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sexta-feira

It seems easy … just sit back, relax…. let the moments come and go.

I watched a short clip today, where there is a moving ball, starts at one side of the frame, moves slowly to the top (centre) of the frame pauses and then slowly slides to the other side of the frame. The caption and voice, asks that you watch taking a slow breath, then hold when the ball pauses, then release as it slowly drops down to the other side. Lovely reminder to pause during your day, to take a moment to just stop relax for a moment before hurrying on with whatever you are doing.

So often we live our lives on automatic pilot, When I was out yesterday driving to the conservation area I frequent, I thought about how often I had done this over this years.. and how the car just seemed to know where it was going. Ottawa is surrounded by green spaces. We are very lucky that way. I found myself asking the empty space around me (in the car) why I always went to the same locations. Why with hundreds of options, did I always go where it was familiar. (didn’t get an answer)(working on it)

When finally home, I settled down for a wee nap, and turned my iPad on to listen to one of my lessons, but instead of a podcast on male *health/ psychology, a story came up about a woman pilot.. a woman who had military training … now no longer in the military she was on a commercial flight when there was an incident that required quick thinking and the skills she had acquired while in the military,

This was not something usually on my radar.. but I was tired, comfortable, my eyes closed… so I let the story unfold. I woke to a story about a woman living in the wilderness of Nevada back in the 1800 when the land was wild, and civilization sparse ,… She tended a trading post on her own, in the middle of nowhere… stepping outside when she heard movement, she found an injured wolf… the story was about how she took responsibility for the injured animal.. and the consequences of her actions. (women did not have it easy!)

Both stories were nothing I would ever have searched out, but there they were.. … both told of courage, of kindness, of persons who put the safety and what was morally right first. Made me wonder what other “stories” were being offered. Interestingly I found that there are human interest stories .. that speak of kindness and helping others in all walks of life. There are consequences in life, and we are often the creators of our own “destiny”.

Have a great day everyone.. try something different. But keep smiling.

*this is a field of its own, men do have issues and problems specific to their gender.

today

Song is Thy will be Done.. I never heard it before last night.. by James Hilton-Cowboy… listening to it, sent me into a very reflective mood. We are all born to die, yet death ( the word )seems to strike fear and anxiety into almost everyone. Only in October, do the ghouls and goblins come out to play…

There seems to be a focus on aging, we are all going in that direction, yet the media is full of commercials, videos and clips on “staying young”. there are ads for everything, all items with claims you just can’t live without them… creams, lotions, tonics, oils, machines, … Life is for living… at any and all ages. One podcast I saw was about how when you are reaching or in your 40’s *.. you have to focus on accepting you are “old”. I almost choked on that one,

Instead of living each day to the best of our abilities and exploring all this world has to offer, the focus is on the past, or all the MUST do’s if you want to “look” good in your “older” years.. OMG you might reach 50!!!

It is true, people are living longer,

PL Precept # 19 Begin once you perceive

There was a time, when it was different, but that is not now.. we’ve come a long way. I’m not saying the world is perfect, but there is so much to be thankful for. i.e if the technology wasn’t what it is today, I would not have heard that song.. thy will be done.. and I wouldn’t have spent an interesting evening searching out more music and trying to find out information on the singer and the album that song came from.

PL Precept # 18 Each moment is a turning point

With progress comes change. (the only constant in life is change) and in true Tao fashion, you cannot have positive without negative… With the technology and all its positives, it has negatives too… it is used in negative ways i.e. cyber theft, the falsifying of documents, the robotic way we have to communicate with companies… the “human” “humanity” is being “downgraded”.

PL Precept # 15 All is a mirror

The thought process was very enlightening, I found myself going down “memory lane” to what was (for me) a “ahhhhh you have lived a long time. The song I’ve listened to over and over, I am not sure why it has an appeal to me, but it does. I am very content with my life… and I am ready to take that final journey. NO.. there is nothing wrong with my health, I’m fine…. I am not at death’s door, but I do accept and know that my time will come. Meanwhile I want to live and experience life to its fullest. By that I mean .. I like being “happy and content” .. and that is what I want in my life.

