Hotel Living

My Beloved and I spent some time in Oklahoma City and I was stunned at what passed for okay behavior in several venues. 

First, having dinner at a fairly up scale restaurant the first night, seeing the men wear their cowboy hats or baseball caps at dinner was a sight to behold.  As my sister would say, “they probably didn’t have a mother to teach them differently.” 

The next morning walking down the corridor to the elevator, I heard two doors open and people walked out and allowed their doors to slam.  I purposely walked slowly to give them time to get the elevator, as I knew I would not be able to keep my mouth shut if I had to spend anymore them with any of them.

Next, I am in the downstairs area for the complimentary breakfast and I see a guy walk by in his pajamas and socks.  Jamers?!  No sooner, had I gotten my mouth shut than a whole family came into the area and they are all in their jammers. 

I may be from the “old” school that says, dress appropriately when in public, but I guess this rule is only for me.  I couldn’t help but wonder if these people were “commando” too!  I could hear my mother’s voice in my head that said “be sure to wear underwear all the time because you never know…”  She never did explain the “never know” part of that sentence and I never thought to ask.  She use to make me wear underwear in my jammers because “you never know…”

Without slamming the Midwestern part of our country, I can’t help but feel that the farther you are from the big city, the more relaxed traditional behaviors become.  Considering that we are planning to move to OK City, it has to be a reminder for me to keep up my standards in order to maintain a “presence” in the city.  Spirit, help me to put away my judgment mind about all of this.

You, of course, don’t have a problem with any judgments, do you?

Road Trips

One of the things Alan and I did while dating, was taking road trips since he had just moved here from Memphis and wanted to see what the area around San Antonio had to offer.  The Hill Country nearby is without a doubt the most glorious scenic area second only to the island of Kauai and the Grand Canyon.

To encourage the road trips, we have a selection of vehicles in which our comfort is at a premium.  The latest addition is a 2004 XK8 Jaguar convertible.  After giving Alan static about getting a “gun metal gray” car, he very calmly looked at me and said that the color was “platinum.”  Okay! 

Yesterday, we took our platinum convertible on a road trip to Corpus Christi to see the gulf and then we headed north and east into Rockport and back to San Antonio.  One of the thrills of going south is looking for what I have termed “our bridge” which is a bridge just sitting in the middle of a field with a “for sale” sign on it.  This time, I wanted to get the phone number so I could call and get some information on it – like cost, weight, material, etc.

What promoted the inquiry was an article in the Saturday funnies that a bridge on the East Coast has been stolen.  How do you steal a bridge?  This is another one of those situations in which major planning has to take place.  The East Coast bridge weighed 40 tons.  How do you even move a 40 ton bridge and do you need a permit to do it if using a major road?  How long does it take to “break down” it into manageable pieces and do you need to be quiet about it?  Seems to me to be a very noisy process.

“Our bridge” wasn’t there or we missed it while talking about it so making a telephone call was needless.  It still keeps me thinking about who and why would you “sell” a bridge. 

The only thing useful about this blog is a reminder to “not burn your bridges,” as someone would probably call the fire department. 

Gratitude

This time of year always reminds me how blessed my life is and how wonderful it is to enjoy the standard of living that surrounds me.  One of the major influences I have had in my life early were books. 

Having been raised as an only child (my sister above me is nine years older and my oldest brother is twenty years older), the only friends I had growing up were books and my imagination.  So, I used books to communicate, to teach, to carry me away to wonderful places to meet wonderful people. 

Today, my favorite leisure time experience is curling up with a good book and it doesn’t matter if it is fiction or not.  My idea of a great vacation is, plopping down on a chaise lounge with a good book, and someone fairly young with just a few clothes serving me cool drinks as needed. 

When I look around my office, my walls are lined with bookcases and are filled with the experiences of people who were compelled to enlighten me with their wisdom in their books.  I find it to be an interesting area of thought to be able to put common sense into readable communication because common sense is not so common these days.

On this Thanksgiving Eve, I am so grateful to all of the authors who had the courage to publish, who gave so much of themselves in print, to teach me what I am today.  When I look around the world I have created for myself, I am infinitely grateful to be so blessed. 

Allow the Great Substance of the Universe to be your expression and experience of life today.

Hotels

Having just spent a week at a plush hotel in Las Vegas, I had forgotten what it was like living with thousands of people all moving in their own worlds like they were living at home. 

I was stunned at the amount of doors that were slammed throughout the hotel at all hours of the day or night.  I realized that living behind closed doors amounted to being at home alone if one choose to do that. 

Once out of the room, everything changed.  The rules of etiquette and just good manners were lost.  I was again stunned at the rudeness, impatience and people just cutting in line like they were the only ones in the universe. 

