Life Has Taught Us Love...

I am currently writing a speech for my parents 25Th wedding anniversary; and let me tell you it's not easy. I had to think of how I can make an impression, make people cry, and make people laugh...sheesh...but let me tell you I found some good quotes to incorporate into my speech...I'll share a few with you...

1. 
   "I love her, and that's the beginning of everything."--F. Scott Fitzgerald



2. 
   "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller



3. "Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction."--Antoine de Saint-Exupery



4. "My love for you is like this scar, ugly but permanent."--Grace, (Will and Grace)



5. "You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly."--Sam Keen



6. "If I know what love is, it is because of you."--Herman Hesse



7. "The most wonderful of all things in life is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a growing depth, beauty and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most wonderful of all things in life."--Sir Hugh Walpole

I could keep going, but it might become a little mushy...I just encourage whomever you love, to tell them that you do...nothing is better...

love and peace...

G

I Dreamed a Dream...

So if you're one of the few people who hasn't seen Susan Boyle's amazing audition for Britain's Got Talent, here's the link to check it out...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=55732145

My mom was actually the first person to mention Susan Boyle's name to me. My mom recorded the news broadcast that had shown clips from her singing, "I Dreamed a Dream," from the musical Les Miserables. I was truly floored; not only by her voice, but also by the completely true comment made by the female judge, "I honestly think we were all being very cynical. I believe that was the biggest wake-up call ever."

And I admit, I too was guilty of wondering if Susan had the chops to sing this particular song. But the moment she opened her mouth, there was purity in every note she sang. I was just reading a blog from Zach Braff who commented on Susan Boyle's performance.

"I have been trying to think of why the entire Earth is currently so taken by this woman (Susan Boyle). And I realized she is iconic of so many things that all of us hide within ourselves; puzzle pieces of our personalities that we shield from everyone we know. And after a lifetime of withholding this rare beauty from the world; she steps up to a microphone (while a giant audience laughs at her) and reveals her secret to the planet.I cant get her out of my mind. I cant stop the inevitable goosebumps and my eyes from welling each time I watch it. I hope that everyone with a child who sees this video, sits them down and says, "Life is short. Do not hide yourself. Do not lurk in the shadows. Do not wait a lifetime to start being whomever it is that you are. Sing. No matter how hard they laugh at you... sing."

I was not only wowed by Susan, but also by Zach's comments. Both are honest, and emotional; capturing the essence of what should be shown everyday-one's true self. And like Zach said, "Do not wait a lifetime to start being whomever it is that you are."

The very lyrics to that song, are about a woman's struggle to move past the, "hell i'm living," and try to remember what it was she was dreaming. I encourage anyone who reads this blog, that if you start dreaming, to keep dreaming. Don't let life kill your dream, rather let it bring you to new heights, just like Susan Boyle. Here's a 48 year old woman, whom in many opinions is way past her prime; and yet she was still willing to go out there and share what everyone took away from her...her chance to sing. So I encourage you, just as Zach Braff did, to sing...no matter what!

A Leap of Faith...

"Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith."-Margaret Shepherd

So I've been approached about coming up with a place girls of the ages of 18 to twenty-something can come to and feel welcome. And although a bible study is the first thing I came up with, I thought this blog would be an exciting extension of what can happen!

The goal of myself and others was to come up with a place where girls could get away from the craziness, and be honest with themselves and others. I think we often deceive ourselves and others that we are fine; when in fact we're not.

So this is my personal leap of faith.

I want to challenge myself to be more honest, to challenge myself to be an example to all women around me. Making life blossom one day at a time...

What do you say? Will you take a leap of faith as well?

Abbie Update...

So I got a few e-mails asking how our puppy Abbie is doing! Thank you for the concern. She's doing great, she's a puppy so she's very resilient. Yesterday the poor thing had to be neutered, so she had her belly shaved. It's actually kind of funny. Here's a photo of her buzz cut(and hopefully it grows in quickly, because it's kind of a beauty disaster)...

A Girl's Best Friend...

So this weekend my family and I had a scare with our chocolate Labrador Abbie. She was running around like she normally does, but quickly fell, started vomiting and passed out. It was funny now that I look back at it; all 4 of us rushing to her side...she's okay now, she just had a funny reaction to immediate exercise right after eating. There were three older ladies staring at my family and I as we sat in the vet's office waiting to hear what happened, they had probably thought she died the way we were all crying...but it really made me think, what would our life be without her...

