I was hungry on the way to work today.
😒
My green Shake didn’t cut it.
🌱
I remembered Starbucks – haven’t been there in forever.😉
🚦
At the red (traffic) light I ordered my ice tea and egg bites. I parked, walked in, heard my name called, and was greeted with a radiant smile (as if I had made HER day).
🥳
I realized (again) that I have the privilege of living in an abundant world.
🌎
And through no skill of my own, I was born into a country, a family, and a culture where I can flow easily and comfortably through my days.
🙏🏻
I then saw a picture of Tayina, age 6, in my mind. She hung out with me at lunch during our field trip to the beach (Culture Camp, Love Orphanage, Haiti, 2018).
💞
She patiently waited for everyone to be served. For grace to be said by her adopted father Gabriel. For the group to surprise me by singing Happy Birthday (it was one).
🎂
There was no outward indication by these children that they rarely ate meat or sometimes only had two plates of rice and beans a day.
😔
There was only patience, happiness to be with us, and when I looked … the quiet hunger in their polite eyes for a heaping plate of food that was never their day to day reality.
🍽
So I ate my convenient eggs today with a Love Soaked Heart, a fierce gratitude, and a continued commitment to bring the children of Love O the things they deserve and don’t have … simply due to where they were born.
🙏🏻
If you want to meet the Love O kids, visit my Making a Difference page.
Peace be with you and with all. No exceptions.
Kids are hungry in the United States. So are their parents. It’s mind boggling really living in a first world with an enormous third world issue. Hunger. It may not be easy to spot unless you are hungry. Or live in those kind of neighborhoods. Or are the family struggling to meet ends meet while your neighbors know nothing about your plight. Schools, teachers, neighbors, scout troops, churches all share something in common. They feed the hungry. Let’s do that. A lot more often. Until there is no more hunger in the US. Giving a meal means more than you know to a hungry belly.
Learn the one essential skill that allows you to face any challenge with confidence, sturdiness, and inner calm.
More than a technique. It’s a game changer.
Three months ago, I unexpectedly entered into a relationship with a horse.
I met Zor during a visit to Liberty Stables in Florida, where I had gone to spend time with a friend’s horses. I had no particular expectations. I have no background with horses, no training, and no experience in equine-assisted therapy. I simply met this magnificent Friesian, and something quietly familiar unfolded between us.
I fell in love.
The women who arrive in my classes, retreats, and therapy sessions are sincerely looking for healing, expansion, clarity, or sometimes just a little room to breathe.
They are thoughtful women, deeply engaged with the people and work they love. Rarely do they arrive because they want another spiritual philosophy. Most are carrying something much more ordinary.
A life that has become full. Beautiful in many ways, but crowded.
About twenty-five years ago, I was driving with a colleague to a local conference. As we approached the hotel entrance, I noticed an open parking spot near the front door.
“There’s a spot,” I said, pointing to the right. He drove past it.
A few seconds later, another one appeared. He drove past that one, too. Then I pointed to a third. “There’s a spot.” Without the slightest hesitation, Dan replied, “I’ll leave that for someone else.” And he calmly parked much farther away. As we walked to the entrance, I asked about that statement.
During the Seeding the Light Gathering, I had the privilege of hosting Pascual and Jose Tomas in our home.
They feel like family as this was their second visit to New Jersey. We’ve also spent a week together in Damanhur and the Temples of Humankind in Italy. I’ve sat in many ceremonies with Pascual in Peru’s Sacred Valley. His flute playing often carried me up mountain trails in the thin air and hot sun.
I planned to work a bit, complete some projects, and enjoy slow days with plenty of relaxation.
All of that certainly occurred, but beneath it all, something else began quietly inviting my attention.
The plane had begun its slow fall toward the earth when a sharp ache pierced my ears. Half-dozing, half-aware, I surfaced into the moment just as the toddler in front of me woke with a scream that broke her open. The sound wasn’t defiance or misbehavior. It was pain.
I felt her small body struggling to make sense of something she couldn’t name.
Her mother bent over her with the tenderness of someone trying very hard to be a good parent. But her soothing came dressed in urgency, in the quiet pressure to behave, to use words, to be okay, to not disturb those seated around her. Her voice shook with the effort of managing her child’s distress and her own rising shame.
