This is one of the greatest pictures – a butterfly blessing a golden retriever (a great dog). Some days, you feel like no one loves you, and then someone unexpectedly gives you a blessing. This is what friendship is about.
Let a friend give you a blessing today!
Blessings,
Judy
Every once in a while, I read a story that says - this animal is an angel in disguise. For me, the story below is such an example of an angel.
Enjoy!
Blessings,
Judy
It's no secret that a good dog can help you get through hard times. There's something about a dog's smile and constant love that is impossible to resist even during great sorrow. I just read a story that makes this especially clear and has an extra tug on the heartstrings.
Michelle Michalek writes from Buffalo, New York and tells the story of her beloved younger brother who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the heartbreakingly young age of 20. Upon receiving his diagnosis, he had only one request. Jeremy wanted a pit bull puppy. So Michelle immediately took up the task of finding him the perfect puppy. She found a brindle puppy that was sure to be perfect on the same day that Jeremy had lung surgery. A few days after he came home, Michelle picked up the puppy and brought him to her brother.
Knowing the dog was unlikely to understand her, she explained on the drive that he was to be the best friend to a very sick, but also very special boy. The dog must have understood because when Michelle brought him into the room full of family and friends, the pup made a beeline for her brother. For the next three years Jeremy and his dog Remy were inseparable. Jeremy often told Michelle that if it wasn't for his beloved canine that he would have lost it. Remy was there and strong through the worst of the disease.
When Jeremy began to get much worse, he worried about Michelle. The thought of leaving his sister bothered him terribly, so he convinced Michelle that she needed a puppy as well. Michelle was understandably reticent, but Jeremy insisted and she finally agreed. Knowing that Michelle had always wanted a yellow lab, he began to search for the right puppy in the newspaper and making phone calls.
Jeremy found Michelle a wonderful lab pup that she named Tritan. For the next several years they raised the puppy together. He helped them laugh when they wanted to cry. It was the last thing they did together. Three months later Jeremy passed away. Remy and Michelle were devastated.
Tritan though, would not let them sink deep into their depression. Tritan wouldn't allow Remy to ignore his food, harassing him to eat. He also pestered him until he would get up and play. Tritan wouldn't let Michelle stay in bed and mope either. He jumped on her, yanked of the sheets, barked and eventually got her out of bed every morning. He never left her side. He comforted her when she cried. He made her smile when she didn't want to. He couldn't replace her brother, but Tritan gave her a similar sort of unconditional love. Michelle realized that her brother knew exactly what he was doing when he got her Tritan and understood what he meant when he told her she would realize one day that he was right to get her a dog. Michelle says, "There is no greater gift than the last gift my brother gave me, my yellow lab Tritan.
One of the most difficult things to do, I think, is to hold the light every minute of the day, especially when you have to work at a job where this may be difficult.
Light in this case is defined as goodness, kindness, respect, integrity, unconditional love, and compassion. The person is without ego, goes with the flow, and lives in gracefulness, without judgement and criticism of others. Some folks are lucky to be born in this state and to hold it through out life. Others of us have to work at it.
How do you find ways to keep your light present when people are arguing, or back stabbing, or even crying?
Blessings,
Judy
Otters are such beautiful creatures. I think it is because of their playfulness and their loving personality. This picture grabbed me because it reflects what Otter wants to show us.
May Otter appear in your life today – in the flesh, in pictures, on billboards, or on TV.
Blessings,
Judy
May this day carry a blessing for you.
May this blessing be as gentle as a hug, and as great as Africa.
May you get the Lion’s share of love!
Blessings,
Judy
One of the things that makes me the happiest in life, is when people come to our house and tell me that they love the feeling in our house; that they feel sad to leave our house. I saw this quote from Mother Theresa and I believe that many people feel this way when they leave our house.
May you find people that feel this way in your life.
Blessings,
Judy
The Orangutan recognized her offspring’s first attempts to be independent in a world that she was not quite ready for. An older orangutan rebuffed the friendship, and threw in a few slaps and growls. The young lady was devastated! She did not want to return to Mom, but neither did she want to venture farther.
Mom solved the problem. She ambled slowly up to daughter, and mumbled something, and then gathered daughter in her arms.
The moral of the story – even when you are out on your own, it is okay to stay close to those that love you, and that you love. Give someone you love a call today.
Blessings,
Judy
Merry Christmas to each of you! May today be filled with peace, love, and humour. This Christmas is a bit different for us as our dog who turned fourteen years old a short time ago, is now in his final days. He has taught us so much over the years. And, he has taught others too, about loving and accepting new people to your life.
I think that dogs are the only beings that interact with humans that know that Christmas, and every other day of the year, is about love.
The message that came through my meditation was all around love, and especially love with compassion and without limits. All dogs seem to have that unbelievable ability to love unconditionally and with a sense of compassion that I marvel at.
