You know who you are.............

I have concerts in my car with the windows rolled down and in my house with the doors wide open. Hear me sing!!!!!!There's songs that pick you up and make you sing at the top of your lungs. Here's my song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3vIv1EwO5A&feature=related

Turn up the volume.

You know those tunnel water slides at the pools for kids? I had my friend Rick turn it on at the pool today for me. I went up and down a half dozen times laughing all the way down.

Words from the Dali Lama

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s:

Respect for self
Respect for others and
Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.


I was honored to volunteer at the Seeds of Compassion conference this past spring in Seattle. The mere presence of the Dali Lama uplifted the entire Key Arena to a state of absolute joy; his smile, his giggles, his words. A true example of leading with compassion and grace.

The picture

One day fourteen years ago while living in Anchorage, Alaska, I was shopping at Burlington Coat Factory. A picture caught my eye of a cafe in France. There was something about that cafe that spoke to me. I felt a deep connection to the ornamental iron facade, the street corner in an unknown location, the space.

That picture came with every move. I tenderly packed it as though it were a family heirloom. When I arrived in Anacortes, Washington, I needed to size down the photo to fit my tiny little abode. The integrity of the picture maintained, the fluff removed. Through all the remodeling work and purging for a move I thought I was going to make; the picture remained with me.

In November of 2005, one morning before the Parisians rise to the occasion, I was wandering the side streets of Paris breathing in the richness from the nearby boulangerie. I came to a fork in the road, literally. When I looked up, there the picture that stayed with me all these years, was right in front of me. It was as real as the goosebumps present on my forearms.

My heart felt as though I had returned to the space designated only for me. I stood there in a trance of past, present, and future. I do not know the address, nor did I write it down.

My internal compass is all knowing. This trip, my first trip to Europe started my journey home.