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 |   Theses are my thoughts and ramblings as I forge my way through this thing they call life. |
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These are my thoughts and ramblings as I forge my way through this thing they call Life. I blog with these groups:     "Blogging Circle of Friends "  [E] 
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Blog City - Day 2172 Prompt: For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven-- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Since it is so, spiritually speaking, why do you think our planet now has this Covid 19 pandemic? It was time to take a step back and reassess what is most important. Things were starting to get a little out of whack. What is important? Family and connection. Those are the cornerstones. As we move forward, mental health with be paramount. Developing our Emotional Intelligence and teaching our children that emotions are important and must be acknowledged and dealt with in healthy ways. These skills can and should be taught. They are not going to magically appear. They need to be cultivated so that we have a society that stands strong on compassion, love and understanding... one that sees all people equal - regardless of any perceived differences - race, gender, age, sexual orientation.... anything. We are all the same, but we have differences that make this world a wonderful place. We need to embrace those differences and learn from each other, not condemn or put others down. Lift others up. Shine a light into the dark corners and chase away the shadows that we fear will harm us. |
Blog City - Day 2156 Have you ever asked someone what their favorite poem is? It's not as easy as you would think for them to name an author and a poem with the reason why. One of mine is Marge Piercy's The Moon is Always Female. I was trying to understand women in general. Please recommend a couple to us and why. Right off the top of my head, I would have to say Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken I love the imagery of two paths and a yellow wood. I can see it in my minds eye. Both beautiful. Both full of possibility and wonder. I like the aspect of the physical as well as the metaphorical aspect of picking a way to go, knowing that in the choosing, you may not come back to chose again. The way you go marks your life's path. I also ran across a poet just recently that I quite like - Langston Hughes. His voice is true and clear. He makes me think and remember that we each have an experience worthy of being told. Mine is no better or worse than his, just different and that difference makes this world more diverse and expansive. We need to learn to appreciate what each of us brings to the table. Keep open minds and hearts. Learn from each other. Theme For English B by Langston Hughes. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47880/theme-for-english-b Another poet I had the pleasure of hearing read her work last fall at the Kingston Writer's Festival is Abena Beloved Green. Hearing her speak her poems, seeing her strong, supportive entourage of family, and reading her words myself - over and over, I was moved by her keen eye and strong voice. I highly recommend her book of poetry - The Way We Hold On. Today I read 'Slow and Steady' and found myself smiling at her words and how much they pertain to our times. Here is an excerpt from that poem: The sloth is the keeper of the lost art of living in the moment. Being slothful should mean having mastered stillness and intention; possessing impeccable control. The sloth is unfazed by the propaganda, The sloth never lines up for the rat race. The next time someone tells me I am being slothful, I will say, "Thank you. I try." This is a link to another poem. I love listening to her strong voice... enjoy. https://abenagreen.ca/blog/2018/06/03/stretch-marks-spoken-word-poetry/ |
Blog City - Day 2149 Prompt: What books are on your summer reading list? I am trying to read books I currently own and have not gotten to over the years. I am currently reading a non-fiction memoir called Lean Out by Tara Henley and I am loving her style. She wrote this book as a response to her own frantic lifestyle pace that was giving her heart palpitations from anxiety. She withdrew from a life too fast paced and needed to reconnect with the important things of life - human connection. I find it interesting to read during this pandemic, as what she has to say, speaks to all of us, in a way. Something big has had to happen to make us reassess our lives and see what is important. As I look out around me I see families walking, people biking, life has slowed down. If we stop to consider the good that can come out of this situation we will see the silver lining - the one that has us reaching out to others and embracing humanity... even if we can't physically hug each other and need to keep six feet apart. I did break down and order four books through Amazon.ca... one of these I am currently reading is May Day by Jess Lourey. I found this author when researching dream writer's retreats I would love to go to. One is in the Gladstone Library in Wales. Imagine staying in a library for a whole week while exploring your own writing. Ahh, heaven. Jessica Lourey is an American author who leads writing retreats abroad - one in the Gladstone Library and another in a castle an hour outside of Paris (another interesting place to visit). I figured I would read some of her work and see what kind of writer she is.... so far I am not fully impressed, but I am keeping an open mind. May Day is a Mira James Mystery (apparently there are 12 of them; one for each month of the year). I also bought another of hers - The Catalaine Book of Secrets. It delves into witches and such. It sounds really good. She strikes me as an interesting person. Here is a Ted Talk she gave: Rewrite Your Life is another book of hers I am waiting to have delivered. Okay so not all my reading is from books I currently own, but many on my list are. Since the pandemic I have only bought... hmmm, okay 9 books. Three of them were when I bought 2 for my mother for Mother's Day. I couldn't pass up buying books for me too! So of the 9, 7 were for me. I have gone through my book shelves and found books I didn't realize I had... and have put away ones to donate (usually hard cover beasts I refuse to bother with, but were given as gifts). I have passed some on to my mother to read. To list them all here would be way too long, but my plan is to move through them. Many are books bought at writer's festivals - they are signed copies. Ones I will keep even after they have been read. Anything not signed I will pass on.... unless I really like them - this would be anything by Jill Shalvis. Though the more I read of it, the more I think I will keep Lean Out as well. Henley's style is fresh and she is Canadian. Another book I finished was Building Your Best Writing Life by Kristen Kieffer. She also has a website called Well-Storied that I like to visit occasionally So in a nutshell, I will say - I will be reading some romance (which is easy, mindless and fun), I will be reading some new authors and a few non-fiction and writing reference books over the course of my summer. I may even read some teaching books to balance off my life of reading. I wish everyone a wonderful summer of reading, writing and reviewing. |
Blog City - Day 2147 Prompt: A wall clock subtly reminds whoever reads it to stay in the moment. What does “to stay in the moment” mean to you, and how easy or difficult is it to stay in the moment? Staying the moment means being mindful, centered, and present. It means stopping to take in a breath, a full breath and letting it out slowly as you focus on the feeling of filling up and letting it go. It means looking up from our devices and seeing what's around us. The world really is a wonderful place if you pay attention. Focusing on the actual people around us. It drives me insane when someone is on their phone, while the person they are with sits idly by waiting for them to finish whatever was so urgent it took them away. The more stressed I am, the more difficult it is to stay in the moment. Thoughts race as our heart catapult, all to keep up to some kind of expectation or deadline. It is at these times when it is more beneficial to stop and just take a moment to recenter than push on. Taking a moment and breathing deeply gives us a chance to get ourselves in the right place to get things accomplished. It may seem counterproductive to stop when the world is whizzing by, but it actually helps to refocus us and calm us so we can handle the chaos that may be coming our way. It helps us put things into perspective. Since last fall, I have been incorporating meditation into my life. I find it is helpful. I feel calmer. Able to take things on. Not so anxious or scattered. |
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