Island Morning

Making my way to "The Breakfast Club" in the predawn morning, I spy them sleepily stumbling down the sidewalk or sitting contemplatively on a bench or window sill, staring at cigarette smoke lost in thought.

It's hard to tell if their days are beginning or their nights have just given away to the day.

Darting between and around them are runners lost in their own universe pumped through ear buds singing songs of encouragement.

City workers blow trash from the sidewalks onto Butler Avenue where a giant truck brushes all manner of pollution inside.

A line of police cars are parked in front of "Sunrise."

Discarded bicycles lay everywhere.

Couples sleep in cars or huddle together on the beach.

Early morning fishermen race photographers to the ocean's edge as the water begins to bubble the birth of today's sun.

Bras, panties, boxer shorts and other articles of clothing vie with cigarette butts littering the high water mark.

A haphazard line's already formed outside "The Breakfast Club" with people intently smashing their faces against the large windows in disbelief that it's not open yet.

As the sun rises, ocean waves break into song, choirs of birds join in, the photographers capture the glory on film while others desperately search for sunglasses.

Returning to our quiet home, I check on Sarah whose had to get up to let the dogs out but is now trying to conquer sleep again.

Giving her a kiss, I shut the bedroom door and lead the dogs outside to the Beloved Back Deck, drink Perrier, pee off the side and plop down for morning prayers.

The rising sun rest in the branches of the Palm Tree with the oyster face, coconut bra and grass skirt so I rise to search for my sunglasses when Cassidy, Sarah's 7 year old, sleepily greets me, air askew, holding her pink blanket wanting me to pick her up.

The dogs go crazy with excitement, tails wagging and moans of delight and I tell them to "Shut Up" but their love will not be confined.

Throwing Cass on the sofa, I cover her with a blanket and hand her Sarah's I-Pad which will be another half hour of quiet time so I return to morning prayers.

Another Island morning has begun.

The opening of the windows

As important as Christmas and Easter ...

Rosh Hashanah or Passover ...

Ramadan ...

is the annual opening of the windows.

After being cooped inside because of cold weather, spring finally overthrew the tyranny of Winter and bitter northeast winds become balmy southern breezes.

The heater is turned off.

Shoes are put away.

Landry is lost.

In complete holy happiness, I dance to each of the 22 windows in  our house and open them in ecstasy.

Hymns from Bob Marley, Jimmy Buffett, the Beach Boys and Jim Morris are sung in the background.

Sunshine baptizes our home and the salt air of a sea breeze kisses everything.

Finally in the kitchen, the glass doors slide open and the Beloved Back Deck becomes one with the house bringing fresh scents of blooming flowers, choirs of birds and the playfulness of squirrels.

 "Righteous" I say out loud.

In the distance the ocean roars in approval.

Grabbing Sarah I kiss her salty bare skin in celebration of this high holy day!

Others are worshipping in other ways today but we've invited the Grand Cathedral that God built inside!

Who needs a musty old building to celebrate God?

They can have their stained glass windows!

We'll take our open ones.

What's wrong with this picture?

The assignment is to make art out of a drawing of a light bulb on a piece of paper.

Students must complete the page within a predetermined period of time because it is one of many skills being tested to gain acceptance into the school's "Gifted" program.

Alas, an artist took too long "creating art."

Instead of quickly drawing a smiley face or a bug inside of the outline ... or even yellow sticks depicting sunbeams, Cassidy took her time creating!

Using the entire page as her canvas to create a hair salon, Cass paints a scene of customer sitting in a chair getting his hair cut by a stylist as another waits her turn.

Colorful bottles line the shelves of the salon establishing a colorful array of "product".

The stylist has a pair of scissors in one hand and "Hair Spray" in the other, wears a necklace, a pink shirt and brown pants.

The customer wears a blue shirt, glasses and, apparently happy with the experience, a broad smile with outstretched arms.

The funniest thing about it are the "institutional"  words on the page encouraging participants to "THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX."

Cassidy did that but because she failed to comply with the allotted time constraints, she did not meet the minimum requirements to be accepted into the "Gifted program."

