For artists who love to explore Spirit, and spiritual people who love to explore art Note: If you can't read this page properly, click here. Dear %$firstname$%, Today is Chip and my 20th wedding anniversary. But we've evolved through so many versions of ourselves, it's as if we've lived through a gazillion marriages. So the current me has been married to the current Chip for about a week. I happened upon a page of funny and insightful quotations about marriage. Chip and I went through and picked our favorites to share. Chip's Favorites A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time. ~Anne Taylor Fleming Like good wine, marriage gets better with age - once you learn to keep a cork in it. ~Gene Perret I have learned that only two things are necessary to keep one's wife happy. First, let her think she's having her own way. And second, let her have it. ~Lyndon B. Johnson To avoid mistakes and regrets, always consult your wife before engaging in a flirtation. ~E.W. Howe Men never know how tired they are till their wives sit them down for a nice long talk. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960 Any married man should forget his mistakes - no use two people remembering the same thing. ~Duane Dewel Julie's Favorites A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966 There is no substitute for the comfort supplied by the utterly taken-for granted relationship. ~Iris Murdoch A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. ~Paul Sweeney One should never know too precisely whom one has married. ~Friedrich Nietzsche A man may be a fool and not know it, but not if he is married. ~H.L. Mencken When a girl marries she exchanges the attentions of many men for the inattention of one. ~Helen Rowland My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God, and I didn't. ~Author Unknown Affairs are just as disillusioning as marriage, and much less restful. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966 But onward to a more universal concern. (Or would it be less universal?) Do you know your mission in life? Does it matter? Today's I Listen to Spirit Blog question comes from someone tired of feeling pressured to sort it out. "Do I need to know my mission?" Dear Guides, People talk about the importance of finding one's "mission" or "purpose in life." They claim it is especially vital to do so if one plans on using one's spiritual insight to earn a living. Can you talk about this from your perspective? Excerpt from Minda Bernstein's channeling on 7.20.2010: Dear Ones, A question about mission or purpose is like a question about whether you should wear your glasses or not when you go out into the busy city streets. . . . Those of you who need this correction for your eyesight will very easily understand how it makes a difference. It is possible to avoid certain major obstacles without your glasses, but it is not nearly as easy to get a complete picture, an overview, advance warning on where things might be moving fast into your visual field which may require some adjustment to avoid collisions, etc. Understanding your mission can help you to answer questions about priorities that come up constantly in your world. Decision-making becomes much more simple and natural. There are many benefits in terms of how you will draw people and circumstances into your life, because the more you have this purpose on your radar, the more you will envision and create the aspects which will further its realization. All the parts of the puzzle will begin to assemble, and placing them will become self-evident, pleasurable, the type of challenge you will be eager to dive into. . . . If you need or want the money to be coming in through this mission, that is an important facet in that this piece of the puzzle will not readily appear if it is not in your plans, which could have a negative result if you were counting on it. . . . There is much to say about [how to define your mission or purpose], but mainly it is left to your own discretion as to what feels whole and complete and, mainly, inspiring to you to live your life on a daily basis in the way that motivates and enriches your spirit and inner being. This answer continues in Minda's "Dear Guides" Journal. Join "Dear Guides" by clicking the button at right. To order today's full "Dear Guides" Journal channeling (approx. 4 pages) on this subject for $3, go to the Beauty & Spirit Welcome page and enter "43. Do I need to know mission" in the Paypal box. I love that last paragraph about how to tell whether you are "on mission." Well, I've been avoiding it, but the time has come to face the dark side of the studio. Things don't always go great. My painting this week, which is layer four of "Me First" (40"Hx30"W) (I showed you layer two before) is having real problems. You know ... you're going along in the studio and things look fine. Then you get up the next morning and blam, all the flaws jump out. In this case, hot colors, generic darks, overworked oils and balance issues. This is the third time I have stretched a new canvas onto this framework, and each time the painting reincarnates with the same problems. It's like a relationship! You might as well not trade your old one in until you've really looked at it, owned up to it, found all the good stuff to learn from it, and envisioned it much better. The ghost of this stretcher also seems to have a penchant for the surreal. Don't ask me where the image in the painting came from. Luckily, this incarnation has a few strong points going for it: A wide variety of textures and sizes, and many intriguing passages. I think I can rescue it. With love, Julie Julie Bernstein Engelmann Email: julie@julieengelmann.com P.S. We hope you will post your comments on the blog. Or just email me! P.P.S. You are welcome to share this Beauty & Spirit Note with friends! P.P.P.S. Friends, you can sign up yourself at any of the sites below. Welcome to the Beauty & Spirit Note! Sign up & click to past issues. Julie's artist site: www.JulieEngelmann.com Minda Bernstein's channeling site: I Listen to Spirit Frank Butterfield co-produced with Julie: A Communion of Light: Creating Money The Beauty & Spirit email list is housed securely on the email server of my husband Chip Engelmann's site, www.ChipEFT.com, using his autoresponder program. © 2010 Julie Bernstein Engelmann and Minda Bernstein