Sponsoring joy

It is amazing, the joy I feel from very simple things. May it not leave for what few minutes I have left in this body, whether such be but seconds or decades! Today I acquired a small, folding step stool to help me climb into the camper. I am overjoyed at the ease with which I'm now able to heave my injured bulk into bed. It is as awesome as the camper itself. And to think that I, dancer with never-failing legs, find myself needing such help...For truth, everything changes.

It seems that my body doesn't really know what to think these days. Pain in lots of odd places, blood pressure of 168/98, lots of discomfort in my chest when I move quickly or get my heart rate up. But I still have full use of my facilities, am still filled with joy and peace, and most wonderfully, have several times this week reached my daily goal of getting 5 people to spontaneously say, "You've made my day!" It is this, combined with the multitude of smiles in my wake, that gives me confidence that I am leading a wondrously beautiful life, regardless whether those who do not see the good that I do, believe me worthy of respect or support.

My most joyful entertainment tool is a simple, $.75 squeaker found in many dog toys. With one of these I can confound, confuse and entertain a large group of both adults and children. Today, 4 of the 6 people who told me that I made their day, did so because of the entertainment created by one of these little plastic toys in the hands of a skilled children's entertainer. I hope to get few examples on video and on the Web soon. I can imagine such a video going viral.

Soon,  I will be posting a gofundme.com appeal for crowd-sourcing sponsors of my little life endeavor to spread joy everywhere I can. I truly enjoy what I do,  but sometimes living so close to the edge is difficult.  For instance, coming up with the money to buy more balloons when I run out; it is a great expense to me,  yet I know that many people spend such money as though it is pocket change. One day's worth of middle  class-style shopping can provide balloons (latex smiles) for literally hundreds or even thousands of strangers, the majority of which are children.

I understand why such sponsors don't just offer themselves without prompting. We are, are we not, in the land of, "If you don't make your own money, you are worthless?" Or so or consumer-driven society would have us believe. So, on the basis of that Foundation, of what value am I? At the same time, I have a great many people each day thank me for living as I do and doing what I do. So even if I were deluding myself as to my value upon the earth, meager though it is, still I have all these strangers and new friends blessing me with their gratitude. I am SO blessed!

In any case,  please consider becoming a sponsor. Presently, I spend about half of my income buying balloons. Those of you who know me personally know that I don't drink, smoke, or waste money on drugs. I would love to get my own smile fixed soon as it is beginning to cause pain, but will buy more balloons before going to a dentist. So, if you have few dollars and would like to gift others (friends you may never know) with moments that, through my efforts, help make their lives more joyful and less stressful,  please consider using PayPal to donate whatever you feel would bless you to give. You can be assured I'll get it if you send it to my email,  twistofair(at)yahoo.com.

Regardless of any donation or gift,  I wish you the greatest joy, deepest peace, and all the love you can imagine for your entire life.

Time to roll again?

Soon, it will be time to get on the road again. It is much harder this year. The pin and stiffness from the accident makes doing a lot of the things I usually do more difficult. I still wear my helmet most of the time, even though it hurts because I would rather live. After the save of the seatbelt, I've developed a greater respect for safety equiptment. If my daughter hadn't decided to move to Vegas and asked me to put the bike in the U-Haul, I would still be in Bellingham, being treated by the chiropractor and massage therapist every other day. I think I need it, but it is much harder to get that level of care while on the road. I thought I had to come down here because I kept running out of money. Usually, it is easy to make money while in the road, but I didn't consider just how much my health impacted my ability to perform.

I was able to work a flea market yesterday and made a little money, (Thank you, Universe) but not like I was able to last year. It's okay, I am close friends with Change, and the Unniverse always supplies. Occasionally, I forget that for a few minutes, but my memory returns in just a few.

I love my life. I reaally do. Even though money has been tight frequently throughout most of my life thus far, I feel very wealthy. We all have life eevents that we consider to be problems and lack of funding seems to be one of mine. However, I have a number of friends who also have money problems...because they have too much stuff and are having to work all the time to support their stuff. I've found that, even when I had a lot of comfortable things, I wasn't all the comfortablee because I had to bow to the obligation of working harder and longer than I wanted to because having a bunch of stuff means I have to pay out a lot of money to support it all.