I first encountered the line cutting in the sumptuous buffet that was offered at all hours of the day or night.  I was incredibly surprised at the quality of food available upon demand and in quantities that meant that there was more than enough for all no matter how many times you wanted to get more. 

I had heard my former husband refer to a “rube” but had never quite experienced what it meant first hand until Las Vegas.  I watched this man charge through the place, often just reaching in front of others without regard to courtesy or manners.  And I watched as many were so stunned by the actions, they didn’t say anything to him.  I am not sure what I would have said either.

For the rest of my stay, every time I was awakened by a door slamming shut, I just figured it was the rube.  Apparently, there were a lot of them staying on the same floor as I was.

Courage

During the time of my former husband’s, illness, I found a metal cutout of the word courage at one of the hobby stores.  I bought it thinking this was a good word for me and I placed it on my desk to see it often.

Little did I know at the time that I would need the reminder of courage as life continued for me.

Another note I have on my desk reads, “Write a happy ending to your story.”  I realized today that I needed to write a happy ending to every one of my days, weeks, months and years.  In order to write a happy ending, there needs to be activity and usually, it mean, “new” activity. 

It takes courage to have a daily event of new activity of any kind.  It takes courage to step out of a comfort zone and allow something new and different to be presented.  It takes courage to be positive about how wonderful life is and all that it means. 

Maybe courage is really a gift of grace - gift of possibility and greater rewards.  Courage isn’t needed when one is in a comfort zone.  But it is needed just to think about something new and different. 

The beauty of something new and different is that the reward of having the courage to step out results in fascinating and equally wondrous results.  I have discovered that the greater the risk, the greater the result. 

Writing a happy ending to “a” story is as easy now as imagining the biggest, greatest, most outrageous way that life can show up for me.  I want all of the benefits that life has including fun, easy ways, peace, love, and money. 

How much fun would it be to have all of our dreams fulfilled?

How We Influence Each Other

At the Asilomar Conference Center, located on the Pacific Rim in California, while attending a religious gathering, I remember having had a meal with a colleague and she introduced me to the wonders of a fountain pen for writing.  Rev. Jennie was using a Waterman Fountain Pen. 

I don’t remember how many years ago that has been but what reminded me of that experience is that I am still using my original Waterman I bought shortly after using her pen. 

Actually, I consider my Waterman “just broken in.”  It writes beautifully with a very smooth nib on all kinds of surfaces.  I didn’t know that the more you use the nib, the better it gets as it “gets” use to the way you write and the pressure you use, etc.

Since that time, I have learned how to turn my own pens.  What I really wanted was a Mont Blanc pen, but couldn’t afford it, so learned how to make my own as I could easily afford a “Cindy Flor.” 

Using what I have created is an experience in itself and wanted to give credit to Jennie for creating a new path for me in not only writing, but also journal writing all these years.  Now, I buy inks from all over and when the mood hits, I mix and match different shades to be able to experience more of what I have. 

Since that time, I received a Mont Blanc as a gift.  The joy of journal writing now is choosing which pen, what color ink, and not playing favorites with my collection of fountain pens. 

Thanks, Jennie, for opening a whole new experience for me.  I love my pen collection and the luxury of choice every day when I sit down to write. 

Allow Everything

Two quotes had me in a quandary this last week.  The first is from Ernest Holmes in which he tells us, “Just keep right on knocking at the doorway of your consciousness until every “no” becomes a “yes,” every negation an affirmation, every fear a faith.  You cannot fail if you remain steadfast.” 

Somewhere I read that life is a gift.  So, by saying “yes” to everything that shows up in our lives is accepting the gift in a greater, grander way.  No matter what happens, it is a gift. 

I didn’t reach a goal that I wanted this week and was very disappointed and have to really recoup from hearing three “no’s” to something that I think is really wonderful – the biggest advantage of it is to save money and have the product delivered to the front door.  Who wouldn’t want to save money?  I couldn’t get my mind wrapped around that? 

The sad thing about it is that I know the people were lying to me about the reasons for not buying from me.  That is another thing I couldn’t get wrapped in my head – why lie about something so insignificant.  Imagine the cause and effect set up around that?

What was the gift in the people saying “no?”  Well, had they consented, I would have had to work with them.  Now, I don’t.  Maybe in the wisdom of the Infinite, it saved me from some huge problems later on. 

The other quote is from Alan Cohen, who, says, “Denying the body is another from of indulging it.  What you fight, you empower.  What you allow, you release.”  The importance of that quote is the allow/release part.  Make it all okay and it is easier to accept, think about, and for me to “get my head wrapped” around a concept in order to let it go for the highest and best – usually for me.  Which tells me that I need to allow and release for the highest and best to all I come in contact with too. 

Okay, allow and release with ease.  Got it!