Today I shall Eat Strawberries...

Today I Shall Eat Strawberries

by Sandy Penny

For the last week, for breakfast, I’ve been eating toast with peanut butter and banana. It’s a favorite of mine as a vegetarian breakfast, but today I woke up with a thought.
That thought was, “Today I shall eat strawberries.” I have a pint of strawberries in my refrigerator, and I’ve looked at them every day, and I haven’t felt as drawn to them as I did when I bought them. But this morning, something in me said, “It’s time to eat strawberries.”

Since I try to look at the larger meaning in all my thoughts, especially those early morning messages, I meditated and used that phrase as a seed thought, today I shall eat strawberries. Some very interesting things came to me.

*Today I shall make a change, not a big change, but an obvious one.

*Today I shall focus on red instead of yellow, get out of my mind in into my body. And perhaps this was my body’s message of what it needs.

*Today I shall have a little more tartness in my life. Sometimes we focus too much on the sweetness, and we have to balance that out with a little more tangy energy. That tang can help us move out of lethargy into a new comfort zone.

*Also, banana is considered a masculine symbol because of its shape. Strawberries are considered feminine, food of the goddess. Perhaps I’m shifting from my masculine more into my feminine side today.

I haven’t eaten my strawberries yet because I wanted to share this meditation with you. I did make coffee, as I have all week, and it tastes terrible to me. I like coffee, and it’s the same coffee I’ve been making, and the same creamer, but today I don’t like it. Something has definitely changed. I like that, actually. I can use a change. I think I'll have a cup of tea.

So far, my year has included quite a bit of change for a small town girl. I was managing Santiago’s Gallery, and for about three weeks, I was getting a message that I was not going to be there for long, that I had done all I could, and it was time to go. I wasn’t sure where I’d go. A couple of weeks after I first got that message, I had a phone call from an editor at the Taos News. She said they had lost a couple of freelancers and asked to see my samples. After reviewing them, we had a meeting where she gave me seven assignments to do. I was a little overwhelmed. Working full time at the gallery and doing this much writing would be difficult, but I was determined to get it done and start building my writing in Taos.

A week after beginning these articles, one day, at Santiago’s Gallery, I was sitting at the desk when Santiago and his brother Charlie came in. They said they were closing the gallery, that it was not showing signs of making a profit or building sales, so it was time to shut it down. I was a little shocked since they had opened in the late fall when they knew that spring, summer and fall are the art season here. We had even discussed that, and they had decided to do all the start up in the winter so it would be ready for action by spring. Here it was, just about a month from the spring season, and they were quitting. I would have protested more than I did, but having had the messages about it being time to go, I knew I was done.

I also knew that the Taos News work was not enough to support me yet and that I would need something else. I got a couple of week’s severance pay, so I could figure something out. During these two weeks, I got an email from Dr. John Lerma, author of “Into the Light” which I ghost wrote for him. He asked me to do another book project, and I accepted. That upfront money helped me through the last couple of months.

The angel doctor has been pretty busy, so we haven’t worked much on the book yet, but last week, my editor at Taos News called and begged me to take on three articles for the summer guide here that are due next week. I accepted. I could use the money, and the subjects were fun for me. One was about the farmers markets and a sidebar on restaurants that buy local organic produce, a subject close to me heart. The second was about the art colony that is Taos. The third was about the community kitchen and garden here. There’s so much here that is creating community and creativity and personal expression. Well, the sidebar on the Glorious Green restaurants has now turned into a full-length article, so that’s helpful too. And, all this writing is in keeping with my mission to support myself with spiritual writing. This is all about the spirit of Taos, and the people who live here.

I am affirming another long-term project to begin in the next couple of weeks, so please put some energy into that for me. Please see me happily writing, researching and being paid well for a wonderful spiritual writing project with loving supportive people.

Let me know what you’d like me to see for you. I spend a lot of time every night focusing on what my friends and acquaintances are affirming in their lives. I also love to hear about the changes occurring for all of you. And, I got quite a few new subscriptions to my newsletter after the last issue. That was nice. Welcome to all the newbies and thanks to all of you who have stuck around when I was not sending out regular emails.

Let me hear from you, and feel free to pass this along to anyone you want.

Now, I shall eat my strawberries.

Peace, love and joy to you all.