PEACE ☮ Seems Simple Enough

It seems simple enough to have peace in the world. The challenge is in the launch pad and how we fuel the spacecraft we carry though life. We know peace starts within, yet we are inclined to blame the world for our own turmoil. Unrest, however, is an inside job the restlessness and rest begin in one's head and heart. All the aches and pains every triumphant moment brightly lit as well as all the dimly lit tragedies linger in our innermost being, the memories of every good and bad experience puddle-up and sometimes spill over to other parts of our lives in kind ways and in crazy ways, in ways that make us grateful and happy or sadder more solemn for the wear and tear.

Emotional intelligence is a preferred mode of operation generally and renders a nice happy medium, sounds nice particularly when something or someone, a situation comes at us side-ways out of nowhere we are blindsided. The times that test us as a person with a sense of reason, fairness and goodness are challenging and force us to evolve into stronger folk.

A solid route to take, to traverse through muddy waters is a resolve to come at whatever, whoever, wherever we are from a tolerant, patient, peace-loving stance. The approach has been tried and tested through the ages and proved to be a most effective way to cultivate peace from within, in the name of supporting and manifesting peace externally. ☮ Peace to you

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X2

As a twin there was a natural reverberation of sorts, reactions and actions X2 with constant nearby echos. Growing up a twin absolutely included life experiences in tandem like sports, games, education, religious rites of passage, even a duplicate consensus on political ideology. Our sense of right and wrong was usually in sync although twin sister was often the risk taker, daring and outspoken. 

We shared common ground on many levels in the formative years then became more out of sync about things as we developed our own individuality and sense of autonomy. In the teenage years the subtle separation from experiencing life X2 as twins and each other's shadow, back-up, wingman fading away on many levels was quite the trip, some contempt as misunderstandings, personality changes and miscommunication evoked resentment and anger. It may have been subconscious anxiety as we loosened the twin-ties even though we were eager to explore the world individually. It was scary, exciting, uncertain and we had to learn how to go about life without a sidekick nearby so dear yet annoying, smart, funny, inspiring and loved. 

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Shut-up and Take My Money!

An all-time favorite commercial we loved to watch around Christmas time in the mid 60s, was the Norelco razor commercial. Jolly St Nick went dashing through the snow rolling happily up and down the hills as a Burl Ives type voice encouraged viewers to buy a shaver. The best closest shave of all that beckoned joy, jingle bells also a sporty, sleek clean shave and happy times

It was a showstopper no matter what we were doing. If the television was on and the Norelco Santa sliding down the snowy hill on a fun razor appeared, things came to a screeching halt, and we were transported to the playful snowy scene. It was magic and may have well prompted the Christmas shopper to consider it, if not say out loud; "Shut-up and take my money!" No doubt someone got a razor for Christmas weather they needed it or not. Meanwhile, we were aware that baby Jesus was really the reason for all the fuss and gift giving, good cheer and glide tidings! Cue the bells!! 🔔🔔

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December 12th Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Wikipedia say's: Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe, is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions in December 1531, and a venerated image on a cloak enshrined within the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The basilica is the most-visited Catholic shrine in the world, and the world's third most-visited sacred site.

When we were in the 6th grade at QofH Elementary Catholic School, a few of us were chosen to more or less act out a pageant play in the church, depicting apparitions of Our Lady. It took place in honor of The Feast of Our Lady, It was special and it is a sweet memory.  Mark was a bishop, and I played a guard for the bishop. My mother treated us to a wonderful spaghetti dinner afterwards at Caruso's, a nearby Italian restaurant. 🌹

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GIVING THANKS

Thankful for so much. Thankful for the love, joy, a peaceful existence, resources and people who care. Grateful for the mornings, afternoons and nights that occur like clockwork all these years, the sun that rises and shines then drops out of sight to make room for the moon to rise and shine and fade once again, into the heavens. 

The biology, theology, psychology involved with our presence alone is spectacular and complex as the environment, the atmosphere, gravity, all the physic's, forensics, symmetry, geometry, balance, rhythm, the cycles of life and death. The impermanence of everything should keep us in check rather than simply carry-on like there is endless time, energy, health and opportunities to live life to the fullest and to the best of our ability. 

