The Dude

So, I finally met the neighbor across the hall, face-to-face, a couple days ago. She seems very cool. Just to give you an idea of just how cool she is, on New Year’s Eve, we just so happened to be walking up to our apartment as she was pulling into the lot, with her radio blasting “Bust A Move” by Young M.C.  Oh yeaaahh! I was immediately intrigued, as that is one song that pumps me up; always has, probably always will. J Heck, I’ll probably be an 85-year-old granny performing karaoke to it at my grandson’s wedding reception or something. Ah, life aspirations… J

At any rate, a couple days ago, I was outside, enjoying the weather and reading some articles on my phone, when she came home and got her dog out of her apartment to take him downstairs to do his business. Her dog ran right up to me so I was petting him while we struck up your typical boring first-conversation small-talk. We got the basics out of the way: name, workplace, amount of time living in the complex, and of course the fact that her dog’s name is The Dude. (Which made her even cooler, that she named her dog after a term I gleefully overuse, not to mention after a character in one heck of a movie: The Big Lebowski!) Oh, and in that small-talk convo, I told her that I’d found a key on the ground in the corridor, not long before our encounter, and asked if it might be hers. (I didn’t do any deep investigation where I tried it out on any of the other doors that share our corridor, as I thought that would be slightly creepy! I simply put it in a safe place and figured I’d ask the neighbors, later (as neither answered when I knocked immediately after discovering the key).

Last night, there was a knock on my door. I was surprised, as we don’t typically get our door rapped. Lo and behold, it was the spunky, fashionable neighbor girl who blares “Bust A Move” and named her dog “The Dude”.

“You wouldn’t happen to still have that key, would you? I think it might be mine, afterall.” I got it out and gave it to her for her to try on her storage closet. Unfortunately, it was not a match. But while she attempted the key in the lock, The Dude escaped, bee-lining straight into my apartment!

“Duuude!” she hollered. He ran around through the kitchen and around to the living room, darting this way and that, until she and I and my husband were all trying to corner the little pistol. My husband was the first to snatch him, but as he grabbed him, he shrieked, “He’s peeing!” She snatched him up, with his wang pointing straight at us, her face flush as she apologized probably ten times as she rushed toward the door, and all the while, I was cracking up, telling her it’s all good.

My husband was still in shock and rushed in the bathroom to wash his hands, then made his way into the kitchen to dig around for carpet cleaner, and finally removed his pee-stained t-shirt, after realizing there were urine traces there, as well! Priceless.

I guess it could have been worse: The Dude could have made a doodie!

The I LOVE Project

One thing I think is of utmost importance is gratitude. When I go through phases in my life where thankfulness is at the forefront of my mind, not only do I notice that I feel a lot better, but I have also recognized the fact that things fall into place a lot more, and that they go much more smoothly during those times.

Unfortunately, I have noticed that it often takes some type of downfall for me to realize what I have to be thankful for. But these days, I attempt to be more proactive, and to acknowledge all of the beautiful gifts this life provides me. (They truly are countless!) Have you ever had such an overwhelming sense of gratitude that you could feel its bubbly presence in your gut? Or maybe it made a tear sneak up on you? It’s really quite an amazing feeling. Oftentimes, I get that feeling when I am outside; sometimes in the early morning, just before leaving for work, when the sun isn’t quite up yet and the only sounds are ones Nature creates, when Prana fills my lungs to the brim. Other times, in the evenings, especially lately, I get the same feeling when the sky is clear and the stars and moon and planets are bursting through the black curtain of Night. Nature is amazing.

I want to make a point to be truly grateful for things daily, and each day, I want to post one thing that I truly love; hence THE I LOVE PROJECT. I would love for you to be a part of this with me, and to visit this site and also post one thing a day that you truly love, so we can pool our gratitude together. (I bet we will see amazing results!) Or maybe you’d rather write it in a private journal or on your PC or phone. Either way, I feel that writing it down sets into motion the wheels of good things to come: the more gratitude you show, the more you will have to be grateful for! Try it!

So, here goes #1, for me:

I love…stepping out of a hot shower and opening the linen closet and feeling the cool air contrast with my warm skin. Alongside that, I love lying on the cool sheets of a freshly-made bed after getting out of a hot shower; it’s one of the most relaxing things I’ve experienced. This provides for me a state of relaxation, a break from the chaotic rat race, a perfect, momentary balance in life. I love. <3

29: Embracing Change

We all have a story. We just have to decide whether or not to tell it, and determine the right time to tell it if we so choose. For me, the answer is yes, and the time is now. I've had a lot of experiences in my life, and I believe that keeping our experiences to ourselves results in unlearning; stagnancy. And stagnancy is a death sentence, if you ask me. I hope for this blog to be a continuous, cyclical avenue of learning and growth, and one of Truth; one where the teaching and learning flows to and from all who come into contact with it, ceaselessly.

I have been building this blog in my mind for a long time now, yet I've been afraid to actually create it. Afraid? you may wonder, since "fear" can be a pretty harsh word, and an even more harsh experience to endure. But, yes, afraid. Fear of being imperfect. Fear of not measuring up to my expectations. Fear of mistakes. Maybe even fear of judgment.

I am Libra, and on that fence I shall ride for the duration of my current existence; whether I like it or not, it's an integral part of who I Am. I've learned that I tend to steer away from commitment; finalities sort of freak me out just a tad, if you want the truth. So it's been hard to actually physically build this blog, as I've got so many different ideas for it, so many things I want to share, so many ways I could approach it, and so many different things I could actually center it around. But here I am, tucking Fear and Hesitation inside a little knapsack, as I'm ready to move forward and to share what I've got to share with the world. Look out, little orange "Publish" button! Here I come...

But first...

I want to share what spurred me to start this now, today, and the answer is Twenty-Nine. Yes, 29: a number that once created a deep sense of angst within me, yet one I now embrace and accept and understand (at least, to some extent).

  

Not only is it the 29th of the month, but it's the 29th of April; a very significant combination of month and day, as that marks the anniversary of my father's transition to the other side. Thirteen years ago, in fact. Long before my dad passed on, a good friend of mine and I had already had it in our heads that 29 is a powerful number (leaning more on the side of "bad", is what we believed), so, surely you can fathom its impression upon me when 29 altered such a critical element in my life.

That's a story in and of itself, however. What's important to express at this juncture is that, over the years, my idea of what 29 is and for what it stands has evolved into a more holographic essence, if you will; one that simply means transformation (at least, it's what it means to me). I have been provided a vast array of proof of this over the years, so now when 29 comes into my life, I take a deep breath and choose to not resist, to brace myself, and even welcome it! Without change, we would be nothing. And in the specific case of my father's crossing-over on April 29th, I accept the fact that without death, there is no rebirth. I've known for a while now, afterall, that people don't die; they merely transform. I now realize that 29 merely means change. And change is good. Change is necessary.

So, here we are: April 29th. A powerful day of change in my life. I'm ready to face that little orange "Publish" button and set into motion my multi-faceted story.