December 31--2025 in Review (Part 3)

The moment of surrender is not when life is over. It’s when it begins.
--Marianne Williamson
God is a presence that protects us from nothing, even as God unexplainably sustains us in all things. --James Finley

    Part 3 is about healing. I'll say right up front that I am still mystified by it all, and it most certainly did not happen in the way I had "planned." Ultimately that's a good thing!
    One of our Bali adventures in March was a temple visit where we were encouraged to leave a small object on the altar as a releasing action. I elected to do a small painting (6" square) representing those things I wanted to jettison. See below--it is ugly on purpose! The things I painted into it to release were: grief, expectations, disappointment, sense of separation from Spirit (root of all the others), fear of aging poorly, and family angst. I laid the painting on the altar, brushed off my hands, said "Thank you, Spirit!" and that was that. Now I suspect that Spirit was chuckling and saying, "Spiritual surgery ahead!!" 

    The bout with sciatica and recovery drug me through the "mud and slop" of all those things I chose to release. It also brought home the painful, mysterious and "Thank God!" nature of the Finley quote above. 

    This year included several most excellent conversations with each of my sons. These provided clarification, understanding, forgiveness, and a more comfortable relationship with them as adults. 

    For my physical recovery this year, I am thankful for the doctors, chiropractor and physical therapists who cared for me so lovingly and patiently. I did, and continue to do, my home exercises nearly every day. Those include the Melt Method techniques I used to teach--I could not have made it through this year without daily Melting.

    I also thank my sweet angel dog, Barney, literally my lifesaver. 

    Long about November sometime, the "moment of surrender" happened for me. I finally accepted that I do not have the body I had before the "BIG trip of a lifetime," that this body is as "fixed" as it is going to get for now, and I'm fine moving forward with that. The workings of surrender continue to mystify me.

    I end this year feeling huge gratitude for my husband. He has been so supportive through my recovery. He even drove me to and from the YMCA to swim when I had so much difficulty walking. We passed our 39th anniversary and have been in our home for forty years. It is a “project-rich environment” that he tackles with enthusiasm. He brings me coffee in bed every morning while I’m writing and cooks us two wonderful, healthy meals nearly every day.
    My intentions for 2026 continue to be 1) to stay healthy and active, and 2) to encourage and allow myself to be a happy human. After the medically-intense year of 2025, I hope to see no medical folks other than my chiropractor for all of 2026!    

    I'm quite OK with letting 2025 go!

        Leta

Who knew what a catalyst this would be!?!?

December 30--2025 in Review (Part 2)

Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be. 
--Abraham Lincoln

    Today’s post includes the good things from this year, and there were so many.
    For six weeks, friend and travel bud Lanie and I enjoyed Australia, New Zealand and Bali. It truly was the “trip of a lifetime.” We had a blast, saw so much, met so many great folks. Even with being together so intensely for six weeks, we still like each other and travel together, though we have decided on a limit of two weeks maximum for any future trips! (If you’d like to see/read the highlights of that trip, see the 2025 blog posts from Feb 24 through April 3.)
    Other 2025 travels included two trips to Ohio to hang with my niece. One included our annual week at the beach in Ocean City, Maryland; the other was over Thanksgiving which we celebrated with most of my brother Arlie’s family. We visited our younger son in Colorado and found a great Airbnb apartment which we hope to reserve on future visits.
    Our older son and two grandsons came to Wichita in June. This son had not been home since 2017, so it was quite a treat. We did fun stuff with them, like the Zoo, and we were able to babysit several times while our son visited friends or played golf. My son and I had a couple of excellent conversations that cleared our relationship of some ongoing angst.
    The positive side of the move to Minnesota is that our son and d-i-l bought a log cabin on five wooded acres with a river running next to it. It is one of the finest places that two boys could be raised. My son is loving his role as stay-at-home dad. He is already into a multitude of projects and home improvements. I am super-grateful for video chats that enable us to stay in touch. (I lived in MN for two years during grad school, and I have no desire to return there from November to March!) We did enjoy two visits there in August and October. It is a beautiful area, with Lake Superior stealing the show.
    Being the sports nut that I am, it was exciting for my favorite NBA team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to win the NBA championship. The Cubs made the playoffs for the first time in several years, extending my beloved baseball season into October.
    Speaking of October, I turned 70 and celebrated with a great party at a local bar. Turning 60 was difficult for me, but 70… I’m just glad to be here still! I have outlived both my mother and my Grammie, so 70 is a big milestone for me.
    Two things have kept me (relatively) sane during these many months of treatment and recovery–swimming and painting. I was able to swim when I could do little else, so I felt like I was able to accomplish something. I reached my goal of 100 miles for the 28th year in a row, even though I had two months of no swimming. Painting is a spiritual practice for me–tapping into the Creative Mind. My two favorites for the year are the painting I did for my niece’s spare bedroom (where I sleep when I visit her) and the painting of Barney I did for my husband for Christmas. I am enjoying thinking of myself as an artist!

