Well, we’re almost a month into the new year. I hope everyone is doing well with your resolutions and goals and renewal stuff. I ended up being sick the first week of the month and had a delayed return to work and everything else. I’m happy to report that I’ve continued my workouts that I’ve been doing for a year and three months now and my devotional time each day and my routines. I have to admit that getting sick right off the bat and being run down for a while after that put a damper on my goal to write more, but I’ve done a little journaling. And here I am back to the blog. I’d like to stake the claim that I’ve remained quite busy at a cellular level. 😉 It’s an oldie but a goodie as far as excuses go.
I’ve also taken my own advice and done a little minor redecorating and tweaking decor as the decorations came down over a couple of weekends. And I’m still working on that. Photos will follow. Speaking of photos, that’s one of the decor tweaks I’ve done. I’ve gathered quite a few photo frames over the years from my thrift shop trips and I’ve always been into photography, starting with my first camera, a trusty old Kodak disc camera. So, I’ve put out some of the many winter scene photos from the creek behind the house where I grew up and other seasonal shots. I also simply moved some things from an unnoticed corner or shelf to a more prominent place, creating a new look. You can do that when you have a lot of thrift shop knick knacks to work with.
Like much of the U.S., I spent yesterday digging out from a snowstorm. That left little time or energy for much else. I’d say that’s a good excuse for not writing. The important thing is to keep making the effort. So, back to normal today. I suppose one good thing about being sick at the start of the year is that I feel like the beginning of the second month is a chance to do a renew redo. It’s a chance to recapture the renewal feeling since I didn’t really get going the first time around. Wish me luck as mother nature unleashes the harshest winter in years. May all the writers and artists take advantage of time indoors this season!
On a lighter note, I hope the handlers on Feb. 2nd outfit Punxatawny Phil with a bullet proof vest because if he doesn’t give the answer people want this year, someone may take a shot at him. This is Pennsylvania, after all. Just kidding. But really, that’s not so bad, that we’re almost to Groundhog Day already. That’s one of the few Bill Murray movies I like. What would you do if you had to repeat one day over and over? Like Murray’s character, you could see it as a blessing or a curse. You’d have a lot of time to learn new things and make discoveries in the world around you, but that would be the most epically challenging situation to find ways to feel rejuvenated or renewed! Would you savor the extra time, or get bored out of your gourd? It’s an intriguing idea. I think we all kind of have that choice throughout our lives. It’s the essence of getting what you want out of life. It’s what you make it.
I think I may have to expound on this subject. Till then, keep writing and keep renewing!
P.S. Speaking of new things, the image above is AI generated and the first time I’ve ever used one.
It’s that time of year. There’s the reviews of the previous year and all kinds of talk about resolutions and renewal and restarts. Personally, I haven’t had time to sit and review my previous year, but fortunately, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to write more, including journaling, so I’ll be doing the review thing through my writing. As for the looking ahead, I’ve learned over the last few years to take things a day at a time and live in the moment. I still plan for the future, of course. I contribute to my 401k, have life insurance and all those adult things. But I don’t think too far ahead at any given moment so I don’t get overwhelmed. You have to take things in bite size chunks. You also have to be mindful of your environment and really experience life. Enjoy the little things and feel your connection to people and the world around you. Always make that effort.
Renewal is something I’ve thought about fairly often over the last year or so. I had a period of renewal about a year and a half ago, but it didn’t seem to last beyond a few months. That’s mostly due to interference from a group of creeps harassing me, but I’m not going to let that be an excuse or to discourage me. If you encounter opposition in anything you want to do, that obviously will make it harder, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. You control how you react to things, even though you can’t control what happens.
It’s easy enough to feel a sense of renewal in the first couple days of a new year or when some sort of reset happens in your life, like a new relationship or friendship, a new job, going back to school, etc. So, how do you find that spirit of rejuvenation at off times? And how do you keep it going? That’s the trick, isn’t it? I hope you won’t be too disappointed when I say that I’ve only found ways that help to bring you back to that periodically, and I don’t have any big secret method to reveal. But let’s talk about it. Writing out your thoughts is actually one of the ways I’ve found to help recapture that New Year’s Day determination. Keeping a journal. I mentioned I wanted to do more of that and I confess I’ve let that fall by the wayside for months now. But now’s the time to start again, at the new year onset. So that’s one thing, journaling. Write out your thoughts and feelings.
Another thing that helps you feel rejuvenated is creativity. Any activity that gets the creative juices flowing is going to give you energy. Whether it’s photography, writing, drawing or dancing in your room like nobody’s watching and really letting loose. I’ve taken many photographs in my life and it engages my mind and my heart. If you play a musical instrument, or if the pen or the keyboard is your instrument, these are ways to let the spirituality of creativity to flow through you. You can’t help but feel the earth’s energy or the energy of a higher plane, even the divine, when you’re creating something. I’ve recently been participating in art therapy workshops with someone I know from my church and her program The Healing Palette hosted at a local art gallery called Soft Machine Gallery. NPR had an article about art therapy just last week, in fact. If anyone in your area offers this, I highly recommend it or find some online resources and give it a try. It really helps process thoughts and emotions, and I think, connects the conscious to the subconscious mind.
