START the Holidays!

The First Snowfall..I got out of the car to photograph the trees and snapped myself! 

Look at those flakes in the above picture? (yes, including me).  I was driving to St. Mary's, Ontario and the first snow of the season started on my drive.  Traffic was slow as cars carefully navigated the sometimes white-out conditions and potentially slippery route. Hands were white-knuckled on steering wheels and shoulders were shoulders tight with apprehension.  Yes, most of the faces of the other drivers were serious as they crept along the tree lined road to the town.

I, however,  pulled over on to the shoulder.  I then let them all go by with a wave and smile and when the traffic was past, I started to shoot some pictures with my Blackberry.  The snowflakes were large, flying about like bits of tissue paper as the breeze whirled around my face and brushed a chilling rouge on my cheeks.

The sun was shining though, through the flakes, and so,  they were only lasted for a moment before their transformation into a different form occurred and they became, damp memories of their unique and individual selves.

And of course I'm going straight into that analogy.  They transformed after brightening my life for a brief moment.  You know what I'm going to say next don't you?

But I'm going to say it anyway.  We come here, unique and alone, for a brief period of time.  We can choose to trudge through, hands clenched on the wheel, moving forward slowly, passing others in an attempt to get where?  Somewhere more important than where we are?

Perhaps a better choice is to relax, smile, go slowly sometimes, go fast others, stop and enjoy instead of trudging through.  To brighten life for the brief time we're here, the lives of others of course, but mainly to brighten our own lives by seeking those things that make us happy.  By living with autonomy, free of the constraints of others opinions and judgments.  What did people think of me that day?  With my Blackberry, shooting pictures of trees in a storm?  I don't effing know and I don't effing care.  I had FUN!  It brightened my day.  

I wonder, of all the cars out in that first snowfall, enjoyed it.  How many of them said, "wow, look at how that snow is sitting on those trees, like a Rockwell painting come to life" and how many cursed the fact that they didn't yet have their winter tires on.

I'm not saying winter tires aren't important, I'm saying, life and joy,  is  more important.

John Lennon has a wonderful quote about this.

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life." 

The minute I learned to know that happiness is a choice, my whole life changed.  The second I decided to watch the snowflakes instead of worrying about the snowfall, I became happy.   When I made the conscious decision to hold my dreams close and to never lament the fact that they weren't coming true, they all did.

So, it's heading into the season of love and joy.  And shopping.  I hate shopping..but I'll do it, because the fruits of my labours will make everyone a little happier!

And know what made me happier this week?  A box of "The Secrets of Rare Moon Tickle" arrived the same time I was given the release date for my new poetry book, coming out February 1st!  A great Valentine's Day gift!

And I will be selling books at a local art event on December 3, 2011!  See the poster below and come by, buy a signed copy of "The Secrets of Rare Moon Tickle" and say hello!  Hear some entertainment and enjoy some refreshments!  Check out the website START THE HOLIDAYS

And if you're not local, get your copy HERE and those who are back home on Change Islands, NL, my mother still has copies!

Now I'm off to the gym.  This flake is getting healthy and fit!  Have a wonderful day!