Secret Magic Words

 

First, congratulations to John, at https://thesoundofonehandtyping.wordpress.com/ winner of this year’s SOCS badge contest. I love the colors and the clarity of this badge. Good job, John!

And now, to the Stream of Consciousness. Linda’s prompt for today was, “cash.” I like to use cash when I can, rather than credit or debit cards, and much more than on line purchasing. You see, I’m a wee bit paranoid, no, I’m cautious, about the security risks. I know I’m a bit of a dinosaur in that I don’t use ATM machines. So when I cash a check, I deposit most of it and keep out the cash I think I’ll need. And I still write checks to pay most of my bills. Does anyone else still do that. Please don’t tell me I’m the only one. But I’ll still do it. It works for me.

I know that doesn’t exactly fit with the idea of faith, hope and perseverance, in my blog subtitle, except it does for the perseverance part. What does fit with faith and hope is that for the past few years, some of my passwords have had phrases related to more cash. More cash from alternate sources  rather than the job I worked for so long. Creative sources of cash. Not those exact words, cause hey, they are secret, magic words. And they worked, along with the law of attraction, and my higher power, aka, God, not necessarily in that order.

This vision of cash from more creative sources, the general idea, manifested when my high school sweetheart husband who found me thirty nine years later said to me, “I’m about to be 59 and a half. That means I can withdraw from my retirement. How would you like to quit your job, so you can focus more on writing and art?”

That was well over a year ago, that he said that. And for at least six months, before I accepted his offer, I asked him, like once a week, “Are you serious?” which turned into, “Is it really okay if I quit my job?” and “Are you sure you’re okay with that?”  I couldn’t believe my luck.

But it wasn’t really luck, was it?

I’m still careful with money. The fact that we are both frugal is part of what allowed me to cut back on my old job. We have a modest home, small by some standards, in America anyway, and we don’t spend a lot of money on luxuries. But I am happy. And I have enough cash. I have everything I need. And I’m thankful.

Here’s a little clip about cash from one of my favorite movies, brought to you by my stream of Consciousness. In It’s a Wonderful Life, George and Mary are headed for their honeymoon when…

 

Want to learn more about the Stream of Consciousness Saturday?  Visit Linda’s blog,where you don’t need any cash:

https://lindaghill.com/2016/08/12/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-1316/

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!

Routes and Roots

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Is money the root of all evil?

Is there more than one route to God?

Maybe I’ll come back to the God question.

Thrift and consignment stores are popping up all over. My husband manages one for the Rescue Mission. They get more clothes and books donated than they can keep up with. More than they have room for. He’s found a way to re-donate the extras. They get a lot of food donated too. In the job he had before, he saw grocery stores throwing away so much food. It was astounding and sad. Fortunately some of the food gets donated to non-profit agencies……  I’m getting to the money and evil part, eventually, maybe.

So how can there be so many clothes donated? The books I understand, because people now use  computers and phones more to read. But people keep buying clothes. More and more clothes. I get most of my clothes from second hand stores. I get most of my furniture second hand, too. It’s mostly a recycling thing. And a little a frugal thing.

Are we buying more stuff than we need? And what else can we do with our money?  I don’t want to buy new wood furniture, because someone had to cut down a tree for that.

Yes, lets get back to the forest!

My roots are in nature.

I see God in nature. I connect with God in nature.

I also see God in Jesus. I connect with God through Jesus.

Some people connect with God through prayer and songs. These work for me too.

Some find God through service work, through various books, or religious leaders.

Some don’t find God at all.  Part of me says I’m supposed to write how sad that is.

But you know what? I don’t feel all that sad about it. We all have a choice. We all have value. Regardless of whether we have found God, or Jesus, or Muhammad. Whether we are rich or poor or smart with numbers, or computers or money or whether we know how to make sassafras tea out of tree roots. We all have value.

I used to say, I didn’t care about money. But I do sort of like having enough for my mortgage and vet bills and food and my second hand clothes and gasoline….. and I’d like to travel more…… I like the things money can buy.  Some of the things. But money can’t buy the sky.  Money can’t buy true love.

And as my husband says his grandfather used to say, ” You can’t eat it.”

The desire for things and money is part of the problem, part of what is putting our world at risk. But there is something more. A lack of peace. A lack of love. We need more tolerance and cooperation.

That’s all for now.  Except that I wish I’d  written more about roots.

