Gathering My Lessons
I am constantly learning from my life. Someone special to me said that I could glean a lesson even from a recipe.
Which is what I did in my post, When The Recipes Must Go.
I call them Ahas. I can also stand on a Soapbox every once in a while.
And I learn some pretty big stuff from some little people in my life. The good and the bad and
the happy and the sad. My friendships are very important to me. The past holds some wisdom yet to be learned.
And my husband’s lessons are occasionally shared by his voice here. I may repeat myself, but guaranteed,
I’ll get you to think about life just a little differently.
Setting the Record Straight About Authenticity
Being authentic, honest, or forthright is still considered a crime in our modern society. It’s understood that if you tell the truth about your background, heritage, or state of mind, you are asking for trouble. You could be judged and shunned for these truths. It’s crazy-talk to be outright honest. Many African Americans “passed” as white and were glad they could. Being “dishonest” saved lives. The Irish weren’t treated any better. If only they could lose their accents. And women would use a male pen name just...
read moreI Refuse to Feel Ashamed
I spent all last year in an “unhappy with my body” place. I could not accept that I had gained back weight I had previously lost, even though I had given myself permission to eat with gleeful abandon for the Holidays prior. And so I struggled with my esteem, my exercise routine, and my eating and drinking all through the year. But mostly, I silently hated myself for no longer fitting into my clothing and having to buy a new wardrobe of leggings and over-sized shirts. This year, I chose to give myself the same permission during the...
read moreMindmapping My Goals for 2020
I was feeling inevitably untethered in the first days of the New Year. I had produced an amazing heartfelt soulfulfilling holiday experience. And now it was time to pack it up and move on. I grieved for a little while and then I began to search for a way out. And what I found was a way to creatively look toward the new year: Mindmapping my upcoming year’s goals. In my previous post A Little Post Christmas Blues , I said I’d show my work. Here’s the YouTube video that inspired me to do this. Her name is Taylor, she lives in...
read moreStop Apologizing to Me People
During the past month, I have noticed a rather disturbing trend. People perpetually apologize for themselves. I’ll just be walking, enough room for all of us to walk, and suddenly someone will pass me by and apologize for themselves. I can not figure out why they have apologized. And this has happened at least four times in a month. Why are we compelled to apologize for our existence? Am I truly sorry I was born? While I’ve met people who are mad that they were born and there’s not a daggone thing you can do for them,...
read moreA Little Post Christmas Blues
Yesterday, began the first full week back to school after the winter holidays. And I was feeling a sudden bout of post-holiday-partum. We celebrated a beautiful holiday with surplus time spent with family eating sumptuous food. I coordinated the event to end all events, because we are all event planners at Christmas. And now I have to strip it all apart. Dismantle the happiness. And then I have to re-purpose myself. Ack! To find some inspiration, I began to poke around Instagram, clicking on hashtags in curiosity. And I fell upon a woman...
read moreMy Word of 2020 is “And” : Word recap for The Past 6 Years
This word of the year thing is an interesting ritual I found and began when I became a member of the online community. I thought it odd but was also intrigued with how it might benefit me, to have a word to inspire me. And yes, I also wanted to fit in with the cool kids. My first time choosing one was in 2014. I chose Edit. I wanted to impress some cool kids in a community project called Bold Brilliant Beautiful. In 2015, I chose Opportunity and Abundance and added Permission as my extra word. A conversation with Fear Mother made that post...
read moreQuietly Starting off 2020
I took a lot of lovely pictures during the Holidays but wasn’t compelled to share them. There’s a calm withdrawal from much of what I automatically have done. I want to find a deeper place to draw from. I am yearning for a profounder place of purpose. Authentically sharing what I know I need to and not because I think people will like me for it. All of the changes I’ve made have come from my intuition. I watch people, I listen to what they say that makes sense to me, I incorporate the feeling and the thoughts, and I turn in...
read moreHolidays without Anxieties Update
We’re in full holiday swing now and the mood is different than ever before. Because I’m different. Backstage at the Nutcracker night, I told the other mothers that I had been an ever-loving mess last year but I’m medicated this year. They laughed but this is my truth; I am a different person this year. Helping myself out of the perpetual swirling vortex of anxiety is allowing me to be present for myself, for my family, and also for others who can choose this for themselves. As my friend Siri on Instagram chimed in to say it...
read moreThe Gift of Me to Me
The holiday has been holding me hostage, as it does. Asking me to do be do be do be do all those Christmas chores that I find necessary. Buying presents, decorating the tree, sending cards, while all the while keeping up with the regular boring chores that I haven’t enough money to hire out. You know, life plus the Christmas special event planning. And what I realize, as I missed one day of blogging for all of this, is that I am an everyday hero. I show up to the laptop and this community with honesty, integrity, and intention to be...
read moreSoulitude
It seemed ironic that my prompt of Solitude on my Soul Selfie Instagram Challenge could illicit such a loud and resounding response. Yet, the group there gathered around me are writers in their hearts. And we writers need Solitude to find out our written truths. The word solitude seems elusive though. I can choose so many activities that are just me doing busy housework alone. But my favorite kind of solitude seems more of a reverent, reflective, and creative state. And that’s why I would call it Soulitude. I am actively embodying...
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