SoCS: Pushing Through and Ready for Healing

Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “starts with or contains ‘cel.’” Find a word that begins with or contains “cel” and use it in your post any way you’d like. Have fun!

The more tired I am, the more I forget where I put my cell phone. It’s been a strange couple of days out of the ordinary with back spasms, a visit from my son and granddaughter and our church artisan fair scheduled for Saturday. My cell phone got lost at least five times in the past week. It’s always in the house, and sometimes hiding in my purse, except for last week when I left it at choir practice. It always turns up eventually. Doctor/nurse practitioner wrote me a rx for a muscle relaxer and said it’s okay to take four ibuprofen, just not on an empty stomach. Maybe that will be enough to get me through the artisan fair for which I have reserved a table to share my wares and creations. We shall see…..

I wrote the above Friday. Made it through the artisan fair. My back pain was manageable. We had a good turnout, and I sold several pieces of art. Now it’s Saturday evening, and all I want to do is sleep after watching some easy TV.

There’s a meditation that a reiki practitioner gave me a few years ago. There were four steps which I don’t entirely recall, but the first line was, “I am open at the cellular level.” The rest of it included, expanding and then releasing, probably with some deep breathing along the way. Looking forward to some rest, cellular healing and releasing the tension in my back. I might not even make it to church tomorrow. Who knows? Was the push through worth it? I think so.

I’ll probably be slow in responding here on WP. It will take a while to catch up, but I could not, not do SoCS.

One of the pieces I sold today was a print I’ve had for a while. It was a zoom and crop of a bigger piece painted on wood.

Guardian Angel

I also sold some mermaids and mimosa angel ornaments like these:

~~~

For more streams of the cel kind, along with SoCS rules

visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Washing the Woes Away with a Musically Inspired Meditation

Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “wash/awash.” Use one, use both, use ’em any way you like. Bonus points for using both. Enjoy!

Wash is one of those words that sounds funny if you say it over and over. It’s fun to say…. washhhhh… extending the sh sound.

Washing machines are good. Can you imagine life without them? Banging clothes on a rock, using soaproot, maybe going naked would be easier, or at least keeping it simple.

When I was about four years old, maybe five, we were staying with my grandmother in Washington, DC. In the basement was a wringer washing machine with two rollers above my head that squeezed the water out of the clothes after they were agitated below. My mom got her thumb caught in the wringers once, feeding the clothes through the wringer, and it was never quite the same. Another time, I tried to help and put a whole box of powdered detergent in the washer. The soapsuds came to the basement steps. It was beautiful and amazing to my young eyes. That’s how I remember it, anyway.

The prompt also took me to this song: “I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair.” It’s from the musical, South Pacific, which I’m embarrassed to say, I have never seen even though I like musicals. It’s one of those odd gaps that I never saw it.

Wouldn’t it be nice if washing your hair got rid of unwanted thoughts, unwanted addictions, and uncomfortable feelings? They could all just go down the drain. Hopefully they would not get clogged up along the way down.

That could be a guided imagery thing while washing your hair, taking a shower, dancing in the rain, swimming in the ocean, or floating along the stream of consciousness, and letting the water wash away what we don’t want. Get out of my hair, you thoughts and feelings who shall not be named! I will let go of the negative thoughts and feelings, but the lessons learned from experience will remain. Everything will be all clean and fresh – at least for a few minutes, anyway – opening a path to something better.

Clean and open to possibilities

So, I went and looked at videos of the song about washing the man out and thought I might want to watch this movie some time with Glenn Close. Well, not with her unless she’s interested, but the movie starring Glen Close. After reading the synopsis, it sounds like the story contains layers of depth. Do you have a favorite version of South Pacific or a favorite song from a musical? “Singing in the Rain” comes to mind.

~~~

For more on SoCS, visit out host, Linda G. Hill by clicking HERE.

One-Liner Wednesday: Perspectives on Multi-tasking, Mindfulness and Focus

“Totally Focused on Every Task All the Time.”

Really? That’s what it says on a pin that showed up on my table. I have no idea where it came from or where it is now.  It looks like one of the many items of memorabilia that belonged to my parents. But it’s a railroad pin, and my dad wasn’t with the railroad. Maybe it appealed to his USMC gunny side. 

The slogan  struck me as absurd. My husband David understood it as a safety directive. But from a wellness perspective, it sounds awfully unhealthy to me. I’ve read that there really is no such thing as multitasking, just shifting attention very, very fast from one task to another.

One of the components of mindfulness is doing one thing at a time. Ka at Fiesta Estrellas has an excellent five minute mindfulness meditation that includes the suggestion that all things in awareness are of equal importance while meditating. Please see her helpful comments below. I’m still processing…. and practicing…..

What do you think? Could being totally focused on every task all the time ever be a good thing?

Here’s an alternative perspective: 

What we focus on gets bigger. Choose wisely. 

