I love serendipity. I love those little connecting moments. Some people believe you are in a state of heightened awareness when you start to notice these things.

Like when you first fall in love with someone… you marvel at how many things you have in common, how it all seems like fate… how it was so meant to be. “Oh my goodness, his middle name is the same as my favourite uncle’s… we both hate sushi and Bob Dylan… we must be meant for each other!!”

It’s really bullshit.

But I like looking at it. Connecting dots. I do it for my own amazement.  It’s probably the reason I also enjoy astrology. The phases of the moon, the ebb and flow of currents. I like coinciding dates and time. I won’t bore you with examples, but life and happenstance can be pretty strange. Usually it all passes by without us even noticing.

I’m obviously in a heightened straight of awareness right now, no, I’m not in love with someone, I’m writing a blog and already on my second pint.

But that’s not the point.  And to be honest there really is no point. Or maybe the point is that with our busy lives we don’t stop and really notice the little moments that make life seem special.

Special and strange… I am looking out across a beach to a rocky crag where I stood nine months ago and took a picture of the spot where I’m sitting right now. That stunning photo is the homepage on my computer.

There is no explanation except a magic bit of serendipity that has allowed me to be here again and experiencing the weird paradigm shift of looking back at myself.

Or maybe just pure bullshit and I shouldn’t have ordered that second pint if I had not finished writing my blog.

Or maybe the person I can see off in the distance, standing on that crag will show up in this room later on.  We will end up chatting, we will be amazed at the serendipity of the chance meeting… and we might both be amazed to equally hate Bob Dylan.

God I love serendipity.

I should be flattered, all day long people have been asking, “Where’s the blog?”

Why I promised I would post every Wednesday I will never know? But I do know! I’m lazy and if I didn’t make the commitment I would blog a few times then life would get in the way and weeks and maybe even months would go by without a word. I am predictable. And clever enough to justify every procrastination. So I made the promise to blog.

I posted my first blog on May 29, 2013. Since then I think I’ve missed two Wednesdays. A pretty good record.

This past week I started writing my second book. The stories for the book could have been made into blogs but I thought they were a little too “booky”. This left a void for today.  So for the last 13 hours I have bounced countless ideas around in my head about what to write. Nothing grew to more than a simple thought or at most a sentence or two.

See what I mean…

“People should take down their Christmas lights”

“I’m seeing my family doctor today for the last time. She is retiring and has been my doctor for 20 years. We’ve been through a ton together.  Way too many pap-smears!!”

“YoYo Ma is coming back to Vancouver and I have tickets!”

“I’ll say it again, if you want to lose weight, eat less…. Really, eat less!”

“Why do people give people the silent treatment?”

“Will we have enough people to read Robbie Burns’ poetry on January 25 to break the 6 hour world record for continual recitations?”

“Don’t even get me started on Woody Allen”

“No matter what you are doing, listening to great music can make anything better!”

I bet I could have made a blog out of each and every one of these thoughts… but I promised a funny, ironic and happy topic this week and that would have been a stretch.  OK, the piece about Woody would have been funny, and I bet I could have made you smile with a rant about January weight loss schemes!

Next week will be much better.  I promise.

I cover myself with a veil.  If you look carefully you can see it but to most it’s hidden or maybe invisible.  On January 1^st at dawn’s first light I can be found at a ceremony reaffirming my pervasive intent.  Reaffirming my basic nature, or at least the nature I aspire to… my Buddha Nature.  This is the veil that covers me and all I hope to be.  Sometimes I hold it close and sometimes it seems to blow in the wind.  After all these years I have never let it go.

At the First Light Ceremony I will say the prayers and light a small candle. I will meditate and contemplate.  Follow my breath and attempt to calm my mind.  Most likely I will fail at the calming of the mind, but the intent will count.

Whether I awake in a monastery, or at home alone, or at a secluded mountain retreat, or in the arms of someone I love; each year on January 1^st I perform the First Light Ceremony.

It’s a way to remind myself to “be kinder, do more, make this matter”. A touchstone to renew my Tibetan Buddhist practice.

For much of the western world the focus will be to lose weight, find a better job, quit smoking, fall in love or exercise more.  All doable and admiral goals for 2014.

I will admit. I do write down a list of goals each year. But then again I write down a list of goals each New Moon. It’s a double whammy this year with January 1^st also being a New Moon.  So yes, there will be a list of goals from me.

But the aspiration I will make at the First Light Ceremony will be to be kind for the next 24 hours.  No matter what happens, be kind.  I’m going to give it my best shot.

And about that veil, I will make sure it is tied tightly around me knowing it is not a safety net, but a comforting embrace.  With that thought, I will walk out into the world.

So many times in the media, and even with the people I talk to every day, the notion of being “politically correct” rears its head.  Where do we draw the line?

I wanted to share a very funny story about a card I made for a client.  I have been so busy these past few months and even these last few weeks have been a frenzy.  But in the midst of all that, I spent hours making a card for a client yesterday. And I have to admit the card was not “politically correct”.  It wasn’t malicious but taken out of context would not go over well in the public arena.

So here is the dilemma.

I wanted to write this blog about how I took a big chunk of my day and diligently worked on this project.  How I searched out pictures, added costumes to the figures, threw in a little religious connotation and voila, made a classic original piece that made me absolutely gleeful.  I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.

The time and effort away from my more pressing “serious” work seemed acceptable.

My client’s reaction was priceless.  She thought it was hilarious.  But she has read an early version of my book where one story paints the picture and reason for the images on the card.

Again, telling you about the exact nature of the card would only make me look bad if you didn’t have the entire back story.

So why am I even sharing this?

Yesterday was fun… I needed to blow off steam and I know my client also needed the giggle.  I’m willing to bet even you would have laughed.

But in this world where the smallest hint on being insensitive can bring on a tsunami of anger I was hesitant to share any specifics.

Odd, my book is full of questionable subjects and I don’t give it a second thought…

Maybe I’m just nervous because people can comment on my blog.

 

 

Hanging in my front entry is a handmade poster.  Right there for everyone to see.  It’s hideously personal yet out on display.  A “vision board” I created during a course with the inspirational Kelly Benson.

It’s a montage of the dreams, hopes, aspirations and goals I hope to accomplish.  A tapestry of pictures from magazines, my own photos, and lots of words; all to represent a vision of what I want from my life.  Or maybe need from my life?  Well, whether it’s want or need, the story this poster holds is a commentary of the dreams I hold dear.

I pass it countless times each day and it always captures my attention.  I have contemplated each idea and wondered if any will come true.

I don’t know about the power of vision boards, I bet many people make them and then never take another look at what they’ve put together.  Having to face mine every day pushes me forward.

It might be like the advice Billy Connolly gives out.  Write down three things you want on a small piece of paper and keep it in your wallet.  Make sure you can see it.  He proclaims that if you do this you will reap the rewards and get what you want.  Again, it’s a reminder of your intent. The jury’s out on this idea but if you look in my wallet you’ll see my list.

I don’t believe in the soft talking, hocus-pocus positive aspiration agenda.  I do believe you must work hard and control your karma. For me these are simple reminders and props I’m not able to ignore. A constant nudge to never forget where I want to go. A map.

A tiny bit of me thinks it’s working… but only time will tell.