"We are all wanderers on this earth...our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams." ~ Gypsy proverb

Monday, March 14, 2011

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness." ~ Seneca

The start of our weekend was spent watching, waiting, and worrying.  With family in Japan ourselves, feelings of helplessness visited us frequently this weekend.  Thankfully, my mother, who has remained calm and positive throughout this ordeal, has inspired and reminded me that tragedies, though devastating, bring us together, and reminds us that we are all connected.  As I write this, there are over 70 countries coming to Japan's aid.  Outpourings of love, well-wishes, prayers, and kindness are coming from all corners of this planet.  So, I chose to turn off the doom and gloom that permeates the networks, and focus on the kindness.  We have said our own little prayers and have chosen to have hope in humanity.  For anyone that wants to help, I have attached a link to Charity Navigator which offers advice as well as a list of respected and safe charities that we can donate to. 

The rest of our weekend brought more uplifting moments.  E. has been training for his yearly run in the Smile Run, and finished beautifully, shaving nearly a minute off last year's time.  Way to go buddy!!

We tended to our garden...



colored birds...


played with moonsand...


and made hoops...

All in all, we did have a beautiful weekend.  Hope you did, too :)...

"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own."
~Adam Lindsay Gordon

10 comments:

  1. It really is so tragic. I hope you're family and friends are ok.

    Those coloured birds are very cute! x

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  2. Thank you so much :). I should mention that our family is fine.

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  3. Glad your family is ok MJ. So much sadness, but it is nice that in the face of human tradgy that the world comes together.
    Warmly,
    Tracey

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  4. Well, you can tell from my spelling that I am having a hard time adjusting to daylight savings time. Yes, I do know that the above word should have been tragedy. Sorry.
    Warmly,
    Tracey

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  5. Lol :)!! I promise I won't hold you to your typos if you don't hold me to mine!!

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  6. mj - thanks so much for your thoughtful words. it is so true that life must go on and that we have to continue to live in hope and happiness. i realized that worry and despair isn't helping anyone and that by serving those around me and putting good energy into the universe, it makes its way around. the net sum of goodness goes up and we can all benefit from that, even on the other side of the planet. i love japan and my heart hurts for that amazing, beautiful country. but i'm also so intensely proud of my peeps over there, seeing their courage and dignity in the face of so many obstacles... i want to be that way too!

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  7. So happy that the family is ok.. A little too close for comfort. We had to turn off the TV too, it was making it worse. I love how you decided to show the E & M a better way to show concern in times of uncertainty. They will remember that. Congrats to E on the awesome run!! Go buddy!

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  8. glad to hear that all is OK with your family, what a dreadful time it must have been.

    On a better note, sounds like a great weekend and well done to E for that Run! what a great achievement - am in awe of the dedication that must involve. Love the colouring in pages too - we do enjoy some colouring here too.

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  9. I will keep your family in my thoughts, M.J.
    life goes on, but that doesn't mean all the suffering is forgotten. It is so important to take joy in the joy around us.

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  10. I hope your family is all well and safe!

    And it sounds like last weekend was mighty productive :) Congrats to your little runner!

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“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
~ George Bernard Shaw