Dear Amazingly Beautiful Leading Lady and Kind Friend,

I recently read the eulogy that Steve Jobs’ sister wrote and was deeply touched. I felt like I knew him after I finished reading it and felt he was someone I would have liked and would have been friends with. His sister knew him. And she knew him well. It made me wonder could I sit down and write about my own self as she had written about her brother, and if I did what would I say.

If someone described you, what would they say? Is what they are seeing who you really are? Is it how you see yourself? Is it how you want others to see you? Sometimes we don’t accurately represent who we are because we are not walking in a total awareness of who we are. We throw around the phrase “finding ourselves” a lot today. Sometimes we seem to know others, or at least think we do, better than ourselves. So how well do we know ourselves?

I penned a simple list, for now, just to begin exploring. I would like to come back later and flesh it out more. I made an interesting observation after making my list. I do not always spend time doing the things I really love. I want to change that. Instead of spending an evening watching television, what if I spent the evening exploring an art gallery, or even a new art book? Or what if I spent the evening with friends discussing our hopes and dreams over dinner with a bottle of wine? Even something as simple as listening to the music I love can get lost in the busyness of a day. How many times do I get so busy that I don’t even think to have music playing? I said before there is power in the written word, and I believe that. If my life is the canvas, let me use these words to paint my life, my authentic life.

I love music with heart and passion.
I love the smell of the ocean.
I love turtle necks and jeans.
I love good conversation.
I love black and white.
I love creating.
I love simple.
I love fall.
I love joy.
I love art.
LOVE
I love art.
I love joy.
I love fall.
I love simple.
I love creating.
I love black and white.
I love good conversation.
I love turtle necks and jeans.
I love the smell of the ocean.
I love music with heart and passion.

I love that this is who I am and that I love all of these things.

I didn’t mention my material possessions, but of all the possessions I have, my Bibles, pictures, piano and writings mean the most to me. They are the things that cannot be replaced. My piano has a story, so even it cannot be replaced.

A perfect evening would be spent with people I care about enjoying wine, music, inspiring conversation, and wonderful food.

I wonder how many of us actually know our own selves as well as Steve’s sister wrote about him. I wonder if we even stop and think about it much, who we are. If we did, I believe we would like ourselves more than we realized, and low self-esteem would be less of an issue.

And if we did realize who we were, would we realize that we are not living our lives as our true authentic selves.

What do you love? How do you like to spend your time? What moves you? What inspires you? Are you spending your free time doing what you really love?

Take care, dear friend. May your life be beautifully you!

~Topaz

What do you love? How do you like to spend your time? What moves you? What inspires you? Are you spending your free time doing what you really love?