Box marked 'Other'

I can now safely say I believe that everything happens for a reason.

 Seemingly random events have a way

 of fitting like perfect puzzle pieces as I continue on my path. 

 That's hard for a perfectionist like me to admit.

Having a tendency to want everything to fit perfectly, now

to make sense, now

to function like the perfect families depicted on long ago tv, now.

These past couple years seem to be a manifestation

of many of the seemingly random things from prior years

As if someone had gone into the dark recesses of my mind

Pulled out that old box labelled 'Other'

where the random ideas, events, feelings, oddities were stored

and shook it out onto my path

and arranged the oddities into perfectly fitted pieces

As if something greater

knew I would need it someday

And like an artist storing ephemera

knew that someday it would fit into the perfect creation

I'm more careful these days

Not to discount things with a

'yeah, right', 'why me', 'that's impossible'

If I save something out of a magazine or something I find

I don't chastise myself as being silly

If something painful is happening

I try, really really try, to remember it'll pass

And leave a lesson in its wake

The random oddities that leave you thinking

'huh - what was that'

Because perhaps, just perhaps, I'm filling that 'Other' box

for a special reason

I find it interesting, now, that the most painful events

the deaths, illnesses, and divorce

were the ones with the most valuable lessons

And that the little images that sometimes play in my head

while asleep or in meditation

have a way of becoming reality

Even if I say 'yeah right, no way'

And that when I finally gave in to this notion

And was willing to open my eyes to really 'see' and trust

that things started happening faster

that when 'the student is ready, the teacher really does appear'

~ ~ ~

After my divorce I had an odd little dream

Where I walked into a sunlit room

Up to the artwork on the walls

And curiously looked at the artist's signature

And saw my maiden name

At the time I laughed and thought, 'yeah right, it's too late for that'

Art was not a part of my life at the time nor did I have my maiden name

Recently I had a random idea pop into my head

That I should create, create and create

Enough pieces to hang on the white walls of my home

And invite family and friends as if it were a gallery opening

Not necessarily to sell, but to celebrate my reconnection to the path

I started to say 'yeah right, you can't...'

Then I remembered

I already have my maiden name back