PEEPS

"Find something that moves you or pisses you off, and do something about it.  Put your self out there.  Be brave.  Be bold.  Take action.  You have a voice.  Speak up, especially when something tries to keep you silent.  Take a stand for what's right.  Raise a ruckus and make a change.  You may not always be popular, but you'll be part of something larger and bigger and greater than yourself.  Besides, making history is extremely cool."

Samuel L. Jackson, American Actor

Today I am sick and feel like the earth has come crushing down on me mentally, physically, and emotionally. I'm really not surprised by the week I have had.  But in spite of it all I am here - and that is a good thing. 

A friend told me a week ago that she thought I could write a story about a banana peel on the sidewalk.  I feel sure I  could.  But today I write  to ask you to step outside of your comfort zone - often.  "Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live," words of an American Journalist, Dorothy Thompson.

For what happens if we don't?  We become timid and squeamish and discontent.  Too discontent to live our lives.  Many choose to lie on their sofa, watch television, and simply look on, letting life pass them by.  People too often turn their backs on life.  They refuse to experience awe and wonder and discovery.  What happened to curiosity?  What happened to grabbing the brass ring and rejoicing? 

Everyone claims to be seeking the meaning of life - the why are we here thing.  As Joseph Campbell said in The Power of Myth, "I think what we are seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive."

The rapture of being alive!  How many of us can say that we have felt that? 

 I close with my favorite Agatha Christie quote,  "I like living.  I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

Now antibiotics, aspirin, cough syrup, and a box of 'Peeps!"  Should do the trick!

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"If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood.  I'd type a little faster."

Isaac Asimov

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

Helen Keller

Photo Courtesy of Robert McLeroy

I miss you Mac!