The Joy of deeds well done, beginning with me...

Earlier this week I wrote about being zen as I go about my Christmas business.

Lest you think I am some kind of super-hero or fembot, I must disabuse you of this fantasy - it ain't easy.  There is a little voice that sits in the back of my head that says snippy, snotty things at times.

Mostly, it says snippy snotty things to me.

But I am a work in progress and it is progress I seek.

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

And speaking of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, my good friend GetFresh shared the advance trailer for The Little Prince movie set to be released in 2015.  I thought it so lovely, I wanted to share it here:

I can't remember when I first read The Little Prince, probably in middle or high school.  But it touched me deeply, this story of knowing what to prioritize and what to let go.

Here in the season of light, we need to remember this secret.  It really is so simple, and we know it when we see it: the baby's laugh, a loyal dog, a hand extended,

a cafe manager in Sydney

a peaceful and powerful protest for true rights for all

The grief of a nation.

A planet in peril

But in my small brain, it is love and joy that begins the journey to heal all things, helps us dream big solutions, helps us work with one another for the betterment of all.

I was reading a self-help book the other night by Paul Williams and Tracey Jackson (yes, the Paul Williams of Rainbow Connection and Evergreen fame).

I had seen them interviewed by Oprah and I was curious to read the whole book.  There were many things that resonated with me (not so much the drug addiction, I am pretty lucky there) but one of the affirmations struck me deeply:

Something Needs to Change and It's Probably Me.

So I think 2015 is my year to make sure my own garden is well and truly in order before I look over the fence at anyone else's.  And whatever I get for Christmas is just fine, thank you very much.  And those extra pounds I'm carrying?  Sure they should be smaller for my health's sake, but it just gives more of me to love.  

If I want joy, I gotta be joy.  If I want to make the world a better place, I better start with me.  I want to see fully with my heart and forget the rest.

I want to see the world as a wonder-full place, a place that can be taken care of, bettered, one person at at time.  And so I will start with me.  And the week before Christmas seems even more apropos to begin that exercise than the beginning of a new year.

As Mr. Saint-Exupery said:

Then you shall judge yourself, 

that is the most difficult thing of all. 

It is much more difficult to judge 

oneself than to judge others. 

If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, 

then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.

So while I wait for the movie, I think I will reread the book, because I think that fellow was on to something...

Have a wonderful, joyous day!

xoxo wendy