Author Archives: Deborah Drucker

About Deborah Drucker

I am a native of California who lives in Southern California. I have a background in healthcare and Special Education. Writing is a new adventure for me.

Award Free

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It is very gratifying to receive recognition from fellow bloggers and receive awards. I appreciate so much the support of these blogger friends. I like to think, when they nominate me, they are saying they do like reading my posts. It is fun for my ego to receive the awards and display them as well.

I have been thinking about this on and off for a while. I have decided to be award free because although I really appreciate it so much, instead of participating in the award requirements, right now I feel like I would rather support other bloggers in a different way. I will continue to support other bloggers by giving them likes or comments. And I do have a group I follow and a few weekly blogging activities.

I want to Thank Very Much the bloggers who have nominated me recently for:

Thank You Morgaine at Just Fooling Around with Bee for nominating me for One Lovely Blog Hop.

Thank You LuciledeGodoy and Fourth Generation Farm Girl for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

Thank You Fourth Generation Farm Girl for nominating me for The Versatile Blogger Award.

I am honored to be recognized by you and recommend that other bloggers visit your sites and see your lovely blogs as well. ❤ ❤ ❤

Letting Go

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“Although we have been made to believe that if we let go we will end up with nothing, life reveals just the opposite: that letting go is the real path to freedom.” –Sogyal Rinpoche

Letting go can be releasing long held negative emotions about things that happened in the past. Like perceived or real wrongs done to you by others, memories of people letting you down, or disappointments you have experienced.

When we have all this energy tied up in these feelings about past events it is not available for us in our life now. Part of us is still locked in that past and is unable to move forward to something new. Unable to fully experience our lives now.

There is another type of letting go I am thinking about now. We have to be willing to let go when something has not worked out for us or when we feel the need to move on to grow. When we experience disappointments or reach a place where we are stagnating.

There is a lot of resistance to letting go of the familiar when we do not know what will be there to fill that space. The familiar feels more secure even when we are very unhappy with our situation. It is known versus the scary unknown.

In the past, I have sometimes been unwilling to give up or admit something is not working out for me. It could have been a mixture of pride, fear of admitting failure, and thinking that it is wrong to give up. I have spent too long in many jobs because I thought I should not give up and admit it was not working out or that it was a bad fit for me.

I did not take the time to look inside at who I was and how that person fit with my work situation. Many times it was like trying to force a puzzle piece into a place where it really did not belong. Parts of it might look like it should fit but it just wasn’t quite the right shape. If you keep trying to fit yourself in and it is not working you need to look at that.

When you are able to admit that you need to make a change, it does take courage to let go. To let go of that dream and start looking for a better fit for you. In the beginning it is scary because you may not have any idea where you are going or what is the right direction.

At this point, it is good to listen to your inner voice and let it guide you in the direction that feels right to you. Trust that as you start to explore your horizons you will find the right path to where you need to go.

You will probably need to sit with the not knowing for a while as well. Many of us, including me, have a tendency to want to find the answer as soon as possible and embark on a new course right away. This can cause us to jump into something too quickly that is truly not the right fit. It is better to take time for reflection and exploration. To feel your way along through the process and check in with yourself to see what feels right. You need to be open, trust, and have faith. Then take the first step on the next part of your journey. The first step is letting go.

” Mystery is what happens to us when we allow life to evolve rather than having to make it happen all the time…Just to see. Just to notice. Just to be there.”–Joan Chittister

|Lindaghill|

I am out of town for a few days. I wrote this a few days ago but felt it went well with Stream of Consciousness Saturday for “go.”

The Perks of Being Out of the Daily Grind

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purje-mornings011-1280

I spotted this funny and very cute cartoon on my Google+ page this morning. I follow Hyperallergic and get their newsletter/email. I am not a “morning person.” One great thing about not having to conform to a regular work schedule of 9-5 or 7-3 or 8-4, which have been like some of my schedules in my past work life, is that I do not have to get up early. My income has decreased quite a bit but the perks have increased exponentially.

Let me list a few.

