Category Archives: Mary Anne Radmacher

Gratitude Friday

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This post is a mashup of The Little Bliss List and Joy Jam, and as such is meant to celebrate: the little things that brought me hope and happiness this week, the sweet stuff of life, those small gifts that brought me joy this week. By sharing them, I not only make public my gratitude, but maybe also help you notice your own good stuff and send some positive energy out into the world.

1. Lemon Poppyseed Scones. I’m kind of obsessed right now. The lemon and sugar combo are like sunshine in my mouth.

2. Cultivating Courage ecourse. It’s technically over now (next session starts January 14th), but we have a private Facebook group and Andrea offered alumni a discounted rate for the next session. 30 days of cultivating a habit is really effective, especially when you have such amazing support. The class gave me more confidence and also allowed me to reconsider what it means to be brave.

3. My original art piece from Mary Anne Radmacher, which I wrote about yesterday.

4. More light for our morning walks. This will only last a week or so, but it was nice that first day after we “fell back” to not have to wear my headlamp and walk in the dark.

5. The end of another election season. Every year, it’s just way too nasty and stressful. Even without regular TV, it’s hard to not feel its impact.

Obi and Dexter

they were so in love

Bonus joy: Three years ago today, we had to let Obi go. He taught me so much about life and love, about fear and courage, about accepting another just as they are, about being safe and loved even when things are uncertain, but most of all how to let go.  It’s because of him, his loss, that I can be with what’s happening with Dexter, be with it and keep my heart open. They loved each other so much. Dexter was actually Obi’s dog, and Dexter loved him even more than he loved us or his Little D. If I could only know for sure that letting Dexter go meant he could be with his Obi again, I’d more easily surrender him.

An Open Love Letter to Patti Digh, Mary Anne Radmacher, and Karma

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poster gift from Patti Digh to her mailing list

I am cradled today in the comfort of kindness, the awareness that every kindness you ever offer somehow finds it’s way back to you. In the simplest way, this is karma–every action has a consequence. Today, I am humbled by it, my heart softened, opened by the practice of generosity, and the kindness that has found it’s way to me because of it. I feel tender and raw, sad and weepy because of it, but also so joyful and grateful.

card from Mary Ann Radmacher

Patti Digh is one of my favorite authors, humans. I have learned so much from her about showing up, keeping my heart open, cultivating courage and compassion. She’s given me so much, and there is no way to repay that kind of gift directly or completely.

live shot of Patti during a virtual party for the launch of her new 37 days website, oh that smile!

And yet, at the end of this summer, I had an opportunity to help her, to give what I could give. Her husband was diagnosed with kidney cancer during a time when he had no health insurance and he needed an expensive surgery. The John F. Ptak Relief Fund was created and I was happy to donate, happy to offer some small kindness to a woman who’d already given me so much.

The story doesn’t end there. Just as I was about to make a donation, Mary Ann Radmacher announced on Facebook that the first ten people to make a $100 donation and contact her would get an original piece of her work. She’s an amazing artist and writer. I love everything she does. Her quote “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow” has offered me so much comfort in the past year.

To create my original piece, she asked for my most favorite colors (purples, blues and greens–colors of flowers, the ocean, and the trees), shape (infinity symbol) and most treasured iconic image (lotus flower). When the package arrived in the mail and I saw what she’d made, my heart was so full it felt like it would break.

Holy Wow. I can’t stop staring at it. And that’s not all, she also sent me a signed copy of her new book, Honey in Your Heart: Ways to See and Savor the Simple Good Things. Do you understand, kind and gentle reader? She didn’t have to do that. The book wasn’t part of the deal, a deal that was already super sweet, above and beyond, but she sent it along anyway, added a bonus gift. One generous act beget a kindness that, as it was passed along from person to person, heart to heart, grew so big, got so bright. I have faith that it won’t stop with this.

“Honey is a sweetness, occurring as the result of creatures doing what comes from acting according to their nature,” says Mary Anne in the introduction to her new book. We humans are fundamentally good, inherently compassionate and wise, and this sweetness, these kind acts (Patti giving, me giving to her, and Mary Anne giving to me because I gave to Patti), this infinity loop of generosity and love is, I believe with my whole heart, just that: the result of creatures doing what comes from acting according to their nature.