Lost or Found

Dear Saint Anthony 

Look Around

[Something] is lost 

It must be found 

 

I've used this prayer for keys and glasses. Try it!  

Strange thing...blog

Life has been busy the last...how many...years. Busy really doesn't do justice to the changes that have happened since my last post in this blog. It's not that I haven't thought about the blog. Honestly, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. I also didn't remember my user name and password. Then, there it was at the tips of my fingers, those letters and numbers in a series that I typed regularly but then didn't. There they were and open, the blog did.

Looking at my last post, I remember thinking that the A-Z challenges were fun but I wondered if I would have time while changing everything in my life? The answer was no. I didn't have time. I didn't even consider adding any writing to this blog until yesterday. I have a moment to reflect but just a moment. It appears that if change is like swimming. I'm still in a deep dives and swimming under the water line. I'm up for a couple of days but the calendar has the next bit starting in a next week. No rest really. And I am tired but changing everything takes some time, takes some effort. And I wonder if it will be worth it?

A hope is that I'm able to incoroprate blogging again as things settle into a routine. Which is absolutely hiliarious because there is no sign of routine or settling... but the hope is there.

I am updating a variety of projects that are momentarily off the back burner... just to touch them... just to see if there is viability in the past efforts to revive some of the energy and thought, to spring from the applied movement bringing forth something sweet...it's a question...

Additionally, Goodreads now has some of the books that I've read over the last few years...some titles are lost but will perhaps come around to my memory to get added to the list.

My reflection for this time is to notice that lists are good and that making lists of things done is a good way to remember what has happened. Often I use lists as a motivator to prompt action forward, then once checked off, the list is discarded. I'm thinking that a better way to approach lists is to have two lists: prompting list and a reflection list. Why? Well, twice in the last week, I've been asked for lists of things done in the last year and in the last five years. Outside, I said, Okay. Inside, I laughed because a list of what I did in the last week is troubling but for the last year and five... I'm having to go to artifacts to write the list... so  I kindof wish I already had developed this habit of past listings. I'm wondering how useful it will be to list the done things? Will it be worth the time? Will a folder do as well? Should it be a journal or a spread sheet or a claendar? How comprehensive should it be? Should it actually be more than one list or perhaps a list for each recurring category?  And where will the time be found for this type of record keeping?

Reflection

I don't know if anyone else can relate to this but my life gets super busy. When I'm busy I don't schedule in writing  time.

So thank you to the A to Z Challenge.

Participating reminds me that what I love, what I truly love more than anything is writing.

Z = Zillions

Zillions,.. it's big big number, more than you can count... indefinite... A Zillion is a lot.

Zillion, first documented in the 1930s as a jocular alteration of million, billion... because really, who needs a billion anything?

Are there a Zillion stars in the sky?

Zillion is hyperbole... an exaggeration.

Wishing you a zillion successful moments in your life. 

Y = YES

YES. It's what brought John and Yoko together.
http://www.artbouillon.com/2013/07/yoko-ono-yes.html

YES. The group from the 70s who just announced their summer tour 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rpBUD0hjaI Owner of a Lonely Heart from the 80s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpmmeT69cE

YES. Saying Yes to everything for the day may bring some surprises. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3ar1tBj_Zk

SAY YES TO LIFE 

X = Xenon

Xenon, a noble gas.... I imagine a bluish crown floating around being nobility and all... It's used in flash lamps and arc lamps, it's the blue glowing part that you see in those obnoxiously bright headlamps.In Chemistry speak, it's Xe. The atomic number is 54. But mostly, it's a great word to know for SCRABBLE.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenon

W = Winnie the Pooh

A personal favorite since watching the Winnie the Pooh series on the Wonder World of Disney, Sunday evenings. Silly ol' Pooh offers the right kind of mindset to get through life happily and with many adventures.

As much as I loved Winne the Pooh, I didn't have the book until I had children. Together. my three kids and I read many books but one that we read and read again was AA Milne's The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh. As they reached their teen years, we also read the Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet which they've read individually as well. Because Pooh and friends offer many lessons about attitudes, motivation and life.

V = Viking

Have you ever come across information that you've read before but this time it speaks to you? My latest fascination are the Vikings. No, not the football team, but real Vikings, today. And maybe not surprising, they have facebook and a website.

http://grimfrost.com/en/

From clothes and domestic products to jewelry and posters, if you are interested in modern day Vikings, Grimfrost is a great place to start.

U = Umbrellas

An Umbrella is a device consisting of a circular canopy of cloth on a folding metal frame supported by a central rod, used as protection against rain or sometimes sun.

I have several umbrellas, one black & one white parasol for the bright sunny days and one black & white polka dot umbrella for the rainy days. The rainy day umbrella lives in my car. It stays dry even on rainy days because it lives in my car.... 

T = Turkey

Since the time of Ancient Greece, the region now known as Turkey has been at the crossroads of civilization. Istanbul, also known as Constantinople or Byzantium was one of the largest cities in the Ottoman Empire. Located between Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the country and the culture offers a unique blend of multiculturalism from time immemorial. 

Turkish food has flavors from Asia, Greece, Jewish, Middle Eastern and Balkan dishes. The music is beautifully syncopated and when blended with psychedelic music it's amazing. Listen to Baba Zula 

photo borrowed from goholidayturkey.com

S = Suicide Prevention

Suicide touched my life when I was 13. I am forever changed by it.

