mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
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Noise in the Background
April 9, 2016
sky
sea
Does the conversation turn to dust in a can of ancient fish sauce
When originality is mentioned? Why can we not agree that diversity is fun?
The water was left running in the kitchen, sink overflowing, food floating
Into the back yard, over the fences, drifting into pieces as it scattered
The hungry mass of humanity was washed away to sea on a lump of sugar
Still retaining the sweetness of the last big stadium event we witnessed
Watching, unable to save the system as it collapses, we break for lunch
I have a hunch this picture is just a shadow of the future chaos in store
If we listen with concentration there is a sound of the ocean’s roar
NaPoWriMo2016
Visit the #NaPoWriMo site to discover new poets around the world. April is the month to celebrate poetry.
Planets in Pursuit of Pleasure
April 7, 2016
— 1 Comment
poppy blooms
cactus blooms
If we revolve around our sun and some suns revolve around Saturn,
Where is the middle of the orbit? Does it change when the air is colder?
Is there a reason for the shapes we use for surrounding our central theme?
Does anyone know the prompt for today? Is it rhyme or reason?
I believe at the end of any season the harvest of jewels pours forth
On the owners and on the interlopers who arrive when the piñata breaks
yucca blooms
Join Poets around the world each day in April for #NaPoWriMo. Find joy and words here.
NaPoWriMo2016
Ride the Poetry Train
April 6, 2016
— 5 Comments
poetry train
caboose
The journey on this train takes place in the dark, starlit cabins full of images
Rush through the night collecting emotions, memories, deeper instincts
Collecting these soul-shaper consciousness experiences into words takes place
In the dining car over tea and coffee in the morning, and in the lounge all day
Poets sit in silence to straighten out the prose that spills onto the pages
Comparison is healthy, normal, and confusing as each work grows into itself
The train is full of poets yet each one of us has a different destination and fate
In prompts, styles, discussions and reverie we join in a common mission
To bring forth the poetry that only we as poets can bring up from the mine
History holds poets and potters in high regard, finding all the meaning
Of civilization in broken ceramic chards and discarded recorded words
NaPoWriMo2016
The poetry train departed the station 1 April and will travel non stop until 1 May. Join the fun at #NaPoWriMo by submitting your own work or finding new poets to enjoy.
Influenced by Mummies
April 5, 2016
— 1 Comment
cactus blooming
cactus blooming
Falling skyward into dream state fairy tale diving deeply
Horror of afterlife/formerlife/continuum takes wings
Unfurling from a tightly fitting sarcophagus wrapped in grace
Signing in to the drifting tide of shifting sands and secrets
The scene is altered when the clouds obscure the day’s sunlight
Lifting shadow into the focus, draping foggy memory with darkness
Long forgotten history influences the way we see past as ladder to future
Much myth surrounds the way we imagine change without effort or will
Down to go up, a bouncing rebound, is the way to the center of things
Perpetual notions of shadow and light require motion as well as presence
What is the hieroglyph that will represent this present moment in time?
NaPoWriMo2016
Ride the poetry train this April at #NaPoWriMo. 30 poems in 30 days
#WorldPoetryDay and the Poet in You
March 21, 2016
— 1 Comment
Today is World Poetry Day, so twitter is all aflutter with haiku. UNESCO is running a thread for pros and amateurs to enter the fun using the hashtag #tweetku.
There are some funny and inspiring poems flying around, and we see coffee houses where they are accepting poems for payment today. This celebration has grown and become more popular since last year. I urge you to join the creative fun, even if you are not feeling very poetic at this moment. Read some of the other tweets for inspiration or just to tickle your funny bone. I know that we are all poets because I write a poem each day for poetry month in April for #NaPoWriMo. I have no particular talent or style, but after 30 days of poetry I feel very accomplished and more creative. I use original art or photography on my April poems to make them a little more interesting. The important part is the practice rather than the poems themselves. I am hoping to expand my subject matter again this year. My first year was way too drippy, all about spirit, dreams, and tinkle tinkle reality..pretty dull and one dimensional. Last year I did some new topics like my ancestor’s beheading at the Tower of London. The art and the poem were infantile, but I did give it a whirl. Practice does not really make perfect in my case, but it does make psychological inroads into my own thinking and ability to write. I am warming up for next month today:
Here is one I love, with a little pun:
https://twitter.com/BarvanderVossen/status/711979640378826753
Let the poet in you loose on the town today..or at least read some.