What's wrong with this picture?

I'm not just referring to institutional testing but many of the social, religious, governmental and family "norms" inflicted on people.

Making things great almost always takes longer than anyone ever thinks.

Just like great things are mostly outside of predetermined expectations.

Each of our lives is a blank canvas for us to create the person we wish to become.

Most people ... teachers, preachers, politicians, even those who love us most ... place constraints and their own expectations into the artistic act of "creation."

It's one of the things wrong with the world!

We can never really be ourselves when listening to the demands of others.

I thank God for artists, musicians, renegade preachers, honest politicians (an oxymoron) and family who really do encourage us to be everything we're capable of being!

These are the true heroes in the world!

Not those other leaders ... the teachers, preachers, politicians and family members ... who are all the same.

And to you Cassidy, I say "YOU GO GIRL!"

The beauty of the earth

In the middle of an unstable air system the weather prophets proclaim gloomy days ahead... the sun pops out from a blanket of purple clouds in a blue sky.

Dew drips from blossoms trees while choirs of birds loudly sing hymns of praise.

Half of the plants on the Beloved Back Deck are blooming away, sprinkling purple and red flowers, around the naked sticks that may not have survived.

A Finch hovers over a petunia while Gypsy the cat wistfully stares through the screen door.

Puddles of pollen rest on the outdoor table which I'll clean shortly.

A sense of calm has settled in an unstable world full of gloomy economic forecasts, abdicated political leadership, egotistical religion, missing people and misplaced faith.

I'm feeling blessed.

The last several years saw seismic changes and virtually everything about the way I live has transformed.

A very unstable time is now comforting stable.

I don't worry about much though there's certainly much to worry about.

People I love are fighting cancers, economics, lost loves, dreams, hopes and faith.

Lately I've taken to prayerfully whispering their names at night when I can't sleep and they comfort me somehow because I'm lulled back into unconsciousness.

The unstable darkness becomes stable.

In the midst of a world gone crazy I watch flowers bloom, listen to birds sing, am baptized in sunshine and am kissed by an ocean breeze.

I find myself humming a tune and words raise themselves from the dead in my mind.

For the beauty of the earth
For the spacious of the skies
For the love which from our birth
over and around us lies ...

And this day starts with an Amen.  

How Different are you?

At the beach, life is different.

Most can only take "different" in small doses, going to the beach for a weekend or a week or two.

They have to manage being "different" while the rest of us embrace it as a complete and total lifestyle.

The beach is a world of extremes.

There's too much contemplation and too many opportunities to have fun.

Living here means you swing both of those ways because you can overdose on too much of either.

As my friend Jane Fishman told me, "On an island everybody is either running to, or from, something."

Plus there's lots of water ... and lots of alcohol.

Both are used for baptisms.

Life moves slower, probably because we're constantly confused about which way we're heading ... contemplation or fun ... to someone or from ... seeking forgiveness or just diving back in for more sins ... sunrise or sunset?

I've got friends on both sides.

The contemplative ones are all involved with the Government, passing laws, making policies and forever sprucing up Paradise.

The fun ones only notice when one of the Government's numerous employees ... policemen and policy enforcers ... pull them over to arrest us, give our dogs a ticket or issue a "Stop Work" order.

I try to slide under both radars, strolling with the dogs and a little Blessing or two, by the Back River, inhaling the smell of the Marsh, listening to the Mussels tick and pop in the mud which naturally makes you think about sex.

It's a different way to live.

My Mom will be the first to tell you I've always been different.

I've been much happier once I accepted it.

I feel really bad for those who haven't and are still trying to fit in.

Which are you?

I want to know who to say prayers for tonight.
_________________________________________________

If you like this blog, please share it on Facebook, like my Facebook page or buy a copy of "Sandy Bottoms & Duct Taped Hearts" a book about this stuff that names the names with no regard for protecting anybody at www.meellc.com/newbook

Growing Hope

Reading the back cover of my new book Sandy Bottoms & Duct Taped Hearts, she says I'm a "Renegade beach bum at heart," and laughs.

Sipping coffee I nod enjoying the moment.

