Monday, October 31, 2016

happy halloween

The Church of Happy Thoughts

the one truly unorganized church.




We're fine.

               


Julie

PS  happy thoughts are not to be confused with thinking about puppies and rainbows... it's about thinking about truth to the point it brings peace.  Happiness may be over rated, Happy Thoughts are NOT.












Friday, July 8, 2016

I have forgotten how to make a wish

The Church of Happy Thoughts

The One Truly Unorganized Church




Recently, I had the good fortune to make 3 wishes.  I was to make one for myself, one for my family, and one for Mother Earth.

A wish sounds simple enough.  People do it all the time.
birthday candles
fountains
eyelashes

So. I sat down to write my wishes.
Turns out, I have evidently forgotten how to make a wish.  I'm not entirely sure I've EVER made one.  A real one.  An outrageous one that didn't require my doing something.

My wishes seem to be more like goals.

I could wish that I would find a publisher for my books.  Well, if I sent them out to even one publisher maybe I would get one.  I could wish I would someday speak to large groups of people about The Sophia Stories or my experiences with ghosts and angels.  Maybe it would help if I found a publisher.  Not a real wish.  Seems to me.

Then, I thought, I could wish for a lover, a man in my life who is looking to carve out an unexpected life, interested in a million things and wants to wander around the world to see them and do them.  A knower of God in a strictly unreligious way.  A happy man. Would be good. 
Well.
Honestly.
I'm not certain he exists. So, I would hate to waste a perfectly good wish.  (Doesn't sound much like the minister of the church of happy thoughts...and, anyway, it's sort of a daily trust that he actually does exist, which is a happy thought in itself.)

That might be getting closer to a real wish.  However, I could do something, like go online or join a fly fishing group or a trek to the Himalayas.  Somewhere he might be.  

The directions said:  No Limitations.

What in my wildest dreams do I want?

A wish with no limitations.  A BIG wish.  A long and happy life. Yes, that's good. For my family, too.  The directions said be specific and clear. So what's LONG?  Or HAPPY?
Joyful every day?  WHAAATTT?

I wish to be paid a lot of money for what I do.  Still a goal.  

Hmmm.  Money.

That's shallow.

I began to convince myself all the virtues of money and how I wouldn't be a complete loser if I wished for money.  Lots of money. Like everybody else. World peace would be the progressive thing to do, not technically a WISH.  I don't think.

But, what do I know?
About wishing.

Money IS a form of energy.  Not inherently good or bad, a vehicle for possibilities, that's noble, it's creation sprang from the desire to exchange goods and services in a brilliant sort of way, free trade, that's a good thing.  It has value in our world.  Love that.  Like a kind and trusting person, it can be exploited.  Yes.  There is that dark side.  

Maybe I could give money a better name by not being greedy. That's a noble cause.

It's pieces of paper and metal round things for heaven's sake.  It actually doesn't have the power we give it.. does it?

Well.  The directions didn't say make a goal and it didn't say create a noble cause. It said make a wish.

So.
I wished for a million dollars.

And felt pretty great about it.  I imagined the Sophia Stories out in the world, my family brought together often from across the country with friends and music and a big fire and roses on the table and food from our garden and wine from our friends' vineyard.  And laughing.  Lots of laughing.  And the good and noble causes I could so happily support. The babies I would have time to hold and the children I could help feed and offer a glimmer of hope.  I began to feel very good about it.

Just having the thoughts is a good thing.  A very good thing. 

So, I did what anyone would do, I wished for a million dollars for each of us.  Everyone in my family.  My wish for them, too.

Now.  That's a wish.  A real wish.  Why not 10 million?  THAT sounded greedy.  ha ha.

For the planet, I wished for true love.  That SHE, one day, would be more important than money.  Way more important.

My family and I, we have true love.  Lots of it.  I wish for them to marvel always.  At the beauty in the precious gift we've been given here on earth, the sun the moon the stars, all of it. And each other.