I am not interested in what other people consider a “need” nor do I want to listen to or be around negativity.

I’m repeating this message from the other day..

Face Challenging situations with positive determination

When you encounter difficulties, boldly take measures to overcome them. By creatively finding solutions, you will feel the joy in tackling any situation.

PL2019.13

Oyashikiri

  • ref. old. I work with “older” clients… and one sent me an example of what she was listening to… it was about why younger males appreciate “older” women.. the older women they were referring to were ladies in their mid 30’s and early 40’s.

I can only shake my head and hope that common sense prevails.

flowers

A bouquet of friendship and love from friends in Australia.

Came home from a long day yesterday to find a message from the concierge, could I come to the front desk please…. et voila…this beautiful arrangement was waiting for me.

It took me some time to get over my husband’s passing, the changes that made in my life, how I felt about my situation, what it meant to me, and how I was going to move forward. Nature, its constant ebb and flow, the seasons, flowed into one another, spring was followed by summers, summers turned golden and crimson, … winter soon followed, and before I knew it years had passed and I was still “on hold”

You all know that soon changed in the spring of this year when I woke up one day and listened to the urging of my inner voice. You have seen my posts, you’ve read my “ramblings” … one quote that I have used .. is

it was like a light bulb went on in my head. I didn’t even know that I was ready to move on with my life it just happened. To my amazing friends who helped me achieve this mammoth change from being a home owner to a renter….the real estate agency that worked to accomplish my goal, Walkerottawa.com (Michelle Walker and Carl Brunet) .. I am filled with gratitude, I could not have done it on my own. their expert consultation/guidance their action plan. The house was sold within the first couple of days.

Blessings all, till soon.

Oyashikiri

Walker real estate group is part of Remax Michelle Walker 613-830-5858 michelle@walkerottawa.com Carl Brunet 613-830-5858 carl@walkerottawa.com

Flowers were from Talia flowers on Bank St. in Ottawa. @taliaflowers.ottawa

bom dia

A different season. temperatures are somewhat cooler this morning, but who knows what we will experience by end of day. The humidity levels have been so draining.

The move has gone well, the house is now sold, belongs to someone else… Yay! I do miss my garden(s) especially the trees that are now giving fruit. but.. such is life.. now I am adjusting to living in an apartment and parking in an underground maze of cars…. metal sculptures on rubber wheels that wait for us to need them again.

There is one car down there that is kept like a polished jewel, one day I will meet the owner, it is a baby blue jeep. Not once have I seen it with a spec of dust on it, it just looks so “pretty”…. mine has already been christened, with cement scrapes and scratches.

“Oh! and guess what!” I finally found my storage container with the pasta etc. in it. Yay! Let’s see… and oh yes, yesterday I treated the hardwood floors to a Magnolia Home carpet. (by Joanna Gaines)(Loloi) It is a runner not a full carpet.. the cats love it. I enjoy the contrast of it against the hardwood floor. Slowly my new “home” is taking shape. You saw yesterday the mask I found.. lots of good positive energy there!!!

Eartha was here yesterday, she helped me with the magnesium creams/spray .. getting ready to work on the “ZEN” room. There is a teaser for you.. I’m really looking forward to enjoying the “ZEN” room. fyi. the magnesium cream does seem to give breathing room to the neuropathy visits. I have found the topical use of magnesium more effective (for me) then supplements. Which end up in my digestive system.. I want it where I need it.

Think of the timing before you say “but”

When stating your opinion, make sure you are being respectful of others’ opinions. Be mindful of this when you speak.

PL2022.14

Oyashikiri

Etheria (content creator) being carried off stage when she fell from a high wire act in (raglan) memory from the past.

