Wednesday Hodgepodge – 12.14.16

for Wednesday Hodgepodge @ From This Side of the Pond

1. Are you more task oriented or people oriented? Elaborate.

I am definitely more task oriented. I don’t do people well, but give me a task to focus on and I am all in. If I am performing tasks, I don’t have to make small talk or participate in gossip or listen to stupid jokes. It probably helps that I am an introvert and live in my head most of the time.

2. December 15 is National Wear Your Pearls Day…do you own/wear pearls? If you’re a man answering the question, does your sweetheart own or wear pearls? Everyone share a ‘pearl of wisdom’ with us here today.

Oh gawd no. I have no attraction to pearls. I don’t even consider them beautiful. Not to mention they represent that lifestyle that I detest – the perfect little debutante. *barfs*

My ‘pearl of wisdom’ is think for yourself and do your own thing.

3. Speaking of pearls…oysters? Are you a fan or not a fan? If you answered yes, tell us your favorite way to eat oysters? If you said no, be honest-have you ever tried one or does just the idea of eating an oyster make you gag a little?

I love oysters. I can eat them stewed, fried or even on the half shell. In our family, Christmas morning is not Christmas morning without oyster stew. It has been a tradition in our family for as long as I can remember. And yet, I have no clue why.

4. Time Magazine has named President-elect Donald Trump Person of the Year. Let’s take presidents and presidential candidates out of the mix for a minute. If a political figure had not been chosen who would you name Man or Woman of the Year for 2016?

Sorry, I just cannot take politics out of the mix. The only people who made an impression on me for 2016 were political people. I wish it were non-politicals. I would have rather seen Bernie Sanders as the Person of the Year, but then, the press didn’t focus on Bernie, nor his message. They gave all of their air time to the Donald since he was already a celebrity. Why focus on a simple man from Vermont when you have a celebrity running for President? Bleah!

5. The Pantone Color of the Year for 2017 has been announced, and it’s a vibrant green aptly named-greenery. Your thoughts? Is this a color currently in your home or wardrobe? Will you add something in this shade for the new year? Click here to see the color.

I don’t mind green being a color of the year, but personally, I don’t like that shade of green. It looks pukish. *cringes* I prefer forest green. I won’t be adding anything remotely that color to my decor or clothing.

6. Today I’ve had too much________________________.

Pepsi Max. It is probably why I am feeling so hyper.

7. Share a favorite lyric from a favorite Christmas carol.

Happy Christmas (war Is Over) by John Lennon

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let’s stop all the fight

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now

Happy Christmas

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I really need to get off the ‘net and do some reading.

The Sandbox Writing Challenge #2 — Balance

Digging even deeper into Calen’s challenge from Roberta Allen’s The Playful Way to Knowing Yourself

It’s all about Balance. Do you consider yourself a balanced person? What are some of the things you do on a daily, weekly, etc. basis to keep yourself balanced? If you don’t feel you are, what can you do to help you find some of that needed balance?

I am probably one of the least balanced persons in the world. I have a joke that I tell people – When God was giving out balance, I thought he said talents and I got a double dose of it instead of any balance.

This lack of balance can be seen in all manners of my life. I cannot walk a straight line – never could, never will. My body is out of balance – large on top, small and thin on the bottom. My mind is completely unbalanced – manic one minute, depressed the next. My spiritual self is unbalanced – one moment I am thinking angelic thoughts, the next I am thinking devilish ones. Even my perceptions are unbalanced – I prefer night to day, feel more alive when things are decaying (Autumn), and am more interested in all things dark and twisted, even as I strive to be a light in the world.

On rare occasions, I can find some balance in my life, but it takes a lot of effort on my part. I’ve done this through meditation, yoga, pilates and mindfulness. The balance is only temporary though and I don’t have the patience to do a continual practice. I am not disciplined enough. I’ve lived my life skewed for so long, I am not sure how I would react to a centered, balanced one. It would probably unbalance me *winks*

 

Creative Question 24 – Ideal Society

CQ 24 – What would your ‘ideal’ society look like?

My ideal society would be a place built on mutual respect, kindness, love and honor. A place where mankind lives in a symbiotic relationship with nature, like homes built like hobbit houses, lush gardens, lots of trees, clean waterways, and wind farms for electricity. A place where animals are free to roam and not fear humans. It would be a place where everyone helps to take care of everyone else, seeing that all of our needs are met collectively. No selfishness, mean-spiritedness, or discourse. It would be a place of skilled workers and artisans, where each does work that benefits others and in return benefits themselves as well. There would be no politics, no money and definitely no ONE person in charge. A council of elders would guide, not rule. And every man, woman and child would be equal. I would also leave out organized religion and replace it with a simple spirituality, a belief that we are all ONE, with each other and the earth. There would be no need of a military, a government, nor warfare. Peace and tranquility for all.

