I've stopped smiling in pictures. It's more of a smirk these days. That's a sign. A red flag. Something I should be paying attention to....
A roll of Spanish Maria cookies is open next to my laptop. After a month overseas, I've gotten used to a hot beverage in the afternoon, and for lack of a better description, a "biscuit" or two. Toast and marmalade are still in my repertoire as well. But I've only been back a week. And I've cried every day since.
It's lucky to have found your people. Lucky to know where you belong. Very lucky. Broken bones weren't so lucky, but being immortal, I know I'll heal. That's lucky, too.
I used to invest in silver linings...now, I invest in myself. I'm my own silver lining. I give myself closure. And, when necessary, I'll even ask for oral. Shouldn't have to ask, mind you. But I'd rather ask than not receive.
Givers have to learn not to be taken....
Hiking amidst the tall grass, ancient stones, and cow pies, I discovered something I thought long gone from the planet: The last true gentleman. He lifted me up and over the clumps and bumps as if I weighed nothing at all. He also helped me get further than I would have gotten on my own.
See? Lucky.
As I sat here the other night, about to cry for the thousandth time since my return, I found myself thinking of the last true gentleman...and then I found something else:
My smile.
I'm sick. Tired. Haven't slept through the night in three weeks. My body hurts. Everywhere. Yet I'm still somehow managing a smile. It's small, but it doesn't have to be big to make a big impact
There's a little shop on Catherine Street in Limerick. It's called Lucky Lane. Ganesha lives there. So does an old piano. The owner serenaded me in June. He sang, "Yellow," by Coldplay. He smiled. He flirted. He looked into the camera...and my eyes. But other than a few follows on social media, that was it.
No, the title of this essay was not inspired by the store. Or, it's charming owner. The title was inspired by a little dirt lane in a little town off the beaten path. It was a lucky lane. Not because of the plethora of hostile sheep. Or the mooing, mewling cows. It was because it led me to a rare soul. Even though a day later, I'd be hours away from paying yet another karmic debt, I got to walk down that lucky lane. At least once.
How many people can say that???
I may not be able to find my smile as easily these days, but I get to remember a day where all I did was smile. Despite the bills. Despite the bones. Despite the three sets of stairs in my house.
Memories are great. But memories aren't enough. It's our job to use happy moments lodged throughout our grey matter to inspire our present. When I woke with the same throbbing pain in my leg today, instead of crying, I began to write. The result? Twelve new poems! All of which will be featured in my latest book coming out in October.
Guess what I'm doing with the first 50 copies???
Donating them for a charity event I'm organizing. It's to benefit a children's cancer center. Every dime raised will go directly to the kids.
No one would dare call me lucky these days. But I can still create luck for others. Even if I can't always smile myself, I can help others find theirs.
I think that's the luckiest thing of all....
Having the ability to see outside of yourself--even when in pain and sad beyond belief--is extraordinary. So is still being able to find enough magic to make other people's lives just a bit better than they were before.
Even if you are having the worst day of your life, when you can find it in yourself to help others, you'll feel a whole lot better. You'll also be able to find solutions to every problem you may have. Proaction over reaction--that's how you become your own silver lining. It's also how you speed up healing--inside and out. And, how you stop feeling lonely and sad, or angry and mad. See, when you give others joy, you get joy back tenfold. That's not a bad rate of return.
Once you become proactive (instead of reactive), you don't just get luckier, you evolve into a living, breathing miracle. I forget that sometimes. That I'm a miracle, too.
People who try to destroy miracles always meet sticky ends. Kind of comforting in this moment, to be honest. So is knowing there's at least one true gentleman left in the world. He's fluent in French as well. By no small coincidence, so am I....
#LuckyLane
A roll of Spanish Maria cookies is open next to my laptop. After a month overseas, I've gotten used to a hot beverage in the afternoon, and for lack of a better description, a "biscuit" or two. Toast and marmalade are still in my repertoire as well. But I've only been back a week. And I've cried every day since.
It's lucky to have found your people. Lucky to know where you belong. Very lucky. Broken bones weren't so lucky, but being immortal, I know I'll heal. That's lucky, too.
I used to invest in silver linings...now, I invest in myself. I'm my own silver lining. I give myself closure. And, when necessary, I'll even ask for oral. Shouldn't have to ask, mind you. But I'd rather ask than not receive.
