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I’m Okay

Hi readers and friends. Judging from concerned texts which I have been receiving from some of my inner circle who are also Adulting-Second Half faithfuls, I felt the need to come to let you know that I am fine, and I hope to be back to my regular daily blogging by Monday, at the latest. Unfortunately, I came down with a doozy of a virus on Monday night and it has knocked me off of my feet. Throughout this past week, I have been miserable, fatigued, bummed, annoyed and mostly, extremely listless. I finally succumbed to going to the doctor on Friday who confirmed that my virus had turned into a mess of two ear infections and a sinus infection, and she swiftly put me on antibiotics and steroids. The medications are starting to kick in. I still don’t have a lot of energy, but I have pain relief and thankfully, my head no longer feels like it is going to explode.

My daughter left for her summer study abroad studies in London earlier this week, and so I suppose, in missing her and feeling the need to channel her, with my utter lack of energy, I firmly sat on my little brown couch, with little brown dog, and I mostly binge watched most of The Crown, all week long. (I may be one of the few women left on Earth, who has never seen The Crown before this week.) In doing so, my curiosity lead me to reading this book: Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner. It is the true story of a member of the British aristocracy who served as a lady-in-waiting for Princess Margaret for 30 years, and she also was one of Queen Elizabeth’s attendants when the queen was coronated in 1953. It is an honest, candid, highly readable book which was written in 2020, when the author was in her eighties (The author is still writing books, now at the age of 91). I could not put the book down. I expected to be disgusted and off-put by her accounts, but instead I found her biography intriguing, fascinating and oddly, sometimes even relatable. No matter what our station in life is, we women all juggle what it means to be women in service not only to ourselves but also to our husbands/partners, families and communities, all while being strongly influenced, and sometimes limited, by societal expectations.

Coming here to the blog, for the first time since Tuesday morning, despite being utterly played out, has made me realize how much I’ve missed writing it, and feeling a connection with you, my readers. I missed you! Thank you for the well wishes and concern. I pride myself on my robust immune system and I am not used to being “kept down” this long, but I believe that the body has a wisdom of its own and I am willing to succumb to this wisdom and healing that only true rest and surrender has to offer.

Good night, friends. I am headed to bed. I will be back “in form” by Monday. <3

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

1217. Are you being true to yourself?

Sick Day

Credit: The Healthy

I woke up last night with raging sore throat and feverish dreams that made me wonder if I actually slept or if I physically appeared and enacted in my own dreams. When I get sick, I just get really perturbed. I pride myself on a robust immune system. I start barking about who to blame for my sickness. I need to go back to bed. I may be back to blogging tomorrow, but I’m not making any promises.

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2372. Have you ever had a dream about being abducted by aliens?

Monday – Funday

Happy Monday. Happy New Week. Wear sunscreen. I have my annual check-up at my dermatologist today and unfortunately, I wasn’t great about my sunscreen usage yesterday. I am preparing myself for a well-deserved lecture.

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2829. Who would you want to sing a song you’ve written?

Soul Sunday

Happy Mother’s Day! I know a lot of my readers are mothers, and truly wonderful mothers. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And to my own beautiful four children, you make me so proud. I love you with all of my heart. It is my greatest joy and privilege to be your mother. Last night, my husband and I attended a wedding and as I looked around at everyone and mingled with people I’ve known for several years, it occurred to me that every stage of mother was in that room. There were pregnant women, women with their first babies, and a young woman talking about being at her child’s little league game, late into the night, on her own birthday (and every one of us mothers, whom she was telling the story to, were nodding in knowing recognition and understanding). There were the proud, excited middle-aged mothers of the bride and the groom, and there was a table of older women, presumably grandmothers and maybe even great-grandmothers. Maybe the reason why weddings have such beautiful energy and an aura of hopefulness like no other event, is because they are filled with strong women who deeply understand what it is like to be a willing, unending, unbreakable channel of the Universe’s greatest Love.

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

733. What was your last big achievement?

The Most Beautiful Skies

Credit: Louise McIntosh Artist, X – photo taken in Ireland last night

Oh wow! So many lucky people got a beautiful light show from space last night. There were many people posting pictures from England, France, Canada, Seattle, even in South Carolina, of the beautiful Northern Lights, all caused by a large magnitude solar storm that was visible on Earth. If we ever need proof that beauty can come from storms, there are pictures and pictures and pictures to prove it, from just one stormy night. Did any of my wonderful readers get to see it?

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

1284. Who is your favorite comedian?

Read, It’s Friday

credit: Pinterest

Good morning! Welcome to the best day of the week. On my favorite day of the week, I discuss the favorite things, websites, experiences, etc. that make life so interesting to live. Today’s favorite for “Favorite Things Friday” on the blog, is a book that was recommended by two different friends, both who have excellent literary tastes. I read this novel all in one day. I could not put it down. My father and my (now deceased) father-in-law are both Vietnam Veterans, so I had heard many stories from the male veteran point of view, but this book goes into what female veterans (mostly medical people, as women weren’t in combat at that time) experienced both in Vietnam, but also the aftermath which they experienced when they got home from the war. The Women by Kristin Hannah is a must-read!

Have a great weekend, friends. See you tomorrow!

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2059. What’s the simplest way you have fun?