 

For lots of wise or witty one-liners, visit our host, Linda Hill at:

One-Liner Wednesday – Is time ever wasted? | (lindaghill.com)

SoCS: What’s in Your Brain?

Today’s prompt is….. “container.” We have lots of latitude as to how we use it.

My brain is a container.

Full of 64 plus years of memories,

knowledge, questions, clutter, images

Formulas, trivia, mistakes, emotions,

Successes, failures, learnings, maps……

The question is, what more shall I add?

Political news can be stressful

But it’s necessary in small and specific doses.

Music is better. Reading for pleasure is better.

Science Fiction can be a good escape,

But not so much shoot em ups

Not so much blood. Not so much cop drama….

Star Trek is always good.

Romantic comedies are warm bread.

Jeopardy is better than news.

Facebook invites stress

if I’m not careful where I go.

We can change the channel

Click the X.

Learn some new dance steps

A new song

A new path through the woods

Or a well treasured trail.

Books are good friends.

Furry friends and funny friends…

Find room for loving conversation

Making new memories to add to the old ones.

Take out the trash.

Make room for good

food for thought.

I was feeling stressed by news and FB and realized I needed to relax. Here’s my current go-to meditation. It’s about 45 minutes. The sleep part doesn’t come in til the very end, so you could watch it in sections: protection, calm, wellness, then the sleep if you want to, or just go on with your day, save the sleep for later. Sometimes I fade in and out, imprinting on Michael’s British accent.

I’m on the road for a short trip to the mountains, so will catch you later. Have a great Saturday!

…

For more streams of consciousness, visit our host, Linda G. Hill at:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Sept. 26/2020

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Gentle Curiosity and Genuine Joy

A parachute set up by students for all to sign

The following is a meditation written and read by a student leader at our local climate strike last Friday. I’m grateful that she let me take a photo of her notes. I offer the last line for One-Liner Wednesday

I ask that we all take a moment to be present in this space. Close your eyes if that’s comfortable. Notice the ground you’re standing on, the feel of your feet on the earth beneath you. Your breath as it travels through your body. The smells in the air…..

Thank you, Mother, for this day.

With each breath, I honor my life and all those that I encounter.

With each inhale, I accept the Mother’s wisdom,

her compassion, her strength, and her kindness.

With each exhale, I release my own ignorance, selfishness, expectations, and apathy.

I commit myself to gentle curiosity and genuine joy.

Noelle Powers

 

“I commit myself to gentle curiosity and genuine joy.”  _Noelle Powers

 

 

One-liner Wednesday is brought to us by Linda Hill. For more information, visit:

https://lindaghill.com/2019/09/25/one-liner-wednesday-phew/

Program Nurtures Young Men in Baltimore #WATWB

Project Pneuma strives to teach young men and boys “the art of forgiveness, self-control and discipline while giving them exposure to a new world of endless possibilities.” I was intrigued and encouraged by this program’s holistic approach incorporating martial arts, yoga, meditation, and love.

“The Mission of Project Pneuma is to Breathe New Life holistically into the young men we serve by challenging them intellectually, strengthening them physically, nurturing them emotionally and uplifting them spiritually.”

For more information, visit: http://www.projectpneuma.org/

This post is part of the We Are the World Blog Fest which takes place on the forth Friday of each month. #WATWB is hosted by  Andrea Michaels, Damyanti Biswas, Inderpreet Uppal, Shilpa Garg, Susan Scott and Sylvia Stein.

Breathing Meditation in Rictameter

I leaned about rictameter from Linda Wolff at Urban Poetry: https://urbanpoetry2017.com/2017/03/20/poetry-venture-into-the-wild/ 

This type of poetry uses 9 lines and a syllable count of: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 with the first line repeating itself in the last line.  Here’s what came to me:

 

Inhale

Love that won’t quit.

Gaze into  ancient  eyes.

Let wisdom and peace fill you well

Flowing to every cell and every thought

Until you love yourself so much

Joy dances in the wind

of your exhale.

Inhale.

…

I took the photo which reminds me of God’s hand holding bright light. There’s also a wing peeking out below the thumb, so who knows what that big hand is holding.

Time and the Toilet Paper Roll of Life

This is the busiest time. No, wait. It’s not that busy. Maybe this is the busiest time since I started semi-retirement in June. Was that this past June? No way. I have to check that. Time is so strange. I think this is the fastest time has ever moved. It moves faster and faster the older we get, and also the busier we get. Just like the toilet paper roll goes faster as you get closer to the end. But then someone will hopefully replace that toilet paper roll with a full one. Usually a mom type person does that. Does God replace our roll when we get to the end of our life? Do we get another assignment? I like the idea of taking a rest for a while, in my idea of heaven being a cabin in the woods, running around with all the dogs I’ve ever loved…and then getting an assignment, as an angel or whatever God wants me to do. I just really want a rest for a while and to see my dogs.

