Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “the last thing you emptied.” Think of the last thing you emptied or something you empty often and use it as your prompt any way you like. Have fun!
We arrived at the mountain house late Thursday afternoon. I thought David had gotten everything out of the back of the car, then discovered he had not gotten the yoga mats and something else. I forget what. Hopefully, I will actually use a yoga mat while I’m here. Probably Monday, or tomorrow, when the kids will be going to see their paternal grandfather who’s in town for the visit since some family have come from Indiana.
In preparation for the trip, I washed clothes and actually got to the bottom of my laundry hamper. That had not happened in a while, so I got to empty little pieces of debris that had collected in the bottom. They looked like tiny pieces of leaves which are abundant in the home of this tree lover. But I really don’t want to know. Now, it’s clean at the bottom.
What’s something more interesting I could write about? Surely there are interesting things that have happened or been talked about. The air here in the NC mountains is fresher than on the coast. The trees are different and have more of an earthy-airy smell, while on the coast, there are different kinds of pine needles, sand, and more pollen since Spring comes earlier. My sinuses are not empty but seem less stuffy. I was reading about the worst cities for allergies. They only looked at big cities, and I don’t think mine was quite big enough, so didn’t make the top 20 list, though Raleigh, the state capital, did. Florida had more cities than any other state.
On Friday, I did a two short hikes with grandkids with a nap in between and more to come. Here are a few photos so far:
On our first night we saw a smiling crescent moon with maybe ? Venus above. My phone camera does not even come close to doing the scene justice, so just imagine it being a smiling crescent moon.
The moon and Venus ?
Do you see a face in the mossy tree trunk below?
Do you see a little green man stepping out of the cave?
Do you even get a tingling sensation when someone else is brushing your hair or while getting a haircut? This is what happens to me. I can get pretty blissed out at the hair salon, as long as there’s not a lot of talking. One of my college professors told me there are monkeys who go into trance while grooming each other. You might think this is weird, and that’s okay. I find it fascinating.
I’ve also felt this same euphoric feeling at other times, like when my husband caresses my arm with a repetitive motion. It can be an intense natural high with zero risk since I wouldn’t indulge while driving or doing anything requiring alert status. If I want to indulge in something when driving or needing to be vigilant, there’s always dark chocolate.
A while back, someone told me about Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, which sounds a lot like what I’ve experience, except that ASMR is usually elicited by auditory and/or visual stimuli including repetitive sounds or movements or whispering. There are all kinds of videos for ASMR. Some involve role plays of hair styling or scalp massage. Here’s one with doodling that combines repetitive drawing motions with the sound of the marker on the paper. (You might need to increase the volume.) I recommend watching in big screen. But do NOT watch these videos before driving or doing other activities requiring your full attention or quick reaction times.
No wonder loved to doodle repetitive lines and circles in boring meetings! The video response is something new to me, but I’m finding it to be very calming when I have time to relax.
For more information, you can click on this link from Wikipedia:
1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).
3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of theday. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.
Can a person show up positive for marijuana on a drug screen just by being in the same room with people smoking the weed?
The opening speaker at Wednesday’s addiction professionals conference says no. But he wasn’t clear on the cutoff levels/sensitivity of the test used in the study. I believe it’s possible, though the smoke would have to be pretty darn thick. After all, people have been know to get a contact buzz from being in the same room with someone smoking, right? Of course, It’s been a very long time…..
I did get a natural high with my high school girlfriends during our reunion last month. I was the only one not drinking, but I laughed, giggled and almost choked on my own silliness, all drug and alcohol free, which was my goal. I also won the trivia game which I like to think I won because I remember stuff I studied in high school, and I am smart in some things, not just because I was the only one sober.
But back to the conference that finished up yesterday. Our closing speaker was Austin Eubanks,an injured survivor from the Columbine shooting. His story was moving and powerful. I even got teary-eyed when he told us about how his best friend was killed in the library. It turns out that Austin became addicted to pain pills which were easily accessible after the Columbine trauma because he was shot in the hand and the knee. But he got more pain meds than he needed and used them (without realizing it) to numb the emotional pain of the trauma.
Austin was clear that he does not want to prevent anyone from getting the medication they need, but he also said that it would have been better for his doctors to realize he was using pain pills to cover up the emotional trauma which took him years to process starting in a therapeutic community on his third treatment episode. One way to minimize that risk, is for doctors to screen people coming in for acute physical pain to find out if there is also emotional trauma they might be trying to avoid. Recovery is about learning how to cope with challenges with support but not with illicit drugs. It’s way complicated. But one of the best things is that Austin encouraged those in recovery to look closer at the issue of anonymity. A person should not publicly reveal membership in a specific 12 step program, but Austin said that if you’re in recovery, be “loud and proud” about it.
Kids and Adults need to know that it’s okay to choose not to drink or drug, and that there is support for working through trauma. Recovery is not easy, but worth it in the long run.
Today’s Stream of Consciousness Prompt was the word, “screen,” brought to you by Linda HIll at:
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.
Rain kept us from seeing Friday night’s blue moon, but Saturday night was clear. My humble photos do not do her justice. But I had to try. I truly did not want to leave the divine magic, the natural high, of moon-bathing. I felt physically drawn to stay, perhaps by some interaction between the moonlight and ionization in the ocean air.
I was sure I was coming down with a cold. Extra congestion with body aches signaled the onset. But I was determined to get started on the angel.
I’ve been saying “I’m supposed to be painting angels,” for a couple years. When a new thrift store, “Angels Among Us,” opened near my neighborhood, I started to think about painting an angel on the side of their building. So I got some scrap wood and practiced by painting the angel sculpture in their store.
Angel in Green Dress by JoAnne Silvia
Then I used the other side of the scrap of wood to experiment.
Angel with Mary and Joseph by JoAnne Silvia
Close up of the angel guiding the holy couple, by JoAnne Silvia (after I added the heart light)
I still have a little more green to paint on the pink ribbon.
During this time of contemplating angels, I started painting a wind up musical PINK robed Santa Clause I bought at our church yard sale, because he played “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and I wanted to paint his robe red. Who ever heard of a pink Santa? Working on this simple project helped me realize how much I love painting, coloring, and making art of any kind.
So, Saturday, in spite of feeling congested and achy, I bought the paint and went to “Angels Among Us,” a place where they they give away extra gloves and hats to kids. And they always have a free box outside. Here’s their Facebook page:
I discovered how to use the existing rough white background instead of white paint to create highlights. But even cooler than that, was how my cold symptoms went away when I got in the painting zone. I didn’t even notice that it was getting cold as the sun moved toward the horizon. I live in the south, so by cold, I mean below 65 degrees. The wind chill might have been close to 60 by the time I finished for the day. But my cold symptoms were gone!
I could tell my body was fighting something off. Painting was, and is, my tonic. Okay, I took a little echinacea, but the natural high of making art was what really kicked that virus’ butt. I’m convinced.
Painting the thrift store angel wasn’t all smooth sailing. I couldn’t get her hands right. Then after getting the basic form on the first day, I stepped back and saw that one arm was clearly longer than the other, and one wing was way smaller than the other. So today, I took some vacation time from my job to fix her and give her a halo.
Even though painting this angel on the side of the building had it’s challenges, it was exciting and fulfilling. It felt right to be doing what I was supposed to be doing.
Painting is coming back home to my soul. It’s about time.
Next, I hope to work on the sign. I can’t wait!
My mom, who passed away a few years ago, collected angels. I wonder if she had anything to do with this. I think she’s smiling.
Anything is Possible! 