Remain Calm

Sometimes I feel like we're in the middle of a lake in a miniature rowboat, rowing across a vast expanse in a fierce thunderstorm. The wind howls, the water churns, tossing us every which way. Then someone in the boat stands up, flails their arms, and screams we're all going to die. 

And I keep having to yell over the snarling waves, you have one job right now and that's to sit down, hold on, remain calm.

Remain calm! You've got this!

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What is Wellness

The darkness is passing. The light from the sun returns slow and steady, reaching farther over the tree tops each day. Wellness at latitude 61.2 North is an obscure concept wrapped in shadows in the winter and overpowering light in the summer. Light and dark rule our sense of wellbeing with unyielding extremes. Forty-five years living in Alaska from the northern most village of Utqiagvik to our state’s largest city of Anchorage, it is with confidence I say wellness is found in the daily amount of vitamin D and C intake, with a moderate dose of B12 for good measure.

Wellness at this latitude suggests being mindful of how the bodies production of serotonin and melatonin affect us physically and psychologically. The extremes of balance between light and dark will change how you conduct your daily life, awareness is a step forward in maintaining healthy stability.

Wellness is found by embracing the seasons of lightness and darkness with an acceptance where no amount of bargaining, wishing or coercion can change this state of existence as long as I choose to live here. The psychology of positive thinking; the mind/body connection says “we’ve got to believe” that in the moments of darkness there will again be light, a trick of the mind some might say. By accepting this reality, the negative manifestation of external stress becomes manageable. Along with a winter trip outside to Hawai’i. Toes in a warm sandy beach, the ocean waves in rhythm drowning others distractions. Sunlight in your eyes and vitamin D through your skin – this could be the good life – that’s it I’m moving. Ha – I’ve strayed off topic. What are we talking about? Oh, yes, wellness.

Wellness is used as a buzzword without a clear definition of an axiom. Is wellness a commodity which society is currently selling? How much will it cost the individual, in their dollar tools, their time, or their self-esteem?

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Truth of Consequence

Truth of Consequence (yes of not or)

Jumping jumbled opinions surrounded by the "look here... no wait... look here," moving from one disjointed thought to another are diversion tactics not unlike the trickery sleight of hand of a master magician. When we blindly listen to loosely connected ideas we can more easily be swept away in the torrent of misinformation.

In order to make sense of what is truth and what is merely a plausible falsehood, our due diligence requires that the information and details that we are presented with be broken down into individual segments. Individual ideals or dogmas that can be further explored and researched in order to uncover truths that we are willing to accept.

Critical thinking is the foundation with which we are able to explore "what is truth?" without letting another person’s paradigm of a belief system interfere with the process.

Oh, and it is a known fact that you can't possibly be lied to if you are also listening to classical music.

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Vanquishing Formidable Foes

English, in its written form, has been my nemesis since second grade. On the other hand, oral rhetoric has in no way been problematic for me, just ask my grandpa, I can talk the cows ears off and drive them to the yonder field with numerous words as sharp as a dog’s snarl.

The written concept of the English language can dish it out and I will volley my best return. I aim to vanquish this formidable foe. Even the naysaying poetry workshop instructor can take their best jab at shooting down my satellite. I intend to remain in orbit.

Oh, and I almost forgot, although I actually try quite hard to do just that, forget. Forget my seventh grade English class filled with the mortifying comments by Mr. Shea. The public shaming of my spelling skills set me on a long path of self-doubt as a writer.

Time to pay homage to what was misplaced through the years. It is time to seek the long-desired degree. Bachelors of Arts in Creative Writing and English, I see you!

I will vanquish this formidable foe!

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Through the dense layer of icefog we see neither tree nor beast. It is only when we toil to climb the hills that the stars come into view.

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Next Calendar Orbit

 

Reflection over one’s shoulder or seeking it in a mirrored pond can be deceiving. Akin to a form of nostalgia, it might make a person homesick for the good old days. Where everything felt rosier and restorative. Reflection is a necessary part of the process of living as is the continued intake of breath. 

As we endeavor to reveal what was, in order to produce brave thoughts of what is to come, let’s enjoy the evening together as we pilot in the new year for the next calendar orbit.

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Spirit of Christmas Present Rings True from Christmas Past

 

~Spirit of Christmas Present Rings True in 2024 from Christmas Past 1843~

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Stave Three ~ The second of the Three Spirits ~ near the end of the chapter

"From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.

“Oh, Man! look here. Look, look, down here!” exclaimed the Ghost.

They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.

Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude.

“Spirit! are they yours?” Scrooge could say no more.

“They are Man’s,” said the Spirit, looking down upon them. “And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want [greed]. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!” cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. “Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And bide the end!”

“Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge.

“Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?”

The bell struck twelve."

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Holiday Notions for a Peaceful World

Rhythms of repetition circle our days. The sink full of dishes, empty only moments ago. The elusive laundry basket of holding transforms full to empty to full again. Spherical embroidery of life winks in the corner of our eye.

The moon overhead. Buttons. Cylinder heads. Plant pots. Time. Love. Loathing. Radio knobs. Birch logs.

Amid the chaos, random rhythms become smooth at the edges. Repetition folding in on itself till the beginning and ending collide.

Unable to find where we begin or where the other end might be, we continue doing the dishes. Washing the laundry. We take round things apart to put them back together again. And we watch the moon wax and wane with mysterious delight.

In the midst of this plenty many are in want. For peace. For quiet skies absent of artillery. Unshattered homes snug inside warm beds. A gleeful breath resolute and fearless. For want of an unbroken heart.

When the wrapping paper lay in shreds and the twinkling lights are packed tightly in their boxes, may we share our plenty in the days ahead with those in want.

Unswayed by the season.

