Tag Self Care

Learning to unspeed through life

Michael 4 Comments

Hello everyone. I am much later than usual today because I finally am trying to take my own advice. Or the advice of an unknown African philosopher. Yesterday in the weekly Uplift post at ROAMcare, we quoted an African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” Unlike these slapdash, mental meanderings, the Uplift posts are researched and written quite some time in advance, so I’ve had those words on my mind for a while now. And about a week ago, perhaps a week and a half, I started thinking that I’ve gone as far as fast as I want to go alone, which in the grand scheme of things, really isn’t all that far. It’s time to extend my outlook. Time to extend my reach. Time to find others to go far with.

The problem with that is that one can’t just order “others” off the Internet. I’m not sure Amazon even carries “others” and if they don’t, where else could one expect to find some. And that became the key point in that post, Gathering Time.

Finding others to go far with means we have to slow down so we can see the others out there waiting for us. I ended up re-writing that post to build onto that initial thesis, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together” and that the only way you can find someone to go far with is first to go slow. Go slow, take in your surroundings and those with whom you share them. Go slow, experience what is happening right now and what is involve in those happenings.

So I’ve been doing things more deliberately, taking time to say more than just “hello” when I pass someone while out on a walk or walking through the supermarket, appreciating the few fall colored leaves rather than grumbling that everything is still green, thanking those who have contributed to my day, to my knowledge base, to my life – even the unknown African philosopher.

I hope you will take a few minutes to read Gathering Time. There’s a great story about ‘Grandma Camp’ buried in there.

I also realized I never shared the cover reveal to Bad Impressions with you guys. I shared it on my socials and on my author site but not here. Shame on me. So here it is, and here is the link to my site if you want to see the progress of “Bad Impressions” and where we stand with books 2 and 3 in the series. Rumor has it that the pre-order window opens Monday. (And if you don’t already get enough email, you can sign up for my monthly newsletter there too.)

Unburden yourself

Michael 7 Comments

Have you taken on the burden of caring for a loved one? SHAME! Being a loving human being, generous with compassion and care, offering time and patience, is not an unpleasant experience. And indeed, the caregiving individual in a caring situation often benefits as much as the cared for person. I can’t say it better than we did in yesterday’s Uplift post, Unburden yourself. Check it out. 

Happy Half Year!

Michael 4 Comments

Ahh July! One of the two months tossed in by the Caesars Julius and Augustus rendering the clues to the position in the calendar by their names of September through December moot.

The month that added pages to calendars and is the reason February holds the short end of the day stick started in the hubris of a petty little tyrant. (Warning, Donober may be just around the corner.)

Still there are some good things that came out of July. Not only does July contain within its weeks National Hot Dog Day (on the undoubtedly soon to be more available July 4) it is in its entirety National Watermelon Month and National Ice Cream Month, perhaps not at the same time. Fun fact(?) or perhaps Sad fact, the Fourth of July was not declared a federal holiday until 1938.

Not only was it in July (the one in 1687 specifically) that Isaac Newton published Principia, that contains within its pages his laws of gravity and motion, it was also in July (the one in 2001) that the wildly popular sit-com “The Office” premiered (the British production). And it was on July 13, 1923 that some future real estate tycoon erected the famous HOLLYWOODLAND letters in Griffith Park on Mount Lee above Beachwood Canyon that you might be more familiar with as the Hollywood sign after the last four letters were taken down in 1949.

For the fans of vaccines, and other reasonably intelligent people, it was in July that the rabies vaccine was first given to a patient. Microbiologist Louis Pasteur administered the vaccine to a nine-year-old boy bitten by a rabid dog on July 6, 1885.

For those who think weird like me, July is the first month of the second half of the year. In yesterday’s Uplift we suggested July is a good time to reaffirm your New Years Resolution. Ours is to find something everyday that makes you start the day smiling inside and work on that until the smile defines you. Read more about it at Half Year Resolutions. It’s good. Trust me.

Different Strokes

Michael 9 Comments

Sometimes I think a lot about these posts and sometimes, okay most of the time, I just spout out whatever is ready to fall out of my brain into the virtual paper. Such a contrast to the work with the Uplift blog. We may have 3 or 4 of those written several weeks before posting. Still, it’s not unusual for some new things to be added closer to publish date. Also, still, it’s not usual that even after reading and re-reading it over and over, we miss an obvious typo or error in fact, last last week when we messed up on Juneteenth’s date. That’s not true, we know exactly the correct date. We mis-read the calendar.

