Author

Shea Bell

Besides all my creative passions, and loving up my people, what I treasure most is meaningful connection; heart connection, those deep and satisfying times where sharing visions and woes, thoughts and solutions, makes it all worthwhile.

Family Grandparents Stories

Lily’s New Friend the Beast

Something extraordinary happened to Lily that morning as she stepped into the bathroom to brush her teeth before school. Suddenly her arms and legs started to tingle and the room went fuzzy. Was she about to faint?

The sensations increased until suddenly she heard a pop and felt herself drop to the floor. When she looked down she saw her body had morphed into a bright green jelly bean! W h a a a t?

In the next instant, her jelly bean body, with a mind of its own, flew up onto the edge of the toilet and plunged head first through the hole in the toilet bowl.

It all happened so fast Lily didn’t have time to be scared or grossed out, and found herself actually enjoying the slide. It carried her down, down, down, until finally the tunnel spit her out onto a soft green patch of grass. She skidded to a stop on her jelly bean bum, caught her breath then looked around. No animals, no other people, and no other jelly beans!

Either she was dreaming or there was some kind of magic going on. She looked at her round green body, stick arms and legs, and was enourmously relieved she could still see. Then she tested her voice with an extended h e e l l o o o and was glad she could still talk. Then giggles took over and she settled down enough to check out her surroundings just a little more closely.

Off in the distance she spotted an enormous black-haired beast with a mouth as big as a hippopotamus. Lily smelled him coming before he was clearly in sight. As he lumbered further into view she thought how easy it would be to be swallowed whole, yet for some strange reason, Lily was still not scared.

She sat very still as the beast slowly crossed the meadow. She noticed his head hanging low and wondered if he was hurt, or maybe sad. The thought made her heart clench.

Right on cue, the beast opened his mouth wide and bellowed a cloud of the grossest breath she had ever smelled. There were gooey long globs of greeny-yellow slobber swinging off its chin, and the few teeth left seemed rotten.

It was disgusting!

Lily’s usually sensitive nose went into overdrive, and once again, she thought she might pass out. At home if her sister peeled a banana she ran from the room, and this was unimaginably worse.

Since she wasn’t afraid of the beast, Lily’s first thought was how she might help. The beast seemed to sense her kindness so continued slowly towards her. When she thought he was close enough Lily put her hand out in the stop position, and stop he did.

So far so good.

She wiggled her eybrows and gestured, trying to see what the beast needed. He seemed to understand and waved his head towards the nearby forest like he wanted her to follow.

Soon they arrived at his cave. The beast dropped down onto it’s back with such a thump it felt like an earthquake. When the walls stopped shaking Lilly peered into the beast’s mouth. She could see how infected it was. Maybe she could clean it out so the rest of his teeth might last a bit longer. How would a beast feed itself with no teeth?

What Lily didn’t know was that the beast had no friends because he smelled so rotten and was cranky all the time, and that was also why he was so sad.

Lily had an idea. She ran out of the cave to harvest branches from a mint tree she spotted on the way to the cave. In fact, now as she looked around she noticed mint trees everywhere, as big as apple trees, and they smelled heavenly.

She harvested bundles of branches with juicy fresh leaves and dragged them into the cave. One of the smaller branches might work as a tooth pick. Lily also needed water, so used all her ingenuity to collect some from the nearby stream.

While she was gathering supplies she wrapped two large mint leaves around her own mouth and nose to make a mask, just like the one her dentist wore. It made her think she was a Beast Dentist. That was hilarious!

The surgery went well but took a while. She gingerly chipped out bugs, and rot, and leftover meat, and more than once changed her mask and scrubbed her hands. Once she poked too hard and the beast’s bright purple blood spurted out all over her!

The beast trusted Lily to do whatever she needed to without budging or complaining. He wrapped a long curled claw around her waist like a seat belt so she could lean right in from her perch on his huge lower lip. Lily was so happy she had found the courage to work through this very smelly and gross job, and it kept her going.