This Christmas, I noticed that the number of people walking dogs in our off leash park has increased. I look at the faces of the people with dogs, and those without, and I see that dog owners seem to be more relaxed, and they seem to be happier with what they are doing.
I chatted with several new comers to the dog walking trail, and found that they had decided that rather than give a lot of presents, that they would adopt a dog for Christmas. They were finding it challenging to fit in many activities plus a new dog, however, all were happy with their choices.
I wonder, sometimes, how the Universe lines up these pairings of people and dogs. I wonder how long it takes to get to that place where the right dog and the right people are finally able to live out their contract. I wonder what happens when a matching does not happen.
I am so very glad that dogs are working with humans. We are all better off, I think.
Blessings,
Judy
The poster says, “Whatever you give to life, it gives you back. Do not hate anybody. The hatred which comes out from you will someday come back to you. Love others. And Love will come back to you.
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So many times we hear the phrase “if a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil….”. The saying is about the ripple effect of our actions.
I am thinking about something lovely that my friend Brenda, did for another person. She came out of Safeway and found a young woman standing, looking lost and sad and cold. Brenda asked her if she could help the young woman. The young woman was tired and hungry and had no success getting assistance from the person she had called on the telephone.
Brenda took her in and bought her a sandwich and coffee, and gave the young woman the only money that she had in her wallet, a five dollar bill. She said that she knew that this lady needed it more than she did.
Whatever happens to the young lady, I believe the outcome will be good because someone gave her kindness and hope.
May your day be wonderful in all ways.
Blessings,
Judy
When we meditate, we relate to that unsettling, ineffable commodity: the present. We train in letting go of thoughts and feelings as they arise, and settle back into the present: that gap between two concepts—past and future—that don’t actually exist. We’re simply being, here and now. - Pamela Gayle White, "The Pursuit of Happiness"
I always find it amazing when life intersects with synchronicity or magic. Yesterday, I was writing about happiness. And today, my guidance is that we need to focus on happiness in order to shift. The quote that I have noted above was in my mailbox today.
I read this over and over and decided that what the message was, for me, said “If you are focused on the now moment, then you do not have time to think of the past and you will not have a need to feel unhappy.”
What this also said to me was that most people are either unhappy about the past or unhappy about the future. To stay in the present means to be mindful of what focus your thoughts take. It is very difficult to focus on love and and happiness when someone has just yelled at you or cut you off in traffic….. or, done whatever.
Be happy,
Judy
Today, let us talk about love, or not to love. A friend of mine was telling me a story about her issue with her boyfriend – she loves him, and loves him very much. She would love the love to be unconditional. However, he does things or has habits that are very contradictory to her belief and values system. The hardest thing, for her, is that when she says that an action that he does is not agreeable to her, he immediately tells her why she is wrong and how right his action is – in other words, she must totally allow him to do what is right for him, and she has no rights. This, I tell her, is imbalance. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and, the balance of how to integrate both person’s needs is the beauty and challenge of relationships. If one person is not allowed to have rights, then it is time to move on – in political terms, there is a dictatorship.
Then, one of my friends sent me this story. I thought that I would share it with you.
Love and blessings,
Judy
While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had one of those life-changing experiences that you hear other people talk about -the kind that sneaks up on you unexpectedly. This one occurred a mere two feet away from me. Straining to locate my friend among the passengers deplaning through the jet way, I noticed a man coming toward me carrying two light bags.
He stopped right next to me to greet his family. First he motioned to his youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags. They gave each other a long, loving hug. As they separated enough to look in each other's face, I heard the father say, "It's so good to see you, son. I missed you so much!" His son smiled somewhat shyly, averted his eyes and replied softly, "Me, too, Dad!"
Then the man stood up, gazed in the eyes of his oldest son (maybe nine or ten) and while cupping his son's face in his hands said, "You're already quite the young man. I love you very much, Zach!" They too hugged a most loving, tender hug.
While this was happening, a baby girl (perhaps one or one-and-a-half) was squirming excitedly in her mother's arms, never once taking her little eyes off the wonderful sight of her returning father.
The man said, "Hi, baby girl!" as he gently took the child from her mother. He quickly kissed her face all over and then held her close to his chest while rocking her from side to side. The little girl instantly relaxed and simply laid her head on his shoulder, motionless in pure contentment.
After several moments, he handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared, "I've saved the best for last!" and proceeded to give his wife the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing.
He gazed into her eyes for several seconds and then silently mouthed. "I love you so much!" They stared at each other's eyes, beaming big smiles at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn't possibly be.
I puzzled about it for a moment then realized how totally engrossed I was in the wonderful display of unconditional love not more than an arm's length away from me.
