Optimists Are Created

Art from Dorima on Pinvibe

Crescent Dragonwagon made a Facebook post today in which she related going to the food market. After checking out, the cashier said, “Be safe!”. Crescent responded that she hadn’t gotten where she is today by being safe. Surprisingly, the young woman asked her: “How DID you get where you are today?” Out of many responses she could have given, this one came forth: “Getting up one more time than I get knocked down. Over and over.” If I had two legs, I would have jumped up and applauded! And the next post I read was from Midwives of the Soul:

“Most optimists are not born that way. They are created. When the world asked them to harden, they softened. When they experienced pain, they vowed not to give that pain to others. When they understood the lineage of trauma, they healed instead of continuing the pattern. Optimists are not people who have never had a hard day or a hard season or a collection of hard years. Optimists are those that have walked through the fire and decided that love, hope, resiliency, and compassion are lighter to carry. For most people, their optimism is hard-won. Fought for. An act of brave resistance in a harsh, demanding, chaotic world.”

~ Jamie Varon

Here’s to all of us who get up one more time — over and over!

Joy Through Interactions

Joy in Mongolia

There is a study, which has been taking place for 40-plus years, following certain people throughout their lives and coming to conclusions on why they are, or are not, happy. It would seem happiness isn’t reliant on how much money people have, nor does it matter what religion they espouse — or not. Happiness isn’t dependent or where people live, what job they have, nor if they’re married or single. But it does have a direct correlation to their interpersonal relationships, their friendships, their interactions with others. Whether or not people were married or had a job, the study showed people are happier if they interact with others on a regular basis. So let’s go out and gather joy, spread happiness, and express Love in everything we do!

"Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57:18-21

“Each instant is a clean, untarnished birth, in which the Son of God emerges from the past into the present. And the present extends forever. It is so beautiful and so clean and free of guilt that nothing but happiness is there. No darkness is remembered, and immortality and joy are now.”

A Course in Miracles T-15.I.8:4-7

The Joy of Service

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

“Happiness is a byproduct of being useful.” Having no memory of where I first heard this, I did an internet search, which gave me no definitive source. Then I began to think of the numerous studies which tell us that loneliness is at epidemic levels in our world. With all of the people in need of help in various ways — physically, emotionally, spiritually — it seems no one would be unhappy or lonely if they helped to supply the needy. It appears to be a simple solution, but I know it’s not easy. I have a dear friend who lives a mostly isolated existence, and no matter what activity I suggest to her, she finds a reason she can’t do it. Perhaps we humans are afraid of rejection. Perhaps we’re afraid we may love and then the object of our affections will be taken away. Maybe we simply do not want to get dressed and go out into the world. While it’s true we can’t force anyone to accept the wonder of their existence, we can wear our happiness on our sleeve and hope they will want it, too!

“Child of God, you were created to create the good, the beautiful and the holy. Do not forget this. The Love of God, for a little while, must still be expressed through one body to another, because vision is still so dim. You can use your body best to help you enlarge your perception so you can achieve real vision, of which the physical eye is incapable. Learning to do this is the body’s only true usefulness.”

A Course in Miracles T-1.VII.2:1-5

“If we look to the body for pleasure, we find pain; for Life, we find death; for Truth, we find error; for Spirit, we find its opposite, matter. Now reverse this action. Look away from the body into Truth and Love, the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality. Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.”

Mary Baker Eddy -= Science & Health Page 260:31-7

Feeling Bad Won’t Make It Better

Wayne Dyer told us that we can't feel bad enough to make anyone feel better; we can't be confused enough to un-confuse one person; we can't get sad enough to bring joy to a single being on this planet. These statements were made in a talk having to do with wanting to feel good, and they can be found in his book, The Secrets of the Power of Intention. Our intentions multiply, so when we hear about an injustice and become depressed or overwhelmed by the situation, we are doing nothing to assist those in need, but we are doing something to bring sadness into our own lives. I know one dear woman who cares so much for the earth and its inhabitants that she cries every day, more than once, when she hears tragic stories about events. This is what Wayne Dyer means when he says, "You can't feel bad enough to make anyone's life better." Lowering our own vibrational energy lowers everyone's, and raising our level of joy affects the world in kind. There are many things we can do physically to help those in need, and we will find our individual path to do so. But as many well-known seers have said in different ways: When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.

