The Heartbeat Echo...

Hi!


If you read these ramblings with any kind of regularity, you are well aware that we have some pretty adorable grandbabies. The ones in the photos above are the youngest two, thus far.


Just like becoming a parent, no one can really explain what being a grandparent is like. You can't really know until you're there.

I can't speak for anyone else, but this is what it is to me.


With your grandbabies, you get to have all the fun with minimal responsibility. You don't have to be the vegetable police, the bedtime Sargeant, or fart joke monitor.  At Grandma's house, the licking of the beaters is its own food group, bubble baths frequently outlast the 40-gallon hot water heater, and ice cream may or may not get served for breakfast, on occasion.


With your grandbabies, you are consumed by a love so big, so broad, so complete. The heartbeat echo of your love for your own babies. It kind of catches you by surprise, because you had resigned yourself to the fact that the all-encompassing love for your babies could never possibly happen again.

Yet, there it is.


With your grandbabies, you get to attend their events, cheer them on, be a face in the stands they look to. You get to do all of this without being the one who has to wash the sweat-soaked uniforms, figure out carpools, or provide team snacks.


I appreciate every day, the fact that none of our grandbabies are more than a two-hour drive away, three of the four living 10 minutes away. I treasure the sleepovers, stories, games and cuddles.

A time will too soon come when visiting Grandma's house will elicit a much less enthusiastic response than it does right now. So, I'm going to soak it in, bask in it, appreciate it, and enjoy the hell out of it for as long as I possibly can.


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Well folks, that about does it for now. I have to head off to the basement to rehearse for a 2-night show next weekend. Prep for a tradeshow, also next weekend, and get some words to the page.

Take care all, and thanks for taking the time to read these ramblings from wherever you call home.


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May you celebrate every precious giggle, listen to every fairy-filled story, and accept every snuggle that comes your way.
May you have the privilege of showing up to cheer them on at every recital, every game, every tournament, every play,

May you show them the fun things, the goofy things, the things that cause a belly laugh.
May you show them that it's okay to imagine a purple sky, polka dot grass, a winged giraffe.

May you help them to understand it's okay to live outside the lines, that not everything needs structure, not everything needs rules.
May you be that place for them, the fun place, the goofy place, the safe place to be silly, be free, where there is no need for 'cool'.



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www.margyreidbooks.com

Dawn Was Breaking To My Right...

Hi!



I was driving, heading north, dawn breaking on my right. On my left, an impossibly beautiful, giant moon, fighting to make the night last just a bit longer, not ready to surrender its splendor.

A new day was beginning. Regardless of our readiness, regardless of our willingness to relinquish the night. A new day. Time to let go of any perceived regrets and failures, anything negative that may have taken place the day before. Time to shake off the shadows of yesterday. Time to bid farewell to the giant moon.

It was time to embrace the dawn, bathe in the energy of the sunrise. Time to soak in the infinite possibilities, the wonder of everything that could be.

Each sunrise brings with it a brand new set of do-overs. A chance to do better.


If there is any particular wagon from which you had an unplanned dismount. Do-over. Jump back on.

If you ate your weight in junk food. Do-over. Well, stomach issues and do-over.

If you were less than kind. Do-over. Well, apologize, do better, and do-over.

If you didn't get your steps in. Do-over. Do extra.


Each time we experience the privilege of witnessing a sunrise, we owe it to ourselves to approach every task of the day with gratitude.

Doing laundry... think of those who barely have clothes on their backs

Cleaning house... so many are homeless

Doing dishes... so many go hungry

Bad day at work... so many unemployed

Spouse driving you nuts... so many widows/widowers

Yardwork... so many without space to run

It's hard.

Who am I kidding, it's pretty much impossible to feel grateful when you are knee deep in toddler vomit for the third day in a row. When your boss passes you over for that promotion...again. When you feel like a hamster on a greased wheel full of landmines.

It's hard.

When it's the hardest is when we need it most.

None of us are perfect. We screw up. We make wrong choices.


