mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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#WeekendCoffeeShare Shift Change

September 24, 2017 — 3 Comments

When You Are Engulfed In Flames

If we were having coffee in Tucson this weekend I would invite you to sit down in the living room with a cold iced tea. It is lovely weather now, with a little bit of chill at night. You probably think of this as summer weather, but for us it is a big deal to have highs below 100. We get all excited when “sweater weather” arrives, sometime in October. I have switched my hours at work in order to be there early to harvest outside. This is a fun change of pace. I am, however, having an issue with lack of ambition when I arrive home. I was finishing all my fitness activity and writing before going to work in the morning. That way I can relax when I get home. Now I am all about relaxing when I get home, but have not finished my own daily tasks. I must apply some discipline to make this shift change work. I am slacking on everything but my job.

The clearing out of the barn across the street is going very well, with only a few more personal items to move and review. I have thrown away loads more useless, outdated paper files. Just this morning, I found something I really wanted to find. I bought some amazing double sided cashmere fabric in Paris about 15 years ago. It has been in a plastic box for the last 10 years, with a couple of little pieces of cedar wood to repel moths. Lo and behold, the cedar works and the fabric is much more than I thought it was. I am lucky it is all still in perfect condition. Now that I have kept it so long I must find the perfect use for it, but not so perfect that it takes another 10 years to decide. I am thinking of a long reversible wrap skirt. I have one in silk, and think it is classy. My new motto is use it or ditch it for a clutter free life. It is time for this heavily hoarded fabric to get to work clothing me.

If we were having tea I would tell you I am behind on all my office work, which includes blogging. I excuse myself during this time because closing my real estate deal and finding space for all the stuff I want to keep is the most important task I will complete all year. I think once this job is done I will gratefully return to by diligent practice of writing. My financial load will be lighter, and my office will be better organized. The one task I have completed ahead of schedule is the payment of my real estate taxes. I am delighted to be paying about half of the tax bill I have had for the last 10 years. This makes me feel super happy and free. In 3 weeks my erstwhile tax burden will be another family’s future home. Everyone is a winner in this deal.

If we were on our second glass of iced tea I would ask how life and writing is going in your world. I hope you are more focused and productive then I am these days. I am listening to David Sedaris read his book, “When You Are Engulfed In Flames”. This does inspire me to try creating memoir again. His stories make me laugh out loud. When I finish his book I will dive into an eighteen hour course on the history of ancient Rome. Listening to different kinds of books on my audible account makes my work day zip by quickly. I get a lot of “reading” done while doing my job. There is a contest to produce a 30 second promotional video for audible telling how you use it. The winners will be awarded new Volvos. I am seriously considering entering this contest. Have you tried audio books? They are my new favorite thing.

#WeekendCoffeeShare

Thanks for joining us for this digital beverage party. Join us to read, comment, or share your own week with the crew. Follow the hashtag #weekendcoffeeshare on twitter to join the party.

Schedule Success

March 30, 2015 — 6 Comments

sunrise on the Rillito

Today I am preparing for the verbal marathon of #NaPoWriMo, during which I will produce 30 poems in 30 days. April in Arizona is a very rapidly changing display of flower to fruit to summer heat. We have hit 90 already and are staying just below that 90 degree mark for our high temperatures this week. Wild flowers and cactus blossoms are liberally painting the desert with saturated colors. Nights are cool, with a drastic differences between the low and high temperatures. Our climate is one of extremes, and we seem to be drifting into ever more unpredictable weather and endless drought. By May the heat will keep many folks inside for most of the day. April, however, is the perfect time to enjoy the outdoors and appreciate nature. My preparation to become a poet has fostered a schedule change in my routine. I started going to the gym as soon as I awake in order to log my exercise and clear the slate for the middle of the day. Much to my delight my gym is not yet very crowded at 6:30 in the morning. I hit the weight room, take a walk along the river, then linger in the steam room as long as I can. The accomplishment feels good, but the steamed clean body is also a wonderful benefit. I leave feeling uplifted and energetic. I had such a great time today I am sure it will be easy to implement this new routine for April, and maybe for the entire summer.

I have been gathering my strength as well as my supplies for this challenge. I have a few notes, some art I have been preparing, and a notebook for freehand writing. I normally do all my composing on a laptop or iPad, but all the poets say longhand unlocks a certain part of the brain not accessed on a keyboard. I am interested in illustrating my own poems, so I will jump back and forth from paper to digital formats in creating the visuals. Anything goes. I am not educated in all the themes and forms that poetry takes. I always end up in iambic pentameter if I make up a rhyming ditty out loud (limerick style). On paper it is fun to write in different colors, applying doodles, notes, mind mapping, or any device that fills and shapes the page. My goal is to stretch creatively in both my written and visual material. I am looking forward to reading the other participants poems because I know from past years that is where the real inspiration occurs.

I am also setting up my sewing machine on my office desk for daily use. I believe that creativity runs in streaks, and to capture it all, one must work in different mediums. I have a stash of beautiful fabric; and who doesn’t like to have new wardrobe options that nobody else has? The tactile, somewhat mathematical activity of sewing a garment is a good balance to word craft. I plan to make clothing suitable for wear at poetry readings and gallery openings, in other words, unusual. I am seeing this challenge as I might perceive a duck that looks and quacks like a duck. If I look and act like a poet, I am on my way:

I will be in nature for the sunrise because that is what I think poets should do.
I will conclude my active work out early in the day to make plenty of uninterrupted time for art and poetry.
I commit to sewing some new garments designed to tell the world that I am a poet (or at least an eccentric).
I will mingle daily with my fellow poets who are sharing this month with me
I hope to turn on some of my gentle readers to my fellow poets and their work

Following the hashtag #NaPoWriMo will take you to the source. I wish you pleasure, perception, and connection during this special month. Enjoy!!!

NaPoWriMo 2015

spring green