Hi Everyone
I love the Christmas season. In fact, I like to practice it all year long! My friends and family just shake their head at me: when a Christmas gift arrives--I open it right away! I don't wait! My personal belief is that the season of giving and caring that comes along in December for us, should be practiced all year 'round! Wouldn't the world be better off if we practiced it this way? I think so.
And that leads me to today's blog about caring and giving to others. The photo I've uploaded for this blog is actually a part of what happened in my life the last two days. I have a good friend who we refer to as "Bird." She is in her late sixties and was told she had to go down to Phoenix to a hospital to have a heart procedure. Bird is one of these people who is a rural kind of person and has a phobia of ever driving alone in a large metropolitan city like Phoenix. I heard about her problems and volunteered to drive her down to her heart procedure. I didn't want her any more stressed than she already was.
The wonderful decision based upon caring for others and helping where and when I could, actually opened up into a greater gift. My brother and his family live in Phoenix and one of my best friends, Yolande, lives in Cave Creek, north of there. I thought this was a pretty good deal to drive Bird down to her hospital appointment. I could bring our Christmas gifts from my family and friend with me. It would give me a chance to see them (whereas before I was going to mail them). And, best of all, Yolande offered me a place to stay over night while Bird underwent her procedure.
Bird arrived at the hospital destressed and we had a marvelous time on our two hour drive south to Phoenix. It was a perfect way to catch up with one another's lives and what was going on. I was told that Bird would stay over night in the hospital and I was to pick her up the next morning to drive her back to Cottonwood. The day was clearing and after the rush hour, so it was easy to drop by and see my brother Gary and spend some time with him. Then, on to see Yolande and her family! I felt like Santa Clause at each stop, delivering heart felt gifts, sharing a rich and warm time with my brother and my dearest friend. I love the way the synchronicity of the universe conspires if we only go 'with the flow' of what Life brings to our door if we volunteer to step though it.
The next morning, with Bird back in my Toyota Prius, Pearl, we drove home with a winter storm breaking up over the region. As we climbed up and out of the Sonoran Valley and onto the high desert pleateau (about 5,000 feet), the winter grass and barren hills were beautiful with scudding, changing clouds. Bird, who is an artist, commented on the changing beauty of it. I had my Nikon D90 camera and so we made a couple of stops on the way back to the Verde Valley where we live, and took some shots. Bird wanted them because she has an art studio and wanted to paint what she saw. What a wonderful ride home!
I was happy to give Bird a way to get to Phoenix. It helped her tremendously. I received so many gifts in return that the two days flew by like a wonderful dream. This kind of compassion and caring toward others is something all of us practice all the time. We are not alone on this earth. And we need each other. The fact that Bird's health concerns rose suddenly and she needed help over night, was one of those situations. I could have stayed home with the excuse I had to edit my book. But what kind of friend would I have been? Yes, it would take two days out of my life. What is Life really all about? Sometimes, editing a book isn't the most important thing. The joy and gifts I received in return for my decision to help Bird were ten times more wonderful than editing a book in those two days. Not that I don't like what I do as a writer, but this speaks more to the curiosity readers often have about writers. Many think we aren't just like them. But the truth is, we're exactly like you: with demands on our time, responsibilities to shoulder, care to be distributed to our family and circle of loved ones. There are no differences between us, really. We're not the glamorous creatures you think we are. Our lives are mundane and I'm so glad for that. I love the mundane because it gives us a fixed anchor in our lives to revolve and grow around.
As a writer I observe the human condition and I love writing about us. We're a forever a fascinating and intensely interesting group! I've very curious about people's view on their life, how they got to how the see the world now, and what motivates and inspires or stops them inliving their Life. I'm sure I'll wrap this two-day experience I chose to take in some future story. Writers never write outside themselves. Instead, they dip into the well of their own life experiences for human understanding and connection with readers. Because the Aesop fable's ending on my two-day advenure is: giving selflessly in the name of humanitarian efforts will enrich one even more. Isn't that the real Christmas Spirit? And now, back to editing!
Warmly, Lindsay McKenna
www.lindsaymckenna.com
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