Return to Innocence

Things are just settling down from a stressful afternoon of trouble shooting a computer virus…one that finally got me after a week of bogus emails coming in from every direction using the familiar names of my friends. Now I understand what it is about Free Hugs that tugs at my heart so strongly. It invites people, for a moment, to return to their innocence; something I feel that the virus mongers have forgotten.

Do you remember a time when you so sweetly wanted to hug everyone who passed your way? Your antennae had not yet developed to be on the lookout for anyone with malicious thoughts or motives. Perhaps, like my own early childhood, there was no one to be on the lookout for.

I grew up in small country towns on the fringes of Buffalo in Western New York. We moved often, yet from one town to the next, you could pretty much expect the same kind of atmosphere. Everyone in town knew who we were and what we were up to, yet no one ever thought of trying to upset the day by purposefully wreaking havoc in my Dad’s office and nobody ever heard of identity theft. It was a time when you could take your TV, radio, record player, or electric tools to a repairman and he would tell you, without charging you, if it was repairable or worth saving.

My mother, like many moms of that time, was perfectly comfortable allowing me to walk down the block to school, to a friend’s house, or the candy store by myself. Our only concerns about Halloween candy were rationing it out to avoid tummy aches, which kinds were our favorites to stash away, and which we would share with parents and friends.

The welcome mats of front and back doors were worn thin by neighbors and friends, who visited frequently and let themselves in after just a light knock and, “Hell-o-o.” Anybody home?” The postman, Mr. Hall, would sit to chat wherever anyone was offering a hot cup of coffee. We had a small angel carved in the woodwork of our front entry, by vagrant men who wanted those who would follow to know that this was a welcoming home. They were called “hobos” then and my mom always invited them in for a hearty meal and sent them off with a fresh shirt. My dad quite regularly picked up hitchhikers with no concern for their intention being anything but a ride to the place they needed to go.

Years later, my dad continued to live in small towns where he walked from the post office, to the general store, and the coffee shop calling everyone by their first name and they knew his as well. In the late nineties, just a few years before he passed away, I was visiting and marveled that the crime deemed to be the worst of the season made the headlines…a stolen jar of olives!

This is why I’ve often said I’m glad my dad chose to leave this world just short of a month before 911. He still had a good portion of his innocence in tact at the age of 72. What happened that September morning would have been too much for him to handle. And had he allowed me to get him a computer, he’d have probably thrown the darned thing in the trash at the first sign of someone tampering with his peace of mind.

The computer virus that happened today may be “just one of those things” that’s to be expected in this new millennium. As for this country girl, it is something I still don’t expect and will never get used to. Why would I want to get used to that? It may be naïve, yet they don’t call me Pollyanna for nothing; I’m glad I’ll be passing out Free Hugs this Valentine’s weekend. It is my hope that, whenever and wherever Free Hugs is happening around the world, at least some of the people at the receiving end will be the ones who have nothing better to do than to cause other people stress with their malevolent ideas and talents. I hope the hugs they receive opens their hearts just wide enough for a spark of LOVE to enter…innocence remembered. And from that spark, may a creative fire burn out of control…a fire that turns them toward using their brilliance and cunning for something that will change the world for the BETTER!

Enjoy the video (copy and paste link below)and please join us for Free Hugs Philly, Saturday, February 12^th, 2011 at 2:30pm at the LOVE sculpture, 16^th St. and JFK Blvd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDGD4mLC04E

The Condition of Being…A Snowflake

Snowflakes fall from the sky. Or is it rather like when I was a child and my mother told me that angels sifted powdered sugar from their places in the clouds? Either way, the journeyers travel long, carried on winds, eyelashes, and the occasional bird wing.

Snowflakes gracefully skate toward a wonder-scape; glistening in grandeur. Some hurry down, straight to the task of weaving a blanket for the Earth. Others sashay and pirouette, dancing this way and that. Their show becomes a lively playground for young and old! Still more flakes scurry, wander and float, until at last they settle alongside their companions. Though each is unique unto itself, they band together, uncomplaining, to carry out the chores of dressing trees in majestic robes and tucking in flowers for the season of night.