             

    Finally, I achieved my goal of getting back to pickleball. I’m not at 100%, stamina being the lingering issue, but I can play several times a week. Back in April that seemed like it would never happen.

    Tomorrow, thoughts on healing.

        Leta

December 29--2025 in Review (Part 1)

I let go of old ideas and thoughts of limitation. I release my need to control people, places and things. And in letting go, I am free. --Michael Gott

    2025 has been such a strange, exciting, depressing, tedious, healing, creative and fun year. I have decided to break up my year-in-review posts over three days to give this interesting year its due. Part 1 includes the downers of the year. Part 2 includes the uppers of the year. Part 3 considers the massive amounts of healing that occurred through it all. Here goes, Part 1...

    Holy cow! What a year this has been. The highs were higher and the lows were lower than ever before. Even though the lows were huge, there were more highs than lows. 

    I returned in early April from the “BIG trip of a lifetime” with an incredibly-painful case of sciatica, which ultimately wrecked my left leg, ankle and foot and balance. Golf was completely out of the picture for the year, and returning to pickleball became my recovery goal. I believe I had more doctor visits in 2025 than I had had in total the past ten years. I spent most of the rest of the year in twice-weekly physical therapy to restore my strength and balance. I spent a very painful week alone in April when my husband was helping our son’s family move, and our dog Barney was my lifesaver, snuggling me when I could do nothing but cry due to pain. I became acutely aware of the loneliness caused by extreme pain. I attribute much of my healing to the crying, screaming and cursing I did at Spirit, and the pages and pages of writing (much with my non-dominant hand) to vent my frustrations. Ultimately I was able to recover without surgery. I am thankful for that, but I also know that I will always carry a fear of extreme pain returning.
    The other big bummer of the year (there are good points coming in Part 2!) was the move of my grandsons and their parents from Colorado to Two Rivers, Minnesota. This puts them 800 miles away instead of 600, and for the first time our sons live in different places. It is a much more complicated process to visit Minnesota than it was for Colorado visits. For example, lodging is a considerably bigger challenge. It is also a 2-day trip with extra hotel expense, or a very grueling one-day trip.

    These bummers in my life remind me I don't have control over people, places and things, not over my body or its pace of healing or my family or the weather or much else, really. 

    Stay tuned,

        Leta

December 28--Easy Days

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. 
--George Washington Carver

    The days between Christmas and New Year's Day tend to be really low-key for me. I rarely need an alarm, and can relax into my spiritual practice with plenty of coffee and little time pressure. I head to the YMCA to swim when I get around to it. Appointments and time commitments are rare. We have had unusually warm weather, so outdoor walks have been a bonus. 

    Just as I'm floating along this smooth, easy river of life, I look up at the woman cave ceiling at a brand new wet spot underneath where the kitchen sink and dishwasher reside. This will rearrange my husband's already lengthy project list, oh joy. I have offered my prayer to the Universe that this is a simple, easy repair. 

    After the year that 2025 has been (that will be the Dec 31 post), I most certainly do not want to go into 2026 with the mindset of "it's always something!!!"

    Easy does it.

        Leta

My artwork and THE LEAK

December 27--Rather Odd for Christmas

It ain't the heat, it's the humility.  --Yogi Berra

(Even my quote choices are showing my desperation for baseball!!)

    It was 75 degrees for a high temp here in Wichita on Christmas Day. I walked Barney in the afternoon in jeans and a t-shirt and came back sweaty. My husband and I had happy hour on our deck with no need for the propane heater. This was quite weird, but I'll take it. I don't care for extreme cold or heat. 

    We had a lovely, peaceful holiday. My husband restocked my gift card supply for my two favorites--Andy's Ice Cream and Culver's. We ate our usual healthy home-cooked meals rather than some big meal hoopla. We each did a Barney walk. He rode his bike and I watched a lot of NBA basketball. I did some writing and painting. I talked with both sons. It wasn't "the best Christmas ever" but it was good, and I am profoundly grateful. 

    And I am READY for 2026!

        Leta

One grandson's name-painting is complete.

December 26--Safety FIRST

I think I've almost killed myself 1,000 times eating some sandwich as fast as I possibly could and almost choking. It's a miracle that I'm still alive. 
--Paul F. Tompkins

    I will say right up front that this post should label me as a bad human 😉😉

    My dear brother-in-law is a retired police officer who served St. Louis and surrounding burbs well for decades. This man is INTO safety. He has a history of giving safety equipment as Christmas gifts. Last year he gave us fire blankets, which my husband dutifully placed on top of our refrigerator. I'm thinking the house would burn down by the time I got the blanket into action.   

