Bee sisters. Bee family. Bee peers. Bee teammates. Bee kind.

As I'm changing up my daily habits and practices this year, I've had in the back of my mind to re-start a daily journal, a blog, artist's pages, whatever ...... to just start writing again for the joy of it. for the practice, for the thought-fullness of it. I was on my profile page in Facebook, preparing to copy something that struck me to my OneNote to preserve it for later visitation, and I was reminded of the blog I'd set up years ago. Why not?  Why not use what I already have in place and practice here?  If not now, when.  And highly appropriate for a day that is both International Woman's Day and International Proofreader's Day.

Here's the text/story I wanted to preserve:

Misty Bailey Mustin (original author, posted/shared by another in Facebook)

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My dad has bees. Today I went to his house and he showed me all of the honey he had gotten from the hives. He took the lid off of a 5 gallon bucket full of honey and on top of the honey there were 3 little bees, struggling. They were covered in sticky honey and drowning. I asked him if we could help them and he said he was sure they wouldn't survive. Casualties of honey collection I suppose.

I asked him again if we could at least get them out and kill them quickly, after all he was the one who taught me to put a suffering animal (or bug) out of its misery. He finally conceded and scooped the bees out of the bucket. He put them in an empty Chobani yogurt container and put the plastic container outside.

Because he had disrupted the hive with the earlier honey collection, there were bees flying all over outside.

We put the 3 little bees in the container on a bench and left them to their fate. My dad called me out a little while later to show me what was happening. These three little bees were surrounded by all of their sisters (all of the bees are females) and they were cleaning the sticky nearly dead bees, helping them to get all of the honey off of their bodies. We came back a short time later and there was only one little bee left in the container. She was still being tended to by her sisters.

When it was time for me to leave we checked one last time and all three of the bees had been cleaned off enough to fly away and the container was empty.

Those three little bees lived because they were surrounded by family and friends who would not give up on them, family and friends who refused to let them drown in their own stickiness and resolved to help until the last little bee could be set free.

Bee Sisters. Bee Peers. Bee Teammates.

We could all learn a thing or two from these bees.

Bee kind always.~

A Gaelic Blessing 

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace of Christ,
of Christ the light of the world to you.
Deep peace of Christ to you.

~ John Rutter (song/lyrics)

Long set aside and forgotten, this blog.  Obviously I don't have an irresistible urge to write, but I've been thinking on an off about starting a new blog.  I ran across my site and login info over the holiday break ....... no reason to not start again here, and with something simple.

My sister chose and my nephew sang this beautiful song at my father's life celebration, 22 November this last year, and the images have stuck with me.  These are the things I want to remember and celebrate, these stupendous moments.

Everything of moment or import, be here.....

Doesn't it seem like life is always a whirlwind......? Saw a great quote today in my wanderings, and it stopped me, set me to pondering --- and maybe that's why I ended up here on the blog that I've been pushing off, too tired to think about doing, for so long. The quote in question (on a bamboo iPhone case at grovemade.com):

One day I'm not
going to do what
I'm expected to.
One day I'm going
to do what makes
me happy.
One day soon,
I'm going to live
my life.

But here's the deal -- every breath I take is living MY life. So -- no waiting for "one day." This be it. The coffee and roses are here to smell. I'm here to be happy and to surprise myself and everyone else........and to live this life. It's been lovely so far, and it can be so much more that I haven't let myself dream.

Dream: be the spectacular, facile, expressive pianist
Dream: be the inspirational, funny, witty, engaging, best-selling writer
Dream: create a fantastic new world, write fun fiction, and be published -- a riveting, inspiring world of everyday heros on their journeys
Dream: be healthy and vibrant every day
Dream: be wildly creative in all I do
Dream: meet and co-create a life with my soulmate

Hmmmmmmmm............................on it. Getting busy being, and all that entails. Stay tuned.

