Only mediocrity is safe from ridicule.

Life is Like Coffee

So I am directing you away from my blog to this wonderful little video.  It is short and worthy. It should make you think about the sweetness of simplicity.

May we all find it!

Click here and go!

Nobody Likes Smoke

We recently visited Paris for our belated honeymoon.  Paris is breathtaking! If you never visited a single museum you would feel absolutely stunned by the incredible architecture and its wonderful inhabitants.

The people in Paris are quite refined.  Their children eat with their knife in the right hand and their fork in the left--at four. They say please and thank you.  Hundreds of years of living literally stacked on top of one another has left them quite refined in their behaviors.

BUT, they smoke.  A lot of them smoke.  Some restaurants allow smoking inside.  On sunny days the cafes are jammed on the terrace with folks elbow to elbow--smoking. It was gross. They have this incredible etiquette but will blow smoke in your face or hold their cigarette away from themselves over your table.  It was horrible.  I began to dread going out because of the heinous smoke. What a disconnect!

It got me thinking about my life.  I am almost 40 (Yay!) and I have worked hard on myself to refine my rough edges.  I consider my habitation of self looking pretty good; my streets are clean, my buildings are lovely, I have museums and cafes.

But what about my smoking? Am I holding my cigarette in someone else's face? The Parisians don't even see it and maybe I don't either.

So my latest charge to you readers: Be brave enough to ask your friends about your smoke. Ask them to be frank and then do something about it!  This isn't a fun assignment, like gathering jars of sunshine, but a worthy one. After all, nobody likes smoke.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. ”—Matthew 7:1-5

We come spinning 
   out of nothingness, 
      scattering stars like dust.
                       ---Rumi