Month: July 2023

Tool Time

I saw this meme as I was scrolling on Twitter this morning, and I was amused at how the creator got what he or she thought to be a hilarious meme, “sort of” wrong. Ryobi tools and Milwaukee tools are owned by the same company. Ryobi is just the less expensive brand of the same tool maker. Let me put it in fashion terms: Ralph Lauren is the luxury brand, and Polo is its more affordable line. Versace is the luxury brand, and Versus is its more affordable line. Milwaukee is the luxury brand, and Ryobi is the more affordable line.

Now you may have never taken me to be a tool aficionado, and with this assumption, you are correct. Beyond a hammer and a screwdriver, I’m pretty hopeless when it comes to tools. I only know about Milwaukee and Ryobi because my youngest son had an internship with their parent company last summer. Last summer, I learned more about tools than I ever wanted to know. (on an aside, the Milwaukee “Sharpie type” pens are the best, most long lasting, I have ever used. The next time that you are in Home Depot purchasing potting soil, slide over to the Milwaukee section and buy a pen. You won’t regret it.)

Experiencing this other person’s gaffe this morning, reminded me of why knowledge is so important. We often make assumptions and jump to conclusions, without understanding the full picture. As we age, and with a lot of experiences already under our belts, we often forget to ask the who/what/where/when/why/how questions that were pounded into us, by our English teachers when we were kids. We project what we think that we “already know” on to our experiences, and we forget that we are still susceptible to mistakes and misjudgments. It’s so easy to end up with egg on your face when you are poking fun at an experience that you don’t have full knowledge about. The safest thing ever to poke fun at, is yourself. No one knows you like you do, and even with your own self, you still have some knowledge to learn. Today get curious. Ask yourself a who/what/where/when/how/why inquiry about yourself. You might be surprised to learn that you are more multifaceted than you realized. And if you see something that seems a little “off” to you (like the Ryobi guy using a Milwaukee tool), don’t be afraid to investigate. Ask questions. Try to come to understanding versus presumption.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Monday-Funday

Years ago, I got a lot of giggles from a little cartoon called “Making Fiends.” The show featured two little elementary school girls who couldn’t be more opposite in their inherent natures. Charlotte was an overly bubbly, perfectly happy, “Pollyanna” type who was absolutely oblivious to any negativity, and Vendetta was an evil, cranky, manipulative, angry little witch who created havoc wherever she went. For some reason this show just tickled me. I think that this is because on any given day, I could relate to either one of them, at some level. Today when I was looking up memes for my Monday blog post I found one that Charlotte would have posted:

And then I found one that Vendetta would have posted:

If you need a little goofiness in your day, here’s a little “Making Fiends” short to enjoy:

See you tomorrow, fiends (I mean, friends)!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Soul Sunday

“Love is the poetry of the senses.” ~ Honoré de Balzac

Welcome to poetry day on the blog. I’m still playing around with poetry. It’s not my “first language” in writing, but I find it interesting. I find it to be a worthwhile pursuit, and good use of my time and of my mindspace. Every Sunday, I suggest that you, my readers, write a little poem or two of your own. If you think that you “can’t” write a poem, look what a teacher on Twitter (shared by Joseph Fasano) got from one of her young students when given a poetry prompt (what a beautiful poem!):

And here is my own poem for today:

“A Moment in July”

I wanted the slow down.

I wanted the unending exhale.

And the Universe answered,

With a pressing heat,

that makes moving through air,

feel like moving through sludge.

“Learn to sit still,” she whispered,

As my skin felt like it was melting away,

And I had no choice but to become one,

with the steaming, still atmosphere around me.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Chapters

credit: Positive Call, Twitter

I just showed this meme (above) to my husband and he mentioned that he thinks a lot of kids these days seem to think that they should be starting at Chapter 20. (yes, he and I have become the old, know-it-all cranks, whom we told ourselves we would never become. 😉 )

The beauty of getting older is reflecting on all of the chapters behind you to see how they shaped who and where you are today. This meme is the epitome of showing that it is always, always about the journey and never really about the destination. (I mean, we still don’t know how the Bezos/Amazon story ends yet, do we?) The destination is just something to aim towards, but the journey is where the all of the experiences happen. The journey (also known as the chapters of our lives) are all of the ups and downs, the adventures, the heartaches, the happenings, the experiences of our lifetime that chisel away at who we are becoming, throughout our entire lives. Why would anyone want to skip to Chapter 20? You would miss out on everything that made you. You would miss out on all of the explanation and understanding of how you even got to Chapter 20. You would miss out on being at Chapter 20, and being able to look back fondly at Chapter 1, and notice how Chapter 1 is innocently filled with high hopes, and impossible dreams, and vivid visions, and smile to yourself, to see how far you have come. There is something extremely special and satisfying about reveling in everything that it took to get you to Chapter 20.

