Tag Archives: Blogging

Word Snap Weekly-Carpe Diem

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the ‘Titanic’ who waved off the dessert cart.” –Erma Bombeck

Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) was an author, newspaper columnist, humorist, and funny lady. I came across this quote recently and thought about Erma and how I enjoyed reading her books about being a stay at home mother. This was when I was a young adult and not a mother yet myself. She was not a Martha Stewart where everything had to be perfect. I remember her writing about making Halloween costumes for her kids saying that some mothers make elaborate home made costumes. Erma said her kids’ costumes consisted of a sheet with holes cut out for the eyes. I felt she was saying it was ok to not be perfect. She was an advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment for Women.

This is her famous quote via Goodreads:

“If I had my life to live over”

Someone asked me the other day if I had my life to live over would I change anything.

My answer was no, but then I thought about it and changed my mind.

If I had my life to live over again I would have waxed less and listened more.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy and complaining about the shadow over my feet, I’d have cherished every minute of it and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was to be my only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten popcorn in the “good” living room and worried less about the dirt when you lit the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have burnt the pink candle that was sculptured like a rose before it melted while being stored.

I would have sat cross-legged on the lawn with my children and never worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television … and more while watching real life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband which I took for granted.

I would have eaten less cottage cheese and more ice cream.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick, instead of pretending the Earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for a day.

I would never have bought ANYTHING just because it was practical/wouldn’t show soil/ guaranteed to last a lifetime.

When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now, go get washed up for dinner.”

There would have been more I love yous … more I’m sorrys … more I’m listenings … but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute of it … look at it and really see it … try it on … live it … exhaust it … and never give that minute back until there was nothing left of it.”
― Erma Bombeck, Eat Less Cottage Cheese and More Ice Cream: Thoughts on Life from Erma Bombeck

So listen to Erma and “eat less cottage cheese and more ice cream!”

Children with Autism are Not Just a Diagnosis

Deduced My Dear Sherlock

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Jeremy Brett by Insomnia Cured

The Adventure of Abbey Grange by Sidney Paget 1904

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes Museum Baker Street London

Deadly deed

Discovered

“The game’s afoot!”

Deerstalker hat

Detective declared

Deciphered

Deduced

Determined

Despicable

Doer of evil

Napoleon of crime

Professor Moriarty.

Jeremy Brett is my favorite Sherlock Holmes. He played this role from 1984-1994 in the Granada Television Series based on the stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

|LindaGHill|

Want to Reduce Stress? Stop Thinking and Start Breathing!

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I am sharing a post from Boomerly. I always like helpful easy suggestions for making my life less stressful. We all are already breathing and so it is easy to take up a practice of focusing on your breath during the day. It does help break the stress response because when you concentrate on just taking some deep breaths you can not think about whatever it is that is worrying you, at least for a few minutes. I have realized that often I am not taking relaxed breaths, but going through the day taking shallow breaths or sometimes holding my breath. I doubt that I am alone in this.

If you would like to check out some breathing exercises click on the link to the Boomerly post. Want to Reduce Stress? Stop Thinking and Start Breathing!.

Remember to take a breath ❤

The Myth of the Normal Brain

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I want to share an article that Thomas Armstrong Ph.D. wrote in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics about neurodiversity that proposes that there is no such thing as a “normal” brain. I have always felt that kids labeled with Learning Disabilities, ADHD, and Autism have learning differences, not learning disabilities. I do not like the way people with learning differences and mental health issues are often pathologized.

A great thing my credential program in Special Education emphasized was to focus on the person’s strengths. And as this article says, everyone has strengths. Kids can actually develop Depression from being labeled and having everyone focusing on their weaknesses.

Dr. Lara Honos-Webb Ph.D. talks about her experience in her article ” Just Down- Not Out!” that many times after kids are diagnosed with ADHD they develop depression. She states, ” Being diagnosed with ADHD often makes a child or adult feel like there is something intrinsically wrong with their brain..that it impacts all areas of their life…, and that the disorder will not go away. In short, an ADHD diagnosis is a formula for developing depression.”

