LUGGAGE Lady

Contemplations about Life, Love, & the Pursuit of Meaningful Existence…

Archive for the tag “community”

Be the Difference

BetheDifference

“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” — Marcus Aurelius

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How different my days unfold when I share a kind word, carefree laughter, and positive stories. When I pause to lend a helping hand, listen to another, or support whatever causes I can. When I choose love instead of vying to be right!! With so many uplifting options, why — oh why — do I ever choose behavior that depletes my spirit?

And so…

My New Year’s Aspiration is to be:

Focused on present moment

Shunning negativity Realizing

Whatever I deem the world to be withholding

I already possess

Abundance swelling my heart

Gifting me with endless benevolence

Abandoning ego

Remaining judgement-free

Appreciating earth’s unmitigated beauty

Sincerely listening

Speaking only if my words add value

Observing more

Learning

Growing

Loving

Mindful that a smile means the same thing all around the world

Doing everything in my power to

Be the difference…

♥ ♥ ♥

Luggage Lady is off to Cuba!!!! My husband and I, along with 20 others, are participating in a “people-to-people cultural exchange” as we sail along Cuba’s gorgeous coastline, visiting Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Cayo Largo, Cabo San Antonio, and Havana. I promise to return with photos and stories. In the meantime, I wish you ALL a blissful 2015 filled with untold blessings!! 😘

(*photo from trip to End of the Road Kalapana, Hawaii*)

Compassionately Converging

SoulfulConvergence

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” ~ Maya Angelou

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In my dreams

Humanity doesn’t just bustle by one another

We initiate inspiriting impressions

Sans preoccupation or fear of repudiation

Greeting one another joyfully

Sharing a smile

A funny tale

Or maybe even swapping life stories

Commonalities dissolving differences

Respectful minds OPEN

Listening

Broadening

Approachable hearts expanding

Celebrating varying viewpoints and insightful interpretations

No matter how contrasting

Laughter and tears uniting

Difficult situations drawing us closer

Providing opportunity to stand in each other’s shoes

Appreciating the pain

While boldly rebuffing the destructive “us versus them” mentality

Bridging every gap in our power

Mindful we’re in this together

Spreading kindness rather than antagonism

Compassionately converging

♥ ♥ ♥

(Photo from my latest travels: Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Northern Ireland)

Timeless Souls Plucked from the Spring of Our Days

Classof1984

💞 💞 💞

A high school friend recently asked me to write something for our upcoming reunion. I struggled for weeks. Then, I thought about the plans being made to honor those classmates who’d left our world far too soon. Several of these losses occurred while we were still teenagers. The impact on our young minds was profound.

As I began writing, however, I realized this wasn’t just for the Class of ’84. This was for every courageous spirit who has endured unimaginable tragedy and found the strength to move forward, anchoring families, friendships, and communities with awe-inspiring perseverance.

I dedicate this to you with Love and Admiration.

♥, LL

(Photo from our journey to De Hoop Nature Reserve in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, 2009)

Might We Dance Again?

IMG_7582  Pouring heart and soul upon the page

Unmasked for all to judge

At times, feeling inconsequential

Misunderstood

But you opened your arms

With unimaginable support

Erasing those fears

Swaying and twirling

Generously sharing your own inspiring insight

Our introspective dance drawing us close

Pouring heart and soul upon the page

In pursuit of meaningful existence

Hand-in-hand

Might we dance again?

♥♥💃♥♥ 

Oh, how I’ve missed my WordPress World!!!! Thank YOU ALL — from the depths of my wandering soul — for not abandoning Luggage Lady during my lengthy hiatus! I very much look forward to reading your beautifully uplifting, thought-provoking blogs once again. And for my cherished readers, it is my sincerest hope to publish something of value here at least once a month. 😘

 

Together We Flourish — Divided We Flounder

Dolphin Always! (5)

Sensationalized reporting

Sweeping generalizations

Inflated sentiments

Morph into disconnect

Isolation

Bitterness

Fear…

Channel after channel

Each attempting to eclipse the other

Competing soundbites trying to sway

Yet, in the real world

I observe a much different story

I see

Folks joining hands

Working tirelessly

Building cohesive families

Earning honest livings

Looking out for their neighbors

Volunteering

Mentoring our youth

Goodwill extended every step of the way

And my admiration skyrockets

The camaraderie of upstanding citizens

Impassioned spirits merging with loving intent

Has always been the glue binding our communities

We don’t need anyone to decipher this for us

It’s ingrained in the very fiber of our shared humanity

Together We FlourishDivided We Flounder

Knock Only if Expected!

