*Life is in the journey!* ~ The Wings of Life

♥

Life's Inspirational Valiant Endeavors

~ The Wings of Life ~

 

 

 

 

"A Love Story That Feeds The Earth"

We, in our attempts to keep our children safe, 

our own bodies relatively free of painful venom and mad dashes to the ER, 

our lawns immaculate,

and our homes, literally, from falling in around us,

have become accustomed to guilt-free, justifiable extermination.

 

I will be the first to admit,

 my number one priority on my Spring Cleaning list is 

to stock up on Wasp, Hornet and Ant spray!

There is no love lost there, nor really, blink of an eye. 

I'll step over an ant hill in my front yard...

"Live and Let Live", I preach to my kids,

taking a knee for further investigation and awe.

I'll shoo a wasp out the back rather than swat them into oblivion

as they stumble indoors, effectively dazed from the Spring thaw.

I'll even show the appropriate amount of respect for the tenacity of a yellow jacket,

having arrived at the watering can first, waiting patiently for him to move on.

But...

(and Behold the Underlying Truth)

 by the time the dog days of Summer arrive

and the little tiny ant army has set up camp on my kitchen counters,

and those confused little wasps have begun an all out attack

on any human body part waving about the water's edge of our pool...

and that lone, thirsty, insignificant little yellow jacket

has laid claim to that hole in the ground beneath the Redbud tree,

all jacked up on hummingbird nectar 

and hanging out on the corner with his no good warrior-ing friends...

Well then, the kid gloves come off!

 

Even those pesky little honey bees are obnoxious

with their cute little fuzzy butt stingers,

 and their super sweet golden honey,

and their unnaturally industrious work habits.

 

I mean, whichever one of those little over-achievers

 came up with the genius marketing ploy 

to Save The Earth One Flower At a Time...

well, maybe they should rethink their strategy of World Domination.

  

Who needs flowers anyway?

And all-natural sugar in a cute little plastic bear... who needs that?

And pollination, 

And protecting 1/3 of our world community's food resources...

Yeah. Who needs that? 

 

Why should I have to wear shoes in my own backyard?

I'm hopscotching my way, barefooted, around the clover

to get to the clothes line and the garden and the mailbox!

It's a wee bit ridiculous, don't ya think, 

worrying over mowing twice a week,

and all to save the cute little bees and the cute little environment?

Who needs the environment?

Ummmm... yeah.

 

I'm having to think twice about spraying my roses and my lawn with pesticides.

And now, 

in addition to feeding the hummingbirds and songbirds, 

and keeping the squirrels busy with ears of corn on a stick,

I have to be picky about the plants I choose to plant in my flower garden.

Why should I care about planting 

to conserve our water resources or feeding the starving bees? 

It's just not right.

Right?

 

Now... C'mon.

( I remind my bad habits, my melodramatic tendencies, my inborn traditions...)

Where's the love for our planet, for our future?

Seriously, how hard can it be 

(pun intended)

to pour a little milk on your roses to cure black rot and other mildew,

or soapy dish water on aphids and Japanese beetles and slugs and spider mites,

or to simply ask to see the *Native* flowers section in your local nursery

to cut down on the need for watering, 

while also providing the most beneficial flowers for your bees?

Where's the hard in that?

 

We can all stand to take a closer look this year at how we're harming... or helping.

The simple truth is... 

We *Need* Bees

and

Bees *Need* We... The People!

So, look into your heart and your garden sprays

and see what you can do about saving the little Bees knees!

 

Want to Build a Bee House?

 

Want to Plant for Pollinators?

 

Want to join your world community in doing your share?

Well then, take a look at:

 

The White House

'Do It Yourself Pest Control'

 

Louie Schwartzberg,

the award-winning, cinematographer, director and producer of 

"Wings of Life"

and see what he has to say about "rediscovering your sense of wonder".

     

And when you've found it...

Don't stop there. Please. 

What's "Easy", isn't always what's Right.

*YOU* 

Can make a difference!

Wisdom, Honor & Passion 

My Friends!


"The best way out is always through."
~ Robert Frost ~

 

 

*Life is in the journey!* ~ Touched By Love

♥

Life's Inspirational Valiant Endeavors

~ Touched By Love ~

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return.”

~ A poet, "Moulin Rouge"

I was touched by love the first time my mother kissed her lips to my little fingers and toes. It was, indeed, love at first sight. And so the story goes, I spent the next thirty-something years of my life trying to recreate that once-in-a-lifetime, unconditional they say, instinctual perhaps, but nevertheless, magic of love.

I caught glimpses of it in my father’s eyes when he grinned at me, as I watched an ant climb up a mountain. I grew closer still when my little brother wrapped me in his arms and hugged me tight, after life had gotten a hold of us. Even as the love of my life, “my density”, pledges his heart to me after nineteen years of marriage (twenty-seven if we’re counting an incredibly long courtship), I am reminded that true love is in action. I know what it is to have come so close, the moment I, myself, kissed three sets of fingers and toes, renewing the cycle of life and a mother’s love.

I know what it is to love and to be loved.

I had simply forgotten, to love *me* along the way.

We spend a lifetime searching for love in all the wrong places, wonderful as some of them may be, short-lived as some of them most thankfully are ~ all our efforts in vain, seeking that which we have denied ourselves, only to realize that the love we’ve searched for in others, was to be found, not in them, but in us. 

I asked myself some time ago, when life had slowed just long enough for me catch my breath ~ What was it I was so afraid of, that I would avoid intimacy with those I was closest to, avoid asking for what I need, avoid looking into my own eyes, my own heart, for those answers I sought in others. I found my answers, my truths, only when I began to let go of my fear.

Touched by love, we create fear, so as never to breathe, to live, to exist in its absence. Where love is courageous and not easily explained, fear is primal and instantly acknowledged, settling into our very bones.

It is the human condition that we often times confuse love with fear. Our fear of change stunts our growth. Our fear of intimacy and success stifles our creativity. Our fear of sadness and the loss of our voice, breeds more fear. But it is our fear of letting go, by our own design, which keeps us always coming back for more. Love hurts, we are told. And, it must follow, as the night the day, so it must be love.

Love is the antithesis of fear.

Love is…

Freedom,

Strength,

and

Honor

Courage,

Passion,

and

Peace

Wisdom,

Beauty,

and

Healing

Patience,

Hope,

Faith,

and

Truth!

Love is…

Courage, in the presence of Chaos.

~ Love, is Love, is Love! ~

  This Valentine's Day

Share the Love My Friends!

This I Believe: On Love

“The best way out is always through.”

~ Robert Frost