Fire In The Sky


Sometimes you simply know deep down inside to your core that you are not alone.  For me, this was one of those moments as I captured this sunset shot in Kansas last night.

...and not because when you travel alone you talk (and answer) yourself...:)  I hope the people passing me think I am singing. :))) 

I made the conscious decision to drive instead of fly to Colorado.  It is working beautifully.  I can feel my mind clearing, the tightening in my shoulders starting to ease, my heart is opening, and I feel more peaceful...dare I say calmer.  The anxieties of my life that have become so prevalent in my high stress, fast charging, massive volume of intake of information, decisions to make, people, deadlines and demands of life...are melting away as the miles pass.

In 12.5 hours yesterday, I covered 652.7 miles...that is a lot of melting...:)

A friend of mine gave me a CD of songs...on it was Art Garfunkel's Bright Eyes, and I got the point of the song (and my friend's reason for including it on the CD) immediately.  Immediately.

Let me digress...

Recently I had a situation in which when relaying to this friend, I wistfully joked that I needed a "vice for times like these...".  He just smiled....knowingly.  The joke was on me, and I just got the punchline.  I do have a vice...it is called stress and busyness.  I knew this already.  Why do I have to keep learning this lesson??? *Sigh*

The fear for any of us in this world is not that someone takes the brightness from our eyes, but that we allow it to be sucked out of us.  We allow.  Whether we allow someone else to take it, or we toss it aside casually like a worn out bag.  The point is it is our joy.  Our choice.

A person's life is in their eyes...love, joy, sadness, anger, hatred.  What do your eyes say about you?  Did someone steal your joy?  Did you let them?  Did you simply give it away?

One ticket for the roller coaster.  One life. 

At the wedding this past weekend, Ethan and I laughed, searched for various nuts, cracked open every nut we found, oohed and ahhed, ate cake (well he ate cake...and lots of it), and crawled up (in my lap) and took a nap.  I want to live my life more like a child.  A child squeezes the life out of every moment and then takes a nap.  How beautiful is that?

I have been giving my joy away....not all the time, but more often than I would care to admit.  I allow individuals, businesses, situations, etc. to suck the brightness from my life.  I allow.  I am a willing participant...and there is the lesson. 

"You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." ~ Psalm 16:11  

My life is going to be changing...A LOT...over the next three months, but whatever it looks like on the other side of this, there has to be more space built into my life by me for JOY and less for JOY SUCKERS.  I am consciously aware, more than ever, that it is my responsibility to both build the space in for it...and to not allow it to be stolen.

I always cherished the nickname Sunshine...consider myself reminded that I need to live up to the name....once again tap into that little girl who plastered smiley faces all over the interior of a church bus in the parking lot before getting caught by my great uncle.  That kid knew and lived joy...it was in her eyes, her smile, and came out in strange ways because she was just that happy.  Her and Ethan would have gotten along swimmingly. :)))

Fire in the sky...I am off to chase the sun again today. ;)

Sunshine Dreams to You ~ Today and Every Day! :)