The Sublime Passage

I’ve heard many spiritual teachers say that love is the key to success in business.  I love the idea that no matter what type of work we do, the only real job we have is to love people.

When I first moved to my new house several months ago, I was unfamiliar with the area. I didn’t have any preferences in terms of the businesses I frequent. I didn’t have a favorite place to get coffee or buy groceries. I made my decisions about where to go based on convenience.

This was true each time I needed to put gas in my car. I’d stop wherever was closest and had the best price.

Several weeks ago I stopped at a tiny gas station which is about 5 minutes from my house.  It’s in the opposite direction of the route I normally take when I go to work, but that day I happened to be near it so I stopped. Read more

When I was a teenager, someone gave me this little spiral bound notebook as a gift. I started using it to write down my favorite quotes and passages from the books I read. Pretty easy to do considering that I always had a book attached to my face. (Not much has changed in that regard).  At the time I didn’t think too much about why I started doing that. I was just writing down the words that “spoke” to me on some level.

Sometimes it was something that made me laugh, or cry. Something that inspired me, or seemed profound to my teenage mind.  A lot of times it was an exquisite juxtaposition of words that was so beautiful I couldn’t stand it.

I don’t remember when I stopped using this notebook. I think it was in college when the majority of my reading became academic, and when I wasn’t reading I was too busy partying to read  Now that I have a “library”, I have been inspired to pick this habit up again. My relationship with my books has been renewed. I often find myself “visiting” with my books. Running my hands over them and picking one out at random, letting it fall open to a page and seeing where I land. This renewed relationhip has brought me back to collecting the quotes I love in my little notebook.  It’s also made me wonder what it is about  about reading someone else’s words that is so powerful. What makes someone want to write down those words, read them repeatedly and even share them with other people? What comfort do we get from this?

There is the obvious inspiration that we often get when we read certain things. An emotion is triggered. Happiness, inspiration, sadness, nostalgia, laughter, contemplation. Often the words serve as a reminder of some notion we want to hold in the forefront of our minds. Sometimes its a cue, a trigger for something. I have quotes that serve as anchors when I’m experiencing a certain state of mind. When I am feeling insecure, unworthy and generally unfabulous, for example, there is no quote that brings me greater comfort than this famous Marianne Williamson quote:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

For me however, the most powerful way in which quotes seem to impact me is by expressing something that I am unable to say for myself. In fact in most cases, I’m not even aware that there is something unsaid floating around in my being until I read something. Many of the most profound realizations I’ve had in my life have come from reading someone else’s words and recognizing that they were saying exactly what I needed to say, but couldn’t.  I’ve read passages that confirmed something I may have known in the deepest part of me, but could never articulate.  It’s as if the reading of a passage unlocks the box in my subconscious where that knowing is stored. Once it is unlocked, there is a sense of recognition and I think to myself “I know this to be true”.Â

Anais Nin said it best when she said:

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say

It occurs to me that my favorite writers and books are those those which seem to say all the things I am unable to, for whatever reason.  Those whose words unlock the hidden secrets of my own knowing and help me to to tap into my own wisdom. This is the power of other people’s words!

I will start sharing some of my favorite quotes. I’d love to hear what some of yours are too.

Today was a good day. I went to my writing group, which I mentioned a few posts ago. I said that I might talk about it and since today it felt even  more powerful than usual, I guess I will.

I first attended this group over a year and a half ago at the recommendation of a dear friend.   I’d never done anything like this. I hadn’t done much writing outside of school and work, so it was a little nerve wracking. The idea of writing stuff and then reading it to other people, strangers no less, was terrifying.  What would I write about? I couldn’t imagine that I had anything interesting or important to say. I realized very quickly that in fact I had something to say and it was important. Not important because it was necessarily going to solve humanity’s problems, but because it was my truth. Read more

Today is a very special day…not just because the Olympics begin today, but because it is my sister’s birthday!

I am deeply grateful for the many blessings in my life, and Big Sister is most certainly one of them.  Those who know my sister will know her to be possessed of the most generous and loving spirit.She is kind, funny, loving, supportive and fiercely protective of those she loves (particularly her little sister).  Even on days when I don’t know much of anything, I know that my sister has ALWAYS got my back!

She is an amazing role model for me and any woman….mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, pastor, leader, speaker, business woman, runner, shoenista(lover of fabulous shoes). She fulfills each of these roles with amazing aplomb, juggling it all and still leaving time to eat cheesecake and drink cappuccinos with me.  She is one of my favorite people to go shopping with (did I mention that she’s a Shoenista?)

While I consider that I had a idyllic childhood growing up in a wonderful loving family, I’d be telling a bold faced lie if I said that it was not without its “quirks” (read: dysfunction).  I realize that the idyllic nature of my childhood was due in large part to Big Sister protecting me. Even to this day she continues to look out for me and my brother. We are very lucky because in addition to having a wonderful loving mother, we’ve also been raised in many ways by Big Sister.  She deserves a great deal of credit for me being the woman I am today.  She has taught me so many important lessons. When I was a teenager I remember her telling me to always make sure I had enough money to get home when I went on a date… a lesson I have never forgotten. These days, every conversation with her while being fun, also leaves me with a lesson or some clarity about something. She continues to help me learn about forgiveness, healing and peace,  and for that I am so grateful. Above all those things however, what I probably admire the most about my sister is her deep and constant faith and her constant striving to be a better version of herself in every moment.  Each time I talk to her I learn so much, about life, about love and about myself.  She is a true woman of spirit!

I should also say that is responsible for some of the other blessings of my life…namely my brother-in-law and my wonderful nephews.  Anyone who’s ever had a conversation with me will know how much I adore my babies. I am the proud Aunt of 5 lovely young men. (3 courtesy of Big Sis and Brother-In-Law and 2 courtesy of my brother and sister-in-law).  My nephews are the sweetest, smartest, most loving, funny, wise and compassionate kids you could ever hope to meet. My sisters sons are a testament to her (and her husband of course).

Yes Big Sister is EVERYWOMAN and it is most definitely all in her!

So Big Sis, Happy Birthday to you. Even though we are separated by an oceans, I am celebrating you today.  I am so grateful that you are my sister and my friend. I am filled with admiration and respect for you. I am proud of all your accomplishments and I love you with all my heart!