Politics vs Reality
March 20, 2016
— 2 Comments
Palm, symbol of victory
I think most people vote based on the state of their own economic situation. If they are feeling confident about their prospects and security they tend to choose the party that is in power at the moment. When insecurity and unhappy circumstances arise political elections become a way to express unease. This election year is full of wild rhetoric and many dramatic moments. Citizens are freaking out in all directions. The focus on our elected officials and policies of the government is never so intense as it is during the presidential season. Tension builds and money is spent like water on all sides. Anger, suspicion, and all the worst in our society, rears its’ ugly head to predict the future. We all think we know how the future will be if we elect one candidate or another.
We do not know what will happen after any election, and this time we seem to know less than ever. Many of the public institutions that have crumbled and decayed will need a total reform or rehab in order to once again serve the public. Politicians tend to protect and defend status quo, just because they exist within it, and that is the easy way to go. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. The GOP is finding it difficult to stay at rest, being challenged from within and by the candidacy of Donald Trump. In this era we do not remember any politics this rowdy or malicious. It is impossible to predict the outcome.
The reality is that after the election we will all go about our business without the suspense or the drama of politics in our faces. The only real change is managed on a personal local level with constant and uninterrupted effort. Figure heads and governing bodies have only so much power to implement or enforce laws and systems. The grass-roots, named for the front yard, is where either weeds or lush green comfort is cultivated. It is a mistake to put so much emphasis on elections while we turn away from our own neighbors and local issues. Like Smokey says, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.” I believe this philosophy applies to reality and politics just as well. Only YOU can prevent the dismemberment of society, gentle reader. Think small, local, and real. Don’t let these political loonies stress your mind. Act like you want others to act, do unto others what you want done to you.
yellow rose, symbol of joy
The Living and the Dead
March 13, 2016
— 5 Comments
Meesie loves her massage
Memory and spirit linger after our friends pass into the next realm. The spirit is hard to define or capture during a lifetime, but after death the history of facts is distilled into an essence. I don’t communicate, as in converse, with the dead, but I spend time savoring the essential qualities they represent. This week a young woman who was our friend died from a raging melanoma in her bloodstream. She dedicated her time on earth to healing animals and people with her massage skills. When our dog was on hospice she helped our family immensely by providing love and care during her last months.
Isaiah 57:1-2
1 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. 2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
I feel the loss of her presence on this earthly plane, but have a strong assurance that she has gone to a sweet rest. Living had become too much for her, perhaps because she gave so much of herself to others. The details of making a living, paying taxes, doing the daily tasks that ground us to the earth slowly became more difficult. I had my own agenda about teaching her simple life skills that I thought were the solution to the slipping away from here syndrome I had observed. I could not have been more wrong. Self care is not always the answer for every situation, as I tend to believe. I have no knowledge of the supernatural energies that give and take life. My simplistic view that everything can be healed has been transformed by her passing. Wounds inspire healing, and in some languages the word for wound is the same as the word for healing. The complicated process of healing is not within our control. I am not in charge of it, nor do I understand it.
Living people feel robbed by the loss of our loved ones, but each of us has a private and unique gift of life. We must accept that those who leave us in their prime have fulfilled their own mission and are ready to go at some basic level. I accepted this fact when my dog gave up her life, and now I am certain that crossing the rainbow bridge may be scary, but it is a relief. I am grateful for the good times and calm in the knowledge that peace is welcome when the end arrives.
Are God and Nature then at strife,
That Nature lends such evil dreams?
So careful of the type she seems,
So careless of the single life;
That I, considering everywhere
Her secret meaning in her deeds,
And finding that of fifty seeds
She often brings but one to bear,
I falter where I firmly trod,
And falling with my weight of cares
Upon the great world’s altar-stairs
That slope thro’ darkness up to God,
I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope,
And gather dust and chaff, and call
To what I feel is Lord of all,
And faintly trust the larger hope.
Full Moon for Healing
February 22, 2016
— 1 Comment
full moon setting
Native cultures around the world have celebrated the significance of new and full moons. Full moon is the apex of light energy for the month. Although we wish to retain some of our practices and enhance them, the full moon is a perfect moment to discard beliefs and addictions we wish to shed. In the brightness of the full moon light we can harness the symbolic power of lunar mystery and magnetism. We can use it to focus intently on replacing worn out, maybe meaningless things we do and say out of habit. Not every addiction is harmful, but blindly following a path from the past without scrutiny is less than our best. Full moon is the time to discern, time to look within for answers to spiritual questions.
Without complicated chants or candle light we can choose this time to make a list of all the thoughts words and deeds we see ourselves doing without thinking. We all get into ruts and find ourselves repeating mistakes or just blindly following what we have always done. This full moon today is a wonderful time to concoct a quick, simple ritual to banish stale thinking and acting.