Yes, Thankful for bountiful, beautiful blessings, for things I am not even aware of but should appreciate with the gusto of a hungry bear awaking from a peaceful winter slumber.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

September 23, 1957 Mark Allen Joseph is joined by twin sister, 

Mary Ellen into a new world. Hold on mother and twins, it's gonna be one hell of a ride!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Mark and Mary, 

Happy Birthday to you.

May the Dear Lord Bless you, May the Dear Lord Bless Mark and Mary,

Happy Birthday to you.   So it is.    Yes ~  

Once a twin always a twin!! It is not a singular but two-times, twice, double the fun, also shared heartache, happiness, sadness and sweetness. To double down on the special unique experience of twindom, beautiful stuff! it remains quite something x2! 

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Twins Forever

No doubt I will always be a twin, my twin brother is in heaven as far as we can tell. He keeps in touch through fluttering butterflies that fly close enough to notice and get a glimpse of a celestial frontier we can only imagine. You are missed, Mark, your absence has settled in my bones but your special cameo appearances reassure me something is happening, quietly, beyond words beyond reason and meant for me to see, these moments are always welcome, you and the sweet signs that hint of your presence.

The connection remains strong intact, apparent and recognized with love, peace and gratitude. Thank you for the partnership, I do not forget my twin brother and womb-mate. We showed-up only a few minutes apart one after the other. I do not wonder where you are, if you are OK, I believe you are excellent and here, near mama and me and other precious loved ones who miss you quite terribly still. For me, I take a great deal of satisfaction knowing I am your twin sister blessed with a beautiful twin brother, angel and we are twins forever.

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Moonstruck

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Brother Butterfly ><

Did that white butterfly make a sound or is it my imagination? It did not sound like one would imagine a butterfly sounds. It was a clacking in two or three beats not a delicate melodic sound. It happened lightening fast in harmony with the surrounding natural sounds. The chirping birds broadcast their news of the moment as the rustling trees sway in the breeze reminding me of the sound of ocean waves.

The bouncing butterfly flutters toward the marigolds, near the sprawling, stirring dog, Jax, who is stretching on his back and rolling across a rug. The wind chimes gently and the daily spiritual meditation encourages me to "orbit around the sun" a beautiful metaphor for staying in the light and keeping The Holy Spirit on my radar.

I give thanks for countless blessings, angels among us, the presence of divine intercessors and whispers from heaven. Thank you for strength and peace, comfort, joy and the people, pets, places and things appointed to be part of my life.

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It All Adds-Up

Days of our lives add up to months and years. The people once on forefront and now no longer here and life goes on. The shared experiences, the love, memories, laughs, tears, disagreements, misunderstandings, shared challenges, trials and tribulations are still in place, still points of reference and you come alive in the reflection. 

How could I not acknowledge your presence, the impression you made resounds and reflects the best of you and your love, the laughter, lessons we learned. What a very special time in my life. I believe I appreciated how special, precious and powerful your presence in my life. I want to say; I miss you very much yet I know every bit of your goodness and great spirit is going strong and is alive and well in those who love you still.

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The Bell Tolls For Us

🕭 Illusions, grandiose delusions or simply holding on to and imparting the comfort found in hope no matter how hard life feels, looks, is. From our miniscule place in the universe as we know it, it appears suffering and happiness vibrate out and into the world in ways that beautify or bruise other souls. Hearts swell with love or breaks for the same reason somewhere, a place before or perhaps beyond into a different realm.  Life so full of surprises, left curves and turns, tumbling, twisting, what was once normal, predictable shifts due to the health and safety of everyone everywhere. 

How could that be in this part of the world in this day and age when everything is more or less moving along in accordance with every other day. What unfolds right before our collective and individual eyes are the worst and best of people in a time of uncertainty as fear mongers instill more fear, doubt and despair. Good health and happiness are not money makers for machines that manipulate what and how we think and conduct our lives. 