 

Knock-Only-if-Expected-Luggage-Lady

Strolling down my street recently, I noticed a sign posted on the cheery red door of my favorite house:  Knock Only if Expected! it implored, rattling my senses.

Now I understand not wanting to be heckled in your home, but what about the neighbor dropping by with freshly baked cookies or glorious bottle of wine, who simply wishes to make your acquaintance? How much is lost when social parameters are cordoned off so rigidly?

This question reverberated around my brain like ice water hurled into a steaming shower, leaving me to contemplate the times I’d carefully tweaked my external shell only to greet the public with “do not disturb” placarded across my demeanor. What breath-whisking scenarios swirled swiftly past, while I staunchly plodded forward with such a limiting disposition?

Of course no one wants to resemble a jack-in-the-box, head bobbing to-and-fro, and life demands a certain degree of focus — but surely I could peel back my blinders enough to welcome fortuity.

Because I’ve dwelled behind that shuttered door, and it was gregarious individuals extending hands without hesitation who resurrected my faith in humanity. Thanks to them I shall forever aspire, even if my knocks go unheeded, to maintain a boundless heart.

Knock Any Old Time!” I hope my body language proclaims with every step taken…

Reeling with Gratitude

Blog of the Year Award banner 600

very-inspiring-blogger  sunshine-blogger-award-2

I confess: I’ve spent a lifetime playing it “safe.” Unless I could spy a clear-cut path to assured “success,” I shied away from “risky” opportunities. In regards to my writing, I surmised, better to be unread than to have my creativity slaughtered by critics!

Then, I met my husband and tried to wrap my mind around his life-story:

A high school oops given up for adoption…a ward of the state for seven months…adopted by a couple who would divorce by his seventh birthday…raised solely by his adoptive father who turned to the bottle to ease his solitude…beaten routinely…escaping to join the Air Force…only to return home and helplessly watch his only parent succumb to cancer…orphaned at twenty-three…after which he would track down biological parents who ultimately wanted nothing to do with him…

???!!……………………………………………………………….!!???

First off,  I could not fathom how a man forced to grow up with zero maternal love was capable of loving me so completely. Furthermore, how did a person raised under a banner of rejection and abuse achieve such sky-high dreams? I, a child blessed with a “Beaver Cleaver-type upbringing,” had known no such hardship. How could I begin to understand the anguish of not having a soul on this planet to call family?

I’m not qualified, I silently panicked! What could I offer — besides unwavering love?

I did the only other thing I felt capable of — I started writing a fictionalized version of his experience. What started out as an education about the lingering wounds of adoption, evolved into an endeavor that superseded fear. One I will never give up on until it is worthy of ALL who have walked — for whatever reason — in abandonment’s painful shoes.

Rehashing a manuscript, again and again, can leave one numb. Starting this blog inspired me to keep my writing fresh. Where I struggled in my fictional world, here I found salvation. But NEVER in my wildest dreams did I expect to find such an incredibly supportive community…

Reeling with gratitude, I can only bow my head and say — THANK YOU!

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Special Thanks to:

Teacher as Transformer who nominated me for the Very Inspiring and Sunshine Blogger Awards. He is truly the teacher we all wished we had in our younger days. I am elated to have discovered him — better late than never!

Global Light Minds who nominated me for Blog of the Year. Wendy’s daily snippets are my number one inspirational indulgence. Follow her, you won’t be disappointed!

***

I wish to nominate the following blogs:

Eric M Vogt’s Blog — His intriguing background captured me from the git-go, but his amazing writing will change your world for the better…

Untetherednunbroken — Beautiful, eloquent, soul-stirring and so very real…

The Silent Muse — An incredibly prolific writer. My finger hurts from hitting the LIKE button so often…

Aarthi — I have no idea how she writes so consistently beautiful every single day…

MindRetrofit7 — Add another star already, Angel!

Global Light Minds — Add another star, Wendy!

Withering Words of Mind — Kent is new on the scene but certainly not new to the written word, what a magical find…

For all those I missed in this talented pool…or haven’t had the privilege of discovering yet, I can’t wait to read your delightful words!! XO

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