    With this gifting history, it is always a bit suspenseful to open this year's item. It is a Choking Rescue Device. This prompted me to ask, "What happened to the Heimlich maneuver?" I have not actually held the Device or read any instructions. I have, however, (bad human) laughed hysterically. "Where do we put it? It should be on the dinner table so it's handy if we need it. Otherwise, we'd have to find it and we would probably be dead by the time we remembered where it was." "Can you use it on yourself?" "Yet another thing we didn't know we should be worried about." I absolutely know my b-i-l means well, and my husband will graciously thank him for both of us. Who knows? It may come in handy one day, if we can find it!!!

    You, too, can be a "PREPARED HERO!!"

        Leta

December 25--Merry Christmas!!

If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced. --Vincent van Gogh

    I am a living, breathing, painting example of this quote. 

    A dear friend told me about an organization on Amazon wherein you send them a photo, and they return a 16"-square paint-by-number canvas, paints (36 tiny pots) and brushes. She did one of her dog that turned out great, so I went for it with a favorite Barney photo. I started painting it in early October, thinking of it as an end-of-October birthday present for my husband. 95 hours later I finished it, on December 17. I did the entire thing through a lighted magnifying glass with a teeny, tiny paintbrush. I will get it framed in the next couple of weeks. I couldn't be happier with it. 

    My husband was stunned with it. Mouth agape. WOW! SPECTACULAR! and many questions. I included the teeny paintbrush with it so he could see the main tool I used. This explained the many hours I kept him out of the woman cave while I was working on it. The joy in painting it and in him opening it was well worth the effort. And as he suggested, I learned a lot doing it. 

    MERRY! MERRY! JOY! JOY!

        Leta

Barney forever!!

December 24--Miscellany

What we have is not who we are.  --Mary Davis

    I just read in today's "1440 Daily Digest" that the average spending per child for Christmas this year is $521. That seems insanely high to me, and the antithesis of the Davis quote above. 

    My husband and I are having a quiet Christmas here at home. I am very excited about one of my gifts for him. In fact, tomorrow's post will likely be later so that I can report on the opening 😀

    I saw the vanity license plate below a couple days ago, and luckily we were stopped at a red light long enough to get a photo. It made me so happy--it's just a bit over three months till Opening Day of baseball season. 

    Yesterday was the final of 36 (yes, three dozen!) PT appointments for me for this year. I am grateful to all the therapists and support personnel who helped me through horrid pain, weakness and imbalance. I don't feel like I'm back to 100%, but I'm feeling around 95%, and that's good enough for now. I can play pickleball again, and that was my no. 1 goal. The therapists are good-humored when I say I don't want to see any of them for a long, long time. I am also grateful for good health insurance--I know my medical expenses this year FAR exceeded the premiums I paid. 

    Please enjoy some peace this Christmas Eve.

        Leta

December 23--I'll Take Aging Over the Alternative!

Aging is not “lost youth” but a new stage of opportunity and strength. 
--Betty Friedan

    I've written about being cranky around Christmas, with no kids or grandkids here to enliven and enjoy the day. I feel I've been less cranky and more OK with holiday stuff as it gets closer. Then alas, a realization such as this lands on me: I'm not guaranteed another Christmas season. That's a "duh!," but it makes me follow with "if this should be my last Christmas, do I want to spend it like the Grinch?"

    Then the following appeared in front of me, the Dec 22 Daily Guide from Science of Mind magazine, written by Michael Gott:

    Everyone gets to be young. Once. Fewer get to be middle-aged. And fewer still receive the blessing of old age. I know it brings its own challenges, but so did being a toddler. Every age is a blessing, and every age asks for our awareness of the gifts and our willingness to meet the challenges as they come.
    It seems that the challenge of moving into the autumn of life is that we are faced with our death inching nearer and nearer. Although we know we are eternal spirit, our knees know they are temporary. How can we face the last decades of our lives with grace and joy and possibility? By being willing to let go. Now, don’t mistake my meaning. I plan to remain healthy and vital as long as possible, but I don’t cling to the illusion that I’ll be young doing it.
    We must be willing to surrender our attachment to the way we used to look and move so we can fully inhabit our older years. Let go of what came before. Embrace the gift that is here today.

    Have an excellent Tuesday!

        Leta

Then and now. Happy to be here still!!!

December 22--'Round and 'Round

Experiencing an old pattern of thinking or behaving doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve regressed. It could mean we are finally ready to face our old ways at a new depth, with all the strength and wisdom we gained from the journey. The spiritual path is not a straight line. It is not a circle, either. It is an upward spiral of becoming and transcending.  --Michael Gott

    This idea is a common one within the 12-Step programs. We think we have given up a character defect then it returns, sometimes with a vengeance. We are different each time we re-visit an old pattern or defect, and therefore, hopefully better able to deal with it.

    In Bali earlier this year, the spiritual healer told me that I make a big deal out of everything. At the time, that made me really angry, because she was right, and I didn't realize then how "right on" she was. Since then I have experienced this pattern many times. I'm learning to ask myself if I'm bringing too much drama to this situation. The answer is often "yes." Recognizing my tendency for this pattern now enables me to stop, examine my initial reaction, and release the over-angst.  