Years ago, I was studied to become a Realtor in San Francisco. I saw many multimillion dollar homes, many that cost more than a million a year just in upkeep. I like having quality things, it's enjoyable, but the tradeoff of not having those things is that I don't have to worry about supporting them, and  I don't need to worry about losing them. This extra time allows me to play with the kids. What joy!  It also gives me time to meditate and release many of the issues of the heart/mind that would rob me of peace.

Okay, that's enough for now. I'm typing on my tablet and that doesn't lend itself to long posts.
Om Shanti

Twisting and lessons.

The balloons are flying over Lake Havasu City. They didn't let me on the lot because they were afraid I would twist their balloons into poodles. I kept telling them that I could only twist balloons that I could get my hands around. Instead, I went to the loccal flea market. They let me in free, but then realized that they had "made a mistake" and though I didn't have to pay today, I would have to rent a booth space to work it in the future. No wonder there aren't very many kids there...there's nothing there for them. I'm happy I was there for them today.

It's getting close to time to hit the road again. I'm going to head down to Yuma next, stay there until February 2nd. Then I'll head up to Vegas and twist a couple days before my young friend gets to town.

I'm sitting in a Burger Kind watching this young family. It is very interesting to hear how the parents are programming their children's emotions. The kids are 3, 5, and 6. The 5 yearols is a boy. The dad is about 27, the mom is no older than 25. The son dropped his hamburger and the mom got mad at him. The dad also showed his displeasure, though he let the mom handle the situation. She asked him why he did it and he said  he didn't know. She cut him off and said hee did know and because he lied, he can go without a hamburger. Then she went back to eating as did the rest of the family, except the boy; he laid his head on his arms and sat very still, obviously very unhappy.

Mom likely had no idea that she just tought the boy that getting mad when he doesn't get what he wants is correct behavior for everyone except on his parents. The two likely learned the same lesson. For half an hour,  that little boy sat there almost unmoving. Pretty amazing self control mfor a 5 year old boy.

Sponsoring balloons

Well, sometimes giving my balloons away doesn't seem to work well, for me at least. I am overjoyed that I have the skills to make people's day, as I'm often told, but I would love to find a sponsor for the cost of the balloons. I live so close to the edge that when it comes time to buy more balloons, I will often find myself doing without some important things I need. Balloons come first, then stuff like phone bills and gas for the bike. I'm blessed that the Universe loves to feed me so I don't have to concern myself with food. I think I may make a video asking for sponsors on gofundme.com.

Empowerment

It's interesting to me to watch my daughter grow older. I've seen my nieces get up, but I wasn't often in touch with them. My daughter, on the other hand, I have been in touch with since she was 13. She is now 27. I see her doing many things that I remember she adamantly swearing that she would never do, like smoking amd drinking. I remember her somewhat looking down on my son (whom I've rarely had any comtact with --his choice) for some of the stuff he publicly professes to enjoy, only to find her doing the same things. No judgment here, she is her own being making her own choices, it is just fascinating to watch the process.

The other night, I stopped in a restaurant and sat at the counter.  I made a balloon for the server that had a litle teaching written on it. I write, "Cho o se a happy day." The highlighted O in "Choose" I write with a different color. The lesson is that the "o" stands out when one is looking for it in the same way the joy stamds out in each moment if one is looking for it.

Well, a man came in with his family amd sat down. After some time, he came up to the register and told so,eone there that he had been waiting a long time and hadn't seen a server yet. My server said in a loud stage whisper that, yes, he had seen a server since he had drinks. He replied that the hostess gave the drinks to his family and that was the last time.  Well, it turned out that this family was in my server's section. Shentook their order and while she was punching in their order, said loudly enough that lots of folks heard, "f~~~g a~~ hole". Soon after, she was fired.

Odd things happen around me and she would up crying on my shoulder,  complaining that, "That man cost me my job." Unfortunately, it didn't come out, but it was obvious to me that she cost herself the job by her lack of self control. She chose to play the victim without looking at her role. Had she taken responsibility for her role, she would have been empowered to offer other options than firing and may have saved her job. I write all this here because it is a good lesson for us all.

If something negative happens in our lives and we take responsibility for the whole of it, then that taking of responsibility empowers us to find creative solutions. If we take the victim route, then we have to take whatever comes our way.

I watched a lovely movie last night with a v err y surprising ending that speaks to just this lesson,  called 'About Time.' Rated PG, I think, for sexual references and perhaps a few cuss words. Overall, a decent enough movie for teens and adults...I recommend it.