My Teenage Dream

This made my heart beat faster:

I know just how Kurt feels. I would have been in love, too.

Love Actually

Love Actually is one of my favorite holiday movies. Although it requires a pretty significant suspension of my disbelief, it also reminds me of several of the most important lessons I've learned so far in this life.

1. We are all connected. People may scoff at the "butterfly effect", but I wholeheartedly believe that my words and actions send waves of consequence through the web of life. I believe the same is true of all life here. What a joyful thought it is that when I act in a loving way towards someone else, whether it's a small act of courtesy or a large display of unconditional love, that my action goes beyond that person and helps grant life and light to existence as a whole.
2. Love is the greatest power there is. Simultaneously joyous and heartbreaking, love moves everything. Once we are bound to someone in love, we are never truly parted from them ever again. The marks we leave on each other's hearts never truly fade, and they color every choice, every decision, every action, every event from that moment forward.
3. Love takes many forms. Like a well cut gem, love has many facets, each unique and wonderful. No two experiences of love will be quite the same, and yet we are all united by its light.

Call me sappy or delusional. Deride my quixotic view of this existence. I don't care. I choose love. I choose life. Merry Christmas, my friends. I love you.

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

Screaming at the Screen

I just finished reading a biography of the life of Maria Callas. I greatly respect this woman as an artist, but I grieve for the tragedy of her personal life. It makes me wonder if there are any beings who feel they are watching my life story unfold on something akin to a TV screen (ie. one-way communication) and are screaming "Don't do that! Look out! Danger! ARGGHHH!" I have a feeling there are and I'm hoping I one day have the strength to really hear them and avoid the oncoming train. An oncoming train...that's gotta' be why the ground beneath me keeps shaking...

Vessels

I wonder why I so often pour my essense into weak or broken vessels. Is it so I can watch them break?

Marking a Date

I have many thoughts but just wanted to make sure I posted something today, seeing as how 10/10/10 won't come around again for quite a while.

How Can I Keep From Singing?

I was slightly under the weather during the last few days with what was, by all appearances, a minor cold. I cancelled as many things as I could in order to rest up and recover as quickly as possible. However, I managed to teach most of my private students, and it was brought home to me very powerfully that teaching is the lifeblood of my soul. No matter how crappy I felt when I walked in that studio door, by the time the lessons were over, I was feeling much better.

This lesson isn't a new one. Last year when I was still in shock from a grevious personal loss, the only thing that made me feel alive at all was teaching. Gradually, running came to enliven me as well, but teaching people to sing kept me alive when what I thought I really wanted to do was die. Even with all the people who listened to me cry*, it was in serving others that I found my life.

I am grateful for every moment, every discovery, every shared "a-ha!" It's amazing how much of God's love is there to be seen with the right focus.

*To all of you who, indeed, have listened patiently and supportively to my endless whining, don't get me wrong: I'm so grateful for you! It's just not the point of the blog.