A Birthday Message from Jean Houston

Dear Friend,

Sitting on my deck this morning surrounded by the many gifts of the upstart spring—valleys dressed in shadows and light, pungent aromas from budding fir trees, mating ladybugs and chorales of birds, I am filled with joy at the gift of life today, on my 76th birthday. In my 27,376 days, I have lived under 912 full moons, worked in 108 countries, been present to the dying of the old and the rising of the new such as few in history have ever witnessed. As I sit here in wonder and astonishment, I remember you with gratitude.

Jean Houston 76th Birthday

Sometimes I have had the opportunity to meet you face to face, sometimes I experience you as words on screen or paper. Today on my 76th birthday I want to tell you how, grateful I am to share this great and magnificent journey with you. You have brought your gifts of heart, mind, courage, passion and friendship to our camaraderie and this spiraling road that we walk together. I could not do this alone.  You inspire me with the stories that you share, the ups and downs, the wild and wooly adventures, the unexpected grace and the beneficence of discovery, and the sanctity of peace.

If I have one birthday wish it is that each day, we celebrate how precious life is. May we continue to cherish and support the right and dignity of life for each and every person, whether they be in war or peace, in comfort or distress, elders or the children of every people and every nation.

Mark Twain once said,

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

If I have learned anything in 76 years it is just that—Explore, Dream, Discover. And, above all, Love.

Love,

Jean Houston