Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. – 2 Corinthians 13:11
According to my mom, this is our new family scripture. It spoke to her from a recent reading at church and she is exercising her right as the familial matriarch to declare it officially, the new family scripture. We didn’t have an old one so there isn’t any paperwork or voting required to implement her edict. I can get behind it because this is exactly what I’ve been working on for a few years. I just say it differently than Paul did.
I’m working for peace, internally and globally. I’m embracing the notion “in the end only kindness matter”- Jewel. And I’m being joyful. I’m trying to be a vessel of positive energy for myself and the world. That’s what I do.
Doesn’t mean I always get it right. Yesterday, my writing took me off schedule. And then I decided to still sneak in my sun salutations. Now, I was running a little late. Plus, I needed to deposit some tip cash in ye old ATM. (I don’t like to carry cash because I spend it. When I’m flush, there are all kinds of things I suddenly can’t do without.) So, I walked the few blocks to the bank. The humidity made it like walking through a sauna. As I was cueing up the ATM, it went down. Because I was late, the bank was open.
I went in. I waited ten minutes as the slowest tellers in the free world processed what looked like relatively simple transactions. I sighed and threw my head back… continuously. I eventually stomped out. I was in full bitch mode. Why? Why would I let
this blip of a moment spiral me into negativity. And worse infect people with my bad mojo. I re-grouped. It took me a bus ride and text venting to Jen but I let it go. And had a productive and positive day.
I’ve been watching the second season of “Orange is the New Black.” The show is about women in prison. Each episode has a flashback on an inmate’s life pre-prison. The vivid characters and their life choices are fascinating. As I get through season 2, the opening song is on continuous replay in my head.
Think of all the roads
Think of all their crossings
Taking steps is easy
Standing still is hard
Remember all their faces
Remember all their voices
Everything is different
The second time around
- Theme song from “Orange is the new Black” by Regina Spektor
My favorite lines are ‘taking steps is easy. standing still is hard.’ I don’t want to stay the same. I want to continue to grow and improve. I think people get stuck. And they stand still in their own muck. I need to encourage people to keep going. Joy doesn’t come to people. It’s discoveries along the journey.