And, I guess, good old talk therapy is another good way to feel renewed or refreshed. Talking about things with an objective person, or even sometimes just talking with a friend or family member, can help release and process those emotions and swirling thoughts.
Remember to allow new things in to your everyday life. Look for things you haven’t really noticed or paid attention to in places you go. Try to recall details about a doctor’s office, a friend’s house or business after you leave, then see what you missed the next time you’re there. Try to look at things from a new perspective, either figuratively or literally. Take a different way home from work. Try a different store or restaurant. Try a new recipe or two and add them to your regular rotation, if you like them.
Try a new hobby, or revisit one you dropped due to time constraints, tiredness, or just plain neglect. There are many reasons we let things we’re interested in doing fall by the wayside and it seems those reasons, or excuses, win over our decision making more easily as we get older. Remember the enjoyment it gave you before when you’re tempted to just veg in front of a screen instead. Of course, sometimes we just don’t have the same interest in something we once did and that’s okay too. If you try it and it no longer thrills, find a replacement.
You can also change up your environment to help infuse your spirit with newness. As you put away those decorations, it’s a great time to do a little rearranging or sprucing up. If you’re like me and your budget limits how much you can do that, then I have two words for you. Thrift shop! I’m known for my somewhat addictive thrifting. That’s something that’s fun to do with a friend or on your own, even if you don’t make a purchase. I like to find funny items or things that you think, “What were they thinking?” or “No wonder they donated that!”. See end of post for a few hits and misses. (I didn’t buy the “misses”, just took pics to share.)
Try a different genre in your reading or viewing. I know people who consume the same kind of entertainment all the time and don’t even glance at anything else. If you don’t like it, then go back to your usual. I remember my 9th grade English teacher would require at least one non-fiction title in our book reports. I didn’t like the idea at first, but then I discovered the true stories that weren’t the dry factual volumes I always thought of when someone said “non-fiction”. I loved Never Cry Wolf and The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, both by Farley Mowat. I even got a ribbon for the story board poster I did on the latter for our Achievement Fair that year. There’s a reason libraries and book stores have all those shelves and they always stay filled up.
If you like a challenge, try new types of puzzles or word games. If you like games, have a game night and ask your guests to look for new games you can play. (Again, thrift shop!) And when you’re getting together with your friends for game night or whatever, share something new with them and be open for them to reciprocate. Talk to someone new at your job, school, church or business you frequent. The people around you are a constant source of renewal and change. And on that note, be ready for change and embrace it, since it’s an inevitable part of life. Make it a positive, even when it comes with some kind of negative. Balance them out.
So my friends, as the first week of the new year rapidly advances and many are heading back to the normal grind of school and work, remember that renewal and rejuvenation and growth are all things that need constant stirring to keep it fresh. It’s okay that you don’t feel it every day. If you did, it would’t be renewal. Just keep doing anything you can that gives you that metaphorical splash of cold water to the face!
Happy New Year and beyond!
Ironically, I texted this to friends, causing them to check their phones.Definitely a miss… a vase with ears. Blue polka dot pumpkin? Pass.Looks a bit bedraggled. I can get that from a real plant! 😉
That’s what Halloween means. It’s the eve of All Saint’s Day. Many ancient cultures believed that spirits of the dead visited on this night. The weather in my area sure fit the day. It was very gray and chilly and windy, with the just changed leaves ripping free from the branches that had so recently sustained them and now flitted and fluttered wildly in the air. It felt spooky, but exhilarating as many folks celebrated in light-hearted fun a day that is steeped in dark and scary traditions.
It’s the third Halloween since my dad passed and my family has had some new concerns and transitions in recent months. I couldn’t help thinking about days gone by and how much life has changed. I miss the wholeness of my family unit and my dad’s quiet strength and stability, but I’m thankful for those traits which he passed on to me along with perseverance and tenacity, and an unflappable confidence borne of a love of life and faith in God.
On this day, with people dressing up as their favorite characters from pop culture, I feel like I can call upon my dad’s presence like Luke Skywalker talking to Obi Wan and Yoda surrounded by their ethereal glow courtesy of The Force. I can’t converse with him and he didn’t give a lot of direct advice, but his steady presence and loving air surround me and guide me.
When someone else is bringing their worries into your aura, expressing anxiety or even panic, it’s hard to hold onto that less tangible spiritual connection, but that’s when you just have to refocus, remember to breathe and put one foot in front of the other. God, and those who have gone before, are with you. And you are with you!
By that I mean that your own consciousness and experience are like an entity unto themselves. You’ve gotten through everything in your life so far and you’re still standing! No one else was there for every minute of that. Only you. So draw confidence from that and remember that you will keep growing and getting better at communing with your spirit, which is connected to God and the loved ones who have moved on. You got this!
Sophisticated Neanderthal 
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