Learning the Passion and Choosing
What a blessing to have people who love me and coach me! I had a wonderful conversation with my girlfriend Layla who I hadn’t spoken with in a long time. I gave her the low down on my "racket" frustration in brief, and she shared with me some unfunked wisdom.
"I could be wrong on this, but I think that this is called karma," she poked with a slight hint of friendly sarcasm in her voice. "You’ve heard of karma before, right?!"
I laughed at the simplicity of the straightforward answer and the earlier pissed off-ness melted away. Yes, if I had a quarter for every time in my teens and twenties I could have been caught for being up to no good… well, let’s just say that with compound interest my retirement savings would be guaranteed! This kid’s guardian angels were working overtime all those years to protect her and those she loves from peril. Now it’s my turn to get the lesson and give back.
Right before the Good Friday service at church I had stopped off on some errands. I picked up a FedEx package from Robin Punsalan, an incredible artist in Las Vegas. She overnighted some of her prints to me to donate to the Soul Sanctuary in the Desert. They’re having a fundraiser this weekend with a silent auction to benefit women and their children displaced by domestic violence. This cause has a special place in my heart, having experienced the sadness of the death of a friend who would not take her children and leave her abusive husband. Ultimately she stayed at all costs and paid the price with her life.
I needed a new stylus for my PDA and visited my old friend Pasquale the Great at Pens International. He hooked me up with a fabulous Lamy that’s a mechanical pencil too. It’s perfect! I picked out a new fountain pen as well. I am a pen addict and have so much fun with the colorful inks. Omas orange is today’s new favorite… I can’t wait to write some correspondence this weekend!
Josette Sullins, the director of Soul Sanctuary in the Desert, called while I was at the pen shop to coordinate getting Robin’s artwork from me. Pasquale overheard and in less than a heartbeat had selected a gorgeous pen/pencil set and put it in a gift bag to donate for the cause. Robin and Pasquale are both inspiring examples of people who share their art and creativity with the world from their hearts and without regard for recognition or reward. I have so much to learn from them.
(As a side note, I would absolutely love to see Robin’s dancer and geisha art published in a magazine or book. I’m biased and think they’re super awesome. If you’ve got connections to make this happen, drop me a line or click on her MySpace profile link above to contact her directly)
With the anxiousness and buzz of Bach’s St. John’s Passion performance surrounding, I sat quietly meditating in the choir room, waiting for the 14 stations of the cross to complete and for the symphony musicians to arrive. On the road, I had passed a Lutheran church with Easter signs up. He chose the nails. I immediately thought "Chocolate, vanilla. Choose." I realized that my racket was entirely the product of not choosing, not accepting. I was the struggling and fighting 5-year-old tantrum, "It’s not fair!" Once I returned to knowing that my path is right and perfect, including those seemingly annoying obstacles that I don’t understand (but don’t need to), I found my peace again. Thank you all for being so supportive through my ranting! Namaste 