I get to sleep in, if my husband does not wake me up. He is still an early riser.
I can enter the fully awake state at my own pace. I normally become active gradually if left to my natural inclinations.
I have the freedom to browse websites and newsletters like Hyperallergic at my leisure. This is where I get some of my inspiration to write on issues I feel strongly about or ones that I am passionate about.
I can be more like the real me. Not forced to conform to the needs and desires of an employer.
I can choose what I want to devote my energies to. Like writing, volunteer literacy tutoring, working with special needs kids, staring out the patio window contemplating nature or letting my mind wander.

I have discovered that not being chained to a full-time work schedule is worth more than all the gold I used to get paid to do it.

So there are things to look forward to when you are out of the mainstream workforce after all.

SOCS-My Best Companion

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” To love oneself is to struggle to rediscover and maintain your uniqueness.”

–Leo Buscaglia

Friend, pal, ally, buddy, companion, to love. Can you be a good friend to yourself? Be still and listen to that inner voice, listen to what it has to say about who you are, what you love and care about, what makes you happy or joyful, sad or angry, or inspired. Accept all your feelings and accept yourself.

“Loving yourself…does not mean being self-absorbed or narcissistic, or disregarding others. Rather it means welcoming yourself as the most honored guest in your own heart, a guest worthy of respect, a lovable companion.”–Margo Anand

I can be happy in moments of solitude. Content. Alone with my thoughts. My reverie. It is good to be able to enjoy your own company. To enjoy spending time with yourself. Those who enjoy their own company are not afraid to be alone. This is a great strength.

My Inner Life

“Tis true my garments threadbare are,

And sorry poor I seem;

But inly I am richer far

Than any poet’s dream.

For I’ve a hidden life no one

Can ever hope to see;

A sacred sanctuary none

May share with me.

Aloof I stand from out the strife,

Within my heart a song;

By virtue of my inner life

I to myself belong.

Against man-ruling I rebel,

Yet do not fear defeat,

For to my secret citadel

I may retreat.

Oh you who have an inner life

Beyond this dismal day

With wars and evil rumours rife,

Go blessedly your way.

Your refuge hold inviolate;

Unto yourself be true,

And shield serene from sordid fate

The Real You.”

–Robert W. Service

|LindaGHill| |Loveisindablog|

There Might Be Something Good About Siri Afterall

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I know I have been writing lately about the risk to our creativity caused by an addiction to technology like Smartphones. And I have written about how this addiction can prevent authentic face to face communication with other people. I still feel these are some of the big down sides of being so hooked on our technology.

But today I found an article about a very positive use for Smartphones. This was a New York Times post by Judith Newman about her son 13 year old son Gus who happens to have Autism and his relationship with Siri, the Apple Intelligent Personal Assistant.

I already was aware of the ability of technology to engage kids with special needs. Technology is one of the tools used in modern schools to teach kids the curriculum. The computer lessons are often designed like games to help kids learn phonics, spelling and math. The kids enjoy interacting with the games and the games reinforce what is being taught in the classroom.

Ms. Newman’s post described how the features of Siri are beneficial to her son’s special needs. Kids with autism can have major difficulty engaging with other people socially in conversation. They can have special interests or obsessions about certain topics that they want to talk about to the exclusion of all else. They do not pick up on cues from other people that they are not interested and they find it hard to be able to take turns in conversation. Siri is able to talk with Ms. Newman’s son Gus on all his favorite topics without losing patience with him. Even though the voice recognition feature has some problems this is actually a plus for Gus because he is made to enunciate. This helps him practice speaking clearly. Siri also models being polite. When Gus got a bit sharp with Siri over some music suggestions she had made, Siri told him he had a right to his opinions. This helped him realize that he did not need to get angry if he did not agree with someone and then he thanked Siri for the music.

This sounds like a great use for this type of program for kids that need to learn and practice the art of conversation. It is a help to parents who need a respite from the long discussions with their kids about their child’s special interests. I would not want to see the kids getting attached to these devices to the exclusion of everything else but I do see how they can be beneficial in certain ways.

Definitely something worth further investigation, don’t you agree?

If the Weather is Nice You Should See What is Going On Outside

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“What people call serendipity sometimes is just having your eyes open.”

–Jose Manuel Barroso

I realize I have been spending way too much time indoors and sitting at my computer over the past few months. I do venture out to walk to the car and drive places but I haven’t been walking around outside. I think I have been avoiding my front yard because it embarrasses me. It is currently a big weed patch. We need to get the landscaping done.

