As I began to write this post I thought about calling it “Think and Tinkle” and then thought with a grin, perhaps I could title it “Ponder and…” But as the day has unfolded, alas, the title I chose is much more in alignment with the message I want to share. And don’t mind me, I can have a silly sense of humor.

While I can be downright serious and a deep thinker, perhaps it’s something you don’t know about me, in that I do believe I have a pretty good sense of humor. I feel like I developed it being married to my quick-witted hubby, John, or perhaps I had it in me all along. Who knows? But I guess I kind of digress…

ANYways…seriously. It’s such a beautiful way to start off my day by randomly pulling a card from Mark’s inspirational deck, which sits on a small stand in my bathroom. The deck is The Book of Awakening, which by the way, is the same name of a book he wrote. If you’ve not read it, you might want to check it out if it calls to you. Now I’m wondering what Mark Nepo would think of my private pondering time on the commode with his card deck?  🙂

Today’s pull was, “Be Who You Are” and says, “You do not have to do anything to be loved, and being who you are does not let others down. This needs to be repeated, and often. Simply be who you are, and love what is before you.” 

There was a time when I would have read this and thought, but how do I do that? Missing the whole point that there is nothing to do, but to just be. And it was because I worried so much about judgement from other’s. But now I am so much better at living my life in the way that feels right for me.

But being this spiritual being in a human body with a mind and an ego that tries to sometimes convince me otherwise, the need for reminders through pondering moments such as today and Mark’s gorgeous and thought-provoking cards keeps me walking a journey of embracing all of who I am.

And was I ever tickled about a synchronicity that unveiled itself as the day went on that I saw in relation to this cards message!

I received an email from Bob, an editor in Brattleboro, VT doing a story for their local newspaper, the Brattleboro Reformer, about author Tasha Tudor’s Advent calendar. As you likely know if you’ve been here with me awhile, I’m a devoted fan of Tasha’s, though she’s been gone since 2008. If you don’t know about her, just Google her name.

In doing some research, Bob came across a blog post I wrote in December 2012 about my dream vacation John and I took to Vermont around that same time. While I wrote many blog posts about our time in Vermont in the Fall, one post I’d shared two month’s later was about the advent calendar with Tasha’s simple, but endearing illustrations. I had purchased it from the museum in Brattleboro that honors Tasha’s memory and I had been truly enjoying opening a new little door of the calendar each day in anticipation of Christmas approaching.

Bob asked if I could chat a few minutes about what it is I love about Tasha and her advent calendar. I don’t know if he was prepared for the enthusiastic, bubbly gal he was going to have on the other end of the phone! But indeed, I was willing to talk to him as I could talk about my love for Tasha ALL. DAY. LONG.

After a delightful conversation sharing my love of all things Tasha with an emphasis on what appealed to me about the Advent calendar and how I loved Tasha’s philosophy of life in living by the beat of her own drum, I hung up the phone and the “Be Who You Are” card popped into my mind again.

Every day there are oracles for us if we pay attention – oracles that act as mirrors or reflections to help us along our path whether we are feeling challenged or as confirmation we are heading in the right direction. And while I continue to make strides forward with writing my third memoir, I’m Fine the Way I Am, I’ve had a few moments wondering how it will all turn out.

But as I was reminded with the card pull and Tasha as my oracle, to keep following the truth of my own heart as that is the only way to truly be.

XO,

Barb