The last steps were to squish some mint leaves and water into a paste to rub into the beast’s gums. Lily showed the beast how to swish and spit, which he did several times. Then when its beastly mouth was as clean as it could be, Lily stuffed in handfuls of mint leaves and set her own mouth to chewing so the beast would copy her. When she was all finished, Lily pointed outside to all the mint trees the beast could use to keep it’s mouth healthy and fresh all the time. Once again the beast understood, and nodded gratefully. It seemed like they could read each other’s minds.

Exhausted, Lily crawled up into the cozy crook of her new friend’s arm and the two fell fast asleep.

As sunlight beamed into the dark cave, the beast gathered Lily up, still asleep, and carried her back to the grassy patch where she appeared the day before. He hoped she would return some day. But for now he knew he would be welcomed back into the clan, and no longer lonely. He wondered if Lily had heard his bellering cries for help and vowed to pay more attention to that hillside in the future.

The beast kissed Lily lightly on the top of her hairless green noggin. Then, pressing his lips into a loose circle, blew her softly back into the hole in the hillside.

Not long after Lily arrived safely back into the toilet bowl then gasped for air as she sailed onto the tile floor and skidded to a halt. Another pop and she was back to herself again. She didn’t remember much after feeling dizzy earlier. And what was she doing on the floor soaking wet?

Right, no time! Now she needed to find some dry clothes on top of brushing her teeth. She loved Kindergarten and didn’t want to be late, so brushed quickly and more vigourously than usual. Hmmmm. She had a sense it meant something, but what?

As she left the bathroom Lily spotted a green smudge on the floor by the doorway and vaguely recalled turning into a green jelly bean. Since none of it made any sense at all, she promptly decided it must have been a dream. But still, she hoped she would have that dream again, and this time she would try her best to remember it.

The story is dedicated to Vivian and Chloe, my darling granddaughters and fellow creators of hilarous stories. This Jamma has never had so much fun!

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Family Life Love

7 Love Stories ~ from my heart to yours

We are all bound by an invisible field of energy, & that connection is called love. Dr. Joe Dispenza

The ancient Greeks had 7 words for love. With them they laid a framework to explain more clearly the different kinds of love available to us so it is easier to understand.

By contrast the English language offers one word for this complex emotion. It can easily be misunderstood, and with potentially tragic consequences. Many times the subtlties need explanation.

In love we discover the deepest and most tender parts of ourselves, exposing our hearts to the ultimate risk or reward. Somehow we find the courage to take a leap into the possibility that lays beyond human imagination. Sometimes we plug our noses and go for it.

I was intrigued and inspired by this concept and decided to reflect back on my own life. Here are 7 of my most life-changing love experiences based on the wisdom of the Greeks.

PHILIA – authentic friendship

THE CRISIS

By some act of divine intervention he arrived home alive. The kids, after gathering their dad up from a hospital in Palo Alto, drove him hell bent home to Vancouver with all the heart and determination one might expect of a close family.

A week before he suffered a severe stroke while on a solo road trip to California. When it happened, as luck would have it, there was a cardiac hospital across the I-5, so he left the gas station, drove across the freeway overpass, and managed to pull up to Emergency before it was lights out.

Days passed before he was coherent enough for the doctors to track down his family, and make tracks they did. He was too fragile to fly.

I had no idea what to expect when I tip-toed into the bedroom a day later. He was awake, propped up on some cozy pillows, crazy still, and looking more vulnerable than I was comfortable with.

As soon as he caught sight of me, he flashed his trademark smile and drew me over with weary eyes. Instinctively I laid down on his chest, heart to heart, and together we cried tears of sorrow, grief from the horror of it all.

As the sobbing eased, I pulled up slightly and we held each other’s gaze. His eyes told of pain he could not yet process and a future for which he had no vision.

All I could do was send him streams of loving energy, meant to assure him he was not in this alone. I knew his wife and her friend were on the way back from a vacation in Australia, and in the meantime he would not be alone.

For almost forty years our families had shared a whole lot of living, and inside my head, worst fears shrieked fearful thoughts. He was just too young to leave us.

It felt like it wasn’t his time, and I knew he was surrounded by the kind of deep and steadfast love that works miracles. Besides family and friends his angels were crowded around.