“We will not let ourselves be sad today. For if we do, we fail to take the part that is essential to God’s plan, as well as to our vision. Sadness is the sign that you would play another part, instead of what has been assigned to you by God. Thus do you fail to show the world how great the happiness He wills for you. And so you do not recognize that it is yours.”

A Course in Miracles W-100.5:1-5

“As human thought changes from one stage to an. other of conscious pain and painlessness, sorrow and joy, — from fear to hope and from faith to understanding, — the visible manifestation will at last be man governed by Soul, not by material sense.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 125:12-16

Falling In Love With Life

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

“May you fall madly in love this year ... in love with someone who unhinges your tired trajectory, in love with a spouse of several years who might be aching for lightning, in love with demanding children and crazy relatives ... in love with the particular pedigree of genius insanity that has perhaps claimed you in spite of your reluctance … and certainly in love with an animal, a cloud, a redwood, the wild … these at least once a day.

May you fall in love with this fragile jewel of a world, with hard work, real learning, just causes, petitioning and prayers. May you fall in love with wonder itself, with the grand mystery, with all that feeds you in order that you may live .. and with the responsibility that that confers.

May you fall in love with heartbreak and seeing how it's stitched into everything.

May you fall in love with the natural order of things and with tears, tenderness and humility. May this be a magnificent year for you.

May you fall deeply, madly, hopelessly, inextinguishably in love."

By Rachelle Lamb: Poetess

“Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.”

A Course in Miracles T-1.I.3:1-3

“It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam, arches the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the night with starry gems, and covers earth with loveliness.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 247:24-27

An Indissoluble Spiritual Link

Eureka Thyme Gallery Show - circa 2005

Today marks the 30th anniversary of when my boys and I moved into our home in Eureka Springs. On this beautiful first day of 2025, Carol Peacock and I went for a long drive and enjoyed lunch at the only restaurant we found open. It was a day in which we remembered connections, while relating stories from our past. Four years ago, Carol’s good friend from forever dropped dead while working at Ermillio’s, a local Italian restaurant. I later purchased his old classic Jeep, and this is the vehicle we used today, while enjoying our mini-road trip. It felt like a tribute to her dear friend, Cliff, while being a celebration of friendship in general. This year my “focus word” will be connections. I’m seeing their importance more clearly, and realizing that many (if not all) of our world’s problems would be resolved if we had more book clubs, front porch visits with neighbors, and all the other forms of communications which may have fallen away in our lives. May we never forget we’re all in this together …

“Matter cannot connect mortals with the true origin and facts of being, in which all must end. It is only by acknowledging the supremacy of Spirit, which annuls the claims of matter, that mortals can lay off mortality and  find the indissoluble spiritual link which establishes man forever in the divine likeness, inseparable from his creator.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 491:11-16

“There is nothing to fear. How safe the world will look to me when I can see it! It will not look anything like what I imagine I see now. Everyone and everything I see will lean toward me to bless me. I will recognize in everyone my dearest Friend. What could there be to fear in a world that I have forgiven, and that has forgiven me?”

A Course in Miracles W-60.3:1-6

The Infinite Has No Beginning

As we wake up to a time we call 2025, I wish you each the peace, joy, and love which is innate to our being! For the last year, in these writings, I have focused on the daily workbook lessons of A Course in Miracles and tried to center my thoughts around them. In the upcoming 365 days, my focus will be on current events, daily activities, and the positive results I see happening in our world.  

I have been following the videos of Coreen Walson and Nouk Sanchez. These two women “unpack and promote the deeper, holographic teachings of ‘A Course in Miracles.’” If anyone wants daily inspiration, they have videos of the workbook lessons. You can find their fabulous interpretations and discussions on youtube under the heading of “A Course in Miracles - Daily Lessons Unpacked”.

As we move through what promises to be an interesting time, please feel free to comment on my daily emails or the entries on my blog. We’re all in this together!

“So will the year begin in joy and freedom. There is much to do, and we have been long delayed. Accept the holy instant as this year is born, and take your place, so long left unfulfilled, in the Great Awakening. Make this year different by making it all the same. And let all your relationships be made holy for you. This is our will. Amen.” 

A Course in Miracles T-15.XI.10:8-14

“The infinite has no beginning. This word beginning is employed to signify the only, — that is, the eternal verity and unity of God and man, including the universe.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 502:24-27