A twenty-something blond waitress, she's recently returned to school and struggles with the structured, regimented bureaucracy that is American education.

Suddenly serious she reads I "spent 30 years in the non-profit world successfully fighting homelessness, AIDS, mental health, substance abuse, health care and government bureaucracy."

"Where did you do these things?"

"Here," I absentmindedly shrug.

"What did you do?" she presses. 

"Oh I was at Union Mission," I mumble.

Her eyes grow wide. "Grace House? Phoenix Place? The Starfish Café? The freaking J. C. Lewis Health Center! You did those things?"

"I used to do those things," I explain.

She places the book in front of me saying, "I want to buy but a book I don't have any money right now."

I smile nodding my head. I wish I could give them away but I can't.

Sarah and I are hard at work starting new things taking our experiences and life lessons helping others grow hope in their lives. The book is one way though there are topical classes, workshops, speeches and personal coaching too.

Starting new things is hard work. Creating something out of our experiences and life lessons seems daunting. We know everything's going to work because we have faith, passion and love for what we're doing. Actually it's already working because people tell us how they've benefitting. Hope has grown in specific and concrete ways and they're trying their own new things!

Besides as the saying goes, "Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have ... might have ... should have" (Louis Boone).

"Hey," she says interrupting these thoughts, "I got the money. Can I buy a book now?"

Greedily she grabs it throwing bills on the table with a smile making a choice to instantly invest in herself.

"Thank you," I say watching her walk away towards her own new thing.
_______________________________________________

Purchase your copy of "Sandy Bottoms & Duct Taped Hearts" at http://www.meellc.com/wordpress/newbook/

Today

The beach is packed with people watching the sun rise.

They sit in chairs intensely focused on the horizon, wade in the surf, or hide their faces behind cameras clicking away.

Couples hold hands, laughing while strolling in the sand.

Kids build castles and chase crabs.

Teenagers profess their love by writing their names in the sand.

I'm darting through them on my bicycle, gliding beside the ocean's edge, marveling at the low line of purple clouds the sun is hiding behind.

A slight sea breeze blows my hair back and the smell of salt hangs heavy in the air.

I'm zipping pass the slow motion in a universe of my own.

At 13th Street I turn into the soft sand and the bike immediately sinks to a stop. Climbing off I push it to the crosswalk over the sand dunes and sea oats. On top I put the kick stand down and sit on the railing, letting my flip flops drop to the wooden planks.

A little girl with a bag of potato chips giggles as she throws them one by one into the air so seagulls pluck them from the sky squawking in delight.

Cargo ships are coming and going in the channel.

The sun bursts above the clouds turning them the colors of the rainbow and everyone on the beach stops to admire God's finger painting. I hear them hold their collective breaths.

A smacking sound draws my attention to the huge sand dunes and I see a couple laying together passionately kissing.

Shrugging my shoulders, I smile and jump back on my bicycle and coast down the crosswalk for the ride home.

The streets are intensely quiet. Pastel colored houses sit still. Palm trees sway slightly in the breeze. The pungent aroma of the marsh emerges overwhelming my senses.

This is the day the Lord has made and She's done a damn fine job!

I'm going to wait until Sarah wakes up then we're going to rejoice and be glad in it.
__________________________________

You can be part of a select group to spend two months working directly with me to become the writer you want to be? Sign up now at http://www.meellc.com/wordpress/writingworkshop/

The Tore Up People

Why is it so damn hard to focus on the important things in life?

The rising of the sun, the sound of cicada singing, a nice breeze and the sound of my loved one's voice across the room are cause for serious celebrations.

But there's money to make, expectations to meet, crisis to navigate and a never ending line of plates twirling on sticks that may break if I don't give it everything I got.

I end up blinding myself to the beauty of the world, sticking logs in my eyes to prop me up at work, with family, friends and everything they demand.

The happiness seen are specks, fleeting moments when life really is good, I'm really happy, and all is right with the world.

Erin is my friend and recently learned she has cancer. She lives in Chicago and invited a bunch of us to join her support team on Facebook so I'm a very proud member!

