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Last week I was sitting at Martha & Bros. Coffeehouse on Church Street, having coffee with a friend of mine. It was a Thursday morning, a gorgeous day, and we were sitting by the window talking, a sweet breeze blowing in. My friend Amy is sprightly and full of what I call "polka dot energy." She is fiery and sparks fly madly about when she tells a story. She is a metal artist, a sculptor. And that morning she was telling me about the completion of a bronze gate she'd been working on for a year. The gate was being installed on Lombard Street, at a private residence. I heard the words bubble out of me, "Let's go see it!" It was already 10:20 on a Thursday morning. Already I was late for everything I should be doing: mainly things called "work"; things called "earning a living." Things called "being responsible."

But I said, "let's go see it!" And we did. Amy drove fast through the streets of San Francisco. The clouds were in shapes of hippos and flowers and blades of thin grass. The hills were a rollercoaster just for us. It was a brilliant morning and there we were, arriving at Lombard street where her gate is, arriving at the Crookedest Street in the world, me and my artist friend on an anyday Thursday in this incredible city. The gate she created is huge and bronze and absolutely alive with life. There are dogs, of all shapes and sizes that Amy coaxed out of the bronze. It is a piece of art that says "yes" to the energy of life and to the spirit of animals and to the welcoming of guests to a home.

That moment, standing there looking at that gate, will forever be etched in my mind, as a moment of "yes." I feel it now, as I write to you: the way the blood pulsed through me and the way the sun hit my arm and the way I laughed at a lolling tongue on one of the dogs. The way I looked at my friend Amy; she's like a leprechaun or fairy or wood nymph, she's like a green and yellow lizard scurrying across the path. I looked at Amy and the sun and the gate and the flowers growing and I thought, "yes!"

And that yes is what I love about "Simply Celebrate." That yes was a nod to the moment at hand. It was open arms, greeting the spontaneity of the moment. It was eyes open wide to the magic in front of me. There is sun, I breathe in air. Flowers sprout out of the ground. People create new life out of unyielding metal that suddenly bends to their whim. I have someone to call friend. I can experience the swell in my heart when I see art that I love. My fingers can touch a lusty patina and feel the rich color.

I have been thinking a lot about the word, "yes." About what we say yes to and what we turn away from. About what we allow ourselves. About the way guilt and responsibility and low self-esteem can often slap the yes away and hand us fat "no's" on a paper plate which we accept, head hanging low. My mind tried to persuade me not to go see the gate that morning. If I would have listened to it, I would have been like a chained dog... leash taut as I strained to see beyond my small world. I have been thinking a lot about how often I listen to that subconscious "no." That small, fearful voice that "keeps me in line." And I have been thinking about "yes" and wanted to invite you to think about it, too.

What did you say no to today? What will you say yes to tomorrow?

Take a look at one of the many amazing pieces my friend Amy Blackstone has created. Here's a link to a photo of her Egret Gate which was highlighted in the ?an Francisco Chronicle last week.

I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
And she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
And she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
Or not wear nail polish
And she said honey
She calls me that sometimes
She said you can do just exactly
What you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it okay even if I don't paragraph
My letters
Sweetcakes God said
Who knows where she picked that up
What I'm telling you is
Yes yes yes

"God Says Yes To Me" by Kaylin Haught.
Reprinted by permission of Steve Kowit from The Palm of your Hand. Copyright 1995 by Kaylin Haught. For further permissions information, contact Tilbury House Publishers.

Today, look for an opportunity to say "yes" to something that might normally elicit a "no." Let yourself follow that yes with glee wherever it takes you. Waltz with it, somersault with it, let it tell you secret jokes. Today, embrace "yes."

And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.
‹Erica Jong