A thousand years, maybe more...

Yes, perhaps it was more. When I looked into his eyes there it was, laid before me, full of uncanny familiarity. In an instant I saw the trees, lombardy poplars standing sway, the fields ripe, and ready for harvest, the stream bubbling and babbling by, the chair rocking by the fire, the man standing atop the hill, waving back at me...and on, and on it went until I had to close my eyes to block the centuries.

Do you see it too?

A berry good year.

I waited and waited. Watching as the little flower faded, dropped it's petals and morphed into a berry...then from pale yellow to pink to glistening red. It was divine and simple...and took a great amount of discipline not to eat it! I was never disciplined. But perhaps, there was never a reason to discipline myself.

Everybody up...everybody down

That's just life.

Please people - why can't you just accept grief and sadness into your life, what are you afraid of?

Loosen up - be sad.

Why are you so worried that you will never be happy again?

Here is a secret....shhhhh....I'm only telling you this because I respect you...ready? O.K. here goes...until you experience the bitter you will never fully recognize the sweet.

You should feel absolutely free to experience sadness, anger, grief as well as exuberant joy, pleasure and humour. It's your right as a human being. It's your right as an individual.

It is also your right to feel serene, calm, and unaffected by the world around you. In other words, it's o.k. to be you. I better repeat that, it's o.k. to be you. Hmmmm, still not getting it I see. That is the you that you are, not the you that others conjure up as you...soooooo, when people, any people, tell you to express yourself in a way that you are not feeling, you can justifiably tell them to, well, you know...

So, be happy, be sad, be silly, be yourself. o.k.? o.k. you choose.