Under a Red Roof

Lettre Royale Campaign

June 3, 2011 in Inspiring, Writing by Colleen | 2 comments

Have you ever received a very fine gift, one that you really like and appreciate, yet aren’t quite sure what to do with it? This describes the fancy paper the hubster bought for me some six (!) years ago. It’s so beautiful that I felt it required a special occasion to write on it. And I did, a time or two, but, in the back of my mind, I thought it had an even higher purpose, so it stayed in a drawer.

This makes me laugh! You, Madame Paper, are so special that you get to stay in a dark drawer for six years. How about them apples? I am such a purger, if you didn’t know already. I like to give things away. If I’m not using it, I don’t want it in the house. Yet some items get a pass, and then, often times, years later, are used, and quite well, I might add. We made a stand for our second mason bee house with a metal pole that languished in the basement for who knows how long. It’s now buzzing with life and testament that it can be okay to not let go.

Back to that fancy paper. I have always liked telling people that I like (or love) them, their work, think they are smart, funny, have good skin, cute toes, great style, awesome glasses, whatever quality I happen to admire or appreciate. Sometimes people seem frightened by this (wondering if I have an ulterior motive?), as the recipients are often strangers, and I’m this smiling crazy person bearing down on them at the supermarket (slightly hyperbolic), but mostly they like it, or at least smile and say, “Thank you.”

Then I heard about a man (John Kralik) who was going through a very difficult time in his life and decided to write a Thank You note to someone every day for a year to better appreciate what he had. It changed his life in the most extraordinary way (365 Thank Yous). Then I stumbled upon the Pema Chodron book at the library (that’s it in the photo, too) and the words, “Give away what you most want,” struck the deepest chord.

What do I want? How about love, kindness, validation, sincere compliments, and being appreciated? Pretty awesome, right? Why not give it away? So I’m starting my own Lettre Royale Campaign (after the paper). I’ll write one letter a week until the pretty paper runs out. There are about fifty sheets. I’ll write to friends and strangers, near and far, and see what happens. Besides, it will give me yet another reason to buy cool stamps. I like those, too.

Sharing

June 2, 2011 in Quoting by Colleen | 2 comments

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Buddha

Morning

June 1, 2011 in Practicing, Reading by Colleen | 1 comment

For a while now, I’ve been getting up early, without an alarm, between 5:30 and 6:00. If it’s a weekday, sometimes it’s with the hubster. On weekends, I smell his cheek (mmm…), give him a kiss, and rise on my own. I get dressed, feed the cats and the birds, grab a bottle of kombucha (eight ounces a day, my elixir of life?), and a thoughtful book. Lately it’s been the Pema Chodron, Start Where You Are, I found at the library (I bought my own copy). I sit on the bench on the back porch, wrapped up in a scarf and blanket and one cat or another on my lap.

First, I sip my kombucha slowly, listening and watching all that is happening. At this hour, it is pretty quiet. The birds chirp and eat (see the crow?), a few cars pass, but not too many. Though I like being out when it is sunny, so I don’t feel so cold, the rain is nice, too. It falls so sweetly onto the metal roof over my head.

Once I’ve finished the kombucha, I read, but just a little bit. I don’t want to crowd my mind with too many ideas. It’s a busy place already. Then I sit and think about what I’ve read. Today, it was, “Rest in the nature of alaya, the essence.” Watch whatever comes up in the mind, the rising and falling of thoughts. There’s no need to despair about the quality or content. They’re just thoughts. “No big deal,” Pema says.

I like the freedom this gives me. Permission. I have very dark thoughts sometimes. Heavy. Unkind. Cruel. They’re no big deal when I give them the space to be thoughts. They lose their potency and dissipate, though not always. Some are more stubborn and sticky, preferring to linger longer, but I’m finding more lightness around them, too. Maybe it’s just being outside in a place that I love, that I’ve worked hard to create. I’ve chosen every piece of furniture, every ornament, every plant with care. I’ve cleaned, weeded, cut, and fed everything here. I feel safe, safe to let my thoughts rise and fall like the plants themselves: sprouts, leaves, flowers, and seed, before starting over again.

Tags: Books, cats, Reading