She's having surgery soon and was shopping for a recliner to recuperate in because laying in bed is apparently not an option. She finds one on Craigslist being sold by an elderly couple relocating to Tucson. She explains why the chair's needed and they invite her to sit and talk.

So she does.

They talk about cancer, moving, what a great chair it is.

Erin feels completely alive!

"Is it because I'm thinking about death that I'm so alive?" she shares.

I don't know.

It could be what she's really saying is, "To hell with it! I'm going to live like I've always supposed to be living."

Like everyone else, there are lots of things I wish were better. There can always be more of this and less of that. There's enough struggle and negative in life that we really try to keep those kinds of people blocked out.

This life given to each of us is a gift. Gifts are to be enjoyed and celebrated.  You never know how long they last.

I think we need to slow down and enjoy the things we have in our lives because in the end it's the little things that are really the big things ... the gift of another day, the sound of cicada singing, the kiss of a breeze and the sounds of those we love most.

Jesus once said, "Take the log out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to help your brother and sister. Don't give away what is Holy to dogs ... don't throw your pearls to pigs ... because doing these things will tear you to pieces."

I've known lots of torn up people in my life.

Hell, I got tore up myself and somehow survived.

We're all going to have lots thrown at us today. Honestly, most of it is trivial, hateful, and not especially productive for much anything. If we're not careful, logs are going to blind us to the wonderful gifts we have. It's a shame when we don't celebrate the gifts given to us.

Today, Sarah and I have blocked some bad people from our lives. We've kissed several times already. I've talked to the kids. The girls and I have laughed. We're working to help others celebrate too. I'm sending good Karma, deep prayers and lots of love to Erin ... and to you too.

As the sun keeps rising.

The cicada sing their Hymns of Praise.

God blows a kiss from across the Sea.

And the sounds of love surround me.


_____________________________

October 2013 ♦ Embracing peace in your life! “You are one of the most tormented people I know,” she said. I was at the height of success, living at the beach, working in a beautiful city, having everything I thought I wanted…but she was right. I was miserable and didn’t know why. Then I decided to take a journey inside of myself. Life is too short and I deserved to happily celebrate my life. As much as I wanted to lay the blame at the feet of others, it was my own fault and I needed to know why I prevented myself from enjoying my life. I needed to find peace. And I did. You can find yours.

http://www.meellc.com/wordpress/indepthclasses/

When God Created Nudity

Genesis Chapter 2
Micheal Elliott Revised Standard Version

1-4. God was done working having created pretty much everything so he took Sunday off which was righteous. Even though all of this was previously explained in Chapter 1 I'm going to tell it again adding new stuff. This is how it happened now that I've had time to think about it.

5-6. The earth was a pretty dry and barren place and it never rained and there was nobody to rain on anyway. And thus says the Lord, "I gotta water this place," and behold streams bubbled up from everywhere.

7. Then God picked up some wet dirt and blew on it and behold there was this dude.

8-9. God was a gardener and had this bodacious garden named Eden and he placed the dude there. There were all kinds of cool trees with lots of fruit but God was such a good gardener that he had grown a tree of life and another tree bearing knowledge which nobody had done before or has since.

10-14. Eden had a pretty cool river that ran in four different directions. You could get anywhere from there.

15-17. Then God told the dude, "Take care of this place and you can eat anything you want BUT ... if you touch the tree of knowledge, I'll just have to kill you."

18. And God mumbled, "It's not good that the dude is by himself. I gotta fix that."

19-20. So God started tinkering around making things, starting with cows for some reason then birds and then got a little crazy making wilder and wilder animals. But the dude was not sexually attracted to any of them.

21-22. And God said, "Dude take a nap" and it was so. While the dude was sleeping, God broke off one of his ribs without even waking him up which is hard to do. And God took the rib and made a woman which is even harder to do!

23. And the dude says, "WHOA MAN! You did that with my bone?" And the name stuck.

24. And for no apparent reason, this is why dudes leave home to hook up with chicks eventually getting married because they figured out sex.

25.  And the dude and woman were naked ... and liked it!

If you don't believe read it for yourself.