Wildflower Writes

  Photo by  Clay Banks  on  Unsplash I am amazed when I follow the stories of talented individuals who achieved success with a lot of personal sacrifice and hard work.   As inspiring as they are, it’s everyday people who beat incredible odds that really challenge me. I watched Night School , a documentary that showcased students attending an Indianapolis Excel Center. Excel Centers are adult high schools- where you take in-person classes to earn your high school diploma, rather than take a High School Equivalency test. Working for Goodwill, I’ve heard heartfelt success stories, but I wasn’t prepared for Greg’s story. Driven to become a better dad and provider, Greg begins taking classes to get his diploma. His search for a better job is further complicated by his criminal record. His brother ends up in the hospital with a gunshot wound. His 3-year-old daughter is epileptic. Each obstacle is gut-wrenching, but he doesn’t lose his resolve, even when he finds o...

“…and let the music we sing be the song of our hearts.” I don’t remember the exact words our choir director used, but in a brief moment of prayer before our Easter cantata, I realized why I sing in the choir. I’ve always loved to sing. Most kids do, I think. In my early years I was drawn to music, although it wasn’t a large part of my life. I didn’t study it or read a lot about it, although I did learn about Beethoven from Schroeder of the Peanuts comic. I learned song lyrics, although I rarely knew who sang what or what album it came from. Imagine my mom’s surprise when I came home from a sleep-over at nine years old singing, “Like a Virgin.” On the other hand, nothing seems to resonate with me more emotionally and spiritually than a song. There’s something about music that penetrates all defenses and makes its way to the very soul of a person. So I’ve always sang in the choir. I always wanted to be a part of making beautiful music, to take apart the notes, rhythms, and dynamics and ...

“Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.” - Tony Robbins When someone as beautiful, talented, and blessed as Natasha Richards passes on, we all pause. Our hearts break for young sons, a devoted husband, and other family and friends. We wonder what plans they had for after their ski trip, for next year, for the future. We wonder about the last mundane conversation with her husband was about before she fell. It makes me wonder… if I died tomorrow… what would people remember about me? Have I made good with the gift of life given to me? Have I used the talents and knowledge developed in my lifetime for the best use? Have I, as Henry David Thoreau said, “...live[d] deep and suck[ed] out all the marrow of life… live[d] so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life… cut a broad swath and shave[d] close… drive[n] life into a corner, and reduce[d] it to its lowest terms...”? Life is so precio...