- Write a list of 5 things you do or own that no longer serve you
- Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes to ponder and read the list
- Visualize a higher octave, a replacement for these unwanted things
- Use music, scent and bathing to create a cleansing atmosphere
- Submerge yourself in meditation, sitting, walking, bathing, whatever is natural to you.
- When your meditation is complete, burn the list and kiss it goodbye
If weather permits hold your ceremony and meditation outdoors in the light of the moon. Take the feeling with you into the next month to remind you of the changes you have set into motion. Carpe noctem, gentle reader.
My Medicare Miracle
January 14, 2016
— 5 Comments
View from the exercise bike, JCC
My life has changed dramatically in the last two weeks. I have been looking forward to Medicare because it saves me a significant chunk of cash each month. I shopped and researched wildly, reaching the conclusion that the new Iora Primary Care is right for me. I am signed up with Humana on a Medicare Advantage plan that costs me nothing and offers benefits I can really use. I went to my first appointment with Dr Julia Jernberg, my new primary care physician, on Monday. She is the smartest, coolest doctor I have ever seen. She gave me a simple practice I can do at home to relieve a chronic pain I have had in the front of my ankle. She specialized in this orthopedic technique at University of Arizona School of Alternative Medicine. She nailed the diagnosis (always key to success), then taught me how to do my own simple hands on healing. I find a position of comfort and gently coax my muscle out of trauma for about three minutes at a time, twice a day. It is ridiculously easy to do, but she cautioned me not to be too zealous and overdo my remedy. She nailed the zealous diagnosis too. I have followed her instructions for three days and believe I can feel improvement. Dr. Julie is truly my dream doctor, a teacher of self care. She is assisted by the best staff in the most well designed environment. I could not be more pleased with this fantastic upgrade to my health care.
My Silver Sneakers card arrived in the mail this week too. This card provides free membership privileges to Medicare recipients at health clubs all over the country. In Tucson many clubs participate in the program, but each one offers a different set of privileges. I am already a very happy member at Tucson Racquet Club, and have arranged to pay a fee over and above my Silver Sneakers membership (covered by my insurance company). I think it is worth paying $22 a month to be able to attend all the classes at my club. However, I took my Sneakers card to the newly remodeled Jewish Community Center and was given full membership privileges. The JCC does not restrict me to Silver Sneakers classes with my special membership. They offer a wide array of fitness options. This thrills me, but not as much as the fabulous Zuckerman Family Wellness Center does. The gym is the feature I use the most at a club. This one is spacious, modern, well staffed and super clean. The view from the equipment room is spectacular, and like the Racquet Club, it is situated right on the Rillito River walk. They have new state of the art equipment and professional trainers. There is free high-speed WiFi which I used to read some magazines on my iPad while I peddled the new age exercise bike. The bike even has arm rests.
I am highly impressed with the quality of the operation, but my favorite part of the JCC gym is the special needs population. Some special needs individuals work out independently and some come to the J with care givers who encourage and help them. I watched a young man who appeared to have Down Syndrome have such a great time on the TRX equipment that he inspires me to try it. He was so comfortable and happy swinging on the rings and attempting super difficult moves that I decided I can do that too. I think it is really fun to share the gym with the special population, and it is the first time I have experienced that cool thing. You just go, JCC!!!
Three Words for 2016
December 29, 2015
— 1 Comment
Suzette in her kitchen
Chris Brogan was my first teacher of social media by way of his books. He is very smart in my opinion, and constantly evolves. One of his practices for which he is now very well known is finding three words to inspire at the first of every year. To replace resolutions, the words are meant to inspire and represent goals. On January 1 Chris will drop his words, as is his custom, for the eleventh year in a row. Well done, Brother Brogan. I know I am not the only one who appreciates your leadership in this exercise. Three is plenty if they are kept alive daily for an entire year. That is the idea of having only a few….. no excuse not to work on them. I am looking forward to a happy and fun 2016. My words are:
- Independence
- Simplicity
- Adventure
I plan to combine forces with a wonderful woman I met in Phoenix by chance. She makes the best artisanal sauerkraut I have ever tasted. The Garden Goddess was planning to expand her distribution to Pima County, where I live, when we met. There are some logistical issues to work out, but we are looking at an arrangement that is extremely simplistic and independent. I am very interested in the teaching part of the concept because I have become a fermented foods crusader and believer. I am reading books and experimenting like a mad scientist in my own kitchen as well as eating Suzette’s kraut daily. This is a very exciting adventure for me. I know most people might not be so turned on about teaching others to make their own sauerkraut, but I feel a complete sense of mission to teach the world to ferment raw food and feel so much better. Fermented foods themselves are a simple, independent adventure you can enjoy at home. It is an explosive and exciting new hobby/passion I look forward to cultivating in 2016.
fermenting artisanal kraut
