Dear Reader:

I came across a quote the other day that caught my attention. It was credited to Mark Twain (but I also saw it credited to William Barclay)…either way it is pretty profound.

“The Two Most Important Days in Your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.”

Since we can’t take either credit or responsibility for the day we were born…the most important day in our conscious life is the day we discover why we were put here on earth.

The closest I came to answering that question happened on a September 3 day, a December 23 day, and a December 29 day…actually “birth” days of my three children. (Portraits Mandy (far left) Walsh (right)…Tommy below in the middle)

I remember thinking each time as I stared down at my individualized perfect little being…that if I never do anything “important” in my life…I did help create three wonderful possibilities to make the world a better place.

(I have lived long enough to see the “possibilities” become realities… I am so proud of my three kind and caring/compassionate adult children.)

The search for our life’s purpose doesn’t come easy…in fact the answer to that question is a life time quest.

In  a Huff Post (Good News) article by Sue Shanahan/author/illustrator titled “Over the Rainbow-Your Life’s Purpose”… the author examines her own journey of self-discovery. The answer she sought came in the form of understanding the difference between a “calling” and one’s “talents” or “vocation.”

...Everyone’s life has a calling. We all come here to fulfill a sacred duty. I am an artist. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been creating things. My aunt recalls me, at age three, playing with a handkerchief for hours. I would fold and form it into different props for my land of make-believe.

Although I came here with special talents, I now know they’re not the reason for my existence. My artistic ability is woven through the fabric of my soul to support and help manifest why I was born.

Shanahan’s search continues until the day she receives a special email from a songwriter friend. The artist in her draws paintings of children….bringing out their own unique individuality for the world to see.

She loves the quote: “Every child is like a flower, unique in beauty and design.”

And then comes her epiphany from a comment in an email.

“In an email from singer/song writer Rodney Crowell, I found my answer, “I notice things in your work I love about Renoir’s. Seeing soft beauty in the commonplace. Heaven on Earth if you will.”

That’s it! I see the allure in the ordinary and reflect it back to my subjects and the world. I do that in my writing, too. We are all here on earth with the longing to be validated. There is not a heart that doesn’t yearn to be seen and loved for itself. In a society saturated with celebrity glitz and glam, my creations celebrate the extraordinary in the ordinary.”

Shanahan finally saw beyond her artistic talent…that was all well and good… but it was just a tool she used to “celebrate the extraordinary in the ordinary“- that was her “calling.”

She realized one doesn’t need a “talent” as society defines it to discover one’s “calling.” She then gave an example concerning her sister’s “vocation.”

“Does everyone have a calling that includes an obvious talent? I don’t think so. My sister Ann owned a cleaning business. And no, she didn’t have a passion for cleaning. Over the years, she discovered what filled her cup was to be of service. Explaining the new found contentment in her job she told me, “I clean toilets for a living. I had to figure out a way to find meaning in that.

I realized my cleaning and organizational skills were a gift to my clients. When I began focusing on helping others, everything flipped.” Ann had claimed and named her dharma/calling. After her epiphany she couldn’t satisfy all the requests she garnered for her services.”

…………………………..

Finally, in my sixth decade of life, it is slowly dawning on me that writing and storytelling are my passions…my gift/my calling to the world. To be able to put my thoughts “out there” to share with the world brings me more joy than I could have ever imagined.

I heard a comedian tell a talk show host…that his childhood was a disaster according to society’s standards…crazy parents, moving constantly…but that it what gave him the “material” to make people laugh. If he had a “normal” childhood…he never would have become a comedian.

How true! If my early childhood had not been fraught with the tragic loss of several imminent family members and other family members’ physical disabilities ….(if I had grown up in a “normal” family)…I doubt I would have lived in my imagination and fantasy world… which, in turn, gave me the gift of writing and storytelling.

I remember when I first started the blog…I thought that even if nobody ever viewed it or read a single line in a single post…I would keep writing…and maybe, just maybe, one day a star would read my thoughts… way out there in “cyber-space”… and, then, that night there would be an extra “twinkle” in the sky.

That hasn’t happened yet…thanks to you loyal readers…instead I discovered a powerful lesson…that one small voice can still be heard today and make a statement about life that we, as a human race, can all relate to no matter our color, gender, or location.

Who knows? Maybe, one day,  it will be my destiny to return to stardust in order to see the  “twinkles” waiting for me. Storytelling in the Stars…it will be spectacular!

So until tomorrow…pause and think about that second important day in your life…the real “calling” hiding under your talents and occupations. It is there waiting for you.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* While gathering family pictures yesterday for the blog…I came across one photo that made me stop in my tracks. It is one of my favorite family photos because it is the only one with my daddy and me in it together.

It was my younger brother David’s (died from Marfan’s Syndrome complication at 21) photo that made me halt in my album search.

I had forgotten what a little “chunker” my brother, David, was when he was little. By four this precious little child was as thin as a skeleton, legally blind and was never allowed to participate in physical activities. I just remembered this extraordinarily tall frail frame that David was forced to live in during his short stay on earth. It was so good to recall that once he was a healthy little toddler.

David, was also the kindest soul I have ever met in my life. He was a “jack of all trades” who could dismantle a clock and put it back together, grow the most beautiful flowers, and was the most tolerant child to all the taunts he endured because of his tall think skeletal frame and poor vision. I think he was just too good for this old planet…God wanted His child back in His safe haven with Him.

This was the last picture taken of David (senior year at Erskine) two months before his death. You see how he loved animals and all of God’s creation.

Having just spent time with Jakie Saturday night while we all laughingly kissed his cute bald head with coconut oil (thanks for the advice Kaitlyn) glistening off his head…the resemblance hit me hard. Even though David is older in this picture than little Jakie (18 months vs. a little over four months) I see a resemblance that makes me smile with fond memories.

David was bald until he was past two  and then he had blond hair as a toddler….the strangest feeling came over me as I stared at my little brother…I felt like a part of him was still here for me…in little Jakie. Heredity, chromosomes and genes are  one of the last great mysteries on earth.

* It’s Groundhog Day and I think everyone is holding their breath praying that old groundhog doesn’t see its shadow. Maybe we can pay Nana (the Darling’s dog who stole Peter Pan’s shadow) to do the same for a few important groundhogs. I’d be willing to chip in!