Passion – Marilyn R. Gardner

Today I am delighted to introduce my daughter Stefanie as a regular contributor to Communicating Across Boundaries. I think you’ll love her photography and perspective on life. As I write this she is heading back to New York City where she goes to college.

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Stef - Empire State building Four years ago I visited New York City for the first time. Even though I lived in the Northeast for the majority of my life, I had somehow missed visiting New York City. After a college visit outside the city, my dad surprised me by driving us into Manhattan where we spent the rest of our day. I remember being in awe of the skyscrapers, big lights, and hundreds of people. I remember thinking that it was the greatest city I’d ever been to.

In the evening, we ventured up to the top of the Empire State Building and gazed at the tiny buildings below with their twinkling lights shining in the darkness. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the Empire State Building as we drove out of the city. It brought some sort of magic into my life that I couldn’t quite shake off.

A few years later, I moved to New York City for college and the glamour of it all ran out quickly.

At the end of the year, I was tired and ready to return to my stomping grounds at home. But before school ended, I returned to the top of the Empire State Building and the city once again pulled on my heart-strings. The same magic that had entranced me years before came rushing back and I once again remembered why I loved this crazy city.

Often I need to remove myself from my daily routine and experience a breathtaking moment to remain sane. It’s important to remember why I am where I am because it is incredibly easy to forget the beauty of it all.

How about you? When have you had to remove yourself from daily routine to renew your vision and passion?

Stef - through the window Stef - 50 cents for a million dollar view Stef Bigger vision Stef - My world Stef - New perspective Stef - Seeing farther Stef view from Empire State building

I met Dawn Hobbie Sticklen when I responded to a post she wrote about the Muslim community in Joplin, Missouri. Since that time we’ve communicated over blogs and twitter. Today I’m sending you to her blog “Since You Asked…” to read a piece that she posted yesterday. If you’re wondering how you might break out of your comfort zone this year, her essay will be a great challenge and encouragement.

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In July of 2010, Cheryl Fogarty and seven others from Joplin, MO, boarded a plane bound for Haiti. Once on the plane, Cheryl felt a wave of peace envelop her and she told herself, “This is what you’re supposed to do.”

And then she got off the plane in Haiti.

Cheryl, who suffered from chronic asthma since childhood and depended on inhalers and several medications to breathe freely, was unprepared for the stench of decay she inhaled when she stepped off the plane and into the suffocating heat and humidity of Port-Au-Prince. Her immediate thought was, “Surely God didn’t bring me all the way here to die.” Once again, she began to pray.

Six months before her first trip to Haiti, Cheryl began a quest to understand her life’s mission. As she recently told me, “I had achieved all my goals. My husband and I have been together for twenty years. We have four children, a beautiful home, and my practice is thriving. Yet, I felt there was something more I was supposed to do……Read more here!

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