LUDUS – playful and flirtatious love

FIRST CRUSH

Was that drums I just heard from the house next door? I was visiting my aunt in Seattle and asked her about it. She agreed I could go over to their rental property and say hello to the tenant, who was attending a local university.

He greeted me with a big smile, and gestured for me to sit down. I stumbled to the chair as if in a trance, and couldn’t understand why I felt suddenly hot and unsteady.

Several minutes passed before he stopped playing and offered me a cheery hello.

“Would you like to try?” But I had never been that close to someone so amazing, and I wasn’t sure I could speak never mind operate the drum sticks.

I waived him a weak no. At sixteen, my experience with boys was limited to the occasional motorcycle ride and pizza and a movie on Friday night.

That summer I went to Seattle more than once, and he made the short trip up to Vancouver a few times. We kissed and kissed and kissed. It was passionate but our relationship remained innocent.

He graduated that year and returned to his home in New York, but not before asking if I would come for a visit on summer break. I was flabbergasted when my parents said “no”. Couldn’t they see how mature I was?

But there was no looking back.

EROS – romantic and passionate love

FIRST LOVE

Three years later I met my first true love. We bonded over beer and blue cheese, oblivious to our friends and other pub activity. His laugh was deep and resonant and I couldn’t get enough of it. And the way he looked at me?

At some point he must have asked me for my phone number, but I have no recollection. Somehow I knew we would see each other again.

The attraction grew quickly into an intensely romantic one with all the loving making we could make happen. Since we both still lived at home, that required some creativity.

For four years we grew up together, loved and cared for each other, and shared moments of great beauty and connection. We were completely in love.

Then one day, inexplicably, we started to grow apart and a certain restlessness settled in. The great love we once shared started to slip away.

Twenty-five years later he told me if it made me feel any better, he didn’t get married til he was 38. Timing is everything.

We’ve kept in touch over the years and our once deep and passionate love turned to affection. I married, he married, but the golden thread of our romance did not entirely fade.

The truth is we still don’t know why we broke up. There were just too many strong feelings about the future that neither of us was ready or able to express.

In a recent email he said “how grateful he is that we knew each other in the springtime of our lives.” Oh yes, and he once gave me a book of Shakespeare’s sonnets. He set the bar high.

STORGE – family love

KIN

When my daughter returned home from the hospital with her first baby, the baby was two days old. She was also my first granddaughter. I felt a kind of love for this little one that made me gasp and left me speechless. Even when my own kids were born it was not like this, beyond earthly comprehension.

My role was to help, so I went about the house, busying myself with laundry, cooking, bringing water, snacks, a clean diaper, whatever was needed. I was good at hovering and so grateful to be included in this most precious and fleeting of times.

My daughter, already the best and most beautiful mother in the world, was sitting up in bed completely disheveled with a tragic look on her face. When I heard her crying I went straight in, and couldn’t imagine why she was so distressed.

Following her gaze to the baby, I could see the baby nestled in the dip between my daughter’s legs, all topped up and sleeping blissfully.

Trying to stay calm, I asked

“What’s up, my sweet?”

She paused to look up at me, and then said, almost as if in pain,

“I just cannot handle how lucky I am to have this little human in my life”.

Her awe and gratitude were palpable and so heart wrenching, in that moment I wondered if my own heart was going to need a jump start.

PHILAUTIA – self-love

ME FIRST

A nasty rear-ender several years back unleashed all the trauma I had carefully stashed in my body since I was a little girl. While I tried to deal with the anxiety attacks I set myself on a mission to understand what the heck was going on and heal make it better.

What I discovered is, once the central nervous system becomes disregulated, anxiety keeps it activated just below the surface until the next event sets it off again.

Over time resilience to relatively normal events weakens, and relatively usual life occurances are able to easily hijack health. It’s starts with an emotional response, but what’s important to understand is that the sickness that follows is biological, and makes recovery a two pronged approach.

It’s easy to feel like a loser at this point, but there must be no shame. Life just happens, and we all do our best.

What did I do when I hung up the phone that night? As soon as I felt the hot poker going up my neck and across my shoulders I acted immediately

Repeat: I am safe, until your spirit accepts it.

Ask for help: My son gave me a strong neck and shoulder massage. He kept going until he noticed my muscles respond as he could feel they resisted at first.

