May 18th, 2025
I (Colleen) just spent the last 6 days with 4 college friends whom I have known now for 48 years. We’ve just said goodbye as they drove off to their various destinations around the country (which is why this newsletter is a tad late!), and my entire being is filled with deep love, gratitude, and wonder for this powerful and precious bond we share. Over the years there have been weddings, divorces, births, deaths, careers built and lost, heartaches and joys, and we have supported and held one another through it all. What a gift to have such friends in our lives. We bet you’ve been blessed with similar friendships and we’d love to hear your experiences of deep friendship and community. We’re on ZOOM this Sunday and here’s the link:
Topic: Paths of Heart Zoom Meeting
Time: May 18, 2025 10:30 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88598996980?pwd=4f1NFjlzLft7cbOczobWHut9LwqzTC.1
Meeting ID: 885 9899 6980
Passcode: 301869
Blessings Abound, Colleen and Mark
Quotes to ponder
“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
~ Aristotle
“I think if I’ve learned anything about friendship, it’s to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don’t walk away, don’t be distracted, don’t be too busy or tired, don’t take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.”
~ Jon Katz
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
~ Anais Nin
“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them”
~ Thomas Merton
“Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.”
~ Elie Wiesel
“When I say it’s you I like, I’m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.”
~ Fred Rogers
“True friends are always together in spirit.”
~ L.M. Montgomery
Looking Ahead/Notes of Interest
Sunday, May 18th – ZOOM Paths of Heart Gathering, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday, June 1st – In person Paths Gathering, 10:30 a.m. with potluck immediately following.
Sunday, June 15th – In person Paths of Heart Gathering with guest musician, Marc Douglas Berardo. Marc will also perform a concert here at Paths at 2 p.m., and likely have a bass player with him! Check out his music at https://marcdouglas.com/ Please rsvp for the concert to info@pathsofheart.org or by calling 970-484-9600. You can secure your seat at the concert by pre-paying at Paypal: https://www.pathsofheart.org/donate/ (with “Marc concert” in the special instructions)
or with Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/PathsofHeart (again with “Marc concert” in the “what’s it for?” spot)
Sunday, June 29th – ZOOM Paths of Heart Gathering, 10:30 a.m.
Giving Opportunities
Paths of Heart welcomes and appreciates your generous donations as we continue to bolster our finances and return to regular Sunday gatherings. During the pandemic, online donations became increasingly important to our organization, and are always gratefully accepted on our website, https://www.pathsofheart.org/donate/. There is an option for recurring monthly donations, if you so choose. We have also added Venmo as an easy way to donate to Paths of Heart! Just type in @PathsofHeart to find us in the Venmo app. Thanks so much for supporting the continuation of Paths of Heart. Remember, we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so your donations are tax deductible!
Another easy way to further support Paths of Heart is through the King Soopers Community Rewards Program – If you shop at KS and have a rewards card, you can “link” it to Paths of Heart and King Soopers will donate a portion of your dollars spent (around 5%) to our non-profit. Go to https://www.kingsoopers.com/i/community/community-rewards to sign up and link your card. Our organization name is Paths of Heart and organization number is RG782. Let us know if you want help signing up! This one small gesture (by just 25 or so families at this point) helps to generate over $1,000 a year for Paths of Heart, so we appreciate your consideration in participating in this valuable program!!
“Paths of Heart” Labyrinth and Zen Meditation Garden
This was intentioned as a community space, so know that you are always welcome to drop by and walk or sit – you do not need to let us know in advance. Do note that we have experienced the outer “halo” of glass blocks in the labyrinth to be slippery when wet, so it’s best to walk it on a dry day.
Gratitudes
Colleen is grateful for the precious time spent with her long time college buddies at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort, where there was much soaking, eating, comradery, and frivolity!
Mark is grateful for Colleen and Myles and Emma and for our recent time together and music making together!
Myles surprised Emma for her 30th birthday and flew out for a few treasured, fun-filled days! We were all grateful for the opportunity to be together as a family!
“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.”
~ Nishan Panwar
“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”
~ Anthony Robbins
“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
~ Maya Angelou
“There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.”
~ Ralph H. Blum
“What I’ve learned is there’s a scientifically proven phenomenon that’s attached to gratitude, and that if you consciously take note of what is good in your life, quantifiable benefits happen.”
~ Deborah Norville
About Paths of Heart…
Paths of Heart is a high spirited, heart-centered community where we gather together (in new and creative ways!) for music, poetry, commentary, and dialogue to create and nurture joy, compassion, gratitude, and love – in our own lives and throughout the world. Paths of Heart is a 501(c)(3) Human Services/Educational non-profit organization that uses the arts, especially, to encourage and propel seekers of a better, more peaceful world to find ways to serve, while becoming more kind and compassionate human beings.
We welcome you as we collectively and individually explore the sweet mysteries of life – this is an invitation into co-creation!
Visit us on the web at https://www.pathsofheart.org
We hope our physical paths may cross soon!