Puzzling Out My Realizations

The weather has broken finally. Usually it’s hotter than heck around this time in August. I am not complaining.

In the Spring I was taking daily walks and I have been able to return to these. Like a moving prayer, I feel all sorts of hopes and connections bubble to the surface as I walk.

Today, I put my realizations together. I was truly at my best this Spring when I was walking and writing bis juicy essays. I felt great. And I didn’t have time to fuss about this weight gain that has happened to many of us. I realized that all that stuff will take care of itself if we do what we need to do to connect ourselves to the larger source of our happiness.

Doing what makes us happy and where we express our genuine selves is what we’re here to do. And yet it does take some concerted effort to show up, do the work, and make the happy machine work. I get caught in all or nothing places. In what ifs, disaster scripts, and not enoughs.

But at the right times, I see what could be for me. How I am already the person I need to be, I just need to put the work into showing the rest of the world what I can do.

And If you enjoyed what you read, subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my thrice weekly posts via your emailbox. And visit me on Instagram to see my daily pictures, friend me or like my page on Facebook. Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too. I am always practicing Intentional Intouchness so chat at me please. I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

My sister lives in Rhode Island and purchased a house with extra rooms five years ago with the intention of having us come visit. But until this year, we hadn’t. My daughter was too small and then there were Summer camps. We didn’t have the right vehicle and then she just came and visit us instead.

But we just returned from our Summer vacation to RI.

All my daughter wanted to do was swim in the pool. I ended up spending all my time with her there. And we ate out a lot. I just needed to decide what I wanted to eat. So not a lot of dishes. And not a lot more than just being and playing together. Because that is what visiting people is all about and something I want to do a lot more of.

There’s a lot to be said for shaking the etch-a-sketch and leaving your house for a couple days. It’s refreshing to return to the comfort of your home where you know where everything is. But you’re not overwhelmed by everything you have to do immediately. That’s how I eventually end up but for now, I’m holding onto the high of the absence.

To complicate things prior to our departure, our new little cat had an injured eye and I was scheduling an eye operation for her for when we returned. (That was today.) That made me nervous as did all the warnings for Covid travel from State to State. My husband said, don’t worry, be happy. And so I spent the time leading to our departure focused on leaving in a timely intentional way. We got there in less than 7 hours and now we know what it takes to visit. My sister was a lovely hostess and her house is amazing. Cozy and the most comfortable bed ever!

Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for my upcoming Blogaversary Post.

And If you enjoyed what you read, subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my thrice weekly posts via your emailbox. And visit me on Instagram to see my daily pictures, friend me or like my page on Facebook. Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too. I am always practicing Intentional Intouchness so chat at me please. I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

Resistance/Horror vs. Acceptance/Change

This Corona Virus pandemic took we normal people for a ride we didn’t see coming.  Surely it was an inevitability to the scientists who understand these things, but to the rest of us, this felt like another broadcast of the War of the Worlds. And we met the onslaught of information and commands with resistance and horror. We all get that feeling that it won’t be us, we hate to not be in control, and we are such creatures of habit that the grief of this change was ridiculously hard on us. Not to mention, the source that was giving us information was untrustworthy. 

And now, almost three months later, as Summer is about to start here in the US and we’re already feeling in the swing of being off, there’s a switch inside me wanting to be flipped. I am tired of having to be purposeful, responsible, productive, and protective. Tired of misery and abstinence. Of being bad guy teacher, dietitian, and sterilization maid. I am ready to adopt a new normal at my house.

As it seems obvious, we are still in need of being extra careful out in the world. The strongest caution is we don’t need to be spitting in eachother’s airspaces. But walking and talking 6 feet from one another is highly doable and pleasurable. Hugging with masks on and clean hands is probably a great thing. We need to adopt our own guidelines of acceptability and safety. And not judge others for theirs. I’m ready to make a to do list of all the fun and creative things I want to accomplish. I’m tired of being the old me. 

So as we move into acceptance that this will all be different and kinda sucky for a little while longer, why not try to actually head for the fun. Stop trying to continue to live the life you used to lead and start a new one. Make a to do list of creative and fun things to do. We are alive afterall. Let’s celebrate that. And let’s embrace our gift of life by enjoying it. Let’s be less what we used to be and more of what we want to be. 

Be the change since it would truly seem there are no better choices. What else can we lose?

