We all get angry, afraid - you know the human stuff. It's not wrong, it is just emotions - chemical reactions. But we don't have to stay there, mired in the drama, and when we think about it and reign ourselves in, we don't even have to go there. 

 

When we have strong emotions, we influence your surroundings. Emotions are like an illness, they are catching. Not only do other humans catch our vibes, the space and objects around us catch our emotional outpouring.  How far do emotions travel? The Hearthmath Institute conducted an experiment to measure the affect of human emotions on nature.  A subject sat in nature and was hooked up to a measuring device with probes that were attached to surrounding natural objects.  The findings revealed that intense emotions affect rocks, trees - anything within a fifty foot radius of the subject. Fifty feet!  Don't ask for the science, I'm not getting into the" how," just the findings. (But you might find this video interesting on singing plants. After being around music, the plants could then make tones.)singing plant video

The idea of keeping our fifty feet clean gives us an immediate mission. A few days ago, I was in Whole Foods. I connected with the cashier and when I left, I lightly touched the person packing my groceries.  I could feel our space and it was good. Those two people were with me and I was in their fifty feet sphere of influence as well.  My friend, who was with me, asked me what I was doing.  My reply, "I'm taking care of my fifty feet.

Causeless Joy

Yesterday I worked as a judge for a state election. The voters were mostly older people. Some were perky, some somber and a few were even daffy. To be fair I think there was only one daffy person. There were skinny people, larger people, tall and short people, but of all the people, two stood out.

One was a woman in her seventies; she was happy and upbeat. As it goes with emotions, they are contagious, and I caught her joy. On that steamy summer day; this brave woman left her home, crossed the street and walked to the polls.  I admit it wasn't too far, but this lady was blind. She approached us, cane in hand and joked around as she navigated her sightless life. What a heart throb this woman. Some people are attracted to physical appearances, but it was her vibrancy that made her a knockout.  She was living graciousness.

The other heart throb was blind as well. At 92, she couldn't walk and her daughter pushed her towards us in her wheelchair.  She was smiling and perky. She rummaged through her purse, found her wallet, retrieved a wad of cards and held up one up after the other asking "Is this it?" She was looking for her identification card. She didn't know who was running or who to vote for but she was going to vote. How precious.  She was only 7 years old when women finally got the right to vote. Yesterday, she honored those women who faced down their husbands and the politicians to make life a little more equitable for women. Go granny!

These two ladies know what they're doing. What happened before in their lives, who can guess? Were there childbirths or heartbreaks? Was there an illness, a loved one lost in the war or hard financial times? If so you couldn't see it on their faces. The legacy they carry is in their smiles.

 Life is full of reminders. When life gets in our hands, it is interesting what how we mold it. Yesterday these women were my role models. They were my reminder of how to live in causeless joy. Causeless joy is the joy that is born from the inner light, not as a reaction to things going our way. Thanks ladies, you light up my life.