Suicide is the 4th cause of adolescent deaths in the US.

Some of the warning signs are:

• Talking about wanting to die.
• Feeling hopeless or having no reason to live. 
• Feeling trapped or in unbearable pain. 
• Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs. 
• Acting anxious or agitated.

• Sleeping too little or too much.
• Eating too much or too little.
• Withdrawn or feeling isolated.
• Displaying extreme mood swings.
• Preoccupation with death.
• Loss of interest in things one cares about.
• Visiting or calling people to say goodbye.
• Making arrangements; setting one's affairs in order.
• Giving things away, such as prized possessions.

If you or someone you love has these symptoms/ signs, reach out for help: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org or call 800-273-8255 

R = Rebellion

Rebellion is often a word embrace by the disenfranchised, those without any other recourse to those concepts promised but not truly offered within the guidelines of society. It's one thing to say that we value freedom but quite another to actually offer the resources required  to gain the freedom given to those with resources.

In open resistance  against the government, rebellion comes in a variety of forms, the most powerful is humble resistance, civil resistance, persistent resistance to injustice such as we find brewing in Baltimore.  Following in the tradition of Martin Luther King, the demand for justice comes from those who view themselves as oppressed.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-major-cleared-20160407-story.html

https://www.popularresistance.org/tag/baltimore/

Q = Question

Question Authority may be traced back to Socrates, re-popularized in the 1960s in theory. But what of questioning? Who do you question? When do you question? Why Question?

The first place to question is with self. What questions to ask? What goals do you seek? Why not just do as you are told?

Query for the truth? Query for the Lies? Which questions are you to ask of yourself?

For if you don't know yourself, you may not ask the right question.

P = Penny Dreadful

19th Century English reading material were serialized  stories primarily for the working class audience. Young boys often purchased one and passed it around. Among the most popular was The String of Pearls: Romance also known as Sweeney Todd.

The mass market in America was the dime novel. Paperbacks were re-purposed into magazine series, The Authentic Life of Billy the Kidd .

O = Ophelia

Ophelia is Greek, meaning HELP.

From Hamlet: 

Ophelia says: There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that's for thoughts.

There's fennel for you, and columbines. There's rue for you, and here's some for me. We may call it herb of grace o' Sundays...

Ophelia by the Lumineers  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOC_q0NLTk

N = Neverland

The Never part of Neverland came from the new places of Australia, the Never Never.  The Never Never was a place many people went but didn't return, the outback.

One of the things I like about writers is that we incorporate so much of what's going on around us in the piece. Then later we see how what was happening in current events or our lives seeped into the story.

Intentionally, I want my story to be uplifting maybe even a little inspirational. Truly I'd like all have all the crap I've been through be useful to others.

M = Metacognition

When you think about your own thinking so much that you can figure out how it is that you are thinking, that is Metacognition. 

Metacognition is something that happens to people when they become self-aware to the point that they recognize that they indeed don't know it all and have enough time to self-reflect to find other idiosyncrasies, short comings or personality points that might need some improvement. 

The thought is that through thought how we think can be analysed, corrected, proper patterns adopted which will produce better results toward a stated goal. 

For me, spacing out for a while then having a creative surge of ideas for a story or project is fine with me. I could break it down if I thought about it, but I'm also okay with the mystery of wonderful inspiring ideas from the Muses. 

 

L = Livingston

I remember when everyone was talking about Jonathan Livingston Seagull... did you read it? you have to read it? Isn't it wonderful? so profound, don't you think? It's a must read... all the hippies said so then the talk show hosts and then our parents and teachers.

The pressure to read this pop culture book was horrendous. So my answer was yes but the truth was no. Oh sure, I started it. The book about the bird that flies, but I didn't finish it.

I noticed the cover and thought to myself, "Recycling that one again are they?" Then I looked a little closer and noticed that the expanded title was "The Complete Edition." Ha! Come to find out I wasn't the only one who didn't finish the must-read Jonathan Livingston Seagull, apparently Richard Bach didn't finish writing it until 2014. Now that the story is finished, I may go with the updraft and read the once started story of a gull that flies.

K = Book of Kells

The most famous Illuminated Manuscript is the Book of Kells. Known to have existed since the 12th century. The Book of Kells is a medieval version of the 4 Gospels.

Highly talented artists wrote and decorated the manuscript.

Medieval Irish believed that very close to a miracle, is writing. The most blessed thing you can do is write, and not just write but write the Scripture.

There are so much intricacy, perfect in every way, the Book of Kells must have been the work of angels.

From the Book of Kells

J = Journal

jour·nal

1 a newspaper or magazine that deals with a particular subject or professional activity. 

Medical Journals 

2 a daily record of news and events of a personal nature; a diary 

He keeps a journal.

So many kinds of journals to keep, how do I decide if I'm even a journal person anymore? I kept a journal when I was a kid. My privacy was invaded by people who read my diary, so I stopped the practice.

I started thinking that maybe now is the time to begin again. So many things are happening in my life that I have list upon list and various organization systems to help me stay on track through this fast paced change everything in my life period I'm in at the moment.  The thought occurred to me that some of my doubt might be alleviated if I wrote about it. Having time to write would be another bridge to cross but what kind of journal would be good for me right now?  

Emotional journal, event journal, daily log, record book, gratitude journal, I just can't decide... 

Do you journal? How do you journal? Do you recommend journaling? What do you get out of keeping a journal? Do you hide your journal or lock it up? 

1.