Dr. Armstrong points out all the things that people are labeled for may actually be adaptive in survival and can still be seen as a strength. Dr. Edward Hallowell was one of the first to write a book about ADD and has resisted labeling ADHD as a disorder. He says, ” The best way to think of ADD is not as a mental disorder but a collection of traits and tendencies that define a way of being in the world. There is some positive to it and some negative, some glory and some pain. If the negative becomes disabling, then this way of being in the world can become a disorder. The point of diagnosis and treatment is to transform the disorder into an asset.” (1)

It makes sense that if you label someone as disordered or tell them they have a disorder they are going to be seen as defective and feel defective. I hope more people in education and medicine adopt the attitude that Dr. Armstrong proposes and see these differences as diversity not disorder. And to focus on the strengths when working with kids.

The Myth of the Normal Brain: Embracing Neurodiversity, Apr 15 – AMA Journal of Ethics (formerly Virtual Mentor).

1. Delivered from distraction: getting the most out of life with attention deficit disorder

By Edward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey

Published by Random House, Inc., 2005

ISBN 034544230X, 9780345442307

Play and Creativity

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I have always liked coloring and playing with colors since I was a little girl. A way of bringing joy into our lives is doing things that we love. I recently used an Amazon gift card to buy myself two adult coloring books and a box of professional colored pencils. Amazon has a large selection of beautiful coloring books. You don’t have to be good at drawing because the pictures are already made. You get to color them however you chose. One of them I chose has Art Nouveau designs.

It is good to get into an activity that you enjoy and gets you into a relaxed, “flow” state. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who developed the concept and defines the flow state as ” an almost euphoric state of concentration and complete involvement. ” This is good for stress relief, and we all have to have some relaxation and happiness in our lives every day.

There are so many demands for our attention. It can feel like we are pretty scattered and pulled in all different directions. We need to be sure to schedule activities that connect us with ourselves and help focus our attention back to what speaks to us.

A creative activity that is enjoyable for you can add some happiness and relaxation to your day. It is a form of play. Do you make time in your day for some creative play? What do you do that gets you into the flow?

Act Your Age

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The image on my post is of Bette Davis and Gary Merrill in ” All About Eve.” This film was about a middle-aged actress being undermined by a younger, inexperienced competitor and how Hollywood treats “older” actresses.

We tell kids to “act your age” when we think they are acting immature and older people are sometimes told the same thing. What do we mean when we tell an older person to “act your age?”

I was very happy and humbled to see the response to my last post about Aging Disgracefully. The response made me realize that there are many people out there who are thinking about this issue.

One big reason why I do not like being told about “aging gracefully” is that I interpret it to be a prescription on how we should all behave and live our lives as we get older. And there are all these assumptions and expectations that come attached to that description of aging. Here is something from Huffington Post: “Want to Age Gracefully? Avoid these 7 Things,” with a photo of George Clooney and Sandra Bullock on the top. The suggestion being that if we want to look like these celebrities, who are obviously “aging gracefully,” we should read the following. And it seems the author thinks being in your 50s is the start of aging. Another post on the “Gen Fab” blog called ” Ageing Gracefully: What Exactly Does That Mean? ” has a photo of Sandra Bullock as Superwoman in the top photo. They asked women, a group of bloggers nearing and post 50, what they thought of “aging gracefully.” I liked the slideshow in the post a little better which includes some opinions of the bloggers.

Here’s another post from Huff/Post 50 today: “It’s Hard for Men to Believe I Feel Attractive at 50.” I almost skipped reading it with that title but she did have a few things to say I thought were positive about aging.

Another thing that bothers me is that much is written at older people and not by older people. I would much rather read about the personal journey than what someone thinks that journey should be. So I was happy to read what some of you shared about how you are living your lives.

How should we “act our age?” I don’t think we have to prove anything, like be a marathon runner, swim to Cuba, or take up aerobic yoga. To me it is a process of self-discovery. If we have been athletes all our lives we may still want to be athletes. But there are so many other things we can do. One reader said she is “creatively aging.” I am in the process of discovery myself. I have been working a little as a tutor and I am volunteering as a literacy tutor. I am blogging. 🙂 I want to start exploring other possible interests as well.

How do you envision your aging? How do you want to “act your age?”

FYI for the Introverts among us and those who love them The Quiet Revolution website is getting ready to launch soon.

Aging Disgracefully

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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.