The Sun

The sun that had warmed and welcomed her earlier that day was no longer friendly. She lay in quiet despair feeling the unrelenting heat, burrow down deep into her body. The ground under her was hard, unforgiving and uncaring that her body hurt. Where once she thought of the sun as a healing energy and one that gave life, she now thought only of how it was slowly killing her with it scorching blistering persistence on her now barely living shell.

The once slender arm that one gracefully waved to friends and showed her animation for life, now lay limp and useless across her eyes. Her parched throat tried in vain to find one tiny drop of saliva ..anything to relieve the thirst that raged inside her she felt her soul evaporating drop by drop into the stillness around her. Nothing moved. The animals knew to conserve their energy. Not a sound could be heard … and she had no energy left to try to cry for help.

How long she lay in the semi state of consciousness, no one would ever know. All hope for rescue was gone, she simply let herself go.

It was at that moment that she felt rather than saw a presence. She knew her eyes would not open, her strength was gone. Maybe the angels had come to take her away from this burning inferno. Maybe… he would once more feel the cool of a shaded nook, and feel the fresh green grass beneath her feet. If she were to die now… she would be rescued from this horrible state of passive death.

What was that…. a sweet smell … the air around her had changed… Then yes… she felt a drop on her lips. A gentle rain, just enough to slowly wind its way down her throat and give a feeling o reprieve. She knew she could not move… so she lay and accepted the gift from the “gods”…. her body was bathed in healing rain, drop by drop she felt her skin greedily take it in.

Maybe she would see tomorrow… maybe there was hope… as her body drdank t his blessing from above, she felt the earth beneath her begin to take shape and mould to her now drenched body…. Her arms that had been limp and useless now began to lift in prayer to the skies.

Her eyes opened to the world and she knew she could stand tall and be strong again. In letting go and accepting the moment of despair, she had welcomed the unknown, in doing so, it became her friend…. she was free to embrace the sun again.

In death, comes a new beginning/life.

Q

lundi

I live on an island where my front door opens to this view. I can spend hours watching the water swirl and listen to its song as it makes its way around the rocks. I can even watch the sky as it turns from dawn to dusk…. It is true I can’t get to it every day, but it never leaves my heart or my thoughts. We live alone on this island, there are neighbours on other islands, but we are fortunate in that, living in different time zones, we are seldom on our properties at the same time. This is the beauty of living in a virtual world (smile)

By now, you have if you are a regular to this blog, have read I am moving and have seen the story I shared with you the other day about the “Little House” https://youtu.be/F74CR1uqXFA?si=M4Fxvkml523xj3Al I have heard back from a few of you who took the time to watch the YouTube version of Virginia Lee Burton’s .The Little House. thank you,, I appreciate that you took the time to view it.. it tells the story of what I am living in a very poignant way.

For days now I have been going through photos, correspondence etc that accumulates when you have lived in one house for over 25 years. The faces of friends now long gone, or living in “space and time”. It had been tedious and long.. my hands ache at night from the constant pulling, and tearing of papers for recycling. But … in all the frustrations and challenges, I have found happy moments seeing the faces of people I once worked with, and shared special adventures with.

I am tossing a lot of “stuff” out.. a lot of what can be recycled will go to charities. Leaving 3 levels of living space, to go to a 1.5. apartment is certainly going to be a new adventure. The hardest is knowing that my gardens the green space I have surrounded myself with, will be no more. The animals that alive here …(Outside) will have to find another oasis. There is no doubt that my little house will be razzed to the ground, and with it the vegetation that has sheltered us for years will disappear.

You have all heard me say this before… life is to be lived and enjoyed, don’t squander your moments …. embrace life…. appreciate your friends…. and protect nature as best you can. Reach out to someone you haven’t heard from in awhile.. smile at a stranger… life is precious.

This was taken by my Dad who was an avid photographer, he took the pictures and developed them himself. And it was a time when we could enjoy country sides like this on a hike not far from our home. You guessed right if you thought, not so now…

PL 2014.9

Oyashikiri

New day

Sometimes when the world just gets too busy – when there is no spaces in the day/night we find ourselves in “overdrive”. It is hard to think clearly when we are bombarded almost 24/7 with chores/tasks/responsibilities. The “Universe” takes over. We get sick, we fall, we have unexpected situations, we have no choice, we have to take a time out.

