Who needs sleep?
Well you're never gonna get it
If the text below isn't clear, it says: “there has never been a sadness that can't be cured by breakfast food". Oh Ron Swanson. Your words mean enough to me to hold stuff on my fridge as a magnet.
The words mattered enough for me to find out more about the actor behind a character I love: Nick Offerman - https://nickofferman.substack.com/p/donkey-heaven Whose words matter enough for me to keep reading and listening. And going on sidequests with Wendell Berry. And Wilco. And Jeff Tweedy -
I remember having trouble falling asleep as a kid. It felt like hours (and was probably mere minutes) of lying awake after bedtime waiting to wake up from dreams in the morning. I would listen to music, for example, the Barenaked Ladies:
And just be awake till I wasn’t.
Technically, I'm an adult now. I didn't get a certificate. There wasn't a ceremony. My adulthood didn't have a clear beginning or sprouting or blossoming. Yet, here I am. Adulting.
We're all making this up as we go.
What I've been looking for lately is guidance. To where? No idea. In what aspect of my life? Like, all of it? And once I started looking I've found sherpas EVERYWHERE.
In books. Comedians. Podcasts. Music. Artists. Websites. Creators. Inventors. History. Hermeneutics. Philosophy. Meditation. Kindness. Light. Nature. Preachers. Beings.
And in noticing.
The way I respond. The way I reason. The resonating ripples in my soul, my mind, my heart, my life.
In honoring the way I feel, following the light in my heart, I have begun hearing a heartsong in others.
The way eyes light up talking about a pet.
A concerned, “are you okay?”.
Music on Wrigley Field, turning around to see the crowd moving as one.
Witnessing a rainbow or a bubble together. Indefinite.
Lavender and lilac.
Asters and marigolds.
The strum of a familiar chord in a new song.
A Story of a life lived well: https://www.npr.org/2022/06/15/1105310987/meghan-stabile-promoter-who-united-jazz-and-hip-hop-dead-at-39
A light that has gotten brighter in death: https://www.davenportfamily.com/obituary/Diane-Lane
Heaven in Earth: http://www.theindependentnewspapers.com/2022/03/lombard-villa-park-obituaries-march-10/
Life matters. Your life. Mine. Theirs. Ours.
Stories resonate through history. Some for thousands of years in a book. In the beat of the first drum. In the germinating of the first seed. The pop of a bubble. Spoken word. Pen to paper.
A North Star Nurse.
A Garden lady.
Lives lived well.
We're all just trying our best. Yes, even the guy who cut us off. Or that loud lady who never seems to stop talking. Or that person wearing socks with sandals because, it turns out, it’s quite comfortable. And the elder millennial with nickelodeon characters plugged into her crocks.
And the mycology enthusiast with the courage to forage.
And the one who's seen it all, but keeps watching, listening, sharing space, and showing up.
You matter. I hear you. Do you know what I mean?
Thank you for all you're doing to make the world a little brighter each day.
You matter. I see you. Do you know what I mean?
Thank you for using your platform to plant seeds of GOODNESS.
You matter. I feel you. Do you know what I mean?
I'm laughing. That resonates. Do you know what I mean?
I love you.
Heart forward.
Do you know what I mean?