Arriving Unbidden

This morning I opened the book, "Chocolate for a Woman's Soul," by Kay Allenbaugh intending to donate it to a local women's shelter. Why did I buy this book? I opened it wondering, and the book reminded me. It said:

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."
- Anais Nin

"Having your way is a lot easier when you have more than one way." - Jennifer James

"When you hold back on life, life  holds back on you." 
- Mary Manin Morrissey

Reaching beyond, having the courage to move on; coming to crossroads; and going with my passion. Dreaming, paddling upstream, the magic of anger, an influential lunch date, shut up and dance, and someday. All titles of chapters and essays in this book of magic.

I have a lunch date today.

Attitude of Gratitude

It's Wednesday and this is Bird Week in Debbieland. Earlier this week I received a robin, which sat in my lap catching its breath when released into my care by Harris, a woodland Maine coon I rescued a few years ago. Rarely does he kill anything he catches, and rarely has he caught a bird in the five years we have been together. That's his companion, Madre's, job.

I stroked the robin on its head and wings until it calmed, and sat with it under the desk snuggled into a nest-like spot while I worked. Checking on it about half an hour later, it flew! And I knew it was safe to set it free. It let me capture it again, and together we walked outside in the warm spring air and around the corner beyond Harris and Madre's territory. Before disappearing into the bush, it hopped, turned around, and thanked me. From that red-breasted beauty, gratitude spread from the inside out.

Yesterday a friend had a hummingbird land on him. Just sitting in a chaise lounge out back talking with a friend beside him under the moon, the tiny colorful wonder lighted and stilled the humans for a moment. In "hummingbird-speak," that could mean a few things: among them, courage, health, balance and the truth of beauty.  More about hummingbirds as animal totems may be found at http://hummingbirdworld.com/h/totem.htm.

Robins as a totem, it turns out, will stimulate new growth in all areas of one's life. Which is exactly where I'm at right now. A short description of robin's totem role may be found at http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/robin.htm.

These are miracles. Without this wildness, what can we know? I once read there can be no great mental achievement without accompanying spiritual development. That statement was made by Nona during a channel I was reading about. The concept of spiritual development varies so widely. So many still think of it as religious study. As the robin and the humming bird show, spiritual development has little to do with religion and everything to do with faith and gratitude.

Today I received a sparrow from Harris. It is so unusual for him to catch a bird that I am paying attention. According to http://linsdomain.com/totems/pages/sparrow.htm, the sparrow reminds us to sing out our own song of dignity and self-worth. It shows us that even a common little bird can triumph. I've been feeling that way lately.

Harris' way of communicating with me this week is a gift I think may be related to his new lightness of being. A couple of months ago he went on the Hills weight loss diet. He lost about 1.5 pounds, and has been lighter on his feet, jumping while playing instead of rolling over on his back. He loves the crunchies, and his long fur has become extra fluffy. I have been thinking about trying the diet myself.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

Wise words from Fred Rogers, aka Mister Rogers:

"It came to me ever so slowly that the best way to know the truth was to begin trusting what my inner truth was...and trying to share it - not right away - only after I had worked hard at trying to understand it."