“The only true privilege in life is to love.”– -Justin Faerman
I’m totally jazzed about meeting some of you at this Sunday’s Amazingly Awesome Benefit Concert for the Taz Grout 222 Foundation. It’s such an honor to be surrounded by so much support, so much love, so much possibility. Even if you are on the other side of the globe.
Because remember – it’s impossible to step out of the ocean of wholeness. There’s literally nowhere else you can go.
So thank you one and all for so richly blessing me on this wild and crazy ride. From wherever you might hail.
I’ve already gushed here on the blog about my joy at writing a song with THE KAREN DRUCKER! She of Tarzan calling fame.
And I’d be remiss in not mentioning one of the other musicians who will be joining us on Sunday. Greg Tamblyn and I have been friends for eons. When I taught a journalism class at Avila College, he kindly showed up for my student reporters to interview. I wrote about his hilarious song, “The Shootout at the I’m Okay, You’re Okay Coral” in my book, Art & Soul, Reloaded. And it was Greg who first introduced me to Evy McDonald who I’ve written about on the blog and, if memory serves, in one of my books. It’s a story about stepping away from the ego’s limited narrative and returning to the present and the wholeness of who we really are.
Here’s the scoop:
In 1980, Evy was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. By the time doctors finally determined her illness, she was, to use her own words, “a bowl of jello in a wheelchair.” The doctor told her, at best, she had six months to live.
After raging about the unfairness of it all for a day or two, she had this thought: “Since I’m dying anyway, why not use the short time I have left to finally learn to love myself unconditionally?”
For years, she despised her body. She was overweight, for one thing. The polio she’d had as a child left her with two withered limbs and well, she was hard-pressed to find anything she really liked about her physical body.
But she was determined. Three times a day, she’d roll her wheelchair to the mirror and sit naked. She wouldn’t leave until she’d find new positives to add to a list. Her hair was pretty, for starters. She decided that whatever it took, she was going to learn to accept herself. She also resolved to give all negative feelings and thoughts over to the bigger thing.
At some point, she crossed some kind of miraculous threshold. She actually began to feel love and compassion for herself. She began to see her body as a miracle of creation, to see herself as a blessed being who could experience joy.
Strength began to return to her limbs. She eventually began to walk, to feed and to clothe herself. She became the first person to completely recover from ALS and 40 some years later, she’s still ALS-free.
So whatever fabrication you believe is ultimate reality, be open enough to consider it might just have a few glaring holes.
Here’s the song and one more invitation to join us this Sunday in our extraordinarily epic quest to change the consciousness of the world. #222 Forever!
Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World).
20 Responses
How you always manage to publish exactly what I need is truly a blessing!
This song and story are simply beautiful.
Thank you Pam!
May blessings abound!
Gorgeous. Thank you.
Thank YOU!!!
I went to high school in a town called Bell Gardens. This was a poor part of town with poor sanitation. In the 1950’s, there was a polio outbreak in Los Angeles County. When I was in high school, many of my friends carried the effects of polio. They walked with a limp or used crutches. One girl was in a wheelchair. I went to a center where polio victims were cared for. I saw a girl my age in an iron lung. I was filled with gratitude for my health.
Gratitude is the only way to fly! Thanks for sharing!
Absolutelu loveandBeyondnessfull this wonderful post and story 💝🦋💫🦋💝
I will be there in spirit, as a part of this magnifiwholenessloveythingimajingy 🦋💫🦋💝🦋💝
Enjoy We all 🦋💝🦋😍😍😍
#222Forever #🦋
I know you will!
In this eternal moment, all is still absolutely sacred, free, and unfathomably miraculously filled to the brim with possibility potential and spontaneous unlimited fresh sparkling aliveness! Love you Pam!
So true, my friend. I love you, too!
What a gorgeous story and what a lovely song!
Right?
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this Pam ….I was feeling sorry for myself…not anymore 🦋 🦋
It’s okay to feel anything you want. No guilt! It’s just more fun to focus on awe! Glad to be a part of the switcheroo!
Thankyou dear Pam for your wonderful reminders of how amazing life is, and can be, if we remember to focus on love, awe, gratitude and joy. I love Evy’s story – it’s a wonderfully inspiring example of the fact that miracles are REAL, and that love is the answer. Super best wishes for Sunday’s concert. If I knew how to teleport I’d be there!! Love and blessings to you and the 222 Foundation forever! 😘🎉🎈🌺💃⭐️🥳
Powerful. My sister was always finding things that were ‘wrong’ with her. Her ‘maladies’ as she called them were all she talked about. I always tried to help her ‘turn the channel’ on her thinking but she never could let go. She passed away last November at the age of 71. Wish she could have heard this song.
LOVE! Love is all there is.
This concert sounds REALLY fun. Is there a remote link?
Dear Pam thank you for this inspiring post!
What an amazing story. I found this in my junk
I’ve always read every post you send out. I save many of them in a file. Why my computer did that I don’t know. They aren’t as smart as we think!
I’m going to but for more! I’ve missed you
The concert must have been super cool!
Go Taz 222. With love, Anna