There is a 30% chance of snow today. It is supposed to be cloudy out there...how else would we get snow if not for clouds but there are none. The land is very dry. We had a wonderful Monsoon season this year but once that faucet dried up so did everything else. Do I care what the weather brings? Does it matter if the forecasters are wrong in their predictions and we don't get that blessed moisture the mesa so dearly desires? Maybe not. If everything happens for a reason then there is a reason that the sun is shining when it is supposed to be cloudy. Maybe somewhere in these west central mountains of New Mexico someone is sitting sadly in their home unable to face a day of clouds. Maybe the sunshine is just what they need to make it through another day.It is supposed to get colder here as well. High of 44 they say...it is 10:30 in the morning and my thermometer reads 47. Maybe that same person might be able to go outside and take a little walkabout because it isn't cloudy and oh-so cold. Who of us knows what we each need in this very moment? Is there really a little voice in our heads or hearts that we could listen to and know exactly in each in every moment what we need? I would say yes. I would say that if we could get quiet and listen we would hear that soothing voice inside telling us what to do or where to be or to just breathe. I listened to that voice inside me this past week and wrote a letter that needed to be written to someone I have never met. I mailed that letter too and it felt good. I did what I said I was going to do and that alone felt good, empowering. I might never know if the letter will have any effect on the person(s) it was intended for but that is okay too. My voice inside told me that what mattered most was that I wrote it and I sent it and for me my work was done. It is up to the receiver to listen to their own voice, or not. That is a good lesson for me as well. I can only listen to my inner voice and I cannot make anyone else listen to theirs...no matter how loud I might want to speak I am not their inner voice now am I?
So, it isn't looking like snow today. It is creeping toward the middle of December already. Many people have decorated for the holidays and are going to parties to celebrate the season. My husband and I were guests of my parents last night at the Historical Society's annual Christmas party. It was nice to go and see so many people taking part in the community that we live in out here in this vast land with more elk per square mile than humans. There was a lovely harpist playing in the background...music is food for the soul. Music is what sustains us in so many instances. I have been learning to play the guitar for the last couple of years and have found my singing voice in the process. What I have learned is that if I am playing and singing for my own enjoyment then it is food for MY soul but if I am worried about how I sound to others then it is depleting instead of nourishing. I cannot have my soul starving so I play for me. Doing the things that bring us joy whether musically related or not may be the most important things we can do for ourselves while we are here...in this life. If you aren't doing the things that bring you joy what are you doing? I think I might be very blessed to have gleaned this little tidbit and therefore I am going to endeavor to remember to do the things, or at least one of them, every day. Today, I am writing...this brings me joy. The thermometer continues to rise...the sky is still blue...it brings me joy to be outside and take a walk so before those clouds decide to materialize I am going to get out there and breathe in the sunshine and relative warmth while it lasts! May we all do something that bring us joy. What a happy world we would have...many blessings to you this day!