I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if I was invading something sacred, but was amazed to hear my own voice nervously ask, "Wow! How long have you two been married?" "Been together fourteen years total, married twelve of those." he replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife's face. "Well then, how long have you been away?" I asked the man finally turned and looked at me, still beaming his joyous smile."Two whole days!"
Two days? I was stunned. By the intensity of the greeting, I had assumed he'd been gone for at least several weeks - if not months. I know my expression betrayed me, I said almost offhandedly, hoping to end my intrusion with some semblance of grace (and to get back to searching for my friend), "I hope my marriage is still that passionate after twelve years!"
The man suddenly stopped smiling. He looked me straight in the eye, and with forcefulness that burned right into my soul, he told me something that left me a different person. He told me, "Don't hope, friend... decide!" Then he flashed me his wonderful smile again, shook my hand and said, "God bless!" With that, he and his family turned and strode away together.
I was still watching that exceptional man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, "What'cha looking at?" Without hesitating, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, "My future!"
- Author Unknown
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When we feel the changes of this day, know that all of the light is coming through the portal of the Sun from many stars and planets, with the guidance of the Archangels and Guardian Angels. The Moon and Stars and Planets are now able to shift even more light, healing light, to the small planet Earth for – you guessed it – healing! The light and the love that shines down on us is magnificent. Creator – Great Spirit is part of us and shines this for itself as well as for us. We get the same light as the water and trees and plants and rocks and mountains, and all the animals, fish, birds, and creepy-crawlies. We are all connected in Love.
Blessings,
Judy
This post is from my journal from about ten or so years ago. I was reflecting on the death of a good friend. I was remembering how he loved life and how he involved my husband and I in his life. So, this blog is for him.
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Years ago, I saw the great movie, “Being There” with Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine. The last scene shows Peter Sellers walking away from Earth. The movie so wonderfully creates the idea of innocence and how we can be true to our selves.
This movie comes up for me because today we said good-bye to a friend. His celebration of life was beside a fast moving river. There was a huge circle of love, formed by all the people that came to honour him, and share their stories of adventures with him. When the last of his ashes was scattered, I saw the image of him walking away, over the water.
For me, death of the physical is simply our spirits agreeing to accept the invitation to “walk with me” that Creator, or Great Spirit, or God, issues. There is a point, I think, when we no longer need to be on Earth. We have finished what we started. And, as we are all energy, energy returns to like.
I think that celebrating life, as we did today, is a wonderful way to bring peace to the family and to each of us. We are all created with a sense of Oneness that we seem to forget upon arriving on earth. Maybe it is time for us to actively look for the Oneness in ourselves and how it connects to others. This practice will help us understand how love wraps around us, and how, when each of us leaves the world a better place, all of us are lifted.
Blessings,
Judy
I have been sitting in my office in the evening, to do accounting tasks like paying bills and updating budgets, and find myself doodling on scratch pads, or thinking about quilting, or even pulling out my wood carving stuff.
What I realized was that my creative, imaginative, “Me” was wanting out! It wants to come out and play, and draw, and make beautiful patterns, and satisfy something that I have been supressing as I have been trying to get my year end completed.
Let’s face it – accounting is required but not fun the way carving and quilting are fun. Creator is reminding me that I need to honour my ability to create on a more regular basis than I have been. When you look at the things that archaeologists dig up and that get put in museums, you can see that man has created since the beginning of time.
Maybe that is why there are so many unhappy people in the world – they don’t have time to create. I think that creating something – a cake, dinner, art, music, or whatever, is part of what keeps each of us alive. I think that when we don’t create, that we become depressed. I think some people have had creativity stifled in them so much that they don’t know that the “I am missing something” feeling is really their need to create something. Each time that we create, we leave our mark.
I would like to see our world change to give us more time to create things just for ourselves. I think that we can meditate to see what we should create next. I believe that all creative tasks should be done from a state of love.
As a side story, I wanted to make meatballs for our potluck dinner the other night. However, I was running out of time. So, I went to the store and bought a box of frozen meatballs and a bottle of Diane Original sauce. At home, I mixed the two together, and then before popping the casserole dish in the oven, I waved my hands over the dish and said, “Love, love, love, little meatballs. Think love. Think love when you are cooking and think love when you are being added to someone’s plate, and think love through the whole experience.” I had so many compliments on my meatball dish! I think I was very creative.
Have a wonderfully creative day and go out and make your mark!
Blessings,
Judy
Summertime – the time of warmth, happiness, and weddings. It is a time to contemplate love. One of the symbols of love is Swan.
The gracefulness of the Swan, and its colour, are symbols of innocence and purity around the world. Additionally, most people, in all countries where Swan resides, see Swan as a symbol of beauty. The combination of grace, purity, innocence and beauty, make Swan synonymous with “love”.