Each sunrise brings with it a brand new set of do-overs. A chance to do better.


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Until next time


May you embrace each dawn, shaking free of the shadows of yesterday.
May every sunrise find you smiling, full of light, ready to forge your way.

May every moon find you at peace, satisfied with a day well spent.
May you lay your head dreaming of all that can be, all the greatness for which you are meant.



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www.margyreidbooks.com

Until We Change...

Hi!




Again, it has happened. A hate-filled heart walked into a place of worship filled with people praying, and opened fire.

Again, there will be families left without Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Children, and Friends.

Again, thoughts, prayers, and condolences are sent. Even if 99.9% of these thoughts, prayers, and condolences are sincere, which I truly believe they are, it's simply not enough.

All over social media, you see posts being shared and retweeted, cultivating fear which, in turn, becomes hate. The ideology that the "they" are after what is ours. Trying to take over our city/province/state/country/world.

You see it all the time. I just saw, the other day, a post circulating about putting prayer back into public schools. I can't help but wonder if those who are advocating for this, sharing this, would be okay if the prayers that were put into the public schools were Islamic, Jewish, Buddist...

If you wouldn't be okay with the prayers stemming from a belief system other than the one you hold, then is it really spirituality you are advocating for, or is it something else?

If you find yourself fearing the "they," do you know why? Is this fear based in truth or some dark belief that we are somehow "better" and "they" are after what we consider ourselves entitled to?

Fear and hate are human emotions that are easy to stir. It can be innocently provoked with the slip of a tongue, a flippant joke, an unfiltered thought. Imagine how easy it is if that is the end goal. If eliciting fear and hate is what drives you. Imagine you have this desire, this skill set, this goal and also have unlimited access to vulnerable souls in whom the seeds have already been planted.

We all have had misconceptions about us believed by others. All of us, at some point in our lives, have had people believe something about us that simply isn't true. It may have been something small, something that didn't really matter, or maybe it wasn't.


Fear and hate can only thrive if we nurture it, if we fail to stop it from spreading.

Until we change what we do, it will continue. Until we stop spreading misconceptions. it will fester.
Until we become brutally honest with ourselves about the basis of our fears, it will flourish.

These voices of hatred that scream in our ears, that confuse bigotry with patriotism, that quietly disguise themselves as righteous, that claim to protect us, they need to be held accountable.


The fact that we, as humans, exist at all is incredible. The fact that our tiny planet, but a speck in the universe, has survived, that we, as a species have survived, goes against truly astronomical odds. I can't let myself believe that we have survived all of it to live in fear of each other, to carry hate for each other, to hurt each other.


Until we change, nothing else can.



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Until next time...


May we look in the mirror and face the truth about what drives our fear.
May we see the beauty in lifting all of humanity, not only those we hold dear.

May we recognize those whose sole mission is to feed the dark.
May we nurture light, if unable to find it, create our own spark.

May we create a safer, more peaceful place for our children, a space where they are truly free.
May they inherit a world filled with understanding, acceptance, a world where they can just be.



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www.margyreidbooks.com

Celebrate Your Womanhood, It's A Truly Beautiful Thing!

International Women's Day!




We stand upon the shoulders of the women, the warriors that came before us. The women who fought for our right to vote, the women who fought for our right to education and career, the women who fought for our right to not be considered the property of men.

We stand as women, as warriors, with our arms encircling one another to offer support, and fight for our right for all votes to be counted, fight for our right to education and career, fight for our right to decisions about our bodies, they should be solely ours to make, for we are not the property of men.

We stand firmly, steadily, vigorously, as women, as warriors, so those who follow us may stand upon our shoulders. The women, the warriors that will fight to create the policies upon which we vote. The women, the warriors, who will fight for our right to every kind of education and career. The women, the warriors who will fight for the day that our bodies will be free to roam the earth without threat from men.


Never mistake our nurturing natures for weakness. Never mistake our silence for acquiescence. Never, for one minute, mistake our peaceful essence for surrender.

