Show Your Gratitude to Others

Photo of Montmartre in Paris,
From the Chez Jolly Etsy Shop

In A Little Book About Something Much Bigger: The Gift of a Spiritual Practice, Victoria and I write about how important it is to live life from a place of genuine gratitude. While doing so, be sure to take the time to let others know how much they're appreciated. Vibrations are raised all around.

One can give thanks in many ways: a simple thank you, a sweet gift from Etsy or a heartfelt letter of gratitude. I've decided to give thanks thanks to my mom with this blog post. Years ago, she surprised me with a trip to Paris, complete with cooking classes, where we spent two magical weeks together. We arrived in that wonderful city on a soft summer evening in June of 1975. I was 19 years old.

Class started early at the newly-established La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine. This meant a knock our hotel room door at 7 am to wake us while breakfast was brought in. We enjoyed freshly-baked brioche, sweet butter, marmalade and Café au Lait which we made ourselves by pouring two pots of steaming hot coffee and hot milk into traditional bowls.

Vintage French Coffee Bowl
From the Vintage Decor Francais Etsy Shop

In between we rode the Metro like it was old hat, bought small packages of Madeleines from sidewalk food vendors, drank our first Kir Royale, were berated by taxi drivers for not tipping enough, walked back to the hotel after dinner each evening to burn off calories, saw Impressionism brought to life at the Musée de l'Orangerie and had no problem riding the Bateaux Mouches while sipping a bottle of champagne.

After lunch with our classmates, we'd head out for an afternoon of exploring as much of Paris as we could cover. My mother had found an incredible paperback called Turn Left at the Fountain and we'd set out each day to follow one of the detailed walking tours to a T. We had the greatest fun. We'd come home exhausted from the sun and the exercise. By the time we got back to the hotel we'd have to soak our feet in the bathtub before heading out for our 8:30 pm dinner.

A bit touristy and over the top? Perhaps. A shared experience that will last us a lifetime? Bien sûr. Thanks Mom ♥, Lois

Release the Fear

This post marks the beginning of something new for us. For almost a year we've invested ourselves, and every moment we could find, into writing our first book together. The Gift of a Spiritual Practice is now complete and available to readers.

We've tried to put the best of ourselves into this project. As we've written about reclaiming lost connections to self and Spirit, we've had to find the courage to put ourselves out there. The completed book brings warm feelings of accomplishment and joy. But feelings of trepidation and fear have recently crept into the picture.

The doubting has begun. Was what we created good enough? Will it truly be of help to others? Did we reveal too much of ourselves?

Fear is part of being human. We need to allow ourselves to feel that fear while, at the same time, releasing it and moving forward. Every single journey begins with a decision to take that first step. Feel the fear, but don't let it stop you.

Neither one of us are big fans of 2012 pop music. But we find the song Firework by Kate Perry very inspirational and spot on.