I know everyone says that a dog is, "a man's best friend." In my case more like a "girl's best friend." You can't imagine until you have a dog of your very own the amount of love you can carry for something so non-human like. It's rather strange, yet acceptable. My Abbie is hyper, and jumps on the couch, jumps on the bed and chews about everything in sight, but I would have it no other way.

A dog creates in you an unexplainable joy which rejuvenates your soul. The days when I'm lonely, sad, happy, mad; Abbie has been there by my side. She looks up to me, follows me everywhere, and always looks for an excuse to go on a walk or to earn a treat. There is a sense of unconditional love, and she always reminds me to love others in the way she loves me and my family. She truly is a girl's best friend...

Pressure Off...

So I was watching Oprah yesterday and they had a show featuring moms all across the country. The audience was full of moms, they Skyped moms from different locations, and they also had interview with different moms who honestly told what they do as mothers. The show was hilarious! My favorite interview was with a mom who doesn't always have time to bathe her kids; so what she does is have them go into the spa, hoping the jets will clean them! Her red headed daughter,(who looked about 3) has dreads now, and calls herself Bob Marley. In the interview, the red headed daughter was totally singing "Get Up Stand Up," talk about the best thing ever. But one of the key subjects they were trying to express to mothers, and single girls everywhere was the key to being honest.

Many of the woman they were interviewing were expressing that their lives were turned upside down from having children. A lot of women admitted to losing who they were, they admitted that they didn't always like being a mom, and they also admitted that no one told them what they were getting themselves into. One of the guests expressed that she had this idea of motherhood, that she had to clean, cook, make her kids go to sleep when they were supposed to, and most of all, pleasure her husband regularly. And she told the women in the audience to stop putting such huge expectations on yourself. Be realistic, because everyone thinks they're going to be a great mom, until they have kids and then they're thrown for a loop.

What I really liked about yesterdays show was the fact that they wanted to let single women know that we are all going to change when we have kids. What were once our priorities are no longer anymore, and what was once a decent social life, is basically non-existent. The encouraging factor to all of this, was the fact that they said to be easy on yourself. If you can't cook just yet, if you're not good with kids, if you can't stand to be around children for more then 5 minutes-IT'S OK!!!! And don't think you're going to be a bad mother, wife, or human being if you can't have everything perfect by 5 pm. I was so encouraged by that. Not only is it OK to be myself, but it's OK to keep being myself when I have a family of my very own. Let me tell you it took a lot of pressure off. And although I love the shopping trips with the girls, the coffee dates, and late nights; things will change when all of us start having families. I just hope we are all honest with each other when we do; asking for help, even if it's for our first diaper change, (literally our first!)

The Show Must Go On...

I was recently watching one of my favorite films, The Moulin Rouge; and something really struck me. In the end of the movie, Nicole Kidman's character, "Satine," is faced with the decision to leave with the man she loves, or to stay in the Moulin Rouge so he won't be killed by an assassin. Her character is torn between the hopes she had in regards to a dream life, and the actual reality which she was living. Satine began to sing...

"...inside my heart is breaking, my make-up may be flaking, but my smile, still, stays on!"

How beautiful, and of course the original lyrics were written by the music greats-Queen! I began to think of how relative those lyrics are today; in any situation where you have to protect the reputation of yourself, the reputation of others, even that of people you don't care that much about. And although it may seem horrible to not show the cracks beneath the surface, I often think of Emily Dickinson's poem, "'Tis so much joy! 'Tis so much joy!" She writes...

"Life is but Life! And Death, but Death!Bliss is, but Bliss, and Breath but Breath!And if indeed I fail,At least, to know the worst, is sweet!Defeat means nothing but Defeat,No drearier, can prevail!"

The words of a true poet. Life, death, bliss and breath; all actions easily played by actors. But I myself have played those roles. So I ask you...is it so bad to live life the best you can, even if the smile which you may be showing isn't always genuine? Even if it's a smile which says nothing but, "the show must go on."

I think William Shakespeare said it best in the play, "As You Like It," when he writes,

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players:They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts."

Even if it's merely acting, sometimes it's easier just to say, "the show must go on..."