When I am reading an excellent book, or watching a wonderful movie, I never want it to end. No matter how good the ending ends up being, I’m always a little disappointed. I’m sad that the experience is over. Excellent chapters make you want to experience a never-ending story. None of us know when it will be the final chapter of our own book, so we should just savor the chapters while we are in them. And the truth is, none of us can be entirely sure that there actually is a last chapter . . . .

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Stupid (Fun) Friday

Happy Friday!!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!!! Lately, all of us probably have some of the same favorites: water, shade, ice cubes, ice cream . . . . My own favorite for today, is dual purpose. It keeps my hair off of my neck, and it has a personality – it is a little sneaky and clandestine. My favorite for today is probably more for my female readers, unless you have a man bun (see above). (I’m still in awe that I have any male readers – thank you, guys!!) Today’s favorite is The Hidden Pocket Scrunchie Hair Elastic. This cute, fun scrunchie has a zipper pocket where you can keep things like money, air pods, chapstick, etc. If you are doing some weeding outside (what are you crazy? There’s a heatwave going on!), and the ice cream man happens to pull up, all you have to do is reach up and pull the dollars out of your hair. How fun! I got mine at a local boutique but you can find them at Target and Amazon.

Bonus Favorite: For those of you who have dogs who love the water as much as our Ralphie, the Labrador retriever does, we finally found a collar for him that does not leave a rash around his neck, from its constant dampness. The collar is called the Coastal Pro – Waterproof Dog Collar. Ralphie’s collar is a beautiful shade of aqua blue (and it hasn’t faded) but these collars come in all different, vibrant colors. For those of us, whose dogs are also part fish, these collars are a must. We got ours on Amazon for $15.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

“Fresh Eyes”

credit: Outlookindia

There is so much heat in the air, that even sitting in the air conditioning feels like being in a tanning bed. I feel like a slug. I don’t want to move. It feels like it takes the gallant effort and mental fortitude of a Navy Seal to psych myself up to go outside, just to get my mail. There’s summer in Florida and then there is “summer in Florida, amirite?!?” We are definitely in “amirite” territory this week. (in case you haven’t heard enough complaining about this unprecedented summer heat wave, I just indulged you.)

I’ve gotten a few dozen new subscribers in the last week or so. Thank you, welcome. I’m so honored. I love to write and I would do it in a void, but it feels truly validating to be read. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I wrote a blog post once about my writing process, and about how what you get in your email, is usually the first draft. I can almost guarantee that you will find at least one typo or grammatical error. That’s why I have my editor (aka my wonderful husband) read my blog post every single morning. My sweet husband then texts me, how much he liked my post and what he got from it, and then right after that text is “And here are all of your mistakes:”. And I always think to myself (almost every single day), “How did I not catch that mistake?!? How did I miss that?? I’ve read over my post 3-6 times before publishing! How does that happen? And how does my husband spot the mistakes every single day, right away?!?”

Now my husband is not critical. He is the most supportive person in my life. My husband just happens to be far more detail oriented than I am. (All you’d have to do is look at our respective packed suitcases, desk tops or individual grocery carts to see how differently our minds work.) While in a hotel room my husband might hone in on the small knick by a light switch, while I, at the same time, am determining what the overall ambiance of the room, the hotel, or even the whole town itself, intuitively feels like to me. My husband is detail oriented and I’m big picture, and this is why we work well together.

And now is the moment that I finally get to my point: “Fresh Eyes” on any situation in your life is so important. An open mind to what these “Fresh Eyes” see, is also equally as important. Make sure that you have at least a couple of people in your life, who you admire, trust, and believe that they have your best interests at heart (friends, family, minister, therapist, mentor). When you have a situation in your life that you want some feedback on, go to your trusted “Fresh Eyes” people. Be open to what “Fresh Eyes” see. Don’t beat yourself up for not seeing what “Fresh Eyes” puts a spotlight on. Your “Fresh Eyes” people are coming into the situation, having never seen it before. When I write my blog posts, my mind already knows what it is trying to say. Often I can’t type the words fast enough. I often miss my mistakes, because my mind already sees what it wants to see. It already has a fixed idea or a prejudice as to what the blog post is saying. “Fresh Eyes” usually don’t come into any situation with a predetermined agenda.