When was the last time, now think before you answer…. you gave yourself permission to enjoy quality time for YOU.

No, you don’t have to have that cell phone with you 24/7. No, you don’t have to reply or do something “right away” because that is always what was done. When life gets so busy, you feel overwhelmed… it is OK.. to stop, step back.. and take time for YOU. YOU matter, YOU are important, YOU count. Yes the dishes have to be done, but they can wait, they will not disappear, believe me I know.. No one sneaks into your home to do them for you.

Its cold out, its raining… the mosquitos are bad… blah blah blah. yesterday, I toured a new nursery (to me) a huge indoor greenhouse, tons of happy vegetation, lush green leaves, interesting cacti, in the outdoors area, I got to enjoy Japanese maples, Honey locust trees, evergreens in all shapes and sizes. The herb section was a paradise of delightful scented air. When there is a will there is a way.

Today it is a long sleeve sweater day. We had steamy hot … take it all off .. weather not long ago… This is what life is all about. From one day to the next, it is a new beginning.

In PL, #1 Precept is. Life is Art…. # 2 To live is to express One’s Self. # 7 Everything exists in relativity. # 16 All things progress and develop. # 18 EACH MOMENT IS A TURNING POINT

Please make time for YOU.

know someone who needs this message.. pass it on.

Saturday

“The PL 21 Precepts are the basis of the PL Teachings. the 1st precept is

Life Art

Each Precept is written in simple and clear language, but the truth revealed in their words applies universally to all humankind”

The last few weeks have been very busy for me.. my body reacted by sending a cluster headache to keep me company. I’ve had to deal with this type of headache in the past… not fun. The doctor put me through all kinds of test, eventually life returned to normal and the clusters went away.

Patience is a virtue. Yesterday I was driving from point a to point b and thought, … this is soooo nice… I was driving along a known route, the trees were budding, skies were blue.. I looked over at the screen on the dashboard, something seemed to look amiss … and it was sooooooooooooooooo quiet.

You guessed right. I had left the house without my cell. That is why it was so quiet. no music, no pinging, I was alone in the car headed into the woodlands, and no cell. I thought about, but no ,, I didn’t turn around to drive back to retrieve the cell. I decided to trust the Universe.

The quiet was actually comforting… I realized that I have become used to the distractions, and altho’ blocked out at times… that annoyance is still there. The radio plays, music is on, the news happens, but … not when you don’t have your cell with you… it was blissfully quiet.

An adopted name I have, I used it for years… in Second Life, is Qyhat Harbour. I had tried for Quiet, but the game didn’t allow it.. so I fudged the letters and spelled it Qyhat and of course being Canadian I spelled Harbour, with a .u.. so it was allowed. That was back in 2007… to this day many know me as Q…. for some reason, seeing the spelling, the name was simply too difficult for others to grasp… I began to be addressed as Q…. Qyhat is still around although, these days very much retired.

What is in a name?

Anyone have a copy of the song Com Quem Contar?

abandoned

This is a house I found the other day when out for a drive with Eartha. She is very patient with my hollering.. STOP… this time I got out and toured the grounds. I showed you a few pictures the other day. I’ll repost them in a second. see the side window, there was another set just a room over (kitchen) .. the owners had placed a bird feeder there, it was still hanging there in need of repair. The view would have been perfect.

I wondered if they had tilled the land, there was a big unused and now falling apart barn on the lot beside the house. The mess around the property .. the debris, broken plates, pots and pans strewn in the garage (now falling down and only half standing).. someone had tried to tidy up, but whatever happened in life… plans were abandoned, only the pretty spring flowers were showing up.

