There are 40 days left in this year! What does That make you think of?

Forty days and forty nights of the biblical flood. Forty days Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the Ten Declarations (commandments doesn't really quite describe them properly). Forty days in the wilderness for Jesus/Yeshua. Forty years the Israelites wandered in the desert. Et cetera.

In other words, 40 is a pretty significant, symbolic number. There are other examples, but suffice it to say, 'things can drastically change' in a forty day period, right?

In the Hebrew aleph-bet the letter that signifies '40' is the thirteenth letter, mem. That 13 has issues, too, right? ;-D Anyway, this letter represents the element of water. Interesting when you think of the flood, huh? So what is the deal with water?

Water is an element of change, as are fire and wind. Water is the element of thought, intuition, emotion. It is the spiritual aspect of life.

A Jewish mikvah, which we would--erroneously--compare to a baptismal, is filled with 40 se'ahs (a measurement) of water. At certain times a person will go to the mikvah for a ceremonial act wherein s/he will not take in a breath, as we are wont to do, but will blow out their breath and go under the water. At this point it is believed that without the 'breath of life' they are at one with The One, as spirit with spirit, I guess you could say. When they emerge, they are renewed.

I could get way deeper here, but I will leave you with this thought: If the earth was renewed after 40 days and 40 nights under water; if a new 'people' were 'created' crossing the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea) and receiving the 'commandments' after Moses spent 40 days on the mount, what great changes can you manifest for yourself beginning to today that you can see fulfilled on the first of the new year, 40 days from now?

I look forward to seeing the 'new and improved' you (and me) on January 1st. Take a deep breath--then slowly breath out...imagine, believe, be transformed!

Harvester Zoe (Maybe tomorrow I will discuss how the 13 works with this--It isn't an unlucky number at all! Someone remind me!) ;-D

Happy Birthday, Steamboat Willy (Willie?)! Yep, Mickey Mouse is 80 today! 1928, wow. A lot of cool things happened that year, especially in radio and movies.

Today is also the anniversary of the touch tone phone. Much quicker dialing than rotary. Remember? Even when I say my old phone numbers, I 'hear' the dial being longer for the bigger numbers. No 'beep, beep, beep'. Weird, huh?

Well, I actually have nothing profound to say about Mickey. I suppose if I allowed myself to think about it I would, but it's just been one of those days. So...

Here's to Mickey, whose name became synonymous with insignificance. Odd, really, since his birthday and the place his fame paid for (DisneyLand, etc) are a significant part of our culture, don't you think? Or maybe it all really is just a lot of Mickey Mouse. Hmm...

Put on your ears and sing with me, "M-I-C K-E-Y (Why? Because we like you) M-O-U-S-E!
(See ya real soon!)"

Harvester Zoe

Geez. They make this harder every time. At least when I (finally) found it last time it immediately got me here. What the heck? I know I'm an electronics jinx, but come on!

Today's rant is over and I wanted to chat about something that happened to me yesterday. I received my first rejection on my novel--and just at the query stage! No biggie, right? One down, hopefully not too many more to go. ;-D

But for some reason, even though the email only said, "not for me thanks anyway" (and no, these guys don't use punctuation or anything, it would appear), it still seems to be affecting me.

It made me think of the old 'sticks and stones'. Words DO hurt. And though I have the query out to others who aren't as quick at responding, I have walked around all day with this weird heaviness I keep recognizing and then having to attempt to do something about.

Attempt being the operative word here. ;-D

I used to have a couple friends who got really depressed--to the point you couldn't reach either of them for months. At least I'm a functioning depressive! ;-D

So, what is it about rejection, even something so small it has nothing to do with you personally, that upsets some of us so?

It's like carying around this invisible baggage. I can feel it and it's plenty big, too. Maybe, and here's a thought that comes to me this very instant, maybe I carry the bag around all the time and when something like this happens I just let it slip its way into the bag and off I go, carrying it around until the next thing. What is up with that?! Craziness.

So right now I am choosing to take a deep breath and put down the bag. I don't have to deal with what's in the bag; I just have to walk away from the bag. After all, this is probably (even though I wish otherwise) NOT the first rejection of the query or the manuscript I am going to encounter. It's time to grow the heck up and not let this kind of thing bring me down.

Know why? Because that is EXACTLY what has kept me from doing anything with my writing and everything else my whole life. Who gives a rip if Mr. Levine or Ms. Seymour or Joe Schmo don't want to represent me? Someone WILL! I just have to search until I find the person who does.