    One must keep moving up the spiral.

        Leta

"Spiral" by Eduardo Rodriguez Calzado

December 21--A Good Season for Awe and Wonder

This is from the Richard Rohr Daily Meditation of Dec 20, written by Lydia Wylie-Kellermann:

Awe and wonder are gifts my kids give me daily.

But also, I believe it is a gift we adults need to give the children in our lives.

These kids are growing up in an incredibly anxious time. Yes, the climate is changing. Weather is more extreme. The future is unpredictable. But also, there is one school shooting after another. Our kids do drills and hide in closets. And Covid … Covid changed everything for them … in an instant. Everything about these children’s lives was turned upside down.

It’s too much. Sure, they are resilient. But, still, it’s too much. I can start to feel anger running through my veins at all these kids are holding. It’s too much.

How could these kids not grow up anxious and worried and stressed and angry?

You know what is an antidote to anxiety and despair? Awe and wonder.

We owe our children awe and wonder!!

It is our job. It is our responsibility to find beauty in unexpected places, to marvel at the miracles around us, and to rest in moments of pure magic.

So, friends, let us—with everything we’ve got—make space for awe and wonder.

We need it. Awe and wonder hold our hearts and bodies in the present moment around us, keeping us from spiraling into whatever is yet to come. We can find it anywhere … in the streets, the woods, our neighborhoods, the shore of the ocean, or in a culvert under the road. It happens in the slowing down. It happens when we let ourselves loose. When we let go of control and are free to stumble upon joy.

Let us show these children in our lives that, amid all the horror, there is a life worth living that can take your breath away and leave you dancing.

Beloved friends,
go out and find a secret portal.
Walk the shoreline
and keep your eye out for magic.
Pull out that old telescope.
Tell wild stories.
Go outside and dance in the rain.
Do ridiculous things.
Be “that” adult who gets the eyeroll
and the side smile.
Laugh often. Slow down.
Feed the imagination.
Clear the space to be washed over
by this wild and wonderful world.

    My older son has moved his family (my two grandsons!) to a home in a 100% awe-and-wonder setting, and I couldn't be happier about that.

    Be amazed today!

            Leta

Awe & wonder in New Zealand

December 20--Have You Tried Unplugging?

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. 
--Anne Lamott

    This one made me smile, so true!! I am a dedicated napper, denoting napping as my favorite hobby. Folks generally laugh when I say that. I think my past life must have been in a siesta culture. Early afternoon is my "stop the world, I want to get off" time. I plan my schedule around naps, and I rarely miss one. 

    In addition to daily naps and my morning spiritual practice, I do three things monthly to unplug--a massage, a pedicure in a massage chair with foot soak, and a Harmonic EGG session. I enjoyed the EGG session this week with its combination of light and sound for healing. All three of these items seem to zoom by, proving the adage, "time flies when you are having fun." 

    Mary Davis offers some fine reasons to pause:

• It encourages a sense of calm and well-being.
• It allows us to make more considered decisions.
• It activates the soul's wisdom from which we are guided. 
• It allows us to release our worries and fears. 
• It reveals the beauty and serenity that lies within.
• It provides clarity from which to imagine the highest possible outcomes.

    Breathe--it is the most important thing we do!

        Leta

Barney KNOWS how to unplug!

December 19--Thoughts on Hope

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.  --Dalai Lama

    Hope. Merriam-Webster says this about the noun: "desire accompanied by expectation of obtaining what is desired or belief that it is obtainable."

    I'm not sure we think much about hope, but it is a life-sustaining concept. Is it not a complete lack of hope that brings folks to end their lives? It is certainly at least the tiniest bit of hope that brings people to seek recovery from addiction. Hope, whether we name it or not, plays a huge role in the decision to have children. Hope causes us to start projects, to create businesses, even to travel.  

    I saw an AI photo the other day of DJT, national and international toddler embarrassment, in his coffin. That gave me great hope. I live in Kansas, an ignorantly and maddeningly red state wherein my vote is rarely useful, but hope keeps me voting still. It is hope that encourages me to know that the U.S. will somehow survive this onslaught to common decency, common sense and compassion. 

    Hope keeps us focused on the things that matter.

        Leta

December 18--Double Kindness

The ideal life is in our blood and never will be still.  --Phillips Brooks

    I have been a regular blood donor since I was in my 20s, several decades. Up until the last two times, I have given a pint and went about my life easily, very little effect. However, the past two donations have wiped me out--super tired, weak, takes a couple days to recover. Which leads me to my kindness story...

