Category Archives: My Life

Aging Disgracefully

I detest labels, stereotypes, and being put in a box. I have always been a bit of a rebel and will fight for your and my right to be different. Oh, how I hate conformity, how people are encouraged to march along in lock step, and never question anything. I hate group think. Pop think. Fads. Everyone following along with everyone else. This all being said, I really liked a post I read by Margaret Manning on her new site Boomerly called The Secret Life of Modern Grandmothers. I am not a grandmother yet but I am getting older and refuse to climb into a box , be labeled, and be expected to be any particular way that fits a stereotype of an older person.

I have read all these article about aging gracefully and I bristle. I want to be like the little girl who got her clean, frilly dress covered with mud, and ruined her party shoes. I borrowed the title of this post from Margaret’s post where she mentioned “aging disgracefully.”

Ageing gracefully is not for me. Another writer I follow, Ann Brenoff in the Huffington Post, wrote recently I’m Not Trying to Age Gracefully, So Don’t Pressure Me To. She makes some great points, that we all age differently. Some of us do need to dye our hair because we don’t look good with gray, and we all can’t look like your favorite celebrity, and some people have good genes so that’s why they look younger. She compares this pressure to “age gracefully” to “fat-shaming.”

I am for all of us, no matter what age, being our glorious, beautiful selves.

Empowerment To Be Yourself

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For more inspiration The Quiet Revolution is on Facebook.

Joy To The World and Peace

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We need an infusion of joy and to pray for peace in the world. My prayer is that those making war will stop and consider peace. Here are some uplifting inspirations for those of us weary from all war.

From Matt Harding on You Tube:

And Som Sabadell flashmob Banco Sabadell:

I am sharing this post on Lindaghill for Stream Of Consciousness Saturday to say “No” to hopelessness, negativity and to the dream killers of the world. And say “Yes” to all the good in the world.

How Irish Coffee Came to America

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Irish Coffee was brought to San Francisco by one of its famous newspaper columnists, Stanton Delaplane. He had first tasted Irish Coffee at Shannon Airport and wanted to recreate the coffee. He collaborated with Jack Koeppler, then the owner of the Buena Vista Café, and with the help of the mayor of San Francisco, created the recipe for Irish Coffee in 1952. It is still served at the Buena Vista to this day.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! Erin Go Bragh!

A Tureen is a Pretty Pot

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Tureen- a large, deep, covered dish. A noun from the French word terrine, feminine of terrin or of the earth. An earthenware dish. (Dictionary.com)

“covered container, sometimes made to rest on a stand or dish, from which liquids, generally soup or sauce, are served at table. The earliest silver and pottery examples, dating from the early 18th century, were called terrines or terrenes (from Latin terra, “earth”), which suggests a pottery origin for the form. Most tureens are crafted in a bowl-like shape that has been influenced by the decorative conventions of their time, but novel pottery types, in the form of realistically modeled animals and vegetables, have also been popular.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)

640px-Musée_de_la_faïence-20-saucière via wikipedia

640px-Tureen_Marseille_1770_DMA_1997-46 via wikipedia

I usually serve soup right out of the pot on the stove into bowls for holiday dinners or everyday eating. I have not served soup or stews out of a tureen on the table. It would be another large serving piece to store and wash. In recent years, when I do host any holiday meals, I like to keep it simple. It is because the preparation and cooking is an all day affair, (unless I order take-out 🙂 ). After I am done with prep, cooking, serving, eating, visiting with guests and family, I am tired. The clean up can be exhausting if I am using my good china and crystal which I like to hand wash. I think a soup tureen would fall into the category of hand wash. Especially if it were a pretty china one.

But I can admire pretty tureens and I love fresh soups.

Sunset Magazine online has some quick recipes for soups:

Thai Chicken Coconut Soup

|Lindaghill|

It’s Good To Be Quiet

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For many years I did not realize that many of my traits were related to my temperament. That I am an introvert, empathic and highly sensitive. I knew that small talk and large social gatherings exhausted me. I knew that I relished time alone and needed time to recover after a busy day of activities especially if those activities involved interacting with people. I think other people had a hard time understanding this behavior. Once I understood it was part of my temperament, and that it was ok to be this way, it made it easier for me to accept myself.

Susan Cain wrote this book, “Quiet,” about introverts and of course I read it. Now Susan Cain is starting up a Quiet Revolution Community website . It is scheduled to launch in April. Here is what she said about it:

“Our intention in building this space is to share and encourage each other. One of my favorite parts of the new site is a big new art project called Quiet Revolutionaries. This project is all about you, featuring you. Quiet Revolutionaries is an ever-expanding photo essay of people who have thought about what it means to have a quiet consciousness and/or to draw on their own quiet strengths. Our goal is to inspire, connect and celebrate our thoughtfully vibrant community.”

In a TED Talk Susan Cain explains traits of introverts and talks about how our society has not traditionally seen this as a positive trait and that the needs of introverts in schools and work places have been ignored. The idea of constantly working in groups is seen as the ideal. She makes some good points about how it may not be the ideal.

In a post about The Quiet Revolution on her website she talks about plans to redesign the workplace and school environments to be more in line with the needs of introverts, and develop the leadership skills of introverts in the workplace.

This is interesting and worthwhile information for introverts and the people who love them. It is worthwhile for parents and teachers to be aware of this as well.

The Birds and the Bees and the Grapefruit Tree

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We went to Palm Desert for the weekend. We have put off coming out here for far too long. It has been about a year since we were last here. It is beautiful in the desert right now. Warm and sunny but not too hot.

The place where we are staying has many citrus trees on the property. The trees are in bloom with sweet smelling blossoms. There is fruit on the trees as well. There are grapefruit, orange and lemon trees.

There is a lovely large grapefruit tree in the backyard. The grapefruit tree provides shade and sweet perfume. It has been wonderfully relaxing to sit on a lounge chair, on the back yard patio, near this tree.

There are many honey bees, bumble bees, and hummingbirds flying amongst the citrus blossoms. As I sit very still I can watch the hummingbirds up close as they drink from the blossoms. There is a light breeze and mocking birds are singing. Very magical.

When you take the time to notice, you realize there is great beauty in the world. I feel such joy, my spirit soars and my heart is full to bursting. I whisper a prayer of thanks.

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happened better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb. (Don’t Hesitate)” –Mary Oliver

20150307_115248 Palm Desert Grapefruit Tree

Grapefruit tree in Palm Desert

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