Light the light...smile!

HIGH NOTES

December 2014

Tis the season:)  Linda

Many say that this is the season for light overcoming the darkness.

Midst all of the realities of clouds…in the sky, in lives, in the world's lack of love…there are smiles this time of the year!

Creativity is just like that! 

It's going the extra mile.

It's seeing things just a little differently, even upside down like kids do.

It's doing something a bit unusually that may even bring a smile to yourself or someone else.

A smile is the least expensive yet maybe the biggest gift you can give someone.

For whatever reason, find a way to celebrate life this December with joy.   

Let your eyes twinkle with the light.  Smile:)

"It's not what you have on the outside that glitters in light, it's what you have on the inside that shines in the dark."

― Anthony Liccione

Poetry and Life

A collection of alphabetical letters

Scrambled together to make words.

A collection of words

Scrambled together to capture ideas.

A collection of ideas

Scrambled together to reflect visions.

A collection of visions

Scrambled together to build lives.

A collection of lives

Scrambled together to share hope.

Faith, hope, and love

Scrambled together to share beliefs.

Poetry, messy like life--

First the mess, then the beauty.

October High Notes

Are your thoughts uplifting and inspiring… just like a good book?  Notice what you think about!  Your mind guides your days and ways.   Linda

TRUST:

Steven M. R. Covey has just written a book called the Speed of Trust.  In essence, he says that in professional and personal outcomes, we pay a higher price in dollars and time if we do NOT have trust in relationships.  It is a useful read and good for discussion.  One easy application is to ask for counsel and expertise from people you trust.   Everyone has opinions, many of which will not encourage or thrust you in positive ways.

CLOUDS:

The warm days are gone and the colored leaves have been blown away by the fall winds.  It is easy to say that the clouds create a dark and gloomier day.  But what about thinking of the clouds as just vapors, beyond science, lifting our gratitude and collecting it to soon shower the beauty of winter?  Pollyanna?   Maybe, but empowerment gathers our verve and wits in ways that hopeless resignation never can.

THANKS:

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  The very first article I ever wrote for a newspaper was done when I was in high school: Let's Put the Thanks Back in Thanksgiving!  It's still a good idea.  Maybe the gratitude we lift to reframe our perception of dark clouds will also prepare us in wonderful ways for the upcoming traditional gathering of thanks.  As you plan for dinner with your family and friends this year, think of the title of the hymn tune—
Come Ye Thankful People Come!

Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted in big matters.

Albert Einstein

Perspective...

HIGH NOTES

By a child we can be led.    Linda

UPSIDE DOWN

Ever watch a young child tipped over and looking at the world upside down through his legs?  Adults generally don't do that, but it certainly provides a new perspective on the same world.  My friend, James, suggests snapping the photo you have just framed and then turning around 180 degrees to catch the view with your camera that is directly behind you.  It is another lesson in perspective.  Increase or change your view and you will have a larger scope of life.

SIMPLY TIP IT!!

I have carried a birthday card propped on a holder in my car for a very long time because the giver was so right about my enjoyment of the colors.  I recently was temped to take it out but instead just tipped it over, which meant the words were now hidden but not the colors or images.  Tipping things upside down is standard operating procedure for kids.   Try it!

NEED HIERARCHY

I have forever been inspired by the wisdom found in the Basic Human Need Hierarchy developed by Abraham Maslow.  I have always drawn this paradigm as stairs, highlighting that the step up is accomplished with greater ease when the lower steps are completed.  For example, it always made sense that basic physical safety and emotional security must be satisfactorily met before anyone can successfully benefit from a circle of belonging.  And completing all of these steps shapes our ability to master life's learning needs and feel totally assured about individual uniqueness.  This matrix has always caused me to focus on the concrete issues first.

But recently I looked at it all upside down!  It occurred to me that the concept of LOVE is the most abstract and draws our thinking and decision making to the highest level.  If we engage at the top and most abstract FIRST, it will totally increase the effectiveness we have in tending all of the other need levels.  Loving myself or loving someone else heightens my awareness and my fulfillment capacity, exponentially.  The tasks become important in new ways.

Why you do something powerfully impacts the what!

"Why was the burning desire to not quit because they were on a mission that was far bigger than themselves.  If you have a big enough reason to do something the "how" will simply show itself." Three Feet from Gold, Sharon Lechter and Greg Reid

The blessings and bane of gold...

Fall is in the air...