As a symbol of love, Swan decorates wedding cakes, is featured on wedding invitations, and may be in the centerpiece or the hall decorations. In an outdoor wedding, Swan may be swimming in the river or lake. Swan is appropriate for weddings because Swan mates for life, and if it loses its mate, may remain solitary until death. Therefore, Swan is the proof of the “one life, one love” saying.
It is so beautiful, and so strong! This is the vision that men have of the woman that they will marry, and often, the vision that the women has of her handsome man. The theme that Swan conveys is that love enhances the beauty and strength for all those that carry love in their hearts.
It makes sense then, that the Swan is the favoured animal for Aphrodite – Venus, the goddess of love.
See another post about swan here:
https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2023/05/swan-energy.html
Blessings,
Judy
“You cannot understand life and its mysteries as long as you try to grasp it. Indeed, you cannot grasp it just as you cannot walk off with a river in a bucket. If you try to capture running water in a bucket, it is clear that you do not understand it and that you will always be disappointed, for in the bucket the water does not run. To "have" running water you must let go of it and let it run.” Alan Watts from The Wisdom of Insecurity.
Over the last several months, I have been working on understanding the Buddhist concept of “attachment”, and at the same time, I have been working on understanding all the things that I am attached to. I am finding that attachment comes in many forms. It does seem to be about being attached to things being a certain way. If I can get to a point where I accept all things and allow them to be as they are without my ideas of how they should be, then I will be free of attachment. I hope to get there by letting go of one attachment at a time.
As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery. We have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger and attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion, a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.
~Dalai Lama
Many Blessings,
Judy
Buddhists believe that every human contains four elements, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. These four elements make up our physical body, and allow us to feel the energies associated with each of them. We will talk about those energies in a minute. What is clear, is that these four elements can help us to stay grounded. However, it seems that many people choose to be ungrounded, that is, they feel “spaced out”. And rather than try to change this feeling, the individual seems to encourage the feeling.
This great picture comes from www.meta-synthesis.com
When we feel “heavy” when we are walking or running, or “sleepy” or “full” after a meal, then we are feeling the effects of our Earth energy. The Earth energy is working to pull our bodies – physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual – back into the confines of our physical center. Sometimes our bodies are not pulled back in all the way, so we feel “off center”. It is our Earth energy that allows us to taste and to touch. When we feel solid, or stiff, or smooth, or hardness, then we are using our Earth element.
When we feel constrained and our movement seems stiff, or we seem without fluidity, then we know our Water element is blocked. When we feel sticky and emotional and want to cry for no reason, or if we feel depressed, we are feeling Water energy. Congestion and phlegmy coughs tell us that our Water energy is out of balance. If we see people in need, our Water energy cries out to support them, to be in service. It is our Water energy that allows us to see and to make assumptions or judgements around situations.
We know that when we hear things and feel the mental energy of our brain working that the Air Element is in play. Or, when we have visions, or words come to us unbidden, we may find that our Air Element is changing, and with the change, bringing us new information. Those with a strong air element like to be entertained and to solve puzzles and quizzes. When we are caught up in our Air element, we float on “cloud nine”. Playing, pushing, pulling, and all movement are showing us how we use the Air element.
The Fire Element shows up as heat in our body, as passion and anger. When somebody wrongs us, or we feel something is unfair, then we tend to “burn up” with rage or indignation. We use the heat we carry to show love and affection, to show protection. Healers talk about the amount of heat that is generated when they are working with a client. Attraction heats up with the Fire element.
We have all these great sensations that tell us so much about our bodies and that show us that we are in the present moment. Then, we lose this information by getting into our mind, into our ego, and analysing the information so that the info of the present moment becomes useless.
If you have some time today, meditate on the Nature of your body, and how the Earth changes may affect how your body feels in the Earth element. Meditate on the Oneness, on finding peace in the present moment, and on the Ancestors, who have already experienced the circle of life. Find a prayer that helps you relax, and that slows down your mind. Allow yourself to be here, now, in the present.
Blessings,
Judy
One of the things that makes me the happiest in life, is when people come to our house and tell me that they love the feeling in our house; that they feel sad to leave our house. I saw this quote from Mother Theresa and I believe that many people feel this way when they leave our house.
May you find people that feel this way in your life.
Blessings,
Judy
The picture says: Human Kind. Be Both.
"We’re not meant to be vehicles of destruction, but rather the very embodiment of love & light and compassion, manifest."
I recently had an experience where people were not very kind to me or to each other. I wondered why they were like that. Then, I met their manager. He was not nice to any one. When people say that influence comes from the top, “people” were very correct in this case.
What makes someone be unkind to those around him (or her)? Is it their home life? Is it that they think acting mean makes them powerful? Or, is it that they don’t like people in general? What ever the reason, I like to think that most people are kind and that most people want to help others.
Blessings,
Judy