Popcorn

We are going to be visiting with relatives in England later this summer, when we go to visit with our daughter, who will be studying there. I asked if there was anything that we should bring from America that they would like for us to bring. My aunt wanted some “4th of July” napkins (these, obviously, won’t be easily found over there), and her grandchildren wanted some specific American candy. My aunt said, “They want some ‘Jolly Ranchers’, but I guess they mean ‘Jolly Rogers?!?’,” she said in her email.

“No, they were right, it is ‘Jolly Ranchers’ and we can accomodate,” I said with a smile on my face, tasting an imaginary tart red cherry Jolly Rancher on my tongue, as I replied to her. Interestingly, her one little grandchild wanted a big bag of buttered popcorn. At first this puzzled me. I thought to myself, “I’ll have to purchase that when we get there,” but then it occurred to me that corn isn’t as common in Europe as it is here. Popcorn was first found in Peru, and the Aztecs are said to have eaten quite a bit of it in ancient Mexico. Popcorn is clearly much more of an “Americas” thing. The Europeans have “banged grains” as it is often called in the UK, but it isn’t nearly as plentiful and available in so many varieties as we have here in the United States.

No doubt, I will find some room in my luggage for the biggest, most delicious bag of popcorn I can find, (and probably a few microwave versions, to boot.) It will be cushioned between big bags of Jolly Ranchers. In my mind, this will be the most priceless stuff in my luggage, and I can’t wait to be a kid again with kids who know just how great and fulfilling an American snack of salty, buttered popcorn and Jolly Ranchers can make! It’s the “little things.” This I know.

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

1430. What profession do you respect? (I was going to write something snarky, but I am working on my “emotional reacting, versus healthfully responding” skills.)

Intro/Extro

I have an extroverted weekend coming up that I am already starting to dread. People often don’t believe me when I say that I am an introvert. I present like an extrovert when I am out in public, but it takes a lot of energy for me to psych myself up for big parties, events, gatherings, etc. I usually have a wonderful time at these functions. I am usually pleasantly surprised about how nice of time I have had, but typically, I am mostly more pleased to have the function (and the dread leading up to it) completed, and checked off, and no longer on my anticipating mind.

wcraider responded to this tweet with this:

“It’s like a light switch that has to be turned off so I can decompress and recharge.”

Anyone can present like an extrovert. The difference is that an extrovert gets their energy recharged being with people, while an introvert gets their energy recharged in solitude. Even still, I think it is important for both extroverts and introverts to get a mix of both social time and solitude. It’s good to get out of our comfort zones sometimes.

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

558. If you could read minds, whose would you read first?

Closed Doors

I read this prayer the other day. It really is beautiful:

Buddhist Prayer of Forgiveness

If I have harmed anyone in any way either knowingly or unknowingly
through my own confusions I ask their forgiveness.

If anyone has harmed me in any way either knowingly or unknowingly
through their own confusions I forgive them.

And if there is a situation I am not yet ready to forgive
I forgive myself for that.

For all the ways that I harm myself, negate, doubt, belittle myself,
judge or be unkind to myself through my own confusions
I forgive myself.

I was flipping through podcasts yesterday as I was doing some household chores and I heard a man briefly talking about when we go through certain doors in life, once you go through these doors, they shut behind you and you cannot go back. “Coming of age” is one of those doors. Any major experience that has had a huge impact on our perspective of people, of ourselves, and of the world itself, is one of those heavy, ironclad doors. Because even if you call a master locksmith and you pry the door open, and you try to go back to where you came from, what you see behind the door, will not be the same. You don’t have the same eyes nor the same heart looking at the experience anymore. Sometimes we make really conscious decisions to reach for the heavy handle, and to walk through one of these doors, full well-knowing that we will never be the same, once we do it. Sometimes we are forced through these doors by experiences which we had no control over, and even if we bang and bang on the door, we cannot go back. It takes bravery to walk away into the future from closed doors. We do it a lot in life. We are brave beings. We journey forward, through winding paths between closed doors, one step at a time. Beautiful prayers ease the way.

Picture credit: Guillaume Issaly

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

1028. What proved to be a game changer in your life?

Monday – Funday

Oprah Winfrey is doing a series on teens and technology. These are some excerpts from the series:

“The reality is that teens are dealing with things that we in previous generations never had to: the dangers of social media, the pressures of selfie culture, the relentless pull of our smartphones.

One of my guests was Jonathan Haidt, an NYU professor and author of the new bestseller The Anxious Generation. His book spells out how Generation Alpha, as they’re known, are paying a hefty price for being the first to grow up with this technology. As Haidt explains it, “We are overprotecting our kids in the real world and underprotecting them online.” Where once kids would go out to meet friends and come home when the streetlights flickered on, they’re now kept “safe” at home, where they’re sucked into their harmful screens.

My other guest was Dr. Becky Kennedy, who has a devoted following for her parenting insights. She had everyone in our audience nodding in agreement when she said: “Kids have been spending more time on their phones, which…is a world of instant gratification with no effort.” As a result, they’ve missed out on “experiencing the grit of the real world, in which you have to put in a lot of effort for delayed gratification at best.” ”

May we, of all ages, remember the healing properties of the natural “real” world, versus the pull of the tech world which we are all sucked into, on a daily basis. May we all find a healthy balance in our lives and may we easily be able to sustain it. May we never underestimate our roots in the natural world.

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

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2207. What has been your worst haircut/style?