soulful remembering...

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love. Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment. When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help. Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?" Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you." Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!" "I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered. Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you." "Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!&qu

Giving is at the heart of human relationships. It enriches our human experiences and makes our life worth living. But sometimes it’s hard for us to understand or to accept this fact, that when we do not give we become less human, and when we become selfish we become unhappy because we make ourselves less of what we. Human beings are the only one among God’s creatures who consciously share. All other creatures fight for themselves or more through instinct. And it’s sad that sometimes we forget what giving really means. Why do we give gifts, anyway? For me giving gifts means giving yourself. We give a gift, and the gift stands for our self. Gift could be extensions of ourselves. That’s what is behind birthday gifts and Christmas gifts and all the other things that we give to each other. They are all symbols of ourselves. We often give gifts, but we forget that our self has to be given along with the gifts, and this is now the tragedy in giving gifts. It is the self that goes along with