why hello there, friend

What a beautiful thing to wake up to.

First, I randomly got a numerology report in my inbox. "Okay," I think. "Let's see if there's any hidden synchonicity in this thing." As soon as I click it, I see this:
Your Personal Year Number for 2013 is 9.
Color: White, all Pastels
Jewel: Opal, Gold
Keyword: Completion
This is the year of spring-cleaning. Get into the corners. Review everything and toss out all that is no longer useful in your life including people, places, ideas and things. If it’s finished, let it go...
I honestly started laughing! That is perfect! Important, though. I know for a fact I have to release a lot of things now. I have a bad habit of feeling that I need to be in control of things, but as soon as I let go, it feels amazing. Personally I like the feeling of riding the waves so much better than trying to direct their movement, haha. So this was a good reminder.
Another message in my inbox discussed the difference between personal "truth bells," and the Spirit of Truth: the two don't always line up; that would be claiming we're already perfect! So that actually took a huge weight off my back: I have an old compulsion to be perfect, so I work my bones raw trying to find absolute Truth in every tiny thing I find, even if I have a nagging feeling that I'm not supposed to. Truth bells are all good and helpful, as pointers to the real thing! So looking back and realizing that "hey, even those convictions I believe in most strongly might not be 'true' in that bigger sense" is oddly comforting: if I got it wrong, I can now gracefully accept that and let go of the old belief. Which is understandable; I didn't always see too clearly in the past. I still have troubles. BUT the closer we get to Perfection, in brightening our hearts, the truer our own bells ring. Discernment, from a pure heart, is always the key. All that we do should be for the greater good.
"Truth never hides and it doesn’t need promoters to convince those who don’t believe. What is true simply exists and what is untrue does not exist. Perhaps in the midst of what is temporal and apparent, a lie may seem to be true, but in the end all these fantasies will fall by their own weight. It is then when those who clung to these supposed truths will have to re-evaluate their course and choose whether to correct their path or not.."
The message of it all was very centering to me. I needed to hear it right now, too. Keep it in mind, son... oh, and can I quote this, too?
"We are all equal to the eyes of God our Father and His love is always unconditional, invariable and absolute. None of you has had to do anything to earn this love and none of you will ever lose it. It is you who can choose to close yourselves off from the Source of this Love, and let your soul wither. Go on, day by day, by living with the firm intent of knowing and expressing the will of the Father through self-mastery and the progressive perfection of your being..."
I know I used to waver on that in the past, but now I firmly believe it. But it's also deeply important to remember the unity in that statement, if fear starts to haunt you again. We're all part of that one greater Light. Geez I just love getting straight-up reminders of all this first thing in the morning, before I even leave my bedroom. It helps me make the day go so much better.
But in all things I must be open to changing and taking new action at the drop of a hat. Just reminding myself of that too. Matthew 5:41 always comes to mind: "If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.". It's the essence of being ready and willing to give at a moment's notice. That old phrase, "God works in mysterious ways..." never thought I'd see that proven so often in my life, considering the past few years, but hey. So, I say again, let go. It's a bit tricky for me, whether I like it or not, and that makes it all the more important to do. Just keep your eyes and ears and heart open, always...
Here's some more stuff, both of which are extremely relevant in my life right now, because otherwise I'm going to be copy-pasting my entire inbox. Who knows, maybe a link is just what an invisible reader needs?

Speaking of nice things, I re-discovered The Flaming Lips this morning. I've only heard about four of their songs in the past-- most notably Mr. Ambulance Driver-- and now I'm just listening to them on Youtube as I type this up. They have some truly beautiful tunes. So this is nice. Also had some face-punch synchronicity with that too, with two perfect songs, a perfect event, and perfect visuals. Crazy stuff. But I'm smiling. I love this.

Oh! I forgot to show you guys the snow we got this year! Here's Diamew, and here's the entrance to Nightebi. I always take pictures of them after the first snow, they look beautiful.


As for the title, though... between the landslide of beautiful spiritual blog updates in my inbox (not a single one of which was irrelevant), I noticed a strange email titled "well hello there, friend."
I knew exactly what it was.
Let me share that email with you.