Have a hot bath: With empsom salts. Lay a hot facecloth over your eyes and forehead. Add your favourite essential oils. Stay there til the water cools off, or refill if not ready to get out.

Go to bed: No matter what time it is. Turn off all media, don’t try to read. Sink into the mattress and let morfeus do his job. There is no guilt. You will discover that silence is indeed golden.

Call a trusted friend or counselor the next day: don’t be afraid to talk out what happened. There is also emotional repair. Good grounding brings one out of fight or flight and back into the body, the only place recovery is possible.

Effective self care is needed long before life falls apart of course, and in fact can prevent it from happening. Back in the day we used to laugh about needing a mental health day in order to stay home from work unless we were throwing up. I think each subsequent generation is getting smarter.

We must give ourselves permission to rest and love ourselves enough to know we are worthy. I don’t recommend learning this the hard way.

Changing automatic thoughts and old habits doesn’t happen overnight. But as I practiced, I found calm and confidence, and my big heart found balance.

PRAGMA – long-standing love

THE LONG GAME

Best laid plans. Even with the best of intentions my marriage did not achieve stated intentions uttered sincerely at the alter. It had some longevity, 22 years, produced 2 wonderful kids and lots of good memories before the talking stopped and holes sunk the ship.

Bad communication is a critical flaw in any type of partnership.

Of course I might be able to offer advice on how one might avoid a mismatch to begin with, my only area of expertise, but I think even that is best sorted out between the two lovers before signing a contract. Every situation comes with different strings.

The Greeks considered pragma to be longstanding love. A couple entering into this arrangement knew they were expected to make a lifelong committment. In doing so they were vowing to offer each other grace, respect, tolerance, forgiveness, and perhaps some freedom, in order to grow old together and reap the benefits of all the hard work. A tall order with the best of matches, and I do admire those able to accomplish this with a level of happiness.

Now “in the autumn of my life”, knowing myself better, it’s possible life may yet deliver me the one love that has eluded me. At least I have a lifetime of loving to know myself better and what I want. And I have no regrets.

AGAPE – the unifying love for all people, all living beings, and beyond

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

At 7 pm the church was sweltering hot, almost 100 F, and humid. Except for the odd empty space, each bare wooden bench was lined with adorable, mostly older women, dressed in simple black dresses with matching kerchiefs.

I felt warm smiles follow us as we entered and found an empty spot somewhere near the middle of the sanctuary. The happy chatter and laughter carried on until the priest appeared to settle us into silence.

There we sat, my tall friend and I, taking in the energy, the culture, and the stunning architecture, waiting with anticipation for the ritual to begin. This was my first experience with a Greek Orthodox service.

After a few minutes I was overcome by the temperature and humidity and every pore in my body simultaneously opened up. My light summer dress was quickly drenched. Luckily I had a face cloth in my purse having already discovered my body was not adjusting easily to the mediterranean climate. Still, it would not keep me cool for the next hour or so.

Unexpectedly, I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and turned to look. The tiny Greek mama behind burst into a brilliant smile, and turned to point at the back of the sanctuary. There, floating above the congregation, hand over hand, came a fan, obviously intended for me. It was perhaps not the first time they had rescued a tourist.

These kind beings could see how uncomfortable I was. One was prepared to sacrifice her own comfort for mine. I noticed the fan was slightly faded, with a hand painted picture of the city on it. It was black with black lace trim and obviously well loved.

At the end of the service I tried to find the owner to thank her and return it, but an excited group of hands gathered to push the fan back into mine.

I was stunned by their kindness and so honoured to receive this expression of love for a complete stranger. As my holiday continued I came to know further, the generosity and loving spirit of the Greek people, and knew I would be back.

We each have our own love stories, dreams and desires. I enjoyed reflecting on some of my own golden memories and could see how heart was at the centre of each. I hope you enjoyed these 7 love stories as much as I did sharing with you.

My wish for you is that the gift of love graces your lives in all its forms, and continues to warm your hearts.

To read more about the 7 ancient Greek loves, you might enjoy:

Greek words for love include 7 types you can experience | Well+Good (wellandgood.com)

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