Monday Funday Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Adulting: Second- Half

Monday – Funday

“As a society, it’s as if we’ve read too many blog posts about the 80/20 rule. When you strip away too much of the non-essential, you lose the kind of craftsmanship that endows an object with soul and makes the world feel alive.” – David Perell

I read a couple of interesting articles about the homogenization of society, over the weekend. In modern society, we want everything to be fast, easy, cheap, and to look like an Apple store. And the price which we are paying for this is the loss of creativity, uniqueness, and cultural diversity. A lot of this has happened due to our greater globalization, and it’s not all bad. We have a lot more conveniences, worldwide, than we ever had before. Still, I think that it is important to notice a phenomenon when it is happening. I think that it’s okay to rebel against this a little bit. I think this is why there are those of us who like to peruse antique stores and flea markets, and pick up an object and say out loud to ourselves, and to whomever else may be near, “They don’t make them like this anymore!”

This week make sure that you dress yourself, feed yourself, and surround yourself with items that have soul, and make you feel alive. Don’t be a sheeple.

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

Monday-Funday

credit: @andymewborn, Twitter

I think that the above meme has become particularly more applicable to me as I have gotten older. It really does stress me to have more than one important thing to do on any particular day. I have the tendency to over-exaggerate the importance and the relevance on any “big, BIG, BIG” event on any one specific day. Interestingly, my twenty-something sons and I are complete polar opposites in this regard. My sons try to pack in as much other stuff that they possibly can before “The Appointment” and then to come screeching into “The Appointment” huffing and puffing, breaking speed limits, with no seconds to spare, all of the while trying to pull off an air of complete badass nonchalance. It makes for a really fun family dynamic amongst us at times. If this sensation were a perfume it would be called, “Tension in Ze Aire.”

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

Monday – Funday

I thought that I would help out my fellow writers this morning. This one made me giggle and yet also made me be a little in awe of its cleverness at the same time. Maybe that’s the true mark of excellent writing.

Have a great week!

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

Monday-Funday

credit: Rex Masters, Twitter

The truth is, we did actually reclaim our middle sons’ bedroom this weekend and it feels incredible. A place that I used to avoid like the coronavirus, is now a place that I run to, to just sit in, and to bask in its simplicity, order, and peacefulness. Of course, it will always be our boys’ room, and they are welcome to be in it at any time, but since their busy lives have taken them elsewhere for most of the time, it feels so good to have a place of stillness and tidiness, in what has been, for most of my adulthood, a rather chaotic, often sloppy household. (a four kids and three dogs family lends itself towards a little bit of disorder) My husband said that the boys’ room is like a physical manifestation of our new stage in life. I can see that I am going to appreciate some aspects of this new stage, for sure. (Although, in fairness, on Saturday, as we were giddily buying up accent pieces in a store, and proudly telling the clerk that we were reclaiming our kids’ room, one nosy, snarky shopper pointedly interrupted us to say, “You know that they come back, don’t you?!? Prepare yourself.”)

The responses from my sons, to the pictures I texted to them:

“Yo, is that for real our room?”

“I can’t believe that was our room.”

“Wow, that looks so much better.”

The one thing about empty nests, is that they sure are easier to keep clean and well-kept. I imagine that I will feel winsome for the chaotic mess, at times, but for now, I am going to go back into their bedroom, smile a little, and just breathe.

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

Monday – Funday

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Why is it that when I’m sick, all that I want to do is to eat, in order to feel better? It’s like if I can just find the right breakfast combination of leftover chicken salad, crackers, a banana and a couple of Ghirardelli peppermint snowmen, and wash it down with a shot of Dayquil, I will be instantly done with my lingering cough from COVID. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll stick my head in the ‘fridge and I’ll try a new combination of wonder foods.

I wish that I were one of those people who loses my appetite when I am sick, but that is rarely the case. Unless I have a stomach bug, my body tends to scream, “Feed me! Feed me NOW! Food is the only thing that will make us feel better.” And what’s worse, it’s not like I have the mojo to walk off the extra calories. Sigh.

Money or Health? You can't enjoy your money if you're sick • Save. Spend. Splurge.