The house my parents purchased back… way back… when I was a child was white with the same green trim this house had. MAYBE that is why I hollered “stop” …. could be I was chasing a dream…. memories have a way of creeping in on us. At the time Dad purchased the house it was on a lonely country road, such as the one we were on… a few other houses, but they were few and usually in groups. At the end of our street was a convenience store with a butcher shop. little else.

Now that whole area has been swallowed up with the city… the field I could play in, is now so built up… there are medical buildings and a huge hospital just walking distance from the old house.

I think one of the reasons I enjoy this Thursday Door feature so much is that it takes me back in time. Dan’s posts usually feature doors in the areas he travels.. often they represent a different era. The neighbourhoods that are still “comfortable” with inviting homes, shades of “families” that once were. You can almost hear the sounds of children playing, dogs barking, cats wandering and sunning along the quiet lanes.

Gardening was a hobby, you could see small garden patches in backyards, depending on where you lived, there could also be a chicken or a bunny hutch.. people sat on the front porch and greeted neighbours who often would stop and visit. We ( the children*) would roam the streets looking for our friends, hang out in restaurants with a floor for dancing, boys would be riding their bikes and/or playing some sort of sport in the playgrounds and school yards.

There was not a television in every house… and maybe… there was a phone in the house, maybe it was a private line, but often it was a party line. Times have changed, but what hasn’t changed, is LIFE. It keeps happening.

Discover the joy of transforming yourself

When you realize how much YOU have changed for the better, it fills you with true happiness. Strive each day to improve yourself. (PL2014.8)

LIFE does keep happening, and it behoves us to not squander it.

Love is a blessing, a gift.

Oyashikiri

For more Thursday Doors, please visit Dan’s No Facilities site https://nofacilities.com/2025/05/08/strip-district-part-ii/

Reality

Last night minding my own business, the bitmoji ap popped up and surprised me with a new look. Hmm did I do this in my sleep, the bottom one you’ve seen before that is the one I saw some time ago when I played with the ap. The new me, well.. that was a bit of a shocker. Got me thinking.

I try to be my “authentic” self, not a filtered version of myself. The “me” I’ve become over a life time of this and that moments that have left their mark/scars… on my psyche. None of the above look like me at all, at least I don’t think so… hair short yes, Asian eyes, yes, button nose, yes, In today’s world appearance seems to be important.

Yet… somehow … when I look around what I see, I don’t think is what the world around me is really like. I saw someone going for an interview the other day for an “office” position, and the person was wearing a pair of grubby jeans and a T shirt with graphics on it. Unheard of in my day, and then this morning I read where people book appointments and don’t show up, or call last minute with an excuse .. and want to rebook because “they forgot”..!!!

Sorry I am from a generation where such disrespectful behaviour just wasn’t seen or tolerated. OH.. yes the gray/white hair, that is me. I fortunately am in a position where I can shake my head and return to my quiet life. I even thrill when I find a good detective or police story where the there is actually a believable story line and the actors are in suits and ties (men) and the ladies in actually work clothes, skirts, suit jackets, slacks maybe, sometimes. Even the bad characters wear suits, casual slacks and shirts.

But then, clothes don’t make the man/woman … do they… but life experiences do. There are videos, tapes, podcasts, etc. on everything these days, all words.

Words, words, and more words. You don’t even know if a candidate /person wrote their own introduction/resume or it was generated by AI.. I was shocked to actually hear someone looking for work, just out of school, no work experience, complain that they were expected to work for less $ than a friend who also worked for the same company but had 5 years of service and experience in that field. and, it was added indignantly they would have to commute.

Sorry a bit of a rant… but if you can shed some light on some of the comments, feel free. For myself, I will not be using AI in my sharing with you, nor do I want it in my games and interaction with friends, I am old fashioned, I believe in sincerity/ respect for one another…. as a basic requirement in communicating.

Let’s listen to others until the end

When you interrupt or interject your idea when someone else is talking you will miss out on hearing the person’s true intentions. Clear your mind and listen carefully until the end. PL2014.30

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