Dear Reader:

Buddha said, “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”

  Do you remember this flower basket from last Easter when I bought it?…It stayed on the deck all summer and fall until I put it in the garage a few weeks ago….and now stems are changing from brittle brown to green and one orange bloom has emerged…life never ceases to amaze me!

Buddha was right…a single flower is a miracle! Everything about it is so natural. It doesn’t have to think about being ‘natural’…it just is. It doesn’t have to think about being a flower… it just is.

So why do we humans struggle so to find our ‘natural selves?’ Self-help authors and television hosts have gotten rich off this search….one of the most popular ‘catch phrases’ today still is “Be Your Authentic Self.”

When I typed in that phrase…here are some samples of the articles dealing with the theme:

1)“How to Find the Perfect Balance”

2) “6 Ways to Listen to Your Higher Self”

3) “Natural You”

4) Living as Your Most Authentic Self”

5) “In Search of the Authentic Self”

I remember Oprah was /is always saying things like: “being her authentic self was and is the key to her success.”

  Sarah Ban Breathnach used the term “authentic self” too many times to count in her bestseller Simple Abundance. And, then, she followed this up with her second book: Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self  (In this book she takes readers through nine passages to find their authentic selves.) Sounds like a pretty arduous journey to me.

Dr. Phil hopped on the bandwagon with his definition of the term: authentic self: He defines it as : “the you that can be found at your absolute core. It is the part of you that is not defined by your job, your function or role.”

Hunting for our “authentic selves” can be quite confusing…because where is that core again?

While flipping through Simple Abundance yesterday, however, I found a true story that Breathnach told that does resonate with me…we would call it a “God’s Wink” for sure.

Here is an excerpt from her story: “The Golden Mirror Meditation”

For years I have used a special meditation… I call the golden mirror meditation. I visualize in my mind an enormous mirror the size of a room, with an elaborately carved, 24-karat frame. This is my materializing mirror. Those dreams I wish to materialize in my life are first viewed here. 

Now let me share with you an amazing coincidence that a French proverb would suggest is “God’s way of remaining anonymous.” After I had been doing the golden mirror meditation for about a year, I was invited on an all-expenses-paid trip to Dublin, one of my favorite cities. 

I was  to stay at one of Dublin’a oldest, most beautiful, and expensive hotels, the Shelbourne, where I had never been before. When I arrived at the hotel and walked into the lounge, what should I see but the physical manifestation of my daily meditation: a beautiful mirror with a gold-leaf frame that was so large it took up an entire wall of the lounge.

I laughed with delight when I saw my reflection in it, for here was the Universe’s way of demonstrating to me that whatever we visualize in our minds can come to pass in the physical world.  

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At this point yesterday I decided that my “authentic self” was really hungry and stopped to grab some lunch. While eating at the table in my little dining room I noticed that the mirror in there had hand prints on it from Christmas. (All the grandchildren are drawn to the angel chimes that hang down from the mirror)

So when I finished eating…I grabbed some Windex and a cloth and began wiping it clean. It was while I was doing this…that a certain pattern running beside the mirror on the white wooden frame  started taking shape in my memory and suddenly I forgot about the smudges on the mirror. Instead I ran to get my Iphone to take a picture.

While angling for the best position…I didn’t realize, in my excitement, that the mirror was reflecting me taking pictures of it. Here are the results!

  Do you see a pattern on the white frame developing  that looks familiar? Let me enlarge it for you.

  Look at the first figurines right by the mirror…if they weren’t vertical but circular…could they possibly be……”the stones of  gratitude” in my mirror?

*That was the moment of connection caught on my face when I saw what was in my memory…now physically before me.!

I can share Breathnach’s pleasure in this God’s Wink when she said:

I laughed with delight when I saw my reflection in it, for here was the Universe’s way of demonstrating to me that whatever we visualize in our minds can come to pass in the physical world.

Now every time I walk past this mirror a smile of recognition and gratitude will definitely put a spring in my step.

So until tomorrow…thank you God for unexpected surprises and connections of gratitude that have no limits or boundaries…that just come “naturally.”

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

* When I returned yesterday to check on the sasanqua bush…it was pretty much as I feared…all the blooms were brown and wilted….but then I realized that the buds (which stayed wrapped up tight) were still pink and ready to bloom in all their glory.

There must be a parody Kenny Rogers song to accompany this scenario in nature….something like “You’ve got to know when to bloom…know when to hang tight…know when to hide away…from Jack’s frost bite”…. 

* When I received this powerful video clip from Joan yesterday….all I could think of….was…it is naturally us. The premise behind the video is: What if a painter could paint you at birth and see you in every stage of your life…the natural you as you age at each benchmark along your journey?

I don’t think I blinked for four minutes…see if you do! Amazing!!

Aging in a Painting