Julanne's Village Jewels

                                                                                                                                                                                              DEVOTION I am very AWARE of the CYCLES in my life lately. It might have something to do with the Olympics happening right now. I love  the Olympics, I marvel at each athlete, watching their COMMITMENT and COURAGE to put their ordinary life on hold and DEVOTE their time and energy and mind to achieving their dream. I'm completely supportive of athletics and watching people perform their very best. At least that is their INTENTION; with such PASSION! I am more AWARE than ever how much these athletes use their MIND and  their BODY to achieve their participation. I will go so far as to say that if every young person was interested and pursued some sport they would benefit themselves and others enormously! I am so in awe of the young people's TENACITY and PERSISTENCE and sacrifice they live  by i

  LISTENING When  I was 10 years old, my parents bought a cabin 50 miles from our home town, Powell, Wyoming and 25 miles from Yellowstone Park. The times spent at the cabin were sheer bliss to me and my family for many years. One of the highlights for me was LISTENING to the breeze in the pine trees around the cabin especially at night when all was quiet. It was so mysterious and soothing, I have remembered it vividly ever since. I'm very AWARE of the sound of the wind but also many other sounds of Nature, water, birds, many things, It's so present for me I can't miss it.  LISTENING to people more consciously has opened up a new world for me as a way to CONNECT with myself and what I'm experiencing when I'm in communication with someone else as well. LISTENING to myself, I can tell what I'm feeling and wanting so much better. Also, when I set my 'mind aside' and really  LISTEN to what others are saying I can have a much better idea of what they are actu

  MEANING As I sat in my living room this morning, I became very AWARE of all my BLESSINGS and good fortune, everywhere in my life. I was amazed at the belongings I have including several new purchases that contribute to the comfort of my life enormously, like a magnifying glass for reading small print! It's quite a revelation how such a small item can make such a difference! I now have 83 houseplants in my apartment, plants and cuttings. I wanted a certain space filled in with a plant and I looked around and found the perfect  plant, voila! It was like having a nursery in my very own home! I'm about to celebrate a birthday this week, 87 and I'm so very proud of what all I can and am doing in my life now! I have been AWARE the last couple years especially, that everything  I do has MEANING for me or else I simply don't do it. I've written about this before, I know, but it seems more pertinent right now, actually with every passing day. The beauty and WONDER about NO

  BEACH AT SUNSET FATE/DESTINY I have been long confused about the exact meaning of the word FATE. The dictionary says,"one's lot or fortune, destiny.. DESTINY is " the seemingly inevitable succession of events,  fate. (The word LUCK is the seemingly chance  happening of events") This sounds to me like they could b e interchangeable; that makes no sense to me. I now feel like I have the answer to my uncertainty about the 2 words. I recently read that "FATE is what life 'hands' you (what kind of situations you find yourself in)  DESTINY is 'what you DO  with the situations'.  This has made FATE and DESTINY understandable to me and I'm able to see both words much more clearly. It has helped me to differentiate the 2 words and their meaning so I can tell if whatever is happening is just happening  (FATE) or if it is something I can actually do something about, (DESTINY), if nothing else in my ATTITUDE. I can easily see when I BLAME someone or so