Sometimes you have to be a little lost to find a place that can’t be found.  

…”Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.   It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?’  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  You’re playing small doesn’t serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.” –Nelson Mandela

…Dear God,

Just so you know, I’m doing the best I can. 
Thank you for your patience.

--IF YOU WANT TO JOIN ME, I’LL BE DANCING IN THE DARK

…First things first--I’m going to say all the words inside my head.

  

…My dad would have been 81 years old this month.  I hope he’s resting comfortably, but knowing him, he’s probably out in the yard fixing God’s broke down trucks.

…After my dad died there was an enormous mess to clean up.  Dad was a hoarder, big time.  Some of the things he collected were all those Nordstrom gift cards I’d sent him over the years, for Christmas or on his birthday.  I wish he would have used them.  I wish he would have splurged and got himself something nice.

…Bit by bit, snip by snip, I’m cutting through the cathartic jugular.  But it’s my own stuff, so it’s okay.  

…I like the feel of the wind—in my hair, on my face.  It’s kind of sensuous.   I even like the kind of rough wind that throws me off balance.  It reminds me that I'm still alive. 

…Second thing second--I keep on running fast just to catch up to myself.

…Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

…Don’t throw my name around like that.  You could get into some kind of trouble.

…Kids were laughing in my classes while I was scheming for the masses.

…What I’ve come to realize is you have to let that shit go.  That tension in your shoulders. 

…Someone’s been hammering next door all day and Pete the eagle just flew by, but the rain still won’t give up.  Seems like everyone’s got a mission before the weekend.

…Everyone is their own hurricane, their own silent movie.  We're all filling out our diaries, sentence by sentence.

…The other night someone told me to never underestimate the power of loneliness.  They didn’t know me very well.

…Saying you’re happy out loud makes it more real.  Here, I’ll try it.  “...I’m happy…”  Can you hear me?

…Sometimes happiness feels superstitious.

…Everybody wants to be wanted but not everybody wants to be needed.  That can be a huge difference.

…My body is always a little sore, as if it’s yearning for something, as if it’s missing its other half.

…What we worship and bury is a sweet and sour soup, tangy and unfinished.

…There’s never a good time to admit this, but sometimes there’s just no explosiveness to my game, no rhythm and blues.

…I’ve been a saint.  I’ve been the truth.  I’ve been the lie.

…It’s not always wise to assess your damage.  Sometimes it’s best to just be a duck, let that water roll right off.

…You’re the little girl who made my life somersault.

…Actually, I love the girl that loves the dog.

…Every year, on my saddest day, I look to the sky to make sure the sun’s still there.

…Can I be really honest?  You take my words away.

…Last things last—today is going to be a day unlike any other day.

-->

--YOU WERE THE HIGHLIGHT OF OUR DAY

…I woke up feeling hopeful this morning.  There’s probably nothing better than that.  Well, maybe waking up feeling grateful.

 …In a darkened place I watched my soul replace itself with something new and fresh and glistening.

…Rain or no rain, everyday also throws up a rainbow and I’m not going to waste a bit of the beauty of this.

…Catch me laughing.  Catch me drinking past dawn.  Catch me singing.  Catch me beaming, open-armed.

…The thing about self-talk is, when you’re thinking about it, you’re self-talking, so best be careful what you’re thinking.

…Don’t you just love honeybees?  No?  I do.  A honeybee’s wing can beat 11,4000 times per minute.  But they also have five eyes, and some with hair on them (really).

…No lack of wouldn’t could be my undoing.

…Something almost as surprising is The Philippines having over 7,100 islands.  It would be quite a job naming them all.  I wonder whose responsibility that was.

…I wanted The Patriots to win the Super Bowl because I like Tom Brady (I know a lot of people hate him as much as I love him.  Please don’t shoot me.)  I was glad the Eagles won, though.  They city needed it as much as the team.  What was shocking was fan reaction the day after.  Someone actually said this,“Losing a Super Bowl is worse than losing your parents.”  Pretty unbelievable, right?

…“We think too much and feel too little."

"A day without laughter is a day wasted."

"Nothing is permanent in this wicked world—not even our troubles.”  Charlie Chaplin said all that.  Pretty bright guy, old Charlie.  Not only funny, but sage, too.

…A group of otters is called a romp.  Now isn’t that just so cute?  A few years back I saw three otters frolicking on the dock, sort or rolling around and wrestling like puppies.  They were definitely romping.  It was one of the cutest things I’ve seen.

…Hummingbirds can be seen differently depending on how they hover and the light they allow you to see, and in that way, I am very much like a hummingbird.

…Often, the most important moments are the most mundane ones enacted in the right places, then narrated without expectation.

…When I was so busy, wrapped up in the corporate world, I thought the way to make up for lost time with my kids was to take them to some huge event—The Grammys, Britney Spears, etc.  After I left that world for an opposite world I realized the best moments, the most important moments, happen on a fifteen-minute car ride to the bus stop when it’s just you and your child talking about whatever comes to mind.

…I’m trying to write with the headlights on.  So maybe I don’t know exactly where I’m going, but at least I can see in front of me, foot by foot, yard by yard, mile by mile.