In a perfect world, we would not have to fight. In a perfect world, equality would be a given. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to teach our daughters all of the things they need to know to guard themselves against the dangers of walking the earth as a female. How to guard themselves every hour of every day, how they can never let their guard down, because if they do, and something happens to them, they will be the ones held accountable. Accountable because of what they might be wearing, where they were, who they were with, because they smiled.


I know how unlikely it is that this perfect world can ever exist. But, we can, and will, forever strive to make it better tomorrow than it was yesterday.


Fathers, teach your sons. Sons, teach your fathers. Brothers, teach your friends.


For today, International Women's Day, and every day, celebrate your womanhood! Wear what you want, say what you feel, walk with more confidence, less fear. You don't need permission to be yourself. Wear makeup, or don't. Wear beautiful bras, or don't. Wear cotton undies that tuck under your boobs, thongs, boxers, or nothing at all. Spend hours to create hair that could make the cover of Vogue, or walk through your day with a beautiful crown of bedhead. Celebrate your womanhood, it's a truly beautiful thing.


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Until next time...


May you take this day to celebrate the women in your life.
May you celebrate them all, whether your sister, your cousin, or your wife.

May you come to understand the difference between toxic masculinity, and what it means to be a man.
May you, if you see it, call out the toxic, stand up, even if it makes you uncomfortable, know you can.

May you take this day to celebrate the women in your life.
May you celebrate them all, whether your daughter, your niece, or the one who gave you life.


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www.margyreidbooks.com

This Is Me, Turnin' 53!

Hi!




By the time I sit myself down to write the ramblings for next week, I will be 53. It's weird, because, although I, of course, am aware of my birthday every year, I find that each year I have to actively do the math to remind myself as to which birthday it is.


On one hand, there are days when I feel every single year. The bones and joints often make enough noises to start some strange beatbox girl band. The insomnia, hot flashes, supercharged PMS, brain fog, well, really, all of the fun that accompanies the whole menopause thing seems to take great pleasure in threatening my sanity. The days when these things rear up, especially if they do so simultaneously, yeah, these are the days I feel every...single...year.

On the other hand, there are the other days. The days spent with my hubby, days filled with empty nest adventures. The days I get to spend creating worlds that will, if I'm lucky, tickle the imaginations of kids and adults alike. The days of spontaneous photo shoots, wherein nature grabs my attention to the point of completely losing track of any sense of time. The days spent surrounded by kids and grandkids. These are the days the years can't reach me.


When I look in the mirror, I see the story of my life printed upon my body, upon my face. I see the evidence of four babies in four years, the effects of breastfeeding those four babies, the residue of sleepless nights, the loss of loved ones, the worry and stress over health, money, the weight of every decision that either has helped or scarred our kids. I see that gravity isn't a myth. I see it all.

When I look in the mirror, I also see the warrior that has been knocked down more times than she can count. I see someone who has taken every hit, and always found a way through. I see someone who has had to be resourceful beyond reason, who has been at the brink of drowning in the sheer volume of things that needed to be done, who has had to fight.

When I look in the mirror, I see someone who is still learning. Still learning to cut herself some slack. Someone still learning that, sometimes, it's okay to be still. Still learning to let go of constantly feeling responsible for keeping all the balls in the air.  Still. Learning. Everything.

When I look in the mirror, with each passing day, more clearly, more defined, I see me, and I'm okay with that.





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This, my friends, is my 451st blog. Thank you so much for your support, your questions, your messages. At the writing of the first ramblings, there were 17 readers. Now, today, 91,803. At the first, readers came from one country. Now, 21 and counting.


Gratitude is a word too small.



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 Until next time...


May you celebrate every day, the fact that you are here, here to laugh, here to live.
May you celebrate everything you are, everything you have, everything you give.

May you look in the mirror and see all that you are, let the negative whispers fall away.
May you celebrate your beauty, embrace your story, honour your strength, in every way.

May you find you are allowed to be happy, not just comfortable living in your own skin.
May you see that the acceptance searched for at the fingertips of strangers can only come from within.




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www.margyreidbooks.com