What if...

What if statements give more opportunity to humans following through with the question being asked. For example "what if I ate healthy today" is much more inviting then. " I HAVE to eat healthy today!" My question of the day stemmed from a lovely encounter I had yesterday.

I walked out of my appt. building on to the chilly street of Macdougal and ran into one of my best friends Elisheva. "AH! It's so good to see you!" (mind you we live in the same appt building but are just never home at the same time). She has a bouquet of dried flowers in one hand and a small pink flower in her other. " Smell this flower it smells so good". As i smelt the pink flower i was taken aback by the gorgeous perfume I inhaled. As this was happening a man in his late 30's walked past and said "how beautiful what kind of flower is that?"" I dunno" said Ellie,"I just got it for free down at the market. Do you want to smell it? " Oh, please" the man said and bent over to take a whiff of the flower. " mmm beautiful". then went about on his way. It wasn't weird, creepy, or an invasion of space AT ALL. It was simply a beautiful encounter. Since he was walking close enough to here our conversation why not be part of it? What if our world views could encounter at any given moment? Isn't this how life is meant to be? To weave in and out of peoples lives as we encounter them on a day to day basis? A simple encounter but one that allowed me to realize that the reason we have the awful feelings about strangers is because usually a stranger approaches us as either a gross guy trying to hit on us(why don't normal guys our own age hit on us..ladies? Anyone? seriously...) or it's someone asking us for money either literally with a cup or via a clipboard.

I say it's time for us to start sharing life with humans again by simply lifting each other up. Whether it's a smile, a hello, or a brief interaction with no strings attached that ends with a "have a nice day!" Let's stop walking through NYC still in our four wall appt. spaces. Let's actually WALK OUTSIDE and allow our fellow New Yorkers to affect our lives :D

I always want to be a player

I love to play, create, imagine. Apparently most people don't do this but in my spare time, when alone, I'm usually trying to make myself laugh. I do this by either making funny faces in the mirror or making funny sounds or voices that will crack me up and of course create silly dance moves that are too ridiculous i can't help but burst out into laughter while thinking "if only my friends and family could see me right now...(not that you all don't see me acting insane anyway)"

Recently in my performance Phenomenon class we began to just play with each other for about 10 minutes while the rest of the class watched. We might take on a character, play with the chalk board, create a scene, or just be silly[serious silly of course...this is class afterall]. We're in the enchanting room 001 which is just filled with creative magic. Each time i'm in that room I discover myself falling in love with a new part of it or a new person inside it. Why don't we all just play more? I'm pretty sure God wants us to laugh, giggle and be like children and children PLAY!! I"m so thankful to be a nanny because i get to play with kids every week. I found this quote in my book "The Jesus prescription for a healthy life" by Leonard Sweet- he's a super funny writer and really find the heart to what this thing called "life" could be filled with. I just had to share this section of the book that I felt like I wrote myself.

JILLENE A JOHNSON is a lifetime member in good standing in THE SOCIETY OF CHILDLIKE PERSONS and is hereby forever entitled to:

*WALK in the rain, JUMP in mud puddles, COLLECT rainbows, SMELL flowers, BLOW bubbles, STOP along the way, BUILD sand castles, WATCH the moon and the stars come out, SAY hello to everyone

*GO barefoot, GO on adventures, SING in the shower, HAVE a merry heart, READ children's books (my favorite are Fancy Nancy and Alice in WOnderland -of course), GET silly, TAKE bubble baths, HOLD hands and hug and kiss and DANCE.

*FLY kites, LUGH & CRY for the health of it , WANDER around, FEEL scraed and sad and mad and happy, GIVE up worrying and guilt and shame, STAY innocent, SAY yes and no and the "magic words", ASK a lot of questiones, RIDE bicycles, DRAW & PAINT, SEE things differently from the way the rest of the world does, FALL down and GET back up again, TALK with animals and nature, LOOK at the sky, TRUST the universe, STAY up late, CLIMB tree's, TAKE naps, DO nothing, DAYDREAM.

*PLAY with, PLAY under the covers, LEARN new stuff, GET excited about everything, BE a clown, ENJOY having a body,LISTEN to music, FIND out how things work, MAKE up new rules, TELL stories, SAVE the world, MAKE friends with other kids on the block, DO anything else that brings more happiness to my life , CELEBRATE, RELAX, COMMUNICATE LOVE CREATE.

*ENJOY health, joy, pleasure, abundance of grace and self esteem.

* furthermore, the above member is hereby oficially authorized to frequent beaches, meadows, mountaintops, swimming pools, forests, playgrounds, picnic areas, summer camps, birthday parties, circuses, cookie shops, ice cream parlors, theaters, aquariams, zoos, museums, planetariums, toy stores, festivals, and other places where children of all ages come to play, and is always encouraged to remember the motto, of The Childlike Persons:

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO HAVE A HAPPY CHILDHOOD!!!