Of course, this is all a pipe dream because humans ARE selfish, demanding and jealous. Humans are a ‘me first’ species. They don’t care about human, animal or environmental welfare. So long as ‘I’ get what ‘I’ want, to hell with anything else. And this human collective will eventually destroy itself for its selfishness and waste.

(I think this is the last CQ for now, but it was fun catching up *smiles*)

The Daily Me (Journal) Gratitude – 12/14/2016

Today’s prompt comes from 100 Inspirational Journal Prompts by Melissa Bolton @ The Mogul Mom

The three things you are most grateful for today.

Very early this morning, I wrapped myself up in a thick blanket and with a cup of coffee in hand, I went outside on the front porch. I sat down in the rocker and gazed out at the gorgeous morning mist settling on the mountain tops. It was a beautiful grey morning as the sun hadn’t yet broken through the clouds. In the distance, I heard the sound that I knew would bring gratitude and joy into my heart… ravens cawing. It is the best time of day to hear them and they always make me grateful to be alive.

After a while, I returned to my room. The heater was on and it too made me grateful. These days, I get cold far too easily. The past two winters, I only had electric heaters and couldn’t run them for long because they upped the electric bill, but now I have a lovely gas heater that I can run on a very low setting and my room warms up so fast. It’s a shame that gas is still cheaper than electric, but on a chilly morning like this one, I am grateful for the gas heat.

And now, I am sitting here eating a warm blueberry bagel with cream cheese and feeling grateful to have food to eat. As I swallow each bite, I am aware that somewhere out there, there is a child starving, a mother unable to feed her family, and that times are hard for everyone, including myself. I barely had money to finish out my month of groceries and had to concede to the estranged one for assistance. Even though he never complains, I don’t like accepting money from him to make it through the month, but on the other hand, I am grateful that he is there on months that I am barely scraping by.

 

My Daily Tarot – King of Cups

12/14/16 – King of Cups

You are fortunate in your achievements. You have accomplished much, and built a good career or business for yourself. Perhaps you have a stable, loving family life. These things give you much satisfaction, but there is a longing in your heart. It is as if in gaining power and achievement, you have lost your creative side. Seek an artistic or creative outlet, and nurture your emotions.

Be aware of focusing on what you don’t have. If you look at only the things that are missing in your life (such as personal, creative projects), you can grow bitter and resentful. You may neglect your existing obligations if you give into pouting and self-obsession rather than a workable solutions.

This card is hitting close to home today. The past few days, I’ve been working on what I want to accomplish next year, not only with my writing, but also in how I conduct myself for an entire year by choosing my Word of the Year.

I’ve been mulling over the list of writing projects that I keep in a notebook that is now nearly ten pages long. If I were to complete 4-6 of them a year, I would still have enough for the next ten years. And, I keep adding to the list. After a while, I stop focusing on what I’ve already accomplished and mourn over what I haven’t. I just keep telling myself, if only I could do one project a month, I’d complete twice as many in a year, and in turn wipe out my list in five years instead of ten. And then I remind myself that I get sick about four times a year which lasts for nearly a whole month, so there’s four months a year that I get little accomplished unless I push myself, at times, too far. And of course, there is always my mental state, which I never know from day to day how it will affect my work. And then I mourn some more.

I end up cursing myself for being such a list-maker and and trying to plan ahead. Why can’t I just be a pantser with my life like I am with my writing? And then I remind myself that I do tend to plan out my writing a little bit in the beginning and then let the stories tell themselves. There is no changing how I conduct my writing, nor my life. It is what it is.

Which brings me to choosing my Word of the Year. This year’s word didn’t work out so well, or perhaps it worked too well. I will leave that discussion for a later time. However, I am thinking about just not doing a word this upcoming year. I cannot think of something satisfactory to work on, since I am still mourning over lost bits of abundance from this year (Abundance was my word for 2016). I need to stop that before I can even move forward. And yes, I am feeling a bit bitter and resentful. I still have 17 days to get over this before the new year begins. I need to definitely focus on my achievements and stop longing over what has not been done. Let go and move forward.