mguste
A Garden of Gardenia
"In all things of nature there is something marvelous." (Aristotle) The windows blinds opened this morning to a marvelous sight: a gardenia bush in my garden was full of flowers. Sweet delight. Enough flowers to make any gardener dizzy and any house no longer in need of air freshener for weeks. Not that I use that fabricated chemically concocted stuff. I don't. A Southern home loves a good sprig of gardenia to remind itself about who it is, where it comes from and what’s important. Gardenia are not only fragrant, they evoke powerful feelings and memories. My memory this morning [...]
Down on the Bayou
Sometimes, we are given openings in our day to connect with our Creator, with one another, and with the flora and fauna of nature. A few days ago, Marianne Tavares, RSCJ (Toronto), Sheila Smith, RSCJ (Ottawa), Georgeann Parizek, RSCJ (Baton Rouge), and I did just this in the Cypress Island Swamp Preserve in Breaux Bridge, LA. Being in this environment makes one realize the precious gift of life as it is expressed so gratuitously through the cypress trees draped with moss, the native vegetation, the puffy clouds and blue sky, the alligators sunning on driftwood and the smiling faces of [...]
Life Unfolding: Mission Alive!
My niece Colleen Guste Waguespack is the Mom of three precious children. One of her children was born with autism, a growing phenomena. Impassioned by love for her child, Colleen sought resources to support his growth from local organizations providing specialized services to this vulnerable and special group of learners. Finding some resources but recognizing the need for substantially more in-depth and broad scale specialized services for children on all places on the spectrum of learning, Colleen began to work with the Speech and Hearing Foundation of Baton Rouge to develop a new learning center to address the gap in [...]
Personal vacation moments
Today, I wore these gold tennis shoes to an all-day committee meeting. Just looking at these big golden clunky shoes stretched out under the table makes me smile. They remind me of the New Orleans SAINTS, my favorite football team, and the new season schedule that was just published. That little smile during an 8-hour day of meetings is a little "personal vacation moment." It is amazing how the simple act of smiling can be so important to my spirit and to the elasticity of my mind. Bringing a smile with you to work is working SMART.
From the Fire
While making a decision this morning, I was reminded of how important it is to breathe and to "let go" in discernment. "It was a familiar feeling—tightness in my chest and the back of my neck. This told me it was time to breathe, trust, let go of attachment to outcome, listen deeply to what was going on, and test things that might or might not go well" (Gibran Rivera). Quoted from: Dressler, Larry, Standing in the Fire: Leading High-Heat Meetings with Clarity, Calm, and Courage (Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1 edition (March 15, 2010) p. 29 . Sometimes, mysteriously and synchronistically, [...]