"Three years already, huh? Time sure flies.
I bet you remember me, though.
Yes, it's you, from November 2009.
How's life three years later? Fun? Crazy? Both? I hope it's at least better than 2008 was-- that was a rough year, man oh man.
How's college? Did you graduate yet? I don't know if you decided to stay in Illustration or moved on to something else, but I hope you're happy with it, and I hope you've taken a few steps in bringing our worlds into this one.
That, my friend, brings me to the next point.
As of today, here in the past, you had 16 worlds and about 700 people upstairs. How the fish many people are up there now?
Tell one of them to say hi! *waves* Honored to meet you, my beloved sir or madam. I guarantee we'll have some fantastic times together.
Tox, Vontricia, Preludove, Hosea and Kenzel say hello from this OCT-riddled year.
Picayune says buy her a soda because she neeeeds it.
If you haven't fixed Part 11 yet, I will punch you.
How's Q, Jim, Ben and FMSR? You'd better still be talking to them, kid! They're priceless kids.
Lynne's doing great, as are Natalie and Vincent. Say hi to them too!
Also, Laurie says "hey there, mister 22-year-old freakazoid. You beaten that blonde witch yet? If you haven't, I'll do more than punch you in the face." You know she will.
I hope we've beaten Julie too. That was our goal, and seeing what year it is now, I hope we've reached it.
Did you get your surgery yet? I sure hope so!
Maybe you're dead already. I don't know. We've always wanted to go out early, for a good cause, but if that time hasn't come yet, make darn sure that we continue to live in that bright-hearted way of ours no matter what.
Seriously, don't listen to anyone else. Be you. You've got it right.
10 years with Ryou, wow. *sends you some aluminum daffodils* Congratulations, seriously. You have something beautiful; don't ever take it for granted.
Never forget entry 4.
Marik's going on 10 too, haha! Give the Pharaoh a hug for me and remind him how much he means to us. He's a great guy. If you two haven't had your third incident yet, do it now. I'm serious.
Never forget those nights under the stars.
Your muse is already 7 years old holy shuppet! That's amazing. Does he still go by 'Selph' or did he change his name? Either way, I'm going to blow him a kiss from the past so make sure he gets it.
Never forget that night at the altar.
Nine years with Chaos. How does that feel? Beautiful, right? I hope that you two are at least widely recognized in the StH community by now, because you deserve it, and you know it.
Never forget the early morning hours.
If you haven't said a word to JMC yet, e-mail her right now.
If you haven't seen DP in a while, check on her right now.
You still need to meet them both.
Don't forget any of this either--
1. Typing in the Borders coffeeshop
2. Your vendetta with Sheena Easton
3. Listening to 'World Citizen' at 3AM
4. Really, Rod Stewart? Really?
5. Haterth alwayth thpeak with a lithp
6. Fun on Tumblr, tweak today, MLIA and Last.fm
7. Pull yourself together, kid.
8. MISTER BLUESKY
9. OLIVER INGWERSEN
10. EVERYTHING geez I know your memory is awful but come on
How's your music? I want to hear some of it, lucky kid.
Also, did you get to see FROST* live? Did you go to the Summer of Sonic? Any experience in Flash yet?
Lhikan says DO YOUR HOMEWORK if you have any, I don't know. Knowing you you're probably reading this at some ridiculous hour, haha. Maybe not-- hopefully you've conquered that silly habit of ours.
Man, there's so much that could have happened in three years.
Take some time and reflect on it, okay?
What else did I want to say... oh yes.
No matter what happens this year, I hope you have much less regrets on average than I do now. Keep trying hard, all right?
You're a good person. Don't lose that and don't compromise it *hurm*.
I hope the future is beautiful.
If not, it's your job to change that.
You've done well, young Padawan.
Love you.
-Jewel Wisteria Lightraye
November 20th 2009
12:07 AM"


I am laughing out loud and tearing up over this, oh wow. So much of that just... it's exactly what I needed to remember this morning.
I... I think I'm going to let that letter speak for itself. It's perfect.
*hugs 2009 me* Love you too dude.


"You do not collect the Universe. You ride the range of the Universe, and the sun shines on you, and you reflect the sun until no one can tell the difference between you and the sun or the night stars or anything you can think or remember or not remember, for what is there in the Universe but the Oneness of Light and the Oneness of the One Heart that gallops everywhere."

Here's to December 2012.