The preciousness of our existence, here today gone by the end of it. The very air and water we depend on in peril, politics and government gone wild, people desperate to find comfort in uncomfortable times and insecurity and fear lead to irrational behavior. Somehow, respect, common sense equitability and equality took a backseat as the acute need for peace has been diluted by too many. The good news is corrective measures are simple and render peaceful results that strengthen  rather than destruct and cause so much damage. Yes, the salve for such raw, bloody open wounds include kindness and a spirit of peace. With the under current and backdrop of mystery, in surround sound, we would do well to consider and appreciate that my heart skips a beat with joy and cries hot tears of sorrow with yours.  "For whom the bell tolls" indeed. The bell tolls for you and me. 

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Change

Change after a year that felt like a blur, goes by, like you unplugged from life the way you knew it until things changed beyond recognition. And here we are after looking around at others wondering which one of us may not make it through. A tidal wave of death came over the world plucking people out of our midst near and far, loved ones gone without a goodbye. Life today feels tired and sore yet hopeful about the horizon. Changes occurring right before our eyes. 

To cease the day and reinvent new ways to live together respectfully, peacefully, lovingly, happily, means to evolve into better people. It is possible in our immediate worlds, the probability on larger scale depends on factors that are within and behond our control. Cultivating peace of mind, voting, contributing in some positive manner, lifting someone up, making something better for someone. We shed skin, plant new seeds in our lives, grow into goodness as we recalibrate and cultivate the beautiful, do simple acts of kindness and repeat. Peace, Love, Blessings to you ~

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With Love

Mark, 

Just want to say; Thank you! Thank you for the love, for giving me what I hope you felt and received  from me. Thank you for the friendship, for all the wildly wonderful and not so wonderful everyday stuff, growing pains, the loyalty, all of it. Thank you for sharing the twindom with me it was distinctive and special. I am still your twin sister, blessings resound still in connection to you, your growing family and vivid memories so strong, you seem present even in your absence. I am on the look-out and tuned-in to you your place in all things known and unknown. We were at our best when we laughed, learned and leaned on each other.              

I want to thank you for enriching my life with yours.  Keep in touch. 

Love you,

mair

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Another Year

Another time to restart the months weeks and days ahead until it is 2022. Another year to continue, discontinue, start fresh or restart the next twelve months all over again. If only it were that easy and sometimes it is except when things happen that are out of our control like deadly disease or people behaving badly.  The land mark days and seasons of our lives, the experiences that took place at particular times of the year evoke memories that shaped who we are today.                  We do not always get the opportunity to redo what was done or do what should have been done as another new year beckons us, staring us down, daring us to take-on 2021 with guts, courage, strength and resolve to do good by thinking, being, saying, praying about things hear and now that make us better and a blessing, focusing on the moment at hand, here and now. 

Another year we have been given to live life in peace as we work on making life more doable for ourselves and others who cross our paths as well as those in other parts of the world.

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THANK YOU!

Thank you, for being such a big part of my life, still, even if you did check-out in '94 and caught your direct flight to heaven. You are engrained in my DNA, thoughts and prayers.  Part and parcel of twindom for me means something special, blessed, on-going. Who can say with certainty how it happens that a child is born and lives, survives, thrives and gets to live another day, year or years. Who is to say how our course runs, starts, stops, reruns, stops again temporarily or indefinitely. The twin connection continues in some capacity as part of the original 2pk design that landed safely swimming upstream as all the other millions of swimming seeds went down stream. The feeling and sense I am an individual and singular being is also me. 

When I reflect on the years gone-by and yet to come, you are frequently part of the landscape. I know you are around as your spirit, things you said and did float around in existence and the memory banks. I wonder how you would be about everything, while making peace with where you have taken-up residence, I pray your place is truly perfect, powerful, peaceful, and full of grace, beyond words. There is so much humankind does not realize, our scope is limited as mysteries and miracles prevail and swirl around unbeknownst and known to us. I feel grateful for such knowledge and awareness of things to appreciate.

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My Story

My story is one that reflects love, hate, happiness, dark days and the brightest nights. It includes a suffering humanity to the sublime innocence of the child within us all. My story has been told by many through the ages, seasoned by the comedies and tragedies life bears. From the mundane and mediocre to the spectacular nature of experiencing miracles, often. 

It is a story book filled with tales of epic proportion, heart warming and at once subtle, mightily forged through fiery days to fleeting triumphant times, I hoped would never end. My story weaves in and out of yours. I am humbled and grateful, better for the wear and tear. I am armed and blessed with beautiful treasures to play forward for the rest of my life.