If you prefer “finished product” with few or no typos, just go read my blog on my website in the afternoon. Rarely do I change the ideas or sentences in my posts, but sometimes I get the inspiration to do so. Therefore, what you get in your email every morning, is usually not the final “turn into the teacher” paper. I rely on my favorite “Fresh Eyes” to give me different perspectives, and to help me to clean things up a little bit here and there. Having two extra sets of eyes or more, is never a bad thing with any situation in life. Ask a beautiful monarch butterfly. It has 12,000 eyes (is it a wonder that butterflies are not easy to catch?)!!!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Wednesday’s Whimsies

Here are a few more new exhibits in the thought museum of the blog:

“There ain’t no answer. There ain’t gonna be any answer. There never has been an answer. That’s the answer.” – Gertrude Stein

“Here is the test of your relationship with what you own: Is it your servant, or your master?” – Alan Cohen

“Giraffes are the long-stemmed flowers of Africa.” – Angela Sheldrick

“As you pray, move your feet.” – African proverb

“Sometimes the smallest things take the most room in your heart.” – Winnie the Pooh

+ Benadryl is trending on Twitter because many people give it to their dogs on the Fourth of July, due to all of the fireworks being let off all over neighborhoods. Our male dogs, Ralphie, the Labrador retriever, and Trip, the Boykin spaniel have never been particularly fond of each other. They have had some heady squabbles over the years. However, last night, those two were cuddling on the same bed like I have never seen them do before. In the end, they wanted each other on the same team for comfort. Silver linings . . . .

+ Some of the best things arise from the absolute worst situations. Sometimes families, neighborhoods, businesses, countries – basically any particular entity can be so corrupt, so toxic, so negative, that the only healthy template you can get from them is to do everything opposite of what is currently being done. But it is with that kind of consideration, deliberation and dedication to change, that a person or an entity often sprouts and arises from the ashes and becomes the absolute best of whatever existed before it. If you are in a low place, you can pivot yourself in the direction opposite of what got you there. Take some poor decisions which you have made, and do the opposite of those decisions. Dedicate yourself to “opposite day”, day in and day out, and be amazed at what comes from it. You don’t need a positive example of what you want. Just notice what isn’t positive in your life, and take steps to move in the opposite direction of its negativity. Some of the best people and places and organizations in the world arose out of escaping situations that were no longer tenable to overall well-being. Our own country was founded on principles like religious freedom and no monarchies, from people who were escaping persecution and wanted something better for themselves. Change arises from awareness of what isn’t healthy and moving towards what is healthy instead.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

To My Friend

I want to tell you about my friend. She’s beautiful and relatively young. She has so much abundance of everything, and yet she’s also quite generous. She is totally eclectic. Her music, fashion, and food choices are all over the map. She finds God through many different paths. My friend isn’t faultless. She has a lot of inner conflict, she’s self-righteous and she often has a hard time slowing down. She loves technology (even of the weaponry bent) and my friend sometimes gets ahead of herself with her inventiveness, before really considering the ramifications of it all. But she’s a leader. My friend is a beacon to many. She’s brilliant, and at her heart, from my friend’s very inception, there has always been a deep, undying dream for mecca/nirvana/heaven for all who walk the earth. And honestly, at her ultimate best, my friend is the closest thing to the mecca/nirvana/heaven dream the world has ever known. Happy Birthday to my beautiful friend America. May you remember your roots today, America. May today be a rebirth of all of what is the best that is in you, with a clear vision of what direction to go towards, so that the greatest of anything which humankind has ever known is yet to be discovered. There is no doubt, that once that direction is found, my friend America will fearlessly light and lead the way.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Monday – Funday

Credit: @woofknight, Twitter

I’m baaaaack! After spending the weekend at a college friends’ reunion (after three years of not seeing each other), when my one friend got home, she texted that she feels so “rejuvenated”. That really stuck with me. I feel rejuvenated, too, and I didn’t even realize how badly I needed to be rejuvenated. Sometimes you don’t realize how stale you have gotten in certain areas of your life until you get reminded by fresh perspectives – new places, interesting recommendations by trusted friends, and even reminders of facets of your own self, which you had forgotten about until you see them reflected back to you in a good friend’s eyes. Rejuvenation is revitalizing.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.