All that is sort of a preface to this week’s post over there. It’s on how not only do we need others to reach our maximum humanity, sometimes, in fact often, we need some of those in our circle to be our opposites. Hold that thought and now add this. Over the weekend I saw a short video done by a record producer and why he thinks “God Only Knows” is the perfect song.

Now that I have you completely confused, let me explain.

We can all agree “God Only Knows” is a perfect song. Intricate harmonies, unique orchestration, surprising use of the French horn, recognizable but subtle baseline. But what makes all those things so memorable, so perfectly memorable, is that each component of the song – intro, verse, bridge, tag – has something that doesn’t belong. An odd inversion, a baseline off key to the melody, a raised fourth. Things that shouldn’t be there. If you take them away, it turns boring, just another song, another forgettable song.

The point is that we need the contrary pieces in life. We need the balance, the roundness, the fullness, that diverse thinking and background, and aspirations bring to our lives.

I could have changed this week’s Uplift to include some of that and between now and then I might, but I know you guys appreciate my weirder comparisons, so I figured this was a better thing to put out into the blogosphere here. So I did. But don’t forget to stop by the ROAMcare site this Wednesday to see the more conventional comparisons.

Short, true. Better than what I might have written considering what the indiot-in-chief has been doing this week. True again. You’re welcome.

Re-discovering my center

Michael 10 Comments

There is an old cartoon, so old I can’t find a copy even on the Internet and you can find almost everything on the Internet. It is set in what I suppose is a yoga studio and features a croissant, a Danish, and a donut. The instructor at the head of the room is saying, “Find your center.” I always felt sorry for the poor little donut. And this week I empathize to the highest degree with him.

It’s not been a good week. Tuesday I had some minor vascular surgery done on my arm. Not difficult, not painful. the used a nerve block that make my arm something just to drag around for 2 days. Fortunately I had a tight sling that kept it from any random movement that I might not have been aware of.

Unfortunately this all took place at the same time poor Jingle, the daughter’s beloved tri-paw, lost his battle to bone cancer. There will be more about him int he coming weeks. He was doing very well after the amputation and chemo last September. About a month ago a new tumor appeared, this time going along his spine. He kept being him, happy and puppy-like despite being close to 10 years old, not young but not yet ready for retirement. He went on his own terms, peacefully. He just picked the wrong day to do it. A day or two longer and I’d have been able to provide more help than just comfort. But a day or two longer might have meant a not as peaceful goodbye for him.

And so we go on. Yesterday’s Uplift was about finding your center, looking for the calm and peace that you know is inside you. Take a look at Location, location, location.

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I need to slow down

Michael 1 Comment

This week has been a doozy for me. First I’ve been trying to work in as many antiquated, quaint expressions (like doozy) into my communications as I can and boy has that been a doozy! (I really need to research more antiquated, quaint expressions.) And so has been my schedule a dooz- … you get the idea.

Tuesday I did a breakfast program, yesterday evening a short speech, tonight a presentation. All three different topics, different audience types, different venue types. And there was work and shopping and a doctor appointment packed around them. It really was hard to find some time to call mine and ready myself for the onslaughts and/or decompress from the activity.

Being busy is not an excuse for not taking care of yourself. Especially not taking care of yourself beyond the physical necessities. We all have some days that the schedule blows up on and find ourselves losing on the self care front. That’s usually not so bad until you start stringing days like that together.

I used to string weeks like that together and when I finally came up for air, I was not a fun person to be with. (Nor a pretty sight I would imagine.) I found a solution. If you were reading me in January and heeded my suggestion to check out the Uplift post from New Year’s Day, you read about it. In yesterday’s Uplift, Life in the Slow Lane, we revisited our plan for daily resolutions and how they can keep us centered and present to ourselves. You should take a look.

While you’re there, consider joining the ROAMcare community and subscribe to have Uplift delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly our Monday Moment of Motivation and the email exclusive Flashback Friday repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at ROAMcare.org.

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