Gentle purveyors of silence; who can more than whisper in their presence? My ears care no more for piano or violin, than to hear crystalline “toes” touching down. My head tilts back as one brave flake sacrifices itself for my pleasure; the quick burst of icy electricity on my tongue.

Are these merely tiny, frozen objects? Or, are they our spirited help-mates, urging the joy of awe to melt and spring from our wintry hearts?

Book Signing and Storytelling!

Please join me if you are in the area tomorrow for my first official book signing featuring "Feather Gifts"! I will be at Godfrey Daniel's, 7 East Fourth Street, Bethlehem, PA. starting at 1pm. Immediately following (2pm) is Songs and Stories with the Druckenmiller's where I will be telling "Grace," a story based on my real experiences. If there's time I will also share a short, short piece from the English translation of Kurt Kauter's "New Fables: Thus Spoke the Maribu."

Momentum

Well, the wheels really got spinning during the Next Top Author contest. In as much as I did not make it to the second round, I am more determined than ever to get my work out there! "Feather Gifts" received wide accolades from the 4-84 crowd so I've made the decision to go to print, large publisher or not! I sold several books printed at home, have multitudes of orders and two upcoming events where I expect to sell many more. Hampton Roads Publishing has offered, very kindly, to look at book proposals from anyone who was in Round 1 even though we did not proceed to Round 2! Popular vote is NOT an indicator of the value and quality of a book. It simply shows that many of us are still learning how to network. I'm getting the hang of it!

So why am I writing this? Well, because I know that each one of us has come into being with gifts unique to us that are meant to be shared in the world. I believe that our hearts lead us to knowing what those gifts are. I believe that if you try one thing and it doesn't work, try again...and again with your heart in the lead. Know that your heart wouldn't fool you.

And please, please don't give up until your light is shining brightly. Let your heart fill with the heat of passion and fire for what it loves to do. It may be that you are an enlightened teacher or stunning book author. It may also be that you are the best joke teller who brings a spark of joy to an otherwise overly serious office setting. Or you may be raising the most balanced, happy kids anyone has ever seen. Do all with your heart and the world will benefit beyond your expectations or imaginings!

Many Blessings and continued joy!
Robin

Pennies...and Feathers From Heaven

For a long time now, feathers have been placed on my path at significant times. So significant that I can only take them as signs that I'm being listened to and watched over by a greater force. Though feathers continue to show up, somewhat less frequently, this past week they've been replaced by pennies.

After the loss of a dear older friend, my friend Kathy shared a special story with me. She said that before his passing, her friend consoled her by saying that she shouldn't worry because he'd be sending her pennies from heaven. A few days after he passed, she started finding pennies everywhere! Just a few months later, as she told me the story, she had accumulated several dollars worth of change. Her friend had kept his promise.

Last week she lost her fifth loved one in less than a year. My heart so went out to her, yet I quickly became preoccupied with my own worries and concerns. Within a few days I suddenly I found myself picking up pennies where ever I went. I thought nothing of it and didn't make the connection until I was at the sale shelf at the library and found a CD entitled "Pennies From Heaven". There was that voice from "beyond". A loved one? That Greater Force? All saying, "Don't worry, here's some pennies from heaven."

I'm sending the pennies and CD to my friend. My current worries dissolve as I remember what it felt like to lose three beloved grandparents in less than a year when I was 6. Nothing but nothing is more important than our connection to loved ones. And to that high power of Love that tells us it is so.

Blessings to you and to all those you love!
Robin

Flow

There is a natural flow that happens in our world, in our universe. I can't explain it but I'm feeling it now and it has to do with giving and receiving. I've been supercharged with enthusiasm for this author contest and the energy is infectious! As I knock on doors, so to speak, setting up speaking engagements, giving away bookmarks, and hanging up flyers, all in the name of trying to get votes, I am amazed and surprised to find that I am also giving something. Although I am seeking votes, I am also giving free advertising and hopefully getting more customers for the establishments I will speak at. Several recipients of the bookmarks, although they are my advertising "gimmick", are saying "thanks" as though I'm giving them some wonderful gift! And most importantly, I think, is that I'm getting people to realize how much fun it can be to follow a dream and maybe even inspiring something long dormant to sprout within them. It doesn't get better than this!

