Good Morning My Confidants
OMG! Yesterday was absolutely amazing!
I want to start by telling you that late Saturday afternoon the weather prediction for Sunday was rain all day, three major thunderstorms, and hail possibly the size of golf balls. You know what happened?
The day was stunningly gorgeous. For part of it light jackets were needed, that was the worst. By 3:00 when my little get-together started, it was sunny, and the birds were singing their little hearts out.
By late Saturday evening / early Sunday morning more people had canceled, and it looked pretty much like it was going to be six people. You know what happened?
I had over a dozen, and it was wonderful. Wonderful wonderful wonderful!
The crowd mixed beautifully even though they were from the four corners of my universe, science fiction people, church people, best friends, support group, not necessarily a mix that you think would work. But you know sometimes spices that you would never think go in the pot create the best meals on Earth.
I want to immediately think my husbands Noah and RBear for ceaselessly and tirelessly making my "party" happen. And Noah worked for weeks in his planning and purchasing and then decorating. He will admit the decorating is not his strong point, but he pulled some kind of decorating fairy to help him. Everything was wonderful. And since my theme was "When I'm 64," that's a Beatles song for all you Millennials, the Beatles pretty much came the central theme of the day. Noah bought a giant banner that he had especially made of the cover of "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band" and I got pictures of all my guests in front of it. Pictures later I promise.
But you know what really made it wonderful as I sat there surrounded by these people and I suddenly realized I must be "worth it." I don't know what's been going on lately, I think partially it was because of that over a week stomach-thing, but I've been down. And the cancellation after cancellation didn't help either, although I absolutely know that every cancellation was totally legit. It's just that I was just down the last few weeks, and all that didn't help. I focused focused focused focused on the positive so that prevented me from spiraling, but I admit it, I was down. And I sat there surrounded by all these wonderful people and I knew that any feelings that I had been having that I wasn't good enough was GONE. Just GONE.
Because if I wasn't good enough those people would not have been there. You know, I have four best friends? And don't even let anybody tell you that you can't have more than one. I have four. And they were all there. And I have two husbands. Now how could I have two husbands, four best friends, unless I was good enough? Why would those people of all come to my get-together if I wasn't good enough?
I'm good enough! I'm more than good enough! You know what? I'm FABulous!! LOL!
You know what else?
My friend Belinda and her husband John spent I don't know how many hours painting this huge yellow submarine for my party. It is incredible!
My friend Zoe, an amazing craftsman and artist, made me a gorgeous necklace with all these different covers from Beatles albums!
My friend Linnea created a centerpiece with this octopus inside a big shell and all around it was crab and lobster salad. It was amazing!
My friend Emily went out and especially by the dress, gorgeous, to fit the theme. It weren't cheap either! She also painted me a lovely piece of art and I love it so very much.
My friend Earline got me a wonderful bear charcuterie board that opens up and can be turned into a cutting board and I absolutely love it.
My friend Mike got me a gift card for a coffee shop!! OMGosh! I've never been there so I get to try a new coffee shop!
My friend Will and his fiancé Tim brought pizza so that we could "Give Pizza Chance!"
So many of you on Facebook gave me great names for all the food that was on the table (pictures later)! So thank you all for that.
My friend Ted, who couldn't be here because he lives hours away, sent these decadent brownies with a mutual friend Leonard, who is visiting Belinda this week, and my guests LOVED them. Ted couldn't be here and he sent love!
Belinda and Linnea did more but that was the big things.
I know that sitting here sipping my morning coffee I'm forgetting something, and that's a blessing too. That I know that I'm forgetting things.
And what I know that this all means is that I must be worth it because this wouldn't have happened otherwise and this morning I'm just sitting here so happy and so content and feeling so loved.
Why would I worry about what didn't happen, who didn't come, when I had such a wonderful time? I was so blessed. I am so blessed. I have so much to be grateful for and I'm just sitting here basking in gratitude. My eyes just well up in tears of gratitude.
And you know that's what it all comes down to. Gratitude. We're living through some really tough times right now and it's easy to get caught up in all the sh*t that's going on and forget all the beauty. I was watching Pretty Woman the other day, and there's this quote that Julia Roberts has, "The bad stuff is easier to believe. You ever notice that?"
Why the hell would that be? That's terrible! Why!? Why would bad stuff be easier to believe? What have we done to our world?
I can't get over how many people say they can't believe in God, and the major reason is, if there was a God why would he allow such terrible things to happen?
Here's my question: Why do WE allow such terrible things to happen?
The Universe has given us an absolutely gorgeous planet. We've been given billions of people to be our companions. We've been given everything that we could possibly need to make our world a paradise. And what have we done with all that we've been given? We have collectively made a world where the bad stuff is easier to believe.
We can change that! And it's so easy. We can hold a door open for somebody. We can smile at someone. If we see someone older trying to get something in the back of their car we can stop and help them. We can hand a dollar bill out the window of our car to the person standing at the corner with the "Homeless" sign (because a lot of times that person truly does need help-I don't know about you, but I'm not psychic, and I can't read their mind to find out what their story is). We can donate money to a cause. We can visit a friend in the hospital. We can visit an acquaintance in the hospital, maybe an extra door neighbor there that we've never really talked to, but they're in the hospital and they're feeling lonely. We can complement someone. Just out of the blue say, "I just love your fill-in-the-blank." Every time I've done that to a random stranger their entire face has lit up.
When we hug someone, we can truly HUG them, pull them close so our hearts are against theirs, and hug them. Once in a while I'll have somebody pull away and discomfort, but about 98% of the time when they suddenly realize that my hug is real they MELT against me and stand back and look at me with eyes filled full of wonder. Not every time, you have to be aware, a kind thing for them would be to give them their space. But I'm telling you it's 98% of the time for me.
We could easily make this world a world where the good stuff is easier to believe.
Would anybody help me out? Would anybody help me make this a world where the good stuff is easier to believe?
You might accidentally discover that the benefits and the rewards are far more than you could have ever imagined.
Thank you to all my friends and to the Universe for making my birthday so wonderful. Thank you thank you thank you.
Love, love, love,
Namasté,
BG "Gentle Ben" Thomas
PS: And now, for everyone who scrolled away from their Facebook and came over here, you get to see all the pictures before everybody else! SURPRISE!
The banner that Noah got for me!
The spectacular necklace that my friend Zoe made for me!
THE GUESTS!
Me and my friend Belinda, one of my longest friends!
Another of my dear friends, Will, and his fiancé Tim
My sweet friend Emily
The lovely painting that Emily did for me
Belinda and Leonard ~ Rock on! (Belinda painted my Yellow Submarine!)
My dear friend Cricket aka Earline!
Allison and her girlfriend Sarah
My wonderfully over-the-top Linnea who inspires me to wear my wildest clothes!
My wise friend Mike
Noah with the Yellow Submarine
THE FOOD!!
To paraphrase Pretty Woman, it was so good I almost peed my pants. 😀
The food names are so great! Love the Maxwell's Savory Hummus. --Rosemary
You are Loved. You are worthy. You have terrific friends (And a wave for Leonard.)