    After yesterday's donation, I went to the post office to mail my sons' Christmas packages. It was fairly warm outside and inside, and I had on a jacket. While the gentleman was weighing my packages, I got overheated and really light-headed. I have fainted once before, and most certainly did not want to go there, so I sat down on the floor, thus freaking out a couple workers. They brought me water and a chair which I climbed into. They wanted to call an ambulance, but that was not necessary. I was good to go after about ten minutes. I do very much appreciate their kindness and willingness to help. 

    I will likely give it one more try before I abandon a way to be useful that I have really enjoyed--I'm a good blood-maker!!

    Be kind to someone today!

        Leta

December 17--Pen or Paintbrush?

Notice something beautiful. Appreciate the gift. Give thanks.  --Mary Davis

    This morning I am electing to paint instead of write. I'm almost finished with my Christmas-gift paint-by-number project, so stay tuned--photos coming soon. This painting should be quite the surprise for the recipient, so I'm excited to hand it over in a few days. 

    More tomorrow!

        Leta

Christmas lights make me smile!

December 16--Exercising the Power of Choice

This small moment, this precious day will not come again. We have never seen a day like this before.  --Mary Davis

    There is a wonderful book by Dr. Samuel Harrington titled "At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life." You say, "Wow, that's uplifting, Leta!" Please hang with me. 

    The big gist of the book is that we as patients DO have a choice in the medical procedures, tests and treatments that we undergo, especially as we move through the senior years. To stop the fussing of my husband and doctor's office, I finally succumbed yesterday to a physical. Very early on the list of things "encouraged" is a colonoscopy. I'm not having one, and I told the doctor not to send me a box to poop in either! TMI warning--I'm pooping just fine, so I see no reason to put myself through it. I also brought up my couple-times-a-year heart-racing episodes. (Note: occasional event, does not last long, very unpredictable). Immediately (CYA), the doctor wanted to refer me to a cardiologist. NO! I had to fill out a paper at the beginning of the visit with my medical goal--I wrote "to go through at least all of 2026 without seeing any medical people other than my chiropractor!!!" I am grateful that my doctor is good-humored about all of this. 

    My Grammie was known as a "bull-headed Strunk" (maiden name). I think I'm channeling some of her!

        Leta

December 15--Brotherly Love

Having two older brothers is a healthy reminder that you're always closer to the bottom than you are to the top.  --Andy Roddick

    My two brothers were 16 and 14 years older than me. They started having kids when I was eight years old. The older one had a girl, then the younger brother produced a son first. The obnoxious, arrogant younger brother said to the older, "It takes a man to make a boy," boasting of his good fortune to have a son. Thereafter, the younger brother had three girls, and the older brother had two boys. Plus, the older brother has only grandsons, and the younger has more granddaughters than grandsons. So much for bragging!! Someway, somehow, there is justice in the world.

    I note this story as that son of my younger-older brother turns 60 today. I remember changing his diapers and playing with him as a baby and toddler. He has made a great life for himself and his family, and I am grateful to have him as a nephew. 

    Appreciating family,

        Leta

My nephew and I, at his second
daughter's wedding

December 14--Furry Love

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.  --Roger Caras

    December 8 is the anniversary of us bringing angel dog Barney into our lives, a love affair that began in 2019, perfectly timed just before the pandemic. We adopted Barney via Beauties and Beasts, a wonderful rescue organization here in Wichita. The previous owners gave him up because he was infected with parvo-virus and they could not afford the treatment. Their loss was our huge gain.

     We needed to decide on a name for our new pup. My favorite dog name is "Zeus," but alas, we realized early on that we had more of a "Barney Fife" personality on our hands. He seemed quite wary of the stairs at first, and he didn't bark for a week. Soon the stairs were conquered in a few bounds, and he has become quite the "talker." He takes his job of herding and protecting my spouse and me quite seriously. He doesn't relax until he knows where we are. My husband has trained him to fetch me when it is mealtime, which he does with wild enthusiasm because he knows that he is about to eat, too. He entertains us after eating by romping with a yummy sock from the dirty clothes basket. Back in the spring, when the pain of sciatica reduced me to tears, Barney was at my side. Somehow they know...  I cannot imagine life without Barney and all the laughter and love he brings us. 

    Then there's the other side of dog ownership... I often say, "You can have a clean house or you can have a dog. You can't have both." If my husband and I want to travel, we have to take the dog, because no-way will my husband put his baby in boarding. Depending on the season and destination, this limits what we can do. Proper care for a pet is an expensive undertaking even if they are generally healthy. They require daily care whether one feels like it or not (walks in frigid temps, for instance). 

    Do the dog-owning positives outweigh the negatives? Absolutely! 

       Leta

How could anyone resist 
such a cutie!!?!?

December 13--Don't Waste an Opportunity

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness. 
--Lucius Annaeus Seneca

    Thursday in Wichita was a lovely day with temperatures in the 60s. I've been needing a replacement wiper blade on the rear window of the Spaceship (our hybrid Toyota RAV4), so I went to AutoZone. The folks there are generally kind and will install such things, and a nice day is better for them than a frigid winter day. When I asked the young man if he would install the wiper blade, he gave me an enthusiastic "yes, of course" nod and smile. Ten minutes later I had a clear rear view. 