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A Matter of Life and Death

We are born then we die, what happens between living and dying is only part of the equation regarding our place in the vastness of creation. Our time comes and goes measured by time and experiences.

The birth of new life prompts people to rally in support and celebrate another heartbeat and soul, the possibilities, hoping only for the best. When we go it is not uncommon for people to gather and pay respect to the physical life that once existed. Once again, a time to celebrate life.

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Day In Day Out

One day, life is moving along at a predictable pace, nothing outrageous happening other than on-going disbelief at political leaders running amuck, out of control, beyond reason. Other than that, it is the daily status quo as challenges, appointments, disappointments, surprises and opportunities await, a typical day in our lives. 

Then one day, news about a flu or virus of some sort named after a beer is it, emerges? The health of 

people everywhere, locally, nationally and around the world, is at risk of contracting it. It is deadly bacteria that can render havoc on the respiratory system. "I can't breathe" our life and times when we should be treating everyone everywhere with respect. Now like in times before, our every breath is in jeopardy. Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, has reared it's ugly unforgiving hateful head and is looking for people and places to inhabit. Information, demographics, statistics, studies, research, tests, preparedness, unpreparedness, politics, indifference, ignorance, human frailty withstanding, the stakes are high. The best and worst of people come to light.

The big picture formerly dependent on schedules, deadlines, seasonal events, activities, trips, long awaited special dates and celebrations, all come to a screeching halt. Suddenly, from one day to the next in early Spring, our days and nights are not as predictable. An avalanche of concerns and questions are set-off as change, subtle at first then saturate the media. Headline news of the deadly disease saturates reports the facts and the potential of imminent changes in the name of public safety, with the matter of life and death on the fore front. As much as you do not want to hear about it, you cannot not listen or take your eyes away, until you can't. It is too much and too easy to fall into despair, meltdown. One learns how to pull yourself together and pray for new perspective a different way of looking at living day in, day out.

From fearful consternation to a humble shift takes place, hopeful ideas spring forth with efforts toward new and improved ways of approaching what was. People, places, things taken for granted even chores, an errand, tasks and projects around the house, work and personal commitments evolve into something much more precious and important. We are still here, fragile, resilient and part of an infected world with open wounds, a world, wonderful, wildly beautiful and impermanent.  We do well to be as loving, compassionate, careful and respectful of one another to reflect our very best, while we can.
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Stand By

Let me know you are around. A simple little message to connect, soul to soul. Whether I look for signs from you or something is brought to my attention regarding you and your existence. I know you stand by and help me through moments, days and nights of life here. 

When you left, I knew life would be dramatically different, it required recalibrating my identity as your twin sister. I did quickly realize, once a twin always a twin, even when one of them exists in another configuration. I understand you are present in my earthly life, my imagination and faith tell me that you are around. 

I consider that your life form is perfect beyond time and space, peaceful and happy in your celestial residence. In all of creation, you go beyond anything that can be described adequately. Reaching out, I seek and often find a crazy cool connection, perhaps a thread of communication custom made for me or something boldly set before my eyes to acknowledge your presence.  I am aware and grateful for the fleeting, heartwarming moment. xo

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Connections

The connection between one another, the entirety of existence, the moon and stars, other planets and entities we know not of. No big deal? Of no consequence or breathtaking to see with a mere glance the awareness of a star, a flower, the essence of a person. Whether looking below the surface, on the face of the earth or hoping to catch a falling star in plain sight at night. Through the lens of a telescope, a microscope or direct view, the essence of life, energy, spirit, is brought from the past, new and present and continues on light years away. The connections are massive, minuscule, intrenched in one another and isolated. Some mysteries unfold while others remain unsolved. The heart of the world beats like a baby's murmur, she coos, cries and wails, craving tender loving care just wanting to be loved.

The connectedness between what was, what is and what will be, is all part of the big picture, our own personal picture and everyone else's. Our thoughts determine the quality of the picture from our own perspective. The connection to the past, present and future takes care of itself before we realize it happens right in front of us, from one second to the next, the strands of time carry us through life, through our history and our future. Every experience, emotion, thought, gesture, intention, action and reaction determines the next. Too simple so simple, here and now. Thumbs-up! Very well! 

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