I'm looking forward to the day I can follow through on my promise to some eight year-olds on the Jemez Pueblo Native American reservation. When they saw my "Feather Gifts" prototype book they asked if I'd send them one. I said "yes"!

Your vote in the Next Top Spiritual Author contest will help me reach my goal of keeping that promise! Go to www.nexttopspiritualauthor.com
Look for the voter registration on the far right. After you register and confirm your email, come back to the site and type 725 in the ID# bar or "Berry" in the "author last name" bar. Explore my page, watch the video and if you like what you see, vote for me!

My Native American friends have said that everything is a circle. Energy is a circle. You give some, some comes back. I'm certain that the flow will come back to you in some form!

Thanks for your vote and many blessings!
Robin

Dream A Little Dream With Me!

What is your dream? What is it that brings you so much joy that you can’t wait to get up in the morning and causes you to stay up too late to keep working on it? What makes your heart sing? What would you go to the ends of the earth to keep doing no matter who tells you it’s ridiculous or a silly, foolish waste of time? For me it’s writing.

I created my first book in third grade. That first taste was all I needed to set me on the road in search of the “Holy Grail” – how to break into the mysterious world of publishing. With numerous files of short stories, manuscripts, poems, and articles to my credit, it feels like my search is nearing a conclusion; the grail less mysterious and within reach. My book, Feather Gifts for all ages, is now entered in “The Next Top Spiritual Author”, a competition that has unexpectedly drawn over 2000 contestants world-wide.

Writing is my meditation and gift to the world, something I feel I came into this world to do. My passion was only strengthened when a high school guidance counselor tried to discourage me from my dream of being published, toward something he called “more substantial.” Fancying myself as a female version of “John Boy” from the long-running series The Walton’s, I persisted and the Universe, God if you will, carried me...

For many years I gave my written works away as gifts while studying whatever I could about how to be a really good writer. I self-published a newsletter for four years, submitted a few things to newspapers and magazines, and did manage to get some small pieces published. Then fifteen years ago, I began telling stories to children as a promotion at a Native American arts store where I worked in Madison, NJ.

I was out walking, wondering what to do for the story hour, when I found myself experiencing nature in a different way. I attribute this change to my exposure to Native American beliefs that everything has a living spirit, a prevailing theme in Feather Gifts and other manuscripts.

During the store promotion, I started telling my own stories out of respect for Native traditions that their tales are told only by Native people. I received invitations to tell at outdoor education centers, community centers, churches, scouting events, and schools. In my spare time, I sketched feathers and the idea to write Feather Gifts was born.

Years later, I was encouraged when a series of events led me to Ardath Rodale, late owner of Rodale Press, Chief Inspiration Officer of Prevention Magazine, and founder of Hillside School in Allentown, PA. Mrs. Rodale loved the book and by the time of her passing had purchased 30 copies printed on my home computer. I now wonder what may have happened if the relationship with Mrs. Rodale had continued.

I sold several more home printed copies here and there and was ready to print professionally when I discovered that the program I had used for layout was too old to transfer to modern equipment. Undaunted, I hired a graphic artist to re-create the book. Entering the contest seemed like the next natural step when I received an email from James Twyman, author and founder of the competition, who promised ongoing support, education, and exposure for the duration of the competition.

What’s most important to me is that my work will inspire you and bring you closer to loved ones and our earth to experience more joy, beauty, and fulfillment. My goal is to also send books to Native and other under-funded schools.

Round One of the competition (four rounds total) is largely dependent on popular vote between March 30 and May 3, 2010. PLEASE BECOME A PART OF THIS INTERNATIONAL EVENT BY SUPPORTING ME WITH YOUR VOTES!

And please, whatever it is, awaken your dreams and follow your heart. It may sound cliché, but it’s never, ever too late!

Many Blessings and Dreams,
Robin