    Could I have changed the wiper blade myself? Yes, but I expect it would have taken me a lot longer and there may have been some expletives involved. I appreciate the kindness at AutoZone, and my husband does, too--it's one of his favorite shopping spots. 

    Simple human kindness--pass it around!

        Leta

December 12--A Message of Hope

This is from Lee Carroll who channels the spiritual entity Kryon. Even if you don't believe in such things, please read this. I found it very encouraging in our current it-seems-to-get-worse-every-day environment:

If you've been feeling like everything around you is unraveling... you're not alone. We've been receiving messages from our community asking variations of the same question: "Why do things seem like they're all falling apart? What's going on? What can I do?" These aren't questions about past lives or the mysteries of the universe anymore. They're coming from a deeper, more urgent place, and we hear you.

Here's what Kryon wants you to know: This IS what was spoken of. The perception of chaos, the feeling that unified systems are being pulled apart, the divisions you're witnessing, this is part of the shift. And yes, it's uncomfortable. Humanity doesn't like change, especially when it disrupts systems that seemed to be working (even if imperfectly). But here's the truth that might help you breathe easier: Things aren't just falling apart. They're reorienting themselves for something better. You cannot take an old system and simply paste new solutions onto it. Real transformation, the kind that brings integrity, compassion, and love to the forefront, requires deconstruction before reconstruction. What you're witnessing isn't a political split or even a human rights issue at its core. It's an old energy versus new energy split, the way things used to work versus a higher consciousness approach that sees things completely differently.

So what can you do? First, give yourself permission to relax into this understanding. Instead of "I've never seen this before, there must be a problem," try: "I don't like what I'm seeing and it's fearful for me, but I know we're in the shift. Dear Spirit, help me not just to understand, but to get through this." Second, remember that you are a lighthouse. As a Lightworker, you have a responsibility to hold steady when others are wringing their hands in the dark. Your balance, your calm, your understanding, these are contagious. They influence others who desperately need to see that peace is possible even in turbulence.

The solutions are coming. They'll be driven largely by young people who understand what's needed: compassion in corporate leadership, integrity in education, and wisdom in governance. Change from the bottom up, not the top down. This isn't the first time your country has faced civil unrest or division. But this time, the solutions will stick. You won't have to go backward and repeat this cycle.

How long will it take? That depends on how contagious higher consciousness can be. On whether you can influence those in trouble with your joy. On whether you can be a balanced presence in times of turmoil. Humanity is in charge of the timeline; you always have been. Take a moment right now: Take a deep breath. You are in the right place at the right time, loved beyond measure. What you're seeing is the precursor to solutions. Clearer heads will prevail. You will see why this is what it is. Can you relax with what you cannot control at the moment? Can you be part of the solution rather than adding to the fear? Your light matters. Your calm matters. Your understanding matters.
With Love and Service,The Kryon Masters Team

P.S. If fear and worry are keeping you from the light you carry, it's time to feel the love of Spirit and relax into it. When you do, others will notice, and they'll ask how you can be so calm. That's when you get to explain what you know about the love that has gone into this shift for humanity.

It's challenging work--staying focused on what we want rather than what we don't want!

        Leta

December 11--"The Holidays"

One day at a time. This, too, shall pass.  --12-Step slogans

    "The Holidays" has a special and potent meaning for addicts, especially those whose substance of choice is food. In my pre-recovery days, "The Holidays" started with the purchase of Halloween candy (well in advance, of course, with multiple repeat purchases necessary), and ran through New Year's Day. It was a time of free-for-all eating because, well, everyone ODs during "The Holidays." 

    Once I started recovery, I was stunned to learn that Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day are individual days, and that all the days in between are NOT holidays. That eliminated the excuse to overeat on all those in-between days. We often remind each other in meetings that most of the days in November and December are not holidays. 

    I love how life continues to reveal to us useful insights. This morning's insight is that even though I am not enamored with Christmas much any more (no kids present to share the day), TODAY is not Christmas. Therefore, I should not dis today just because Christmas is coming, and I should be doing Christmas stuff with great Christmas cheer. 

    Just another day with free will!

        Leta

Lights! My favorite part of "The Holidays"
(Wild Lights, SG County Zoo)

December 10--An Essential-to-Life Function

I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.  --Kurt Vonnegut

If you can fart in front of somebody, you know that they love you.  --Thundercat

    OK, I can't pass up this one. I read Upworthy emails for positive news, and yesterday's posting has the news that science has shown which gender has the smellier farts, and it has an Alzheimer's connection. Here is the link to the story, should you care to go down that rabbit hole: of course you want to know the "winner!!"

