a strong personal relationship with the Divine was the quickest route to awakening. It is still a journey for me, but at least now I realize that in oneness with the Divine, there is oneness with all beings, and that is what I live to experience each day.
Unique Expressions
By Joan Doyle
My eyes were filling with tears as I made my way down the sidewalk of the main street of my village toward the supermarket. When I reached it, I could not go inside in the emotional state I was in, so I veered off toward the outskirts of the town. There I knew I would have no witnesses but the cows, who taking a cursory glance would return disinterestedly to munching the lush Irish grass. The emotion of leave-taking was surfacing and would not be contained! My parents had lived in this village for over 50 years and my childhood had been spent among its people and its beautiful countryside. I had gone away to boarding school when I was twelve, and since then had only spent two more years living there. But those short years growing out of that earth, years of belonging and identity, had kept drawing me back and had grounded me like nowhere else on this globe over the decades to follow. And now, after 15 years of living in Los Angeles–which might as well be an alternate universe to this location–I had brought the love of my life to my home place.
We married in the presence of my family and those of his who had been able to travel. It had been a most happy and emotional time. Justin had returned a week before me and now it was my turn to leave. As usual I was desolate.
I often compare this transplantation of my body to my second home in America to an organ transplant. On returning to LA, there is the possibility of rejection of the new country within the first week! And no matter how often I go through the process, there is always that transition time. But now, for the first time, I was returning to my husband. And this did change things. My heart held the happiness of my return to him and the sadness of my leave-taking simultaneously.
As I walked, teary-eyed, my sadness dominant, I thought of asking for Justin’s patience and understanding on my return. I would ask that he not be offended if I was blue for a day or two, that I was happy to be back but that I needed to let go gradually of my home and family. It was when having this thought that I found a penny! I stooped to pick it up off the old stone paving and smiled, feeling reassured. Justin would sometimes quote his Dad, “When in doubt, communicate.” Justin was teaching me much about communication, and this penny was saying, “Yes, talk about it.” Holding things back can lead to misunderstandings. I knew as I looked at this shiny Irish penny that there would be times in our marriage when our separate life experiences could lead to misunderstandings, but that if we could communicate, everything could be worked out.
Two people, no matter how close, or in tune, or in love, are completely separate individuals and won’t always understand each other. But if there is a willingness to share, especially when we feel vulnerable, and a willingness to listen lovingly to our partner without judgment, I feel that the relationship can grow and flourish. Allowing the other to simply be a witness to our personal processes, we allow the other to give us the gift of love in the form of their healing presence. I believe this ability to be there for each other is more powerful than we can imagine. This is the safe place that Justin and I have agreed to create, and it draws us forever to each other.
God Shows Up in the Most Amazing Places
By Dean Regan
God is everywhere present, shining forth as all things seen and unseen. And still, in this cacophony of brilliance, there are moments of shimmering clarity when our awareness–our consciousness, if you will, that God is everywhere present, is made even more conscious.
God has given me the gift to be able to entertain people–sometimes through singing, sometimes through acting, sometimes though dancing, sometimes through a combination of all three. Recently, on a drive from Los Angeles to Palm Springs to rehearse a musical project with some wonderful fellow-artists, I became aware of what a beautiful day it was. The car I was driving in was comfortable, the weather was crystal clear, there was a feeling of openness to the day, and a readiness to welcome creative exploration at the base of the mountain range nestling up to Palm Springs.
Ahead of me on the way to rehearsal was a car; the driver was not visible, the car unmemorable. But on the bumper was a sticker that called out like an orchestra reaching a dramatic crescendo: “Love People. Cook for Them a Wonderful Meal.” In that moment, I related to that bumper sticker idea. Not so much because of the cooking aspect–I don’t really cook–but because of the way we show our love to others. I realized that I show my love for others by singing to them; the more the merrier–the more songs, the more theatres, the more churches, the more people. In that flash of an instant an idea came to me for the “bumper sticker expression” that has been and continues to be the purpose of my life–”Love People. Sing them a Song.”
There are two types of people in the world: those who appreciate refrigerator magnets and those who don’t. I am a proud member of the former. My refrigerator is covered with magnets for cities and activities.
These days my primary channel for entertaining people is through solo concerts. I sing at performing arts centers and the larger cabaret rooms across America, as well as church-related events. And occasionally I perform, quite literally, around the world. At my concerts I have a booth of items for sale to audience members, both so that they can take the concert “experience” home with them, and also so I can celebrate and contribute to my artistic affluence. That day–my sunny, free, Palm Springs rehearsal day–I had been thinking about a series of refrigerators magnets that I could share with the folks who enjoy my music. And that is when God showed up as the bumper sticker on the car in front of me which helped me to crystallize my whole life purpose as an artist: to show my love for people, I sing them a song. And, thus, God showed up on that bright and sunny day in so many ways, but one was an idea that is easy for me to hold in my heart and share with others.
So, if you come to one of my concerts or listen to my music online, I hope you feel that sense of love that fills my heart every time I sing. And remember to do your own version of “Love People. Sing Them A Song.” What’s does your refrigerator magnet say?
An Avalanche of Nothing
By Joan Doyle
Once upon a time I loved having e-mail. I badgered my sister in Ireland to get a computer so we could be in touch on a daily basis, in the days prior to Skype or texting. “Please” I begged, “We can e-mail every morning and night instead of only talk once a week by expensive phone call. We will feel closer, like we used to be.”
Today, I hate e-mails. No one reads them fully anymore. If the subject line doesn’t give the message in short-hand the e-mail is likely to drop down in the list un-read and quickly it is forgotten. Right? I suppose I am guilty of this too on my busiest days and for many of us that’s everyday. As a freelance artist, counselor, writer and library page, weekends can be work days too. Unlike in a time, long past for many, when a single nine to five job designated time to work and time to play. Now everything gets blurred into one continuous networking, texting, e-mailing interaction with friends, family, clients and potential clients, websites and blogs, chat rooms and virtual shopping carts.
Internet addiction is now becoming accepted as a very real problem. Avoiding the real world, impairing short term memory and decision making abilities, (so I read on the internet!) addicts feel a need to be in communication even when there is no message to convey. Relationships instead of deepening become more shallow as people accumulate an impossible number of friends on Facebook. Bite size pieces of information from many sources suffice while lengthy