Today's news reminded me of the man behind the curtain, or more accurately, the man behind Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off - ironically enough, as I learn now, someone who started in the business I now inhabit. I was a little older at the time (1980's) than the intended audience, but these movies so reflected some of my feelings and experiences in high school. I'm curious how the youngsters today view these films. I always feel uplifted (as I watch them still)...and even more so after reading the blog below. Thank you, John Hughes, your voice will be missed but always cherished, never forgotten.

A friend of my boss was once John Hughes' pen pal................an exquisite eulogy.

http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html

Change and energy...........miracles.....

I find myself often astounded by how easy change can be when I'm expecting it to be hard; and how difficult it is when I'm expecting it to be easy, or not expecting it at all. Perhaps a funny thing to be thinking about on a Sunday summer afternoon, but there is a good reason for the thoughts.

I attended church this morning for the express purpose of attending the Core Council meeting, and participating in the decision to close down our small congregation at the end of this month. I'd not attended for the past six weeks, where I'm usually a weekly regular, due to a variety of circumstances. And I'd not had time, due to those same circumstances, to read through the epistle of e-mails pertaining to the church's financial condition languishing in my inbox. I do know that our situation, our energy, our need to have a 7 day space instead of just a Sunday AM space has been much on my mind lately as I drive around the Eastside, observing empty store fronts, thinking about the money we spend in rent for just 4 mornings a month --- musing that there must be a way that the the energy we put in could be banked for us, a repository where we and others are reaping ongoing instead of isolated benefits on our physical and energetic investments. I knew there had to be a way, but I was just not seeing it, and I admit I wasn't looking forward to this afternoon's conversation.

As things developed, however, on Friday, the opportunity to share space with some like-minded groups manifested. What was a choice between shutting down completely or continuing as a study group without a minister suddenly became an opportunity to share a beautiful space which, while not ideal as if designed for us, gives us an office space, a real bookstore space with 6 day per week access, worship, classroom, and concert space at substantially less than our current rent. We could do better than break even, re-establish our savings and building fund, and be visible in a larger way in our community. We'd be on a main road, in the middle of bustling activity, with signage. What I felt was going to be an emotionally wrenching meeting and choice - and day - turned into something simple and uplifting. While I'd not seen the space, it seemed only right to put my faith in Spirit, in my friends, in my community, and move forward into this new form, into this unexpected change -- into our own small miracle. I think the hardest part was believing that a solution to what has been three or four difficult years could appear so suddenly, at exactly the right moment.

So, change --- in location, in energy, in how we interact as and with a community. The new energy that the place generates -- and that we bring to this whole idea of ourselves as a group. And the miracle -- the building that I went down to see straight from church. A lovely space -- smaller, but in so many ways nicer and more welcoming than any of the spaces we've inhabited. As they are open on Sunday afternoon, I went in to check out the tea shop and was greeted by the nicest people, and a comfortable space that invites peace and inspires conversation and sharing. Apocatastasis - something good is happening in every moment, despite appearances.

I'm big on quotes -- I love them. So I went looking for one for today, for this surprise of a silver lining in a big dark storm cloud of "difficulty." And how appropriate that it comes from Napoleon Hill.

"Opportunity often comes in disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat."

Napoleon Hill

And while looking for that, this one asked to come along...

"Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure."

Napoleon Hill

So, I say again............miracles........

An impulsive beginning.....

An impulsive beginning it is. I am notorious among my friends not only for being unable to journal on any kind of regular basis, but also for being very guarded (often worded as diplomatic) about sharing my thoughts and feelings. An odd thing to be sure as I was a literature major in school, am a voracious reader, and write extensively for business every day. But I avoid committing myself to paper. Maybe a virtual format will make it easier. We will see.



But, as I am engaged in changing my life and creating even more blessings in my and others' lives, I might as well do something way out of my comfort zone.



So here I will speak and share the things on my heart, those that bring beauty into each moment, and melodies that inspire my song of life.