You Are a Lover of Words....

I have saved this card for over 12 years. Since the day I received it I have had it framed and in prominent view. Ciara gave me this card on HER graduation day (exactly one year following mine.)

She wrote, "Patty-I've been saving this card for your for quite a while. Any my graduation seems like a perfect time. Because....well, because my experiences here (Southwestern University) are wrapped up in our friendship." She went on to share her sweetest and warmest thoughts of the beginning of our friendship. She made quite a few references to knowing we would always be in each other's lives....and to this day her predictions hold true. I hadn't read the inside of the card in years...but I am humbled to tears at the value, complexity, longevity and tenderness of our friendship.

The words on the front of this card have haunted me for years. Not because I truly believe I will ever write a book (although how could we have known 12 years ago I would be writing a "blog"); but because it is a reminder of the notion of unrealized potential. I know I speak frankly and personally when I admit that fear of failure paralyzes me FAR more often than it motivates me. I get stuck and mired down in the "what if's" and the "I'll be happy when's." I am currently swimming against a VERY strong tide and I don't mind sharing that I am challenging some deep, dark, tightly held beliefs that I have allowed to weave a place into the fabric of my being. I am re-wiring in order to "get out of my own way." I don't know....I will probably never write a book; but this card reminds me that other people believe in me and that similarly I should believe in myself.

You are a Lover of Words

One Day, You Will

Write a Book

People turn to you because you give voice to dreams, notice little things, and make otherwise impossible imaginings appear real. You are a rare bid who thinks the world is beautiful enough to try to figure it out, who has the courage to dive into your wild mind and go swimming there. You are someone who still believes in cloud watching, people watching, daydreaming, tomorrow, favorite colors, silver clouds, dandelions, and sorrow. Be sacred. Be cool. Be wild. Go far. Words do more than plant miracle seeds. With you writing them, they can change the world.

Thank you for this card, Ciara. I know that you actually view "me" through the lens of these words. And I love that when I don't see myself through the same lens, you gently remind me who I am and the potential I have to realize my own personal happiness in this lifetime. I love you, sweet friend! Right now I am smilin'! We became those women you talked about in the card....and if I may....we became ever better versions than we could have imagined back then!