Here’s a poem, containing roots, I memorized many years ago from the Lord of the Rings….or maybe it was The Hobbit. This is how I remember it:

All that is gold does not glitter.

Not all those who wander are lost.

The old that is strong does not whither.

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken.

A light from the Shadows shall Spring.

Renewed shall be blade that was broken.

The crownless again shall be king.

JRR Tolkein

 

 

 

Today’s Stream of Consciousness post prompt was “route/root.”

If you’d like to jump into the stream, start here:

http://lindaghill.com/2015/09/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-1915/

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!

A Relaxing, Frugal Honeymoon

I’ve never been to Key West. To be honest, I didn’t want to go that far, hearing it was a rambunctious sort of place.

About three years ago, when my husband and I were looking for a honeymoon spot, he wanted to stay in the US. Both of us being rather frugal, we looked for somewhere not terribly far away from where we live. He suggested the Florida Keys, where I’d never been.

I wanted to relax in a natural setting, and searched the internet for months without finding what I was looking for. Then I started playing with Google Earth, zooming in on areas that had a lot of trees. After weeks of searching, I found an area on Key Largo that looked promising. It turned out to be the Key Largo Hilton which prides itself on it’s natural environment.

I wanted to feel like I was close to the trees, as if in some remote tropical location. And it did sort of have that look.

Morning view from our balcony

 

Late afternoon from the balcony

It didn’t feel quite tropical, because it was December. The air temperature was fine, but the water was a little chilly, though we did do a little snorkeling and went in the pool.  The hot tub was a welcome relief after that.

It was a simple vacation, with a relaxed easy pace. Exactly what I wanted, since I had not taken a whole week off from work in many years.

We drove as far south as Summerland Key, where we ate lunch at the Wharf Restaurant which attracted me with it’s “Coexist” flag.

The food was delicious, and the decor interesting:

Time for peace.

 

My kind of place.

A good thing about good music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d love to go back sometime, when it’s a little bit warmer than December.

 

This week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday Post was: “ke” If you’d like to join in the fun, visit:

http://lindaghill.com/2015/05/22/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-2315/

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,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

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. Have fun!

More, More, More

Some days, it feels like I’m trying to see what’s the most I can pack into a day.

That’s really not my goal, but it feels like I’m constantly prioritizing how to use my time best. I still work at least thirty hours a week as a counselor, I’m active in my little church. I volunteer every other week Wednesday night at the mission. Maybe I’ll write about that some other time. I’m trying to help my 83 year old dad figure out how to live as independently as he can while his physical body is declining. I’m trying to help my 21 year old daughter learn how to live as independently as she can, even though she’s still living under my roof.

Then of course there’s writing the memoir and blogging, both of which I love. And I need to read more  and exercise more. And now I’ve decided to be in my first art show, though I only recently started getting back into painting. I’m including some of my daughter’s photography, which is really cool stuff with skulls and flowers…..

Part of me is going: What are you thinking? You don’t have time for all this!

But another, deeper part of me believes that for me to be happy, I need to follow my creative passions where they lead me.

I’m still being responsible and paying my bills. I spend less money on entertainment than most people. I get excited about making a whole meal out of leftovers. But then I do enjoy a good meal out at least once a week.

My husband and the abundance/law of attraction movements say I’ve been living in scarcity mode. I am frugal most of the time.  I buy most of my clothes at thrift stores, but that’s because I like to recycle. I don’t like to waste things. It’s the least I can do for the environment.

But maybe it’s okay to want the most out of life. It’s okay to want to be a writer and an artist. To follow my dreams and expect that I will make a living doing those things some day, instead of saying, money doesn’t matter. Money does matter. I would like to be able to make a living doing what I’ve loved for as long as I can remember.  I’ve put in 30 years working in a helping profession in a nonprofit agency. And I believe I’ll always make time to help others. I know it’s not all about me.

But sometimes, it’s okay to be about me.

So, when someone asks me to do something else, in addition to what I’m already doing, the question isn’t: can I cram that into my day, or week. It’s not about where can I fit that in? Sometimes I need to ask:

Will it feed my soul?

Will it nurture my spirit?

Will it give me energy to keep going?

 

Today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday Prompt was “most/least.” If you’d like to join in, visit:

http://lindaghill.com/2015/01/23/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-january-2415/

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,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

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. Have fun!