Daily Shalagh
Daily Shalagh is otherwise known as everything I think and say and do. Or another home page.
Make the Space and See What Happens
I’ve been doing a lot of clearing in my life this past year. Being trapped at home makes the clutter become a little more annoying. And so I began to load out stuff. I got replacement stuff where necessary. And I also had a look at how cluttered my schedule was. And I relinquished roles and tasks that I had been bearing for a long time and no longer served me. The fun thing is that when you make space in your life, you can recreate your surroundings and you can recreate yourself. If everything’s important, nothing’s...
read moreToday I am Grateful For …
Here’s how you prove that your life is pretty good. You get grateful. Instead of choosing to complain, you stop and you find something that you are grateful for. Today I am grateful for… The little one eyed cat who has delighted and comforted us for the past year. Who knew one soul could bring such levity to life? My new expensive vacuum. The birdsong and the smell of the flowers! The federal aid money. The business returning to Mark’s company as people begin to plan their weddings. Hope. Friends who show me who I really am....
read more100 Day of Shalagh : Days 41 through 60
I’ve passed the halfway mark for my 100 Day Project aka 100 Days of Shalagh 2021! Hooray. This project seems something that would be daunting. Except the further along I get, the more I look forward to the daily creations and the easier it becomes. I’ve also noticed that my skill with this medium is increasing. How could it not? Day 60 Day 59 Day 58 Day 57 Day 56 Day 55 Day 54 Day 53 Day 52 Day 51 Day 50 Day 49 Day 48 Day 47 Day 46 Day 45 Day 44 Day 43 Day 42 Day 41 Practice is the key to getting better at anything. So now...
read moreTorn Between the Garden and the Spring Cleaning : First World Problems
I can remember being very impatient with the way the seasons would take their time to move on. It seemed like an infinity to wait before Spring would arrive. I feel very differently now at twice the age. I like how long Winter takes because I don’t have as much to be responsible for while it’s cold out. But once the sun begins to shine and the windows open up, I’m screwed. Because suddenly there’s Spring cleaning to do since the beautiful new sunlight angles are showing me exactly where I’ve been missing all...
read moreWhat if You Find Yourself in a Hole?
Say you find yourself in a hole? You have been in the hole your entire life but you just never looked up. But one person then another person told you to look up. And now you know you’re in a hole. There are several choices you can make. If you are actually slightly mentally imbalanced, you can convince yourself that that was some kind of dream and those people are crazy, not you. And then you can continue to live in the hole and forget you ever saw you were in a hole. You can become obsessed with the fact that you have just realized you...
read moreFighting the Scheduling
I have been having an ongoing conversation with my almost 16 year old about creating a relationship with his future. He cringes because he is very happy with living in his now, thank you very much. Why would I want to take him away from all the fun he’s having now by scheduling all the boring things he’ll be made to do in the future. And then I realized, I am doing the exact same thing. I’ve been resisting scheduling stuff in my calendar. Stuff that seems to be adult stuff. I don’t want to act like a business...
read moreInternational Women’s Day 2021 : Seeing Ourselves as Valuable
The theme for 2021’s International Women’s Day, which falls on Monday March 8th, is #ChoosetoChallenge .While the global pandemic over the past year has challenged all of us in ways we’d never have wished on anyone, it has also brought to light some woeful discrepancies in gender equality. I have issue with the dismissal and disrespect for Stay-at-home Moms who became the majority this past year. In the middle of spending months constantly caretaking and worrying about three demanding humans this past year, I acknowledged I...
read moreGrow Where You Are Planted
After nearly a year of feeling the pinch of our collective sequestering, l’ve come to understand my ultimate importance. I maintain my family and I care for myself. The normalcy and the creativity are my realms. We all need both of these to keep our sanity. To feel that everything’s Okay in our tiny world but to also express our uniqueness. To hear and feel ourselves getting in touch with our own inner voices. That is what grounds me. Keeps me. Spurns me onward. Because this isn’t about product. This beautiful life we have a...
read moreSelf-Care, the Next Phase
Self-care is a multi-layered endeavor. Brushing your teeth, taking pills, and exercising are all basic bodily care practices that when we are new mothers, seem to be more than we can manage. But eventually we get those done too. I have taken the past twenty years to really delve into taking care of my mental health. To this end, I’ve had a therapist I see regularly, I’ve scheduled procedures to take care of the aches and pains in my body that weren’t normal, and I finally asked for an anti-anxiety medicine prescription. I...
read moreLadies, We Are Still Disregarding Ourselves 100 Years Later
This pandemic has again brought to light the fact that the world runs on the efforts and consideration of the caretakers. In fact, the role of mother and homemaker has never been given it’s due respect from my perspective. We aren’t just undercompensated for the care we give the people who need it, we are under appreciated. And not just by everyone, but by ourselves. An exhibit at the National Museum of American History titled All Work and No Pay: A History of Women’s Invisible Labor went up just as the lockdown happened....
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