Thanks Giving (2011)

Thank you for getting up each day;
for doing the work you do;
for being the person you are.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts;
sharing your home;
sharing your sustenance;
sharing your life
with those you love…with those you care about.

Thank you for fighting the battles you fight each day;
for keeping the peace;
for navigating the dilemmas that face you often.

Thank you for being there to lend a hand;
to listen to a story;
to notice the good in each person
and to see the injustices in the world.

Thank you for your inner beauty;
your inner strength;
and your outer effort
to take life step-by-step,
moment-by-moment.

Thank you for being gentle with yourself;
for your tears of sorrow and of joy;
for your resolve to never give up;
and for your unconditional love
towards everyone.

Thank you …
the gift of your life
is a true blessing

2011 (la)

Yoonok

A friend of mine passed away in September this year. She was an eclectic person… she was someone born to live both a difficult and a blessed life.

As a child, her memory recorded the fascinations of the world growing up as every child does; she stored away the teachings of her mother and absorbed the wisdom of her grandmother. She grew in the love of her family, her siblings and of her surroundings in South Korea.

Yoonok came to the USA to pursue her dream of getting a PhD. She not only mastered the language here, she excelled at her studies and was awarded her PhD after many, many years of hard work and dedication.

Shortly after, a medical crisis prevented her from living out this particular dream. Not one to be inactive, Yoonok took up gardening and used her childhood memories, her mothers love and her grandmother’s wisdom to develop a new philosophy of life. She spent her remaining days teaching others the blessings of simple, natural foods…peaceful thoughts…and of evaluating life with a calm perspective.

She taught everyone she knew the healing art of self forgiveness. She elicited followers in her quest to educate all people about the inherent global need for unconditional love; as well as the need to lavish kindness and forgiveness on every person - everywhere.

Yoonok’s dream blossomed in her garden; it expanded with her multi-cultural research; and she poured it all into her healing recipes, her writings and her ‘happy’ garden.

Not everyone is a gardener … we must all find our own path in life. What ever we ‘plant’…we need to nurture…we need to feed…we need to love. Whatever we do we need to put forth our best selves…gather like minds…encourage like souls…grow the piece of the world we are responsible for. Make our corner strong, peaceful, welcoming, loving, accepting and most of all forgiving.

If your niche is music – make it, write it, share it, sing it…listen to it…openly welcome others…learn from each other. Are you a healer? Do you work with wood? Do you draw, bake, drive, dance, jump, take pictures??? Are you present…can you tell the stories of others…? Can you hold a friend’s hand silently?

Everyone “IS” …everyone “DOES”…everyone “CAN” be the piece that has been missing in someone’s life. Forgive…always forgive. Love …unconditionally love. Most of all, just Do it! It needs to get done…