In the last weeks, my love for humanity has been shattered, battered, and scattered. I’ve felt hopeless, lifeless, and joyless. I keep asking myself, what can I do? What is my role? How can I help? How can I rise? I do believe there is a light, if we reach far within ourselves to find it.
Last week I was given a fabulous opportunity to take Noonie to Ogunquit, Maine. She has been visiting OGT for 62 years. Noonie prides herself with telling people she was pregnant with me on the beach. Which makes me not quite 60 yet, but I’ve been to OGT for over 60 years. Go figure.
How would you measure your social battery life? Do you have a BIG battery which needs constant refilling? Do you have a SMALL social battery which empties quite quickly? Do you enjoy big social events or smaller more intimate gatherings? Does your social battery size matter 
?
Naturally, I’m already on a slower speed than the rest of the world. In truth, this annoys people who know me very well. I have a tendency to get lost in the moments. I putter, think, wait, watch, listen, contemplate, and daydream, a lot. You remember, the kid the teacher always told to stop daydreaming. As a student, I preferred to sit next to the classroom window. Frequently, I gazed outward, wondering, thinking, pondering, and then alerted to stop daydreaming. I wasn’t daydreaming, I was creating! Pink Floyd The Wall, “Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!”
The simple joys of life really hold the greatest value in your time. Give it a try. Go into the history books of your life and find the moments when you can say to yourself, “It doesn’t get much better than this”. What was it? Where was it? Who were you with? What made it so special that you can bottle it?
There are many ways to give your body the relaxation it craves for. Do you have a Relaxation Toolbox? I do and it’s filled with tricks of the trade for ultimate peaceful comfort.
A loving reminder… Sometimes you don’t have to say, “I love you” to mean it full heartily. Sometimes your actions will speak much louder than words. I’m a firm believer of what a person actually “does” speaks volumes rather than the words a person speaks.
My parents usually called me “Suzie” or “Sue” or “Suz” in a playful kind of way. When I would hear my name screamed as “SUZANNE!!!” I knew the sh*t hit the fan and I would run for cover under my bed or hide in the corner of a very dark closet. Of course, once I was in a dark space, I had to go to the bathroom. This was an automatic response to my fear and sudden confinement. I’m kinda the same today.
One night, I was teaching a three-hour online class in the basement. I put a note on the basement garage door, “Class in Session – Enter from Upstairs!” I put a note on the upstairs door which leads to the basement, “Class in Session – Do Not Enter!”
On that night, family members and their friends entered at both points.
I said, “Didn’t you see the signs?”
The response was simply a smile. I think they enjoyed disturbing me because it was fun for them.
Being bored is not such a bad thing. When children are bored they have a tendency to quickly become imaginative. Perhaps adults don’t have the same impulses for a flourishing imagination. Busy life and problems come into play every day. Actual freedom and playtime never really exists unless you go on a planned vacation.
If we could just channel our childhood spirits and imaginations, perhaps we could then be our best creative selves.
We made it! We are in the canoe.
Noonie is at the stern and I am in the bow. There is a slight breeze. The sky is evenly mixed with clouds and blue. The sun is in and out. It’s a perfect day to be on the water. Not too many bugs to bother us also. Off we go into the middle of the Lac Monroe.
A half hour later, “Sue, Do you want to dock and eat?”
Although, I do love going on vacation to my favourite places in the world. In honesty, my ultimate favourite place is… my life at home. The busy life I’ve created for myself. This is where I find contentment.
RUN HOME! RUN HOME!!!!
As the story goes, he was up at bat and struck the ball so hard that it went sailing way out into the outfield. Above all the little heads on the opposing team. It was definitely a home run. Just then the parents and coaches started to scream at him to “RUN HOME! RUN HOME!”
He ran his little body to first base and stood there. The parents and coaches kept on screaming at him to “RUN HOME! RUN HOME!”
I am embarrassed to say that at this time I haven’t exercised in weeks! Which answers the question, why do I feel like crap? I am close to a month behind in my journal writing. Oh, the thoughts I have wanted to put down on paper and didn’t have the time to. When I get around to filling in those days, I am certain to have forgotten what I initially wanted to say.
Perhaps Carole King said it best in her song ‘Beautiful’. Her words are the encouragement to start every morning with a smile on your face. I start my morning with thanks to G-d for giving me this day to live. I’m simply blessed with the opportunity to write this article. Nothing is taken for granted. Nothing!
Everything can change in a moment. Peace is a privilege.
My desk is full of papers. I have dozens of emails waiting for replies and regular mail to open. The magazine and newspaper pile has significantly grown. The “To Do” list is very long and also needs my attention. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do…
But…I don’t care. I’m pleasantly in a fog. A glorious fog in fact!
The other morning I woke up to the sound of ticking on my bathroom window. Tick, tick, tick, tick … Stop … Again, tick, tick, tick, tick … Stop. Again and again, the same ticking sound and then it would stop. This pattern repeated for about five minutes. I rolled over in my bed and tried to go back to sleep. I assumed it was a squirrel running about.
Why in the world would a mother, such as myself not like Mother’s Day? Why wouldn’t I want to be celebrated for being a mother? The reason I don’t like this day is primarily because its gender based. It’s not neutral. Gender really doesn’t have a place in holidays or celebratory days anymore.
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