Today I did venture out to the car to load up some supplies I use for tutoring. I was busy deciding where to put my new rolling carry all when I noticed a teenager making his way across my front yard near my front walkway. At first I thought he was about to leave one of those random advertisements on my door. Like the ones for yard work. I was a bit suspicious of his intentions I must say. He saw me looking at him quizzically and said, ” Is this your property?” I said yes and then he told me not to worry because he was participating in a “water gun tournament” and that he was trying to hide and surprise one of his fellow tournamenters. I watched as he finished crossing my yard and told him it was ok as long as he didn’t squirt me. He laughed at that.

I thought this was the end of my interaction with the local teenagers when I spied another one squatting down, with a water gun, between my neighbor’s house and mine. This was getting to be really fun. I said to him that I had no idea this was going on around here. He said they had to catch other kids coming from their houses to their cars. I asked if they did windows. He said, ” Do you mean they need to be washed?” I said yes and that got a little laugh from him as well.

It was a happy encounter and I realized I need to get outside in the front of my house more often. Just look at all the interesting things I am missing out on.

SOCS-Relative or Relativity

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It’s All Relative

Is how much you care all relative

to how you are related to someone

your relationship

the connection

is it by blood

or by marriage

just an acquaintance

or a close friend

a soul sister or brother

kindred spirits

or kin

or a stranger whose image you see on the news

Is your caring dependent on

whether or not you can relate

have things in common

or that you are

members of the same tribe

like the family of man.

473px-Poor_woman_in_Greece via wikipedia

2766873592_293a478c71_z Scooter Man by Ed Yourdon via Flickr

3093763311_2a83db98ba_z Homeless Boy and his dog

|Lindaghill|

|Loveisindablog|

Love Is In Da Blog

How Technology Can Block Our Creativity

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How Technology Can Block Our Creativity. I was coming out of my morning fog, drinking my coffee, and checking out my Email when I saw someone on LinkedIn, Dr. Louis Naude on the Council for Exceptional Children group site, had shared the article above about how so many of us are addicted to our smartphones. Dr. Naude states, ” If we’re constantly bombarding our brains with input we do not leave much space for creativity.” This has been an idea I have been kicking around for awhile.

If you are walking around, like “the walking dead”, constantly checking your phone when do you have the time to think creatively or think in depth at all? So I was interested to see there is this project, mentioned in the article, at New Tech City called Bored and Brilliant.

In the first post of Bored and Brilliant it says that people who study these things have found that, yes, we do need idle, reflective time for our brains to be creative. Novel idea.

The Bored and Brilliant project has been started to help people get unhooked from their smartphones and start being brilliant. Sounds like a great idea to me.

Here’s a part of their first post:

“Here’s the issue: It goes back to when Apple introduced the first iPhone in 2007 — that’s less than a decade ago. Fifty-eight percent of American adults have a smartphone today. The average mobile consumer checks their device 150 times a day, and 67 percent of the time, that’s not because it rang or vibrated. Forty-four percent of Americans have slept with their phone next to their beds.”

So if you think you may be spending way too much time with your technology it would be worth it to check out this project.

This post is my contribution to Dandelion Fuzz’s weekly challenge. This weeks topic is Social Media.

|Katgotyourtongue|

The Messenger

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“Man is a messenger who forgot the message.” –Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)

In my dream an angel spoke to me, “Remember the message. It is for mankind alone to bring to the world. You have forgotten because of all the suffering you have experienced and witnessed. All your earthly experiences have distracted you. You have forgotten the message you were brought into this world to deliver. This was your message, Man must care about the earth and all its creatures, all life. Turn back from the shadow before it is too late.”

SOCS Saturday-Attach or Attachment with a few Synonyms

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Another word that means attach is connect. I have been having some issues with joints and muscles in the past few weeks and this old song came to mind.

“Toe bone connected to the foot bone

Foot bone connected to the heal bone

Heel bone connected to the ankle bone

Ankle bone connected to the shin bone

Shin bone connected to the knee bone

Knee bone connected to the thigh bone

Thigh bone connected to the hip bone

Hip bone connected to the back bone

Back bone connected to the shoulder bone

Shoulder bone connected to the neck bone

Neck bone connected to the head bone…

Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around

Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around

Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around

Now hear the word of the Lord.”

from “Dem Bones” by James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)