And If you enjoyed what you read, subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my thrice weekly posts via your emailbox. And visit me on Instagram to see my daily pictures, friend me or like my page on Facebook. Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too. I am always practicing Intentional Intouchness so chat at me please. I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

A Throwback to Summer Two Years Ago

I came across this, my last newsletter from two years ago. So much has happened since then. If you are a regular reader, you’ll already know that I finally gave myself permission to ask for anxiety medication last November, 2018. So this newsletter is a snapshot of who I used to be. My hope is to begin these again sooner than later!

As the Summer gains speed, I’d like to start the practice of being in touch with my readership. You’ll still find three new posts weekly sent out at 6:30 am on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Our seasonal shuffle of schedules and routines may disconnect us so I thought I should remind you I’m still out here, processing what I see and think and offering my thoughts back to the world via my authentic thoughtful writing.

I am not sure why it is that I go looking for something to be dissatisfied with. It’s called “borrowing trouble” when you look for problems. But there I am, still in my pajamas, feeling defeated for the unaccomplished tasks I see. The house is always a half-empty mess even when it’s clean. As if the dissatisfaction will spurn me on to work harder or create a more perfect life. It’s all crap. A Cognitive Distortion I favor.

I would like to maintain a more neutral gaze on my world. Allow for things to just be as they are. Let the dirt glowing in the morning sunbeam mean nothing to my worth as an individual. Let the fact that I don’t have my life goals enthusiastically and fearlessly planned for years to come mean nothing at all. I want to be here now please witnessing the growth of my kids and the fruition of my purpose.. 

And after I maintain mindful neutrality for several weeks without breaking into hives over the unaccomplished, I want to begin to truly appreciate my life now. To effortlessly see my gratitude in the everyday moments. I want that to be my daily mode, zenning through my Summer days with my children. And basking in the knowledge that this is in fact all there ever is and all I really wanted anyway. Peace and Joy.

Until this happens, I’ll be over here creating my never-ending to do list and feeling anxious about whatever strikes my fancy today. Or maybe staring at my cup and wishing it would fill up with all the things I’ve yet to accomplish. And squandering a few of the beautiful moments in between. Sigh. May my mindfulness catch up to me quickly.

Hope your Summer (or Winter if you’re on opposite bits of the world) is a time of slowing down, regrouping, or reflection on that which matters most to you. I am concentrating on my little ones and the inner value of me. Expect new newsletters to come more frequently and perhaps a few videos like I did last Summer? This one on confidence was good. I am also recording myself reading aloud the posts and you can find the link at the bottom of each of my recent posts at www.Shalavee.com .

My Creative May project brought me more creative confidence  and has stretched into and through June as I joined the #Icad (index card a day) challenge. There are prompts to inspire the making of art, I choose mostly to collage, on 4 x 6 index cards daily. You can watch my progress in Instagram.

Read about my updated Summer plan to create in the cool peace of my craft room in How Summer Did Not Start Out Like Plummeting Space Junk . And you can listen to me read this post via Soundcloud at the bottom of the post ! Three posts still go out weekly to subscribers on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on those subjects I like to go on about like self-trust and creativity. You can always count on my voice to reflect my honesty and my angst.

Grabbing the Opportunity to Not Betray Myself is a post on how easy it is to do laundry instead of the work you need to do. And what you are telling yourself about your worth when you do that. (Hint: It’s mean.) Read it here and when there, you can scroll to the bottom of this post listen to it via Soundcloud.

My Key Lime Pie Recipe

After a few decades bringing food to potlucks, you develop your own go-tos to make. In the Summertime, my must bring is Key Lime pie. The recipe is ridiculously simple and the graham cracker pie crust tins make great carrying containers.

Key Lime Pie

One premade graham cracker pie crust

4 egg yolks and one egg white

14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

¾ cup lime juice

Tub of Cool Whip topping

Kiwi fruit peeled and sliced

The premade crust asks to be painted with egg whites

and precooked for 5 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Mix egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice

together and pour into crusts.

Cook for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Chill in the refrigerator to set and then spread with whip cream

and decorate with slices of kiwis.

The pie crusts come with plastic covers over them. I just invert the cover and recrimp the edges and off I go.

My salad go-to for potlucks is German Potato salad.

What do you bring for a Summer potluck?

And If you enjoyed what you read, subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my thrice weekly posts via your emailbox. And visit me on Instagram to see my daily pictures, friend me or like my page on Facebook. Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too. I am always practicing Intentional Intouchness so chat at me please. I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.