Angels Abound!
It often seems that we talk about karma as if it is only about bad stuff- you know- Somebody does something mean to us or someone we know and we say- Well he’ll get his, because ‘what goes around comes around’.
Well it has occurred to me today that it also works on good things we do.Why just today? Who knows, however a light bulb went on and so here goes another blog.
As you know if you read my blog that this has been a very eventful year for me. Lot’s of major changes- Last January 1st I was living in an apartment on a hill overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Today I am living in a beautiful home in the Mojave Desert. Last year I had 3 sisters, now I only have 2. But what has not changed is that I am utterly and completely surrounded by love. Family, friends, I even find love arriving from perfect strangers on a daily basis.
I often get impatient with myself because I am not seeing enough progress forward, however when I look back over the path I have traveled I realize that I have had a very rich and beautiful life and that I have been able to share the gifts I have been given with many people in many places. I also see no reason why this will not continue and that is a very exciting prospect.
I have been thinking the last few days about the holidays, expectations, past experience, traditional and non-traditional, and all of this has led me to believe that there are planned blessings and then there are those that are completely spontaneous and can only be explained by angels and guides in my behalf. I think our traditions- the way we celebrate are more like planned blessings- we choose to create and bless ourselves and our families by including them in how we celebrate. Spontaneous blessings often not even acknowledged, because we do not realize their presence. We take them for granted.
For several days this week I was down taking care of a recovering from surgery daughter and 7 & 8 year old boys recovering from colds and on Christmas vacation with lot’s of rain. A bit challenging since i have never had boys and it has been awhile since I was around that much energy. This was certainly not the Christmas our family had planned. With all of the changes going on in all of our lives, we were all looking for a little bit of normal, traditional, relaxed holiday sharing. Money has been tight for all of us this year and we were doing few gifts, but lot’s of delicious foods from family traditions and just sharing the time together. So emergency surgery on Christmas day was not on the agenda and it really took the wind out of our more traditionally planned holiday.
This is where the spontaneous blessings started kicking in and the planned blessings took a pass. All of the plans we had made to share the holidays with friends and family dissolved into taking care of the family and making the best of the situation. Here is where some really amazing blessings arrived. For instance the chief of surgery being on call and doing my daughters surgery. A hospital full of amazing, caring, joyful individuals who were working on Christmas, but happy they could be there to take care of us. Or the next day when my son-in-law was driving through the rain on the freeway and was missed by a swerving car crossing several lanes out of control. There were so many blessings, I cannot tell them all. We also did manage to create a little bit of normal the day after Christmas which worked out just fine.
So now recovery is happening and life is going forward. I came home on Thursday with a very nasty cold. So once more the planned blessings- holiday parties and dinner with friends had to be canceled and New Year’s Eve I was feeling pretty down. But guess what- once again I am completely surrounded by love and spontaneous blessings abound! Like the cool gift from one sister of a remote for my camera- “so I would have something to play with while I was recovering” , or the huge bowl of fresh steaming bouillabaisse from neighbors across the street, or the man who was riding his bicycle down the street as my car came to a halt in the middle of the road. He stopped and helped me push it out of the street. And then last night as I was getting ready for bed, my throat so sore I could not speak- a phone call from my other sister and her friends who were helping her celebrate her birthday and they missed me. We had all been together last year for the occasion and this year I could not be. So they called and we all sang her happy birthday- even me in my very froggy voice. It was such a wonderful experience to be so loved.
So I guess what I know today is that the love we share with others weaves it’s way through life and comes right back and wraps itself right around us once again. And that is a joyous thing.
Happy New Year and may your year be filled with an abundance of spontaneous blessings and planned blessings as well!
Cheryl McDonald is an artist and photographer in Southern California at the base of the Eastern Sierras. To see more of her work please go to- www.passionsatplay.com and www.cherylmcdonald-art.com
Passions at Play Art & Design 