Month: May 2020

Music feeds the soul

by worrylessjourney, posted in appreciate, blessings, enjoy, joy, listen, music, wholeness

love-sleep-good-music

Today I had fun making some playlists for my Amazon Alexa. Now I have some of my favorite music ready to go. Music has always transformed me. Just sitting and listening I can feel my body relaxing. Music feeds my soul.

As a youngster (too young for clubs) my father would nevertheless take me with him to hear great musicians. He loved New Orleans Jazz. He knew most of the people and they knew he wouldn’t order me drinks.

I also played piano and took lessons until college. My teacher was friend with some of the great pianist of the time and I got to meet Rubenstein…a big thrill for me.

music-quotes-music-gives-a-soul-to-the-universe-wings-to-the-mind-flight-to-the-imagination-and-life-to-everything-plato-wisdom-quotes

I have always loved all kinds of music. I was exposed to everything. There is hardly anything that I don’t like. I can get tired of some things. Being the age I am I also can’t get playing music so loud that you damage your hearing. I like loud but there is a limit.

I have often wondered about the damage to the hearing of some young people. I am sure they don’t realize that those little hairs in the ears can fail if pushed too far. It really is too bad but maybe good for the hearing-aid people. It is also interesting to me with all the ability of electronics today that someone doesn’t make a hearing aid that really works for a reasonable price.

Small problems become bigger

by worrylessjourney, posted in anxiety, consequences, danger, opinion, perspective

fallingFor those of us that are at high risk for getting this virus this situation is causing more and more concern. I now have a smoke alarm beeping up high where I will need to get a tall ladder to stop it. I have tried changing these before and I can never get them back in. Since we can’t go out and we can’t let anyone in I will just pull the battery out and leave it. This is really a minor problem but I wonder how many folks like us are starting to face issues much more serious than this.

I am very able to climb the ladder but there are so many who can’t without risk of falling. What other home problems are the elderly facing that may be dangerous? We are certainly learning what a pathogen like this can do. I do worry about what is next.

hazard

 

Memory: fallible?

by worrylessjourney, posted in belief, comfort, connections, memories, remembering

memories clockIt is funny the things we remember and the things we don’t. A while back I went to a conference about how we remember things. The speaker, from Emory University, has been doing a study on how accurate our memories are. The study is more complex than just that but this is a big part of it.

They got information from people following a major life event right after it happened and then again a year later. It was amazing how different the accounts were. We can also believe that we have a memory of something that we actually didn’t experience. If we have heard about the event often enough we incorporate it as a memory.

On the opposite side we forget so many things. I have had people come up to me and tell me a whole incident where I helped them in some way and not only do I not remember the event but I don’t remember them. Our memory is a very chancy thing. It is not as accurate as we think.

However, there are some memories, that we will never ever forget. Those are the ones that are so important to us. I will never forget my marriage or the birth of my children. There are other memories that bring me joy and comfort. I am glad I have those.

Tolerance?

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, divided world, moderation, tolerance

Through this whole crisis I have stayed away from the news. It is so biased. It seems there is no real news anymore only opinion…so totally intolerant. It reminded me of this quote.

Toleration is good for all, or it is good for none. Edmund Burke, speech, House of Commons, 1773

tolerance-is

How intolerant everyone is. The whole country is so divided and so one sided. There is no longer a middle ground. I have talked about this before. I am a moderate. I am part of a dying group. To be moderate we have to be willing to listen to someone else’s opinion. We don’t have to accept it but we should be able to talk without rancor. There could be the chance that we would learn something new. It is sad that many people are unable to hold a discussion without getting angry or upset.

tolerance world peace

We can’t pick and choose who we choose to tolerate. That is not tolerance. Being tolerant by being socially correct is also not tolerance. It is false. Our acceptance of others has to come from something deeper. It is found in seeing the human being inside and seeing that we are the same deep down.

Making choices

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, accountable, balance, choices, coping, life changes, medical, moderation, responsible, small steps

Another day of sitting in my house and outdoors on the porch. It is beautiful but warm out. May is when we usually start almost summery weather. The yard is a mess so I hope that the yard people come tomorrow.. We don’t have them come often. It is too expensive but once in a while I need help to catch up. After they come I must get out and do some things myself.

gardening

I do enjoy working out in the yard except when it is super hot. It try to get out early in the morning and come in before it gets to me. Good hard work is the best exercise and I have been bad lately about avoiding it.

The prediction for us here is that we will have a huge surge in virus cases as things open up since we have not had a peak yet. We stayed inside before it really came here and now the timing my cause us a headache.

risk

There comes a time where some things that have been put off by this virus just have to be done. My husband’s medical issues, though not life threatening, have to be dealt with so some Dr. visits are necessary. We do have to live our lives and do the critical things in spite of the risk.

Years ago my youngest daughter was going to Japan as an exchange student. Shortly before she was to leave a commercial place was shot down by mistake. I don’t remember the exact circumstances but I was afraid for her to fly so far. My husband made the comment that we can’t stay away from risk forever. We do have to take some chances….reasonable ones.

I think the country may be coming to that point. Some places have peaked and it may be necessary to go out for some things. Those of us at high risk will shelter as much as possible but there will be limits.

Ride!

by worrylessjourney, posted in diet, emotions, enjoy, food, freedom, fun!

burnt caramel custard

I went crazy the other day and decided to try this burnt caramel custard recipe. It has been a looooonnnng time since I made caramel and the recipe was not as good about the caramel part. The first caramel crystallized. I found my old recipe for caramel pie and used those directions for making the caramel part and it went well. The rest was a breeze. I could have let the caramel darken more but that is just a visual thing. It tasted wonderful.

Today I took my husband to get some blood work done and just riding out in the car was a real joy. It has been a long time since I left the islands we live on. To see town again made me feel more normal. Amazing what a little trip can do. I think we will do that again for fun.

1965+Ford+Mustang+Convertible+-+1

The virus growth has not peaked here yet. We started later than most places so I think it will be a while. We will be finding fun places to just ride in the car. I am old enough to remember when just going for a ride was considered entertainment. It is again. The beach is not too far and just to go and get some photos will be great!

Hopefully you can find and do something that gives you pleasure.

Hang on!

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, change, coping, fight, health, hope, impatience, life changes, mental health

life-is-always-up-and-down-so-why-are-you-8796618 (1)

Life has been pretty much up and down. My husband’s health fluctuates from day to day. Not critical but learning management is the plan. Yesterday was particularly tough but we