Value– what an incredibly valuable word it is as a verb, and a shallow representation of its true essence as a noun. I have started to consciously adore and really embrace this verb, this act. It presents me with a box of priceless goodies. A big box of gifts in the corner of a cozy living room that I can dive into, pull out each item and give it a big-bear hug, loving it and loving life for giving it to me! My box full of value-ables. Things I am able to value. And I find that the more I am able to value, the more I find in the box. The verb “value” as in “I value this or that” can be used as easily, off-handedly and casually as words like love and God. But the act of deeply valuing and loving (which is godliness) is a rather different story. A much more interesting story. And a much more fulfilling story. An honest to god, love-able and value-able story.

I value my mother as an individual with whom I share a deep meaningful bond and relationship. This relationship is one of my gifts sitting in that big box I smile at. I cherish it. She and I have created it. It is an honest relationship. A caring one. A compassionate one. A tender one. A communicative one. One in which even our differences, which is the variety of us, do not become barriers to our act of deeply and completely loving each other and supporting each other as we continue growing in life. I value her presence and I enjoy the energy exchanges even from thousands of miles away as I smile when she comes to mind and when I hear her voice on the phone.

And when I look at the times I experience uneasiness or restlessness or anxiety or a lack of joy, I realize that what is missing from my life in such moments is my ability to value. I’m not looking at my present, my gift box of goodies. I observe a behavior of falling into not valuing. Not just as the lack of some thought or statement that “I value xyz”(s), but the actual inability to carry out the act of valuing.

Valuing what?

Just valuing… and doing it right now.

Walking the streets of New York city, stopping in your tracks and drinking in the awe of the magnificence that breathes life into every sidewalk, street, pedestrian and concrete structure.

I remember sitting down at 34^th and 6^th one night between 11pm and midnight and calling up my mother because everything was Just Too Beautiful and I wanted her to enjoy it too… and she did… or maybe she was enjoying my enjoyment, but I could hear her smile. I valued that moment in my life and I valued her and I sharing it. I still do and always will… that’s the depth of experiencing value for me.

I recall sitting in a parking lot in Los Angeles and absorbing the environment around me — i could feel the peace, the love, the joy, the simplicity, the purity in the moment to moment creative energy around me. The valuable presence of the space… in the stillness that held it… as if it were there for the purpose of my embrace.

I also recall thoroughly enjoying every single moment of my steps in preparing to surprise dear ones with gifts and goodies on their birthday… or on any day. And then additionally experiencing their joy as they receive these gifts. The cradle that holds such being-ness is the energy of love shared. How I value these moments! Value-able moments I pull out of my ever present box!

Some of these presents/moments I create, some are created by others, some are created jointly, and some are a part of the on-going energy of creation…

I recollect vividly, sitting in the back of a cab, as it made its way through Central Park, and embracing organic stillness… the beautiful energy of love being held in the silence of an early summer morning as I experienced the life energy in every tree leaf, jogger, walker and their dog.

Your life, your beautiful sunshine life is right now… yet many of us yield to becoming a burdened cog in the mechanics of a machinery, ignoring our senses that enable us to appreciate this fact… and hence, feel a void where there should be the gift of deep joy. The opportunity to start waking up to the intimate world of beauty in your life presents itself to anyone at any time, yet some only take notice when the cog starts wearing down and we are forced to slow down to see the truth… either through the occurrence of a sudden physical handicap, a breakdown, a gradual need to let go of how we once thought due to aging painful experiences, or through other such momentum-stumping occurrences.

But hey, its alright, because waking up to the warm and welcoming awareness of your value-able quality, at any point, is the gift that keeps on giving… it is a bottomless box of gifts for as long as you are diving into it. Whenever… wherever. That’s right baby… its all you… whether it is to be a warm sunny day or a cold winter one… your life’s quality is all up to you in every gifted moment…

In the perceptive, self-aware words of George Harrison of The Beatles,

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun… and I say, it’s all right

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun… and I say, it’s all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes… Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…

The spiritual seeker, George Harrison, was not talking about the weather when he wrote this song. Harrison, like many of us, valued a constant Truth… the kind that doesn’t come and go with hype and heckles.

An excerpt from an article on “Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison”, by Joshua M. Greene states:

“Harrison’s principle desire in life was to know God. He was as happy meditating or tending his garden as he was being a celebrity. [In fact, he spent much of his life trying to be un-famous.] If he could lead others towards God through his words and music, then he was truly happy. And that is why we all loved him so much.

Harrison discovered how meditation could unfold marvelous abilities lying dormant within the human soul. Through meditation and devotional chanting, George acquired the tools he needed in his search for truth. When he died in 2001, he passed away peacefully and unafraid, confident of his merging with the Divine.”

One would say he lived a very value-able life… and passed away grace-fully.

I find that the ability to value and treasure your value-ables is a good indicator of ones connection to the divine that is within and without. It is the language that ties us, anchors us, to our higher self… our deepest truth. It is the channel through which we access our soul energy, whenever we so do… and appreciation is a direct result of this soul accessibility. To sit at a kitchen table and to want to make still oneself and to value the energy in this present moment; to feel the grace of presence in the leaves blowing outside the window; in the life of an ocean; and in the beautiful and deep connection between me and a soul sitting with me… is to be valuable.

To feel life energy in the shower as I embrace every moment of the warm water caressing me; and in the communication between me and a horse who called me out of my parked car to come share in love… how we mutually enjoyed each other as I fed it, stroked it and kissed it, with the warm California breeze caressing and blowing through both our manes!

How much I value my box of value-ables and appreciate the availability of the gifts of life is hard to describe in words. Even in the midst of activity, to experience the divine energy is simply beautiful and valuable. It is organic. It is the magic of life… a salute to the presence of — and presents from — grace.

I could further describe this “valuing” as accessing the sixth sense of life, where divinity is sitting pretty and smiling at you… with a cappuccino in hand. “Isn’t it all simply so wonderful!” exclaims divinity, “Come sit down and let’s enjoy it together.” Here, at this place, there is no clock ticking. There is no hurry or need for something to happen in order to… in order to anything. All is perfect. Time stands still. And there is only one thing that means anything…

everything.

And this sixth sense is the sense of the divine energy alive in you which heightens all of your other senses. So you can actually absorb and experience with vivid clarity and freshness and detail, the simple magic that avails itself for that particular moment of life to be as it is… beautifully alive and vibrant. It is pure, calm, creatively available and positively poignant all at once. It is what, in my experience, has felt like kisses and whispers of grace.

Grace is a very very special special energy available to each of us. I will share my experience and my understanding of her in my next blog, but for now I’ll say, grace allows us to intrinsically and expansively experience our valuable nature… our connection to the eternal, wise and pure truth of now… and then, if she seems to subside as we turn our gaze to externals and start losing our sense of appreciation from within, it is in our conscious choice, as always, to either bring her along and maintain our connection to a life of values/value-ables, or, to mechanically not, as if we have no choice.

For a grasp on the relationship between you and grace, I will return with her in my next blog.

But for now, to this blog’s question, “Are you valuable?”… the answer is always and undoubtedly… YES…of course you are.

You are as valuable as your ability to value.