I had no idea I was going to go there. That’s what I love about the Stream of Consciousness.

Though theses are the busiest times lately, they are also the best times. So I want to stop complaining and have some gratitude already!  My busyness has been writing, a little art, feeding feral kittens, puttering around the house in the never-ending busyness of things like replacing toilet paper rolls and de-cluttering.

The best things about this busy weekend are:

This afternoon, I get to read one of my two stories which will be published in the public library’s e-book about our coastal county. I should say, I get to read it out loud, in front of people! I’ll send you a link to the e-book when it is unveiled.

Tomorrow afternoon, I get to lead a guided meditation at a coffee house celebration of Recovery Month. That’s right, September is RECOVERY MONTH. We need to celebrate recovery because so many people don’t get how much work it is. We need to applaud people in recovery from addiction and other illnesses.

Both of these events are related to my work. The first, reading my story, is about my new work and my new creative life. Sunday’s event is about my old work as a counselor, which I continue to do one day a week. So this weekend is sort of an affirmation, that for now, I can do both.

Next week could be even busier. It might be the busiest week!

Monday I need to go cut my father’s hedges. And visit him which is more important. And then I need to go the old job on Tuesday as I get ready for a reunion trip with my high school girlfriends in Mississippi!

One thing’s for sure, I’m not bored.

And I am grateful.

 

Linda’ prompt for today’s Stream of Consciousness post was, “-est” to be used as a suffix.

Read more SOC posts, and join in the fun at Linda’s blog:

https://lindaghill.com/2016/09/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-1716/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Placebo Effect (or More Fiber?)

I’ve had annoying, but relatively mild, pain on the right side of my abdomen for the past four days. The four days part is unusual, because I’m used to my body working through things faster than that.

So, yesterday, I finally scheduled an appointment at my doctor’s office for this afternoon. Wouldn’t you know that I’m starting to feel better now. Does that ever happen to you? You schedule a doctor appointment, then  get better before the appointment. Maybe it’s the fiber I’ve added to my diet. But this NPR story, about the how the mind influences the body, makes me wonder if there is some kind of placebo effect going on.

The article is full of interesting explanations about the placebo effect, how distraction can help us cope with pain, and the power of mindfulness meditation. I knew a lot of this stuff, but it helps to be reminded. I’ve been telling my clients, “What we practice, we get better at.” So, I really like the example, at the end of the article, about how practicing the violin for 8 hours a day is going to make a person better at playing the violin. (I’m trying not to think about potential neck pain. Quick, move on to something else! Like beautiful violin music!)

If we’ve practiced worrying enough to get good at worrying, it’s going to take some times to  strengthen the hopefulness (or mindfulness) pathways in the brain, so that we get better at hopefulness, positive thinking and enjoying the present moment.

I’m definitely feeling better – not 100%, but better. I’ll probably keep my appointment, because I’ve blocked out the time, and I like my PA. I bet she tells me to eat more fiber.

Now, back to that beautiful violin music:

Temper, Trek, and the Stream of Consciousness

They say red heads have bad tempers. My hair is not as red as it used to be, but I’ve never had a bad temper. I don’t even remember any other red heads having bad tempers. Not that there are a lot of us around. I have a reputation, mostly on the job, of being a calm person. Yet, I don’t always feel calm inside my head. I have a considerable amount of anxiety. That’s probably why I like to teach meditation to my  clients, because I need reminders. I don’t like feeling anxious or angry. The times I’ve felt angry enough to lose my temper feel alien to me. Alien like going into a temporal anomaly. Where did that come from? Oh, my stream of consciousness.

Sometimes I’ve been tempted to let myself get really angry and blow up. It seems like fun for other people, or else why would they do it? I believe anger can be addicting. But I don’t like it. Not one bit. Except the cussing alone in my car, but that was last week’s SOC post….

Where was I?

Losing my temper, as tempted as I might be to try it, almost always feels wrong to me. I can feel anger, but I don’t like to yell a lot. I get shaky and feel slightly sick in my stomach, when I come close to losing my temper. Maybe it has something to do with Spock. That’s right. I’m going to sci-fi again. I think I need a Star Trek fix. It’s been so long. Spock, my first crush back when the original Trek first aired, almost never got angry. He kept his emotions under control with meditation and logic. I admired that in him because my life at age 11 was chaotic. That’s another story that must be somewhere on this blog.

So, what does this have to do with Anything Is Possible?

It’s possible to control our emotions, and not let our emotions control us.

It’s possible for me to feel and express anger without losing my temper. (My daughter would tell you that I have lost my temper plenty of times, but it’s really only a couple of times that I’ve really lost it.)

It’s possible to find a video clip of Mr. Spock losing his temper:

I feel better now.

 

Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday post prompt for today was “temp.”

 

If you’d like to join in the fun of the Saturday Stream of Consciousness visit:

http://lindaghill.com/2015/09/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-1215/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!