Gail’s injury forced us to cancel our Christmas travel plans this year. Her hip wouldn’t tolerate the 9 hour car trip, and the orthopedic surgeon forbade air travel so as to avoid a blood clot. So we are spending the holiday by ourselves here in Winston-Salem while our families gather up north in Toledo. It is not my first experience at feeling sadly isolated over the holidays. I know this happens to many people for many reasons. So this year I am shouting out a special Christmas wish to all those who will be without family this year. In my personal experience, this includes:

people who are injured or sick and can’t travel

people who are sick in the hospital

people who are working in the hospital on Christmas Day

people with family in another country

divorced people, especially those whose small children are with their ex this year

people with a spouse with dementia

military spouses whose spouse is deployed overseas

special needs people without a real family

…and I’m sure there are many, many more situations.

The joy of the holidays which we imagine in our minds does not always play out IRL. I have heard this from many people. Holiday stress is a given. But those who feel isolated for whatever reason get my special wish today. Reach out to those you can with a call, or a warm smile, or a holiday hug.

I was especially touched by the World War 2 Memorial. It was very well done, with literal and symbolic pieces that covered the many aspects of the war. I thought about the many Honor Flights that are taking the remaining WW2 survivors to visit this memorial. I can now understand why they all report how deeply moved they are by the experience.

All I can say is that I am very grateful for the blood, sweat, tears, and the very lives of so many people who sacrificed for the freedoms I enjoy.

I use Charity Navigator to evaluate the various organizations that are making relief efforts. If you have never visited the site, you might find it helpful.

I don’t consider myself rah-rah-religious, but Convoy of Hope ( a religious disaster relief organization) does a kick-ass job at what they do. In a matter of a few computer clicks, I sent them a few bucks, and specified that they be used for the Japan catastrophe. You can do that right from the Charity Navigator site.

I’m not writing this to toot my own horn. I simply wanted to point out how easy it is to help.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves

This song, “Mirror Mirror” by new artist Diane Birch strongly reminds me of something. When I was 42 years old I received a gift. A really great one. The Universe must have decided I was ready to receive the gift of Introspection. It had prepared me properly for it by giving me free rein to use my thoughts, words and actions to thoroughly mess up my life, over and over again! So at age 42 I did my first 4th step.

I remember taking it very seriously. I was actually looking forward to it, as opposed to the many people I know who dread it. I sat down with pen, journal, and the time to do it justice. It became one of those experiences that are forever etched in memory. I started writing down my first character flaw, then the second. I started writing faster because I had a long list of “issues” in my head and didn’t want to forget them as I was writing them down. When I got to about twenty, and actually saw the mess that was me, the tears started to flow. I got to thirty… then forty… I stopped somewhere around 50. By then, the tears were mixed with smiles and outright laughter. You see, the tears were only a little about the pain. They were mainly tears of joy! In those moments, I saw the problem, and the solution! I saw that I alone was responsible for the mess I was in, and not everyone else. I truly realized what an imperfect person I really am, jumped off my pedestal for good, and joined the human race.

I have a mountain of flaws and defects. I am a “project.” I’m okay with that. I don’t mind working long and hard at difficult projects, especially when they are me! What I’m grateful for is the awareness of exactly what the problems are. When I know the problems, the solutions are close behind. The gift of 4th step introspection gave that to me. The key. And I value it because I know that not everyone gets to have this gift. For whatever reason, many people are unable to really look inside.

So, thank you Diane, for this nice reminder. And thank you for your lovely youthful spirit that shines brightly in “Bible Belt.”

Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. Sometimes we evolve, and sometimes we simply come around full circle, back to the beginning. A new beginning.

Springtime is like that, a renewal of life. Easter is like that, a renewal of the spirit. Past the withering of our Fall, past the suffering of our Winter, is the Spring of another chance. A fresh start full of hope that this year everything will be well and good. The seed of hope is grounded in the wisdom earned through past mistakes, and watered by the Universe itself as it endeavors to make our dreams come true. That is the great promise!

Como la semilla          Like the seed
Lleva nueva vida          Carries new life
Hay en esta primavera una nueva era          There is in this Spring a new age!

Lluvia de sol          Raindrops of sunshine
Como una bendición          Like a blessing
La vida renace a plena luz          Life is reborn in full light
La primavera ya llego          Spring has arrived!

Todo es así          Everything is like this
Regreso a la raíz          Returning to the roots
Tiempo de inquieta juventud         Time for restless youth
En primavera ya          In Springtime!

La tierra negra se vuelve verde          The blackened earth turns green
Y las montañas y el desierto          And the mountains and the desert
Un bello jardín          A beautiful garden!

Como la semilla          Like the seed
Lleva nueva vida          Carries new life
Hay en esta primavera una nueva era          There is in this Spring another chance!

En el aire de este nuevo universo          In the air of this new universe
Hoy se respira libertad          Today we breathe freedom
En primavera ya          In Springtime!

La tierra negra se vuelve verde          The charred earth turns green
Y las montañas y el desierto          And the mountains and the desert
Un bello jardín          A beautiful garden!

Como la semilla          Like the seed
Lleva nueva vida          Carries new life
Hay en esta primavera una nueva era          There is in this Spring a new promise!

People of the world!  Children of the world!

I look forward to a future where we all live together in peace and understanding. It is not a pipe dream. We can make it happen, if we each do our own part.

On November 5, 2009, the people of the world will get together on the same wavelength, in a spirit of universal love:  The BlogBlast for Peace!

Please join us! Your part is important!

I believe this video of Stevie Ray Vaughan was from his second appearance on Austin City Limits, after he had licked his drug and alcoholic demons, before dying an untimely death.  He was tryin’ to make it right, in his own unique way.

Caught up in a whirlwind can’t catch my breath

Knee deep in hot water broke out in a cold sweat

Can’t catch a turtle in this rat race

Feels like I’m losin’ time at a breakneck pace

Afraid of my own shadow in the face of grace

Heart full of darkness spotlight on my face

There was love all around me but I was lookin’ for revenge

Thank God it never found me would have been the end

(I was) walkin’ the tightrope steppin’ on my friends

Walkin’ the tightrope (it) was a shame and a sin

Walkin’ the tightrope between wrong and right

Walkin’ the tightrope both day and night

Lookin’ back in front of me in the mirror’s a grin

Through eyes of love I see I’m really lookin’ at a friend

We’ve all had our problems that’s the way life is

My heart goes out to others who are there to make amends

We’ve been walkin’ the tightrope tryin’ to make it right

Walkin’ the tightrope every day and every night

Walkin’ the tightrope bring it all around

Walkin’ the tightrope from the lost to found

Walkin’ the tightrope stretched around the world

Walkin’ the tightrope save the boys and girls

Walkin’ the tightrope let’s make it right

Walkin’ the tightrope do it do it tonight

Walkin’ the tightrope