Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer · 1 Comment

Signposts on the Treasure Trail

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”
~Frank A. Clark

It was a sixth grader yesterday that introduced me to this quote.  He chose these words to reflect his sentiments as he gave his graduation speech, marking the passage from elementary school to junior high.

He understands the depth of their meaning more than my 38-year-old self.  Having spent his youngest years in hospitals with leukemia, he is a living example of perseverance.  He describes times during his illness when he would lie in bed and repeat over and over in his small head “I have the will to live.  I have the will to live.”

Now, completely cured, he stood before the crowd of parents, telling us that he still loves a good challenge.  That he embraces the difficult, inspired to find his way through adversity.  He welcomes this, knowing the treasure to which this path leads.

He has traveled terrains I cannot fathom.  He knows depths I do not understand.

Yesterday, I heard this twelve-year-old state with simple clarity:  “I love life.”

I’m following his lead.

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer

Living the Leap

I used to tempt fate.

Thrust myself into situations like some zany trapeze-artist-in-training, testing.  I wanted proof there was a net.

Through trial and error (and plenty of misses) I’ve come to discover that the cosmic weave of the web of life has caught me every time.

There have been moments when I felt a void, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t supported.

This Grace, this ever-present force that offers breath to me, heart beat to heart beat, shows itself through the outstretched hands of countless people I have known.  Sometimes through the gesture of a passing stranger.  Sometimes from a life-long friend.  I have been gifted time and time again through the generosity and open hearts of others.

Humans, together, we weave the web.  We are the safety net for one another.  Sometimes support can be as simple as a smile.

courtesy of Mark Setchell

The threads reach beyond just people.  They are in everything and everywhere.  In the quiet of a morning, as birds sing in the day.  In the cool of sunrise air before the light warms the grasses.

Yes, I’ve gotten the darkness.
Yes, I’ve seen the light.

Just now.  This morning.  I can feel the truth – that all of it is a gift.  The gift of  Life.

We can trust there is a net.  Let’s keep reaching and live.