Now, how can you apply this to your life as well? I know some of you who are reading this have
never had a personal doubt about your ability. Wait? Is that true? Are there REALLY people LIKE that out there? Well, I may not know the real story about the people who came to mind when I wrote that, but for those who sometimes lose heart or self-confidence, here's today's 'take home':

We all have something to say--or do or 'be'. We just have to find the audience who wants to hear it. So keep searching until those people show up, ready and willing to take to heart the wisdom that flows from within you. I believe in every one of you, and even if, perchance, we don't agree on every little thing, know this: Your thoughts are still valuable. YOU are still valuable. Each of us is a link in the great chain of 'knowing' and 'being'. And if you choose to worship at the temple that is my heart, I welcome you. May we all find worshipers--not people who worship 'us', per se--but people who know the value of who we are and are willing to worship the 'god' within, people who know something we don't know or even have a better handle on what we think we DO know.

Thanks for listening. Oddly, I feel better now. Sharing has a way of doing that, doesn't it?

May the Divine in you and the Divine in me commune in complete joy at the Altar of our Uniqueness. ;-D

Harvester Zoe

Okay. So I proved I'm not computer saavy. I couldn't figure out how to get back here so I could post another blog.

I was trying to decide if I needed to capitalize things to get here. And I was putting in @ instead of dot. That pretty much got me nowhere fast.

But I made it! I figured it out.

Finally.

It amazes me how one little 'error', one letter or character that doesn't 'go', can keep you from your 'appointed rounds', as it were.

Is life really that complicated?

Sometimes, I think maybe so. One little misstep, one small, seemingly insignificant choice and Bang! Life takes a turn you never expected. I've seen it, in retrospect, in my own life. And, sadly, it is even more noticeable in my children's lives. How I wish they had listened!

But, just like my adventures in blog searching, we learn from our mistakes. In fact, I'll bet we tend to learn more from our mistakes than we do from just 'getting it'. (Though I have to admit it would have been nice to just 'get it' with the blog address.)

Think about it: You get so flustered you accidentally leave your bank card in the slot and it gets eaten. Sometimes you don't even notice, you're in such a hurry. Well, I guarantee when you figure it out and get the card replaced, it's gonna be a lo-o-ong time before you let that happen again. Right?

Of course, there are life lessons that don't have anything to do with things that eventually seem as trivial as that (but I did think of a couple more things that run in that direction--like leaving car doors unlocked with your purse inside). Sometimes we pick the wrong friends, the wrong lovers, the wrong career, etc etc etc. We learn to choose better because we have opened ourselves up to notice what doesn't work for us, even if it's just a wrong turn. Because wrong friends, etc, are just that: wrong turns. But we can always turn back around and go in another direction. And the next time we're on that 'road', we'll be sure to look for the signs and turn in the more advantageous spot.

So, that's my drivel for today: Couldn't figure out how to find my own stupid blog and turned it into a stupid blog for you! See? Isn't life grand? Live and learn. tee hee

TTFN,
Harvester Zoe

49 Days Left in 2008

Hello out there in Blogosphere Land!

It's November 12, 2008 and this is my first official Blog! Woo hoo!

I am all about being spiritual and wise. And I like to think I am
inspirational and deep as well!

So let's see if this is so...

I started this message last night and should have just stayed on it
even though it was cutting drastically into my bedtime reading.

Why? Because my computer was temperamental and lost the whole
darn thing this morning!!! Aarrgghh!!

So, here's the shortened version:

There are 49 days left in this year. And 49 makes me think of the
'49ers (not the football team, but the prospectors).

So what?

Well, I was thinking about what those early gold seekers did in order
to pursue their dream of 'striking it rich'.

They gave up everything to go west (unless they sailed from Hawaii
or came down from the more northern states, but you get my drift).

Are we willing to go after something we want with all our resources,
all our might, all our hopes?

I had some really great insights in last night's email. But I'm going
to leave it at this: Many people got rich, and many did not. Many
left just before they hit 'pay dirt'.

I want to encourage us all to keep on keeping on; to not allow defeat
or discouragement to stop us just before us hit the Big One.

Keep digging. Give it all you have. Think of those '49ers of old and
determine to 'go for the gold' just like they did.

Your dreams can become a reality. Don't sit in a comfortable place
'back East', wishing you had what it takes to brave the wilds and go
after what has you thinking outside the box. Go LIVE outside the
box! Go after your dreams, no matter how long they take.

You're worth it. Your dreams are worth it.
Here's to golden dreams being fulfilled.

Much love,
Harvester of Life (What my real name means)