I also wish to have a horse.  Ha.  Which I can have with a million bucks.  That was my one annual wish as a young child.  I could see the barn, the coral,  the happy horse waiting for me in the 10 foot space between my house and the next.  

I'm the girl who believed she could have a horse.

Still am.

A million bucks it is.


To wishing and all the reasons why,

Julie












Monday, June 20, 2016

What Dads Do



The Church of Happy Thoughts

the one truly unorganized church


 

(a couple weeks ago at a sidewalk cafe, all of a sudden a parade came by... New York is like "a box of chocolates"...)

Yesterday, Father's Day, I was sitting at another sidewalk cafe in Portland, Oregon.  Sunny.  Beautiful day.  Good coffee, a blackberry muffin, and a tree.  

And then, I saw a great dad.

A family had stopped to talk with a woman sitting at the table next to me. There were 3 or 4 adults and three boys, the littlest probably about 3,  the middle, maybe 7, and the oldest 9 or so.   
 
All of a sudden, the dad noticed the littlest was sort of missing.  Sort of really missing. He recounted that the boy had been with them when they crossed the street a few minutes ago, more as an assurance than anything else, but getting into the situation assessment mode.  That's one thing dads do.  Everyone began to disperse, heading past me toward the corner to check around the block, or just heading further down the sidewalk, calling his name. In just a few seconds, dad calls out he's been found!  He was hiding. (If children only knew the years that fall off a parent's life every time they decide to go hiding on a busy street or a mall!)

They all pooled around the table again, the dad holding the littlest, the oldest standing in front of the mom, her arms gently holding him across his chest.  The middle one was trying to climb on mom's back, which she didn't seem to mind.  The dad gently, but firmly, asked him to please stop.  Which he did.  
 
He wandered over to the tree and walked around it a few times.  I was aware he was a little bit left out.
 
Instinctively, the dad gently put the littlest down and reached over, patted the middle sons head and stepped sideways a few feet to pick him up.  All the while carrying on the conversation with the woman who seemed to be a teacher of his sometime in his life.
 
The boy held him tight.  It was the sweetest thing to watch.
 
I said to myself, what a great dad.
 
Happy Monday,
 
Julie
 
 
 
 
 

  



 

Thursday, May 12, 2016

timing, a gardenia tree and cherry red lipstick

The Church of Happy Thoughts

 the one truly unorganized church 



When I saw it at the nursery, the 3 buds must have JUST blossomed.  They were BRIGHT white and so fragrant, I was immediately drawn to it and 

fell madly in love.

Two days later, those 3 flowers were still fragrant, not as much, and still white, but not as brilliant...a tiny bit, you know,  brownish.   

As I kneeled there loving it, I noticed a brand new brand new bud about to open.  The new leaves around it a fresh intoxicatingly new green, that unmistakable new life green.  I know I'm pretty easy to please, but, this was so exciting in it's little way.  The other blooms had their moment, we had our moment, the moment that attracted us to each other, and she ended up on my sunny and partly shaded deck.  The perfect spot for her.  And for me.

Had I seen that little tree TODAY, I might not have been so clear about having her in my life.

But, looking closer, today, at the unseen, the possibility, the probability of that little gardenia bursting out any day reminded me to remember about change, the moment, and paying attention to my simplest attractions.

They remind me who I am.



Also, this morning, I was trying to think what I could wear this afternoon to see an old friend, we've not seen each other for several years.   I thought maybe I would go get a new shirt. No.  Then I thought what I want is a cherry red lip gloss.. not too heavy, just a hint.  One that doesn't turn pink.

I hate when that happens.  

I've been thinking lately what makes a happy woman.  On the top of her wants list to manifest, should be cherry red lipstick, or whatever color makes her happy.  She knows what that is.  

It doesn't matter how earthy or natural you are, lipstick makes a difference.

What a happy thought.

Julie