    You know how there are some proclamations that our parents make that stick with us for decades? My mom told me as a teenager that "no self-respecting woman would ever burp or fart in public." Alas, I guess I'm a failure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Laugh more!

        Leta

December 9--"Fine" Art

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.  --Pablo Picasso

    I had lunch with a friend yesterday and the topic quickly became art. She did a paint-by-number painting of her dog, which is where I got the idea. I showed her the progress on my dog painting. We started exchanging phones to share photos of our artwork. It turns out she is quite awesome with watercolors. I have not risen to that challenge yet, though I did take a City Arts class on watercolor painting. 

    We talked about how so many folks say, "I can't paint," or "I'm not creative." This led to the discussion of what is art and why do we do it. A person's perception of art is as unique as each individual human, as is her/his reason for creating it. I love my creations hanging around the woman cave. I'm not Monet, nor am I trying to be. There is art that I like, and art that I don't like, but I always respect a person's willingness to create it and put it in front of others. 

    Creativity, especially painting, is a spiritual practice for me. My art is fine and so is yours!

        Leta

A painting I did for grandson Remy

December 8--On the Other Side, I Hope

The dark night is a profoundly good thing. It is an ongoing spiritual process in which we are liberated from attachments and compulsions and empowered to live and love more freely. Sometimes this letting go of old ways is painful, occasionally even devastating. But this is not why the night is called “dark.” The darkness of the night implies nothing sinister, only that the liberation takes place in hidden ways, beneath our knowledge and understanding. It happens mysteriously, in secret, and beyond our conscious control.  --Gerald May

    The whole sciatica thing I have been through this year has most assuredly been a "dark night." I'm not quite at the point of it being a "profoundly good thing." However, "in hidden ways, beneath our knowledge and understanding," certainly applies. Pain takes one to that place. 

    I've been through months of physical therapy (4 sessions to go!), and I have approached it all, until recently, as the process of fixing something, getting me back to where I was before all this landed on me. It finally dawned on me, mysteriously, that this is it. This is how my body works moving forward. I don't have the impeccable balance I once had. My left foot's fallen arch has made my left foot almost an inch longer than my right foot, which will make shoe-shopping quite the adventure. My stamina has a long way to go, especially regarding walking, but I can now walk limp-free without a cane. My body is stiff until it gets moving, but I have minimal pain, for which I am ever so thankful. Maybe it's an acceptance of "this is my aging body." Maybe I'm just weary of demanding that my body do more than it is currently capable of. In any case, there is an element of liberation and peace, and that is "a profoundly good thing." 

    Living is interesting. Keep moving.

        Leta

December 7--Re-entry

    I'm home, woohoo!!! I had a foggy but easy drive the rest of the way home, mercifully with many fewer semis. My husband was working, so my angel dog Barney had me all to himself, and it was a sloppy wet greeting of pure love and joy!

    I've spent time over the past couple weeks with family members who are wonderfully devoted to their church communities. That's a good thing, but it brings along with it a long list of both approved and disallowed behaviors. No longer adhering to any religion, I do not fit in those molds. 

    Here is a description by Mirabai Starr about being an "ordinary mystic," saying yes to Spirit: 

I want you to want to be exactly who you are: a true human person doing their best to show up for this fleeting life with a measure of grace, with kindness and a sense of humor, with curiosity and a willingness to not have all the answers, with reverence for life.

You do not need to chant all night in a temple in the Himalayas. You don't have to be the newest incarnation of Mary Magdalene. It is not necessary to read or write spiritual books. You are not required to know the difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism or memorize the Beatitudes. All you have to do to walk the path of the ordinary mystic is to cultivate a gaze of wonder and step onto the road. Keep walking. Rest up, and walk again. Fall down, get up, walk on. Pay attention to the landscape. To the ways it changes and the ways it stays the same. Be alert to surprises and turn with the turning of the seasons. Honor your body, train your mind, and keep your heart open against all odds. Say yes to what is, even when it is uncomfortable or embarrassing or heartbreaking. Hurl your handful of yes into the treetops and then lift your face as the rain of yes drops its grace all over you, all around you, and settles deep inside you. (Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation, Dec 6)

    The Dalai Lama nailed it when he stated that his religion is kindness. 

        Leta

While I was away, my sweet husband
hung my painting outside the woman cave 👍

December 6--And 8 More Blocks of 50

Math, our nation's shame. --Often uttered by my husband and me regarding many folks' inability to do simple arithmetic

    My niece is a high school math teacher. Alas, she would agree with the sentiment above. Note I said "high school," and she told me the other day that she has students who can't do simple arithmetic, let alone algebra or geometry. It's sad. 

    I did my 12 blocks of 50 miles yesterday with dry roads and clear skies the whole way. I don't believe I have ever, on any road trip, encountered so many semis as I did today. And usually I am passing them, but yesterday, probably half of them passed me. It was crazy. But my safe arrival is all that matters. I had a nice visit with my in-laws. 