Written by Julia Mist D'June ~ December 2024

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May the holiday season be joyful and filled with thoughtful intentions. 

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10 Tips for Parents from John Marsden

10 Tips for Parents by Australian author John Marsden

1. Give children space. Back off. Let them roam. Let them be bored. Don't over-plan their lives. Cut way back on the after-school activities programs.

2. Keep away from all those ghastly, soulless, sterile playgrounds. Keep away from shopping malls. Look for real places. Wild places.

3. Be an adult. Say no to your children at least once a day. If the role of Adult in your family is vacant, then one of your children will fill it. And it won't be pretty.

4. Don't take up all the space. If you are dominating, loud, forceful, your children are highly likely to become passive, lacking spirit and personality … and/or sullen.

5. Believe about 40 per cent of the dramatic stories your children tell you of the injustices, corruption and satanic practices happening at school.

6. Teach them empathy. For example, after their jubilant victory celebrations when they win a sporting match, remind them that their jubilation was only possible because someone else – the losers – have been made to feel awful.

7. Help them develop language skills. Don't finish their sentences for them. Don't correct them when they mispronounce a word – they'll work it out sooner or later. Ask them open-ended questions, that need a detailed answer, not Yes/No questions.

8. Make sure they have regular jobs/duties at home and that those jobs are done to a consistently high standard.

9. Don't whinge endlessly about the miseries of your adult life. A lot of children now are fearful about growing up because their parents paint such a grim picture of the awfulness ahead.

10. Teach them to be very wary of people who Absolutely Know the Absolute Truth about Absolutely Everything! The colour of truth is always grey. Extreme positions are for the ignorant. Every creature, every person and every situation is complex. The universe is a wonderful mystery.

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Number 10 is a home hitter for me. While I am no longer an active parent raising the next generation, we all interact daily with humans of all ages and these are great tools to keep in our tool box of what it means to be kind humans to each other. 

Macmillan's Pocket Classics ~ A history lesson on the life of Robert O. Boyd

 

This time of year, it is common to be on the hunt for engaging books to read, and the Macmillan's Pocket Classics are always top of the search list. This November I found Poe's Prose Tales on eBay from a seller in Sheldon Connecticut. The inscription on the inside cover of one of the previous, possibly the original owner is Robert O. Boyd. There is also the word Enterprise, most likely a town as it is capitalized, as well as what appears to be Oregon (although it is squished along the edge, the g is distinctive from the the y and p in the other writing).

Engage research mode on the interwebs... we found the most likely match for Robert.

​Robert Osborn Boyd was born on 29 July 1903, in Kennewick, Benton, Washington, United States, his father, Daniel Boyd Sr, was 27 and his mother, Mary Ethelwyne Axtell, was 28. He lived in United States in 1949 and Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States in 1950. He died on 10 September 1979, in Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, at the age of 76, and was buried in Enterprise, Wallowa, Oregon, United States.

We were a bit miffed at first why this book was in Connecticut if the previous owner wrote they lived in Oregon. Old books of this age usually don't travel quite so far east from a westerly home, especially in early to mid 20th century. People moving west was a normal course of trajectory in that age and time. This book seemed a long way away from home but the information we found tells us that when Robert passed away in Virginia this book stayed behind on the east coast and his body came back to Oregon.

Always interesting to research where the books in our collection have traveled. 

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First Snow

 

Did I tell you about the first snow of this winters season? It was soggy sloppy and peaceful. It was crispy fresh. Altering the landscape and our to-do list. Time to move back indoors with the project list.

Happy change of the season to you and yours. 

Much Needed Rain

Finally, a much needed day of rain. The roof gargoyles are streaming at full speed and the leaves on the trees sound as if they are offering the clouds a standing ovation. Their rhythmic clapping reverberates through the forest spreading their joy and relief.

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Forget-me-not Summer Joys

The joy of summer is in bloom and my heart is full.

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When...

When summer drops joy into your day.

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Another

They think there will always be another. Another friend, another lover, another moment. Another town. Another job. Another day. Another dawn at the threshold to greet fate. Welcome, come in inevitable. You've been waiting. Patient soul.

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Dancing Shadows

When evening shadows frolic with delight!

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Our Soul

We have no control over where our soul gets planted on earth. Our soul does not have the privilege of choice. It can't plead its way into abundance. It can't buy its way out of poverty. Our soul, our person is simply where we wake to find ourselves.

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Self Evident Truth

If ever you question your belief in one person or another, dig deep in your heart as there lies the truth.

Our world is in possession of humans who will deceive you with their twisted version of truth. They will attempt to rewrite your past into something they can manipulate to bolster their own self image.

Leeches will bleed you dry for their own edification. Lose not yourself in the letting. Hearts truth, place your trust, it's your only defense.

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Regret

Regret falls from the sky like bitter licorice drops. Saturating the ground with sticky residue. It clings to your shoes, and tracks through your house. Unable to remove its remnants, regret collects the remaining discarded grey dusty ash left behind by laments rash misdeeds.

~MDJG~  

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Current Habits Challenge

Below written by Chuck Swoboda August 2020 - worth sharing

Southwest Airlines Doesn’t Settle For Best Practice – And You Shouldn’t Either

"Best practices are often sold as the answer to all your problems — if you follow these steps, you will likely have success. Even better, you won’t get in trouble if the results aren’t what you wanted. However, the truth is that best practices limit your ability to impact significant change. The same boundary conditions that prevent failure, also limit success and get in the way of uncovering the best ideas.

Challenge your current habits!

Habits are a powerful and useful tool to get things done effectively and efficiently. But once formed, they often go unquestioned and unchallenged. When left unchecked, they become an excuse for accepting best practices and ignoring the inevitable truth that there is always a better way."

Mark Twain once said: “A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.”

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