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

Monday-Funday

*******I feel like my regular readers/supporters/friends/prayer team deserve an update on what has been going on in my life, and yet the superstitious part of me is terribly afraid to do so. I am knocking on wood with my other hand and both of my feet, as I write this. My son (the one who has epilepsy) has managed to string along more seizure-free days than he has done, in a long while. My son is currently on five anti-seizure, heavy-duty brain medications, but we, (with his doctor’s instructions) are carefully weaning him off at least two of these medications. This autumn has easily been the worst, most painful, scariest experience of my life, and that of our family’s history. My son has experienced more major seizures in two months, than he has had, all together, in all of the years prior, since he was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2014. My son is home with us, we are “holing up”, keeping life simple, and pleasant, and in-the-moment. It feels good. We continue to take things one day at a time. We are cautiously optimistic. We (my family and I) feel your love, and your support, and your prayers and we appreciate them so much. I didn’t know if I could continue to blog throughout this period, and yet this blog turned out to be a saving grace for me, many days, while I was going through some real darkness. And you, my beloved readers, helped to pull me out of that dark place many times, just by being here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You are appreciated and loved, more than you know.

Surround yourself with positive people who will support you when... | Picture Quotes

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

Monday Fun-Day

“everything funnier when yοu nοt allowed to laugh” -@slvppy (Twitter)

The other day my daughter and I got the giggles over something entirely inappropriate to laugh about. I was hating myself for laughing, but then watching her eyes bulge from trying to stifle her laughter, made it all the more funny. It’s like getting the giggles at church or at a funeral. You are filled with self-disgust, but yet you just can’t stop, so you fidget, and your lips start vibrating, so you bite your lips and then you try to pretend that you are just coughing. All of this overdone reaction just makes for more comedy. This is what Wikipedia says about laughter:

“Laughter is a physical reaction consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter can arise from such activities as being tickled,^[1] or from humorous stories or thoughts.^[2] Most commonly, it is considered an auditory expression of a number of positive emotional states, such as joy, mirth, happiness, relief, etc. On some occasions, however, it may be caused by contrary emotional states such as embarrassment, surprise, or confusion such as nervous laughter or courtesy laugh. Age, gender, education, language, and culture are all indicators^[3] as to whether a person will experience laughter in a given situation. Some other species of primate (chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans) show laughter-like vocalizations in response to physical contact such as wrestling, play chasing or tickling. ”

Sometimes we are overwhelmed with emotions, and laughter can be the quickest, easiest release of those feelings. Laughter is just a physical response to emotion, like crying, shaking, or yelling. Maybe we should always be allowed to laugh. Unfortunately, I am one who tends to cry when I am angry, and laugh when I am embarrassed or overwhelmed. Maybe I would better be able to control my physical responses, if there weren’t such stigmas and rules attached to them.

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

Monday-Funday

“I think in the future we are going to have 15 minutes of anonymity.” – Erica Rhodes

We got a new Firestick for one of our TVs and interestingly, all of these old pictures of our family, and of our past pets, etc. are showing up on the TV, as a screensaver. No one asked the stick to do that for us. Alexa took it upon herself, I suppose. This reminded me of a time (way back when you had to get your pictures developed, just to even view them), that the photography technician took it upon himself to blow up and frame a picture of my two little middle sons, in their matching green dragon Halloween costumes. I was equally delighted and creeped out by that gesture, all at the same time. (And yes, of course, I couldn’t resist buying the whole kit and kaboodle in the frame, and it still sits on our picture shelf today.)

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

Monday Fun-Day

It’s been nice and cool here the last couple of days. (70s is cold weather here) I’m loving it. The sun is smiling sweetly on us, instead of scorching us with the deathrays of Florida summers. It’s honestly like a switch has been flipped. I want to put a proverbial piece of masking tape over that switch with “Do Not Touch” sharpied on the tape. I am feeling hopeful this Monday. I wish the same for you.

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

Monday – Funday

(credit: scootergonscoot Twitter)

I think that there is no other time of year than around Halloween, that you see everyone’s creativity come out more vividly than ever. Fall is certainly a colorful time of year, isn’t it? I love it! Here’s hoping for a fun and wonderful and easy-going week for all of us!

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