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May 20th
All week I have been saying I would not get out of bed on Sunday morning. I wouldn’t even answer the phone or the door. On this date, the 20th of May, the last two years I have had bad news. Two years ago our 16 year old family pet was hit and killed by…
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The Happiness One Suffers
The tentative newness of early Spring blossoms in Ohio is transforming now into early summer leaves. The heavenly scent of lilac mingles… with the wild garlic and dog shit… up and down the drive where I find myself walking. It reminds me that we are much happier in life if we can accept those two…
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Springtime in Bethel
I confess the inspiration for this post is from another blog I follow called ‘Becoming Madame’ (becomingmadame.wordpress.com/). She writes about all things French, and particularly Parisian. If you are a Francophile, or just an armchair traveler, you will enjoy it. However, I have just taken an afternoon walk on a gorgeous Ohio spring day. It…
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Too Old for Encouragement?
Today I found myself wondering about ‘encouragement’. You hear the word ‘support’ a lot these days and that’s a good thing, but it doesn’t seem quite imbued with the emotion that the word ‘encouragement’ conveys. Perhaps it is just semantics, but whatever you call it, it’s what we give to those who are either struggling…
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‘Sneaking up on it’
Have you ever been at a loss as to how to tackle a writing project, or painting, or how to start to assemble that scrapbook you’ve talked about doing for years, or to sew a quilt, or grow a herb garden or clean your office… well you get the idea. Have you ever just wanted…
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“C’MON!!!”
Have you ever come home from a vacation and felt the ‘letdown’ of having to return to ‘normal’ life? It’s a similar feeling many of us experience after Christmas is over, or any holiday or birthday that we have anticipated with high expectation. For weeks I have been experiencing a ‘flatness’ and wondering what exactly…
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Breathe
In recent days I have felt extreme fatigue, mental deflation, and yesterday, anxiety that gripped my chest and would not let me breathe. I have slowed to a ‘meander’ through the day, allowing myself to float and contemplate and do what feels right, with no pressure to ‘do’ anything if the spirit is unwilling. It…
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After the treatment
Every day I feel myself returning more to a functional life. For several days after I first got home I was anxious to make sure I didn’t just close off all that I have experienced and move ahead as if nothing had happened, as if I have finished ‘the treatment’ and now could forget about…
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Being home
One of the best things about getting home again was the smell. There was a sweetness in the air, but not flowery perfume. It was the sweet smell of the ‘familiar’. Perhaps it was the absence of ‘institutional smell’ and medical potions and soaps as well, but it resonated with me the instant I walked…
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There are no ‘Coincidences’
For those of you who don’t believe in coincidence, as I do not, you will be further convinced as I relate to you how my final day of treatment unfolded. For those of you who think coincidence is an accidental event, you may think again. I left the world of institutional living behind and we…
ardysez 