And 4, and 5 and 6...

The remix is going well. And so far it is not without its share of surprises.

On Tuesday, I received an email from my friend Erika with the subject line of "You're Famous". In it? A link to someone on Craigslist in Philly asking about the "dozen dates girl" explaining how they had just heard about her on Radio Times in Philly.

All I could think was, Holy Smokes! Was this person referring to me? And did my funny but good-intentioned little project somehow get mentioned on the radio without my even knowing it?

Then I wondered if maybe another adventurous female was also doing a similar project in Philly and she had made her own way onto the airwaves. I felt happy for her and suddenly not so alone in my journey.

That feeling was short-lived.

Turns out the "12 dates girl" was doing a project: She is a woman who is trying to have, uh...relations with 12 men at once. So. Just to state explicitly for the record: I am NOT THAT "12 dates girl". No judgment but, yeah, that is not my goal.

On a more G-rated note, I also learned from my friend Kevin that a woman he knows did her own dating project, went on 31 dates in 31 days and actually met her husband on one of the dates. Through her own experience of self-discovery, she became, "more patient and more forgiving," when it comes to all people around her, not just men. I was really inspired by her story and happy to hear that I had a kindred spirit of sorts in my own journey to know myself better and just date.

Christmas is always my favorite time of the year. It is fun and magical and full of promise. But I have also found in years past that it can be busy and loud and stressful, too. And then, before you know it, it's over. This project is helping me to slow down. And listen. And think of others before myself. It is nothing remarkable in its scope but it is proving to be remarkable to me in how I am experiencing this particular Christmas season. Giving, in whatever way, feels good and connects me to the season in a way I had never predicted. I might not be dating as much as I had hoped but I am still learning about myself and being mindful. And really, that is all I ever wanted to do in the first place.

That said, you know how the song goes--there are 12 Days of Christmas. Here are my energies towards days 4, 5 and 6:

Four Calling Birds--This made me think of phones and how much I rely on mine. Can you imagine your life without a phone? Especially if you literally needed it to survive? That's why I donated my old phone to HopeLine, a special program set up by Verizon Wireless, that refurbishes donated phones, complete with 3,000 minutes of wireless service, and gives them to local domestic violence organizations for use with their domestic violence clients. In 2009 alone, 23,000 wireless phones were in service across the country with 69 million free minutes of service. That is a lot of people who literally need a phone to be safe. If you have any old cell phones, consider donating them to HopeLine which you can find out more about here: http://aboutus.vzw.com/communityservice/hopeline.html Also, a wonderful project that Old Navy recently did fit the spirit of this day, too. At Old Navy, for only $10, I purchased 200 minutes of airtime for soldiers to call home as part of the Operation Phone Home Million Minute Challenge the USO had. I sincerely hope they meet this challenge and that as many troops as possible are able to call their loved ones this holiday season.

Five Golden Rings--when I think of the five golden rings, I always think of the olympic rings. And the best olympics I know is the Special Olympics Fall Festival that occurs each year at Villanova University. During my time there, I was lucky enough to participate as a volunteer and to this day those fall weekends were some of the most meaningful learning experiences of my life. The Special Olympics motto that the athletes say is, "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me brave in the attempt." But too often, individuals with mental and/or physical disabilities aren't even given a chance to make an attempt. They are discredited and called the worst word of all: retard. To infer that someone is retarded literally means that they are null, void and without any worth. The athletes that I came in contact with were nothing short of remarkable and they turned into my heroes. I would never want them or anyone like them to ever feel anything less than respected. That's why, in addition to making a donation to the Fall Festival efforts, I signed the end the r-word pledge. I encourage you to sign it, too, as a small way to show that you believe that we all have our own special gifts and we all have worth: http://www.r-word.org/

Six Geese-a-Laying--"Geese" made me think of Gracie Goose and Ellie, my two nieces. Just watching them get ready for Christmas makes me happy. They get so pumped up and when they talk about the toys they want, there is such a sweet hopefulness about them. For many kids who aren't as fortunate as my nieces, though, Santa needs some help with making sure their Christmas mornings are just as happy and full of excitement. Quite luckily, my good friends Jenny and Michael also wanted to donate toys to a local toy drive and we tackled this day together. They were kind enough to provide the funds and I headed to Target to get the goods. I have to admit it was quite fun to pick out some toys and, in the process, both revisit my favorites and get a glimpse of what my Christmases will be like when I have kids of my own to buy for. Jenny and Michael will be bringing the toys to the drop-off location and I was so incredibly grateful that they wanted to be a part of this with me. Want to help make a child's Christmas bright? Find out how here: http://toysfortots.org/

I'm halfway through the 12 Days of Christmas. Here's hoping that you are finding your own way to be still, reflect and connect with what this season means most to you.