Things happen for a reason or a meme I did not get tagged for.

Today I had a most wonderful opportunity to begin checking in on some of my friends here in blogdom.

One such friend http://princesstomato.wordpress.com/, (there she is), had a meme as her most recent post.  Now, I do not love memes as a rule.  Let me clarify, I do not love DOING memes as a rule.  I do, however, enjoy reading them. 

I am nothing if not complex though, and so, upon reading this meme I wail mentally "ME!! ME!!  TAG ME!!!"

"What", you might be wondering, "What kind of meme could possibly have a regularly mild mannered gal anguished so?"

Here it is:

The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.*
3. Find the fifth sentence.**
4. Post the next three sentences, so if my math is correct that’d be sentences six, seven and eight.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the blogger who tagged you.

As a rule of thumb, I do not feel whole without a book (or five) stashed in close vicinity to me.  I knew, when I read this meme and found only ONE book anywhere NEAR me, I just knew, that this meme was meant for me-me!

So I pick up that one book, A Grateful Heart: Daily blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles edited by MJ Ryan, and I open to page 123.  There aren't five sentences on the page, so I chose lines - lines 6,7,and 8 read,

"In honor of those of us who have courageously, joyfully, burst into the fullness of our identities, we offer gratitude and blessing." - Molly Fumia

Around the House of Stink, things happen for a reason; trees fall, roofs leak, folks call, and memes are claimed.

I can't say that I have burst, joyful, or otherwise, into the fullness of my identity, but I can say that I have, of late, been courageously seeking it.

Today, I needed to read that.  Today, I honor those of you that seek, or burst or dance in the fullness of your identities.  Today I am grateful for the opportunity to seek.  And today, if it so moves you, if you too find the hair on your arms rising and only one book near, today, I challenge you to turn to page 123 and read what might be waiting just for you.

PS If your curious, and I was, the next two sentences, the last on the page were these,

"At the end of life, our questions are very simple: Did I live fully?  Did I love well?" - Jack Kornfield

Humph.  Guess I needed those too.

Comments

[Melissa]

Sounds like a great book you've got there! The nearest book to me is a dictionary... followed by my son's Artemis Fowl books... not sure that anything very inspiring will be there :)

[teri]

stink!!! are you KIDDING me??? I ALMOST TAGGED YOU FOR THIS!!!!
love it!!!
t

[nic]

oh the timing of it all. i spotted this meme over at jorthy's a few days back, finally got around to it today, was thisclose to tagging you when i saw you've already done it! ah well. this is why i like you so much...we have all the same vices.