It’s always a bit of a miracle

when things go according to plan:

when

. . . the rental works out beautifully,

. . . the weather is spectacular,

. . . you get a quiet night of sleep

. . . or you arrive at your destination

with grace.

This set of weeks, however,

has not been quite that.

Instead, it’s been a mix of

incredibly wonderful experiences:

memorable times with friends,

super cool projects for clients, and

a few lovely days back in California.

But January has also brought

some wacky situations along the way:

• A problematic rental (leaks, lack of proper heat)
• Storm waves crashing into the house wall along the ocean where we were (we left to stay at a friend’s house for safety)
• An earthquake off the coast of Malibu on Wed. that rocked the house (nothing broken; no one hurt…but scary)
• And on Thurs, falling backwards down a moving escalator when my roller bag tipped on my way to a gig.

Even among the more

unpleasant or scary moments

in all of the above,

I experienced acts of

compassion and kindness

from strangers,

and this made all the difference.

I’ll never forget the man behind me

on the escalator trying to peel me off

the ribbed metal stair plate

before we reached the top.

Showing your humanity and care

–especially to a stranger–

will likely mean more

than you may ever know…

And a little bit can go

a very, very long way.

Risk Forward & Rock On,

P.S. This is a photo of me on one of the better days between the various nutty experiences. But make no mistake: it isn’t always a sunny day. Just because everyone is posting lovely photos of their lives doesn’t mean it’s like that ALL THE TIME. And when you see pix of me in front of a big audience, what’s NOT shown: the 4:00am wake up and the banged up knee.