Tacos and Tiaras

I'm just being all-zen-and-shit

Hope

Fearless: A Nudge from the Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Gratitude, Happiness, Hope, Kindness, Love, Luceat Lux Vestra, Mindfulness

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”

– Franklin D. Roosevelt
A persistent ruby-crowned kinglet visited me ALL DAY today, and my Passion Planner bears this quote for this week.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

– Nelson Mandela

Today I had a new visitor – the ruby-crowned kinglet. Getting clear shots of him was tough because he was almost constantly in motion! I tried to find his symbolism, and the first search result noted: “Fearlessness and calm”. Another result led to: Kinglets are tiny in size, big in spirit which described them as energetic and with “bursts of hyperactivity”. Oh, so relatable, and I have a tiara, not a crown. 😉

This morning I was writing in my Passion Planner, and as shown in the picture for this post, the inspiration for this week is:

“You have to make it happen.”

– Denis Diderot

The universe is attracted to ACTION, so if you read the advice below the quote, then you see another call to be fearless.

I searched my blog posts for “fearless” and found only two:

I was surprised when my search did not turn up, I Jumped, in which I wrote about magic and metaphors of skydiving. But now it makes sense. Being brave or having courage isn’t fearlessness. I wouldn’t call skydiving a fearless act, but I was unafraid because I felt certain that I would land safely. Whether that was my intuition speaking or just statistics being in my favor, I felt supported in conquering my fear of heights through skydiving.

Now I have something to go on with my mindset for receiving all that I am manifesting.

Truth be told, the nudges about fearless also brought to mind Taylor Swift’s Fearless.

“And I don’t know how it gets better than this
You take my hand and drag me head first
Fearless”

– Taylor Swift, Fearless

Yeah, it’s a love song, but this part of the lyrics reminds me of love over fear and James Van Praagh’s The Power of Love: Connecting to the Oneness as well as my aforementioned blog posts. I feel gratitude for all support I’ve received in learning to allow LOVE – along with compassion, empathy, and kindness – guide me.

Love is more important than fear. If your thoughts and actions attract more of the same into reality, then choose love and kindness.

Luceat lux vestra.

REMEMBERING: Thoughts Prompted By Veterans Day

Divine Orchestration, Family, Gratitude, Hope, Kindness, Leadership, Love, Mindfulness, Perspective, Reflection

” i didn’t carry the
weight , or walk in the
boots or even see
the things that they saw.

i never had to.

and that is exactly
the point.
thank you.”

– JmStorm

The past twenty-four hours. Magic. Today is 11/11/2020. It’s Veterans Day as well as the beginning and end of two 101-year cycles. With that in mind, the universe delivered what I needed to set clear intentions today.

For me, today is a day to remember our veterans and feel grateful to them because they were brave enough be willing to die for ordinary people like me, and I’m still learning to be brave in asking the universe to deliver the life I want and deserve. For the record, as I’ve been consistently keeping an attitude of gratitude and practicing my rituals for manifesting, the universe continues to answer and deliver.

Yesterday a new blog post came to me – CRYING: Because Sometimes I Feel Blue Even on TnT Tuesday. Between the USMC birthday and Veterans Day, I was remembering so many stories that come to mind whenever someone is spewing about their first-world problems, and I recognize that if they thought about how much they were dishonoring the sacrifices of our veterans and the U.S. military service members who we honor on Memorial Day, they just might shut the fuck up about it.

Most recently I’ve seen memes about presidential candidates “who don’t even know your name”, and Veterans Day brings to mind everyone who has served our country for the nameless masses. That includes you even before you were born, your parents, your grandparents even if they were immigrants who had yet to arrive on U.S. soil. Call it the veterans’ love for their country, but the USA is made of its people.

Yesterday evening, my Marine joined the gathering of local Marines for the USMC birthday. He, the youngest in attendance, was able to spend time with Sarge, our little town’s oldest veteran celebrating with the group. In my son’s words on Instagram accompanying pictures with Sarge:

“It was beyond a privilege to meet a man like Sarge. He earned the privilege for people like me to live a life of freedom. I will be forever grateful for men like him that gave me safety and allowed me the right to lay my head down at night without a worry.”

– LCpl ‘ski

My Marine had been gone about an hour when I received a text message from him, inviting me to come and hang out, so I went down to the tavern even though I had JUST started watching Patch Adams for the howevermanyeth time. I could have easily said, “No. That’s YOUR thing” but one thing remains same as ever – if your children invite you to be part of their world, say “Yes”. Do not set yourself up to some day regret the time you missed with them when you remember that they wanted you to be there and you said “No”.

I felt happy to be granted the privilege of trespassing on their celebration because Sarge shared some of his stories with me, which echoed the thoughts and memories that prompted Crying. To be deemed worthy of any veteran’s stories is a gift, but if a Vietnam Veteran chooses to share his time while he’s remembering pieces of his life it is an honor. Treasure it. He owes you nothing, and he asks nothing of you but your time when he would have laid down his life for you.

Time is a gift.

As divine timing would have it, I also met several Marines and talked about past and present. Each of them shared with me their own stories that resonated with what I wrote in the afternoon, and all without me asking questions. The most meaningful conversation with one of my new friends was about Sarge. “His story is incredible. He hold the utmost respect among the Marines that have heard it… Right, wrong, or indifferent, he gave so much of himself out of love for the Marines around him…”

LOVE. Ego falls away when love is allowed to reign.

And then there was my friend who I met through a mutual friend two years ago, and we had not seen each other since then. I’ve said this before, catching up with someone in person can never be matched by seeing each other every day on social media. He asked me about work, which led to talking about passions in life, which then led me to ask him about his transition back to civilian life and entering the work force. He reminded me of my earlier thoughts in Crying about supporting veteran-owned businesses, except that I didn’t mention that veterans may find it difficult to not only return to civilian ways but also for specific MOSs to find their place in corporate America.

This Veterans Day has felt different for me because typically I feel sadness and anger, but thanks to my local veterans, especially Sarge himself, I worked through it. I heard an unexpected love story, and for that I am grateful.

Luceat lux vestra.