    400 more miles and I'll be home. I can generally count on Kansas having considerably less traffic than the rest of the states. Whew!

        Westward ho!

            Leta

Can't wait to snuggle my sweet Barney!!!

December 5--12 Blocks of 50

On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again.  --Willie Nelson

    I leave Ohio today, destination Wentzville, Missouri, for an overnight stay with my in-laws. I have an audiobook and crunchy foods to keep me awake as I move through those 12 blocks of 50 miles. It is nice to get the bigger part of the trip done first, then the second day is merely 8 blocks of 50 miles. (You already did the math, didn't you?!?!) 

    There are several family members whom I get to see only by making this trip. While the roads run west as well as east, I have always been the one to travel to them rather than the other way 'round. This trip has been a good motivator for me to regain my stamina and fully recover from the sciatica mess, as my niece will be retiring from teaching in a couple years and we want to travel together. I've also had a good dose of feeling happy, which is a feeling I plan to return to often (see Nov 29 post on keeping a grateful heart). 

    Time to "start my engine!"

        Leta

December 4--Reversing the Process

If I were packing for a deserted island, I would bring sunscreen, a water purifier, something to start a fire with, my sister, and something for protection. 
--Gracie Gold

    It has been a bit of a puzzle to figure out when to head home to Wichita from NE Ohio. I've been checking weather reports for Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Wichita, hoping to find two clear days to trek home. Though I'd like to stay longer, it looks like Friday-Saturday is my best bet. So today is packing day. 

    It has been an awesome visit. I told my niece that I am so happy here. Who wouldn't enjoy swimming, napping, painting and game-playing? I'm already looking forward to our summer time together!

    Blessed big-time,

        Leta

My artwork hung above the bed,
and my travel bud, Ted Bear,
who goes with me on all my road trips.

December 3--Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Blah Blah Blah

Let it snow somewhere else.  --On my "Life is Good" shirt featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet lying in a hammock under a palm tree

    It started snowing very early Tuesday morning. My niece's hopes of a "snow day" from school came to fruition. First looks outside around sunrise revealed a heavy snow downpour and already more snow than I cared to clear from my vehicle. It was a "hunker down" day. 

    So many of us, me included, were raised to be a "human doing" rather than a "human being," measuring our worth by how many items we check off our to-do list. So a "snow day" leads to the question, "What am I going to do all day!?!?!" I can happily report that we worked out (my niece drove, so I got to swim), played games, ate leftovers, napped, and enjoyed the extra bit of time together because the snow cancelled school. We had a lovely Italian dinner out with a friend. Little was "accomplished," much was enjoyed.

    Here's something fun to play with... what if snow was some color other than white (or yellow!!)?  

        Leta

From my niece's back door, quite lovely

December 2--"Show the Way"

This is one of my favorite David Wilcox songs, a song of hope so valuable in our damaged world. It makes me cry every time I hear it. You can listen at this YouTube link...

You say you see no hope
You say you see no reason we should dream
That the world would ever change
You say the love is foolish to believe
'Cause they'll always be some crazy
With an army or a knife
To wake you from your daydream
Put the fear back in your life

Look
If someone wrote a play
To just to glorify what's stronger than hate
Would they not arrange the stage
To look as if the hero came too late?
He's almost in defeat
It's looking like the evil side will when
So on the edge of every seat
From the moment that the whole thing begins

It is love who mixed the mortar
And it's love who stacked these stones
And it's love who made the stage here
Although it looks like we're alone
In this scene, set in shadows,
Like the night is here to stay
There is evil cast around us
But it's love that wrote the play
For in this darkness love can show the way

Now the stage is set
You can feel your own heart beating in your chest
This life's not over yet
So we get up on our feet and do our best
We play against the fear
We play against the reasons not to try
We're playing for the tears
Burning in the happy angel's eyes

For it's love who mixed the mortar
And it's love who stacked these stones
And it's love who made the stage here
Though it looks like we're alone
In this scene, set in shadows,
Like the night is here to stay
There is evil cast around us
But it's love that wrote the play
For in this darkness love will show the way

    We must remember that love is the one and only power.

        Leta

It is Love that creates art. 
"Wild Lights"

December 1--Well, Yes and No

The soul does not proceed by contraction but by expansion. It moves forward, not by exclusion, but by inclusion. It sees things deeply and broadly, not by saying no, but by saying yes, at least on some level, to whatever comes its way. 
--Richard Rohr

    I have had the great joy of showing off my paintings to several folks on this trip. Nearly everyone responds with "I can't paint." That's a "no," contracting the soul. I was there at one point. Think of how much fun and learning I would have missed had I stuck with that "no." 

    "Yes" and "no" are fairly loaded words in our society. Too often we say "yes" when we really want to say "no," and vice versa. This leads back to knowing and following one's heart. Whatever the heart's answer, that's the true route to expansion.

        Leta

I'm working on saying "yes" to winter :(