Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Mini-Miracles

In the Broadway show, Flower Drum Song, there is a number called “A Hundred Million Miracles.”  While I am not sure about there being a hundred million, I am continually amazed at all the highly improbable events that happen in my life on a regular basis. I probably shouldn’t be so surprised at them because they happen so often, but I am.

I’ve begun documenting these and call them “Mini-Miracle.” Below are three examples.

Mini-Miracle #1.
I recently went to see a singer I really like, Liz Callaway. She did an entire evening of Stephen Sondheim songs except for one that was a parody of a Sondheim song. Callaway introduced the composer of the parody, who was in the audience.

I enjoyed the song so much that at intermission I went over to the song writer and told her how much I liked her work. It turns out that many years earlier, at a professional speaker’s meeting, when she was just a beginning speaker and wanting to incorporate her own songs in her talks, I had encouraged her to keep writing. Obviously she did and is now having her work performed by other professionals. My connecting with her again, in such a chance encounter, was a miracle to me.

More recently, I was visiting Tucson where I attended a Sunday service at Unity spiritual center. Not one but two Mini-Miracles happened there.

Mini-Miracle #2.
As I was approaching the front door, a young man came down the path. Amazingly, I had met him only one other time in San Francisco. And here we were, practically in the middle of the dessert and we meet again. 

Mini-Miracle #3.
At the Unity service, after I got up to say my name and be welcomed as a new comer, a board member took the microphone and announced that they had a celebrity in the audience, meaning me. He went on about how he has read all my books and how he has been a fan of mine for years. I truly felt like a celebrity. Especially when I went into the bookstore and the woman behind the counter remarked how honored she was to meet me and that it gave her chills. (I guess giving someone chills in hot Tucson is a good thing.)

I’d love to hear about your Mini-Miracles. And stay tuned for more of mine…a hundred million miracles minus three to go.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Introduction to Living and Laughing

So, this is my first blog post ever. And I really don't know why it took me so long. Guess I'm a slow learner. I'm a Taurus after all. I've got to take one step at a time and make sure I'm on steady ground before moving on. Anyway, here it is. 
My holiday gift to you and to myself.

Mostly I owe the start of my blog to Cinder Ernst, president of the board at UnitySF.

I took a class with her in which we had to set a goal and pick a date in which we would accomplish that goal. I said that I wanted to have a blog and complete it by October 15th. That never happened so I changed our agreement and moved the date up. But that never happened either, so I moved the date to the last day of the year December 31. I wanted to give myself as much time as possible and still complete it by the end of the year.

So, here I am accomplishing my goal and making my deadline. Thank you Cinder.

Now that the hard part is over (why did it take me so long???), the fun begins.
I have lots to share with you. Including thoughts from my forthcoming book,
Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying, thoughts from a new book I'm working on tentatively titled You Can't Ruin My Day, and just thoughts. 

All future posts will will relate to either getting more laughter in your life, or, about how to live life more fully (whatever that means for you.) 

In one of my humor workshops each member of the class went around the room at the end of the day and stated the one thing that they were going to do to get more laughter in their life. One man, a dentist, said that he would buy and wear a bright tie to work. It wasn't much, but I realized that for him, this was a major step forward because everyday he wore a black suit, white shirt, and a dark somber tie. 

Everyone needs to start where they are in order to live more fully and laugh more often. 

What is the one thing you will do today to do that? I'd love to hear what that is for you.

And, Happy Holidays. Bought any red and green underwear lately?