Seeing Love… and lemons!

As I look back on the year, it seems like ten years. Maybe that’s because I spent far less time sleeping than usual! I can’t believe all that has transpired in my life, and I know many of you feel the same. I returned to being an author and let my creative side cut loose. I visited with family and nearly lost family. I had so many things that have broken down that it is a wonder they all got fixed and financed, and so many unexpected and loving interactions that I was often in tears of gratitude.

The thing that I marvel at most, however, is the grace that continues to flow into my life, even when I don’t feel I’m at 100% high vibe. I’ve worked so diligently these past few years, ever since 2020, to keep my sights on the good that even when I have a little lapse or a big challenge, the positive momentum continues to attract amazing grace.

Christmas Eve, after the company had gone home, I cleaned up the house and noticed it was a little chilly. My heater had waited till after dinner and festivities to konk out! It was no hardship at all. Arizona nights are only around 40 degrees F right now, and it was 60 degrees in the house. I burrowed under a pile of delicious fleece blankets and woke up to a chilly, snuggly Christmas morning with a heart filled with love. Hot cocoa, warm flannel pajamas, and fuzzy socks felt like heaven.

My citrus trees gave from their amazing bounty once again this year. When I apologized to Lulu (my lemon tree) last December because I couldn’t quite reach the fruits at the top, she took matters into her own limbs. This year, she sent out 20-foot branches that draped to the ground so I could pick her offerings without climbing! My family loves them. One of our dear extended family members is now making “Lulu’s limoncello and lemon curd.” My childhood neighbor and I have reconnected over citrus, and as friends and family share with postmen, haircutters, neighbors, and others, the sunny yellow love just keeps spiraling outward into the world. When new neighbors moved in next door in 2020, they expressed appreciation for lemons, so Lulu just sent several branches over the fence and grew lemons in their yard! I received a thank-you bottle of strawberry basil limoncello this year—a few sips of which helped warm me up during the nights the heater was out 🙂

Life is magical if you look for the magic. Sure, lemon love doesn’t seem like a big deal when a family member has a condition that could take them off the planet at any given moment, but I have a choice where I set my sights, and the results of that choice have a profound impact on my life and the lives of those around me. I wish to be a source of support, love, and inspiration.

This coming year, I’m resolved to keep turning my thoughts to the good, the magic in life, and love eternal. The political climate here in the States is likely to be nuts once again because it’s an election year, and people are radically polarized, but I’m not going to let that wreck my life, my mood, or my creations. God is God, and love lives—buried or not, apparent or not—in all things and all beings.

To the best of my ability, I’m staying there, looking for good where I can easily find it and turning away when I cannot. I want to remain rooted in the truth that love is flowing to me and you and all at all times, just waiting for us to let it in. I want to let it in, in ever greater measure, so I can share more. When I wobble, I’ll wrangle my mind and turn my thoughts back to the good.

It was a blissful Christmas season in spite of the challenges this year. It was filled with music, friendship, good food (a lot of good food!), and a very good God. I have a few more days of being unplugged, enjoying blissful silence, the free pass to eat sugar that I grant myself every December! I have a few more days to work on some projects I started last year but never finished. I’ll keep you posted and will be returning emails later next week.

My wish for all is that this year, we reclaim our power to think good thoughts, feel good feelings, and, in so doing, allow the good to flow into our lives in greater measure.

Here are a few ideas to help ring in the new year with a glad heart:

1.  Make a list of magic moments

Ask yourself, “What are some of the magic moments I experienced this year?” Wait and see what bubbles up. Don’t try to recall; just let your soul present a few beautiful thoughts for your consideration.

I tried this and recalled telepathically talking to the hornets in my yard while they buzzed around me and feeling the amazing, utterly secure sense of knowing neither one of us wanted to harm the other. I remember the feeling of, “Ah ha, In peace, even those who threaten will do no harm.” I had a deeper sense of the amazing power of love.

I remembered standing in the creek in October with my wet suit pants, creek shoes, and t-shirt, feeling the cold water, the cool breeze, and the warm sun. I recalled the slight gurgling of the creek, the beauty of the colored trees growing from the cracks in the red rocks, and the eternal flow of emerald waters. No matter that, an hour later, I injured a foot! That moment was worth the walk and will live in my soul forever.

Another memory bubbled up that had me in stitches—the minute I finally got AI to draw me an owl shaped like an egg that looked like a chick with bunny ears! That effort resulted from days of prompting and training the system! In that moment, I knew for sure that I could accomplish my first children’s book! I remember thinking then that even the computer AI programs are subject to vibrational laws that we direct, and any fears about the future of humanity dissolved.

Let your soul present these little moments to you, and like doing a life review in heaven, you may just see how beautiful and impactful they truly are as you unpack the treasures within them

2. Notice the Love Around you Now

Look around your home, yard, or environment and randomly allow yourself to feel the love in various objects. Remember when you brought them home or were gifted. Remember the appreciation, the fascination of the love.

I just noticed the set of sandstone coasters painted with hummingbird art on my desk and remembered seeing them in an adorable shop while on vacation. They reminded me of how much I love my resident hummingbird. I appreciate the cool red stone they were made of, which reminds me of the cool red stones on my hikes. Such a small object is packed with such good feelings.

I see piles of rocks and crystals on my desk and remember the hikes or the excursions where I picked them up. A feather transports me to the forest, where it magically dropped down in front of me.

My wonderful 40-year-old stapler inspires laughter to this day. I’ve painted and blinged it and love it dearly. It was a gift from the amazing and hilarious ladies I worked with at a government office during the summer before I went to college. While I’ll never know for sure, I suspect they helped themselves to a few office supplies, which they wrapped and told me not to open till I got to school. Some day, after I die, the stapler will live on, and so will the memories of the laughter we shared. Perhaps I’ll know the true story of its origin as well!

This took me two minutes, and my heart is now filled with goodness. Yes, there are wars and horrendous things going on, bills that aren’t paid yet, and people who are suffering, but if I take these two minutes and fill my heart with goodness, I have it to share. Love is all around. Look at one thing and recall the love and good memories that it represents.

3. Find the silver lining

Pick a challenge you’ve faced this year and take time to appreciate how you’ve grown from it. Maybe you’ve lost someone, and it has caused you to reach for a greater connection with spirit. Maybe someone left your life, and it caused you to relate more deeply with yourself. Maybe this year was just plain hard, but you found an inner strength you didn’t know you had. No matter what you have grappled with or are still facing, you have a light, a power, and a strength within arising. Notice it. Appreciate it. Appreciate your strength of spirit even when you don’t feel it.

There is a silver lining in all things, and the more we appreciate our willingness to see it, the more love we flow into our own lives.

I wish you all a peaceful, joyful New Year filled with the Presence of the One who never leaves, always loves, and always guides us to the next best moment.