Givers have to learn not to be taken....
Hiking amidst the tall grass, ancient stones, and cow pies, I discovered something I thought long gone from the planet: The last true gentleman. He lifted me up and over the clumps and bumps as if I weighed nothing at all. He also helped me get further than I would have gotten on my own.
See? Lucky.
As I sat here the other night, about to cry for the thousandth time since my return, I found myself thinking of the last true gentleman...and then I found something else:
My smile.
I'm sick. Tired. Haven't slept through the night in three weeks. My body hurts. Everywhere. Yet I'm still somehow managing a smile. It's small, but it doesn't have to be big to make a big impact
There's a little shop on Catherine Street in Limerick. It's called Lucky Lane. Ganesha lives there. So does an old piano. The owner serenaded me in June. He sang, "Yellow," by Coldplay. He smiled. He flirted. He looked into the camera...and my eyes. But other than a few follows on social media, that was it.
No, the title of this essay was not inspired by the store. Or, it's charming owner. The title was inspired by a little dirt lane in a little town off the beaten path. It was a lucky lane. Not because of the plethora of hostile sheep. Or the mooing, mewling cows. It was because it led me to a rare soul. Even though a day later, I'd be hours away from paying yet another karmic debt, I got to walk down that lucky lane. At least once.
How many people can say that???
I may not be able to find my smile as easily these days, but I get to remember a day where all I did was smile. Despite the bills. Despite the bones. Despite the three sets of stairs in my house.
Memories are great. But memories aren't enough. It's our job to use happy moments lodged throughout our grey matter to inspire our present. When I woke with the same throbbing pain in my leg today, instead of crying, I began to write. The result? Twelve new poems! All of which will be featured in my latest book coming out in October.
Guess what I'm doing with the first 50 copies???
Donating them for a charity event I'm organizing. It's to benefit a children's cancer center. Every dime raised will go directly to the kids.
No one would dare call me lucky these days. But I can still create luck for others. Even if I can't always smile myself, I can help others find theirs.
I think that's the luckiest thing of all....
Having the ability to see outside of yourself--even when in pain and sad beyond belief--is extraordinary. So is still being able to find enough magic to make other people's lives just a bit better than they were before.
Even if you are having the worst day of your life, when you can find it in yourself to help others, you'll feel a whole lot better. You'll also be able to find solutions to every problem you may have. Proaction over reaction--that's how you become your own silver lining. It's also how you speed up healing--inside and out. And, how you stop feeling lonely and sad, or angry and mad. See, when you give others joy, you get joy back tenfold. That's not a bad rate of return.
Once you become proactive (instead of reactive), you don't just get luckier, you evolve into a living, breathing miracle. I forget that sometimes. That I'm a miracle, too.
People who try to destroy miracles always meet sticky ends. Kind of comforting in this moment, to be honest. So is knowing there's at least one true gentleman left in the world. He's fluent in French as well. By no small coincidence, so am I....
#LuckyLane
YELLOW
Coldplay
Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah they were all yellow
I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called "Yellow"
So then I took my turn
Oh what a thing to have done
And it was all yellow
Your skin
Oh yeah, your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
You know, you know I love you so
You know I love you so
I swam across
I jumped across for you
Oh what a thing to do
'Cause you were all yellow
I drew a line
I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all yellow
Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
And you know
For you I'd bleed myself dry
For you I'd bleed myself dry
It's true
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine
Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And all the things that you do
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Christopher Anthony John Martin / Guy Rupert Berryman / Jonathan Mark Buckland / William Champion
Yellow lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Coldplay
Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah they were all yellow
I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called "Yellow"
So then I took my turn
Oh what a thing to have done
And it was all yellow
Your skin
Oh yeah, your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
You know, you know I love you so
You know I love you so
I swam across
I jumped across for you
Oh what a thing to do
'Cause you were all yellow
I drew a line
I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all yellow
Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
And you know
For you I'd bleed myself dry
For you I'd bleed myself dry
It's true
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine
Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And all the things that you do
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Christopher Anthony John Martin / Guy Rupert Berryman / Jonathan Mark Buckland / William Champion
Yellow lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
RSS Feed