A small, but dedicated Living Wide exploratory team launched a mission to the Greek Isles this week. While Living Wide shirts were seen on various islands, the team briefly landed on Patmos and made the grueling climb to the monastery where they made a new friend, Thea, who lives there and cares for the nearby ancient windmills. While sadly, our outpost could not be permanent, Thea assures us that it can remain in spirit and that she will be following our efforts. She reminds us all not to miss signs from God and to recognize all the amazing miracles of life that are happening all around us (See Noticing, above.) Candles were lit for many individuals among us and for the entire Living Wide family. Welcome, Thea.
The whole family went to the Alliance Theatre this afternoon to see their 50th anniversary production of Winnie-the-Pooh. The audience was close to three quarters young folks and, while a bit noisy at times, it was fun watching the play through their eyes. And I was reacquainted with the wonderful simplicity and innocence of Pooh. One of my favorite exchanges:
"We'll be friends forever, won't we Pooh?" asked Piglet.
"Even longer," Pooh answered.
Forever is an unsettling idea when you tend to measure the value and quality of life by its length. But when you focus on the width of your life, you open a new dimension without limits. A channel through which you can pack so much joy and meaning into each and every day that the idea of forever is transformed into something magical. A measure that is both infinite and can be experienced compacted into each and every moment of our lives. Pooh and his colleagues in the Hundred Acre Wood are far smarter than most give them credit for. And that is what has always made them special to generation after generation.
A lifetime is a moment a heartbeat, or if you're lucky — a few. Live every blade of grass Soar with your wings while you still can fly. Taste every fleeting second Bloom towards the infinite sky.
Terri Guillemets, "Lifebloom," 2011
The shortness of our lives, whether truncated by critical illness or not, sometimes robs us of today. While we are busy worrying about the end of our life, to come at some uncertain point in the future, we miss opportunities for joy in the present. Living Wide is about filling every day with meaningful experiences that swell our hearts. That make us laugh. That make us love and feel loved.
Live every blade of grass. Soar while you can still fly. Taste every fleeting second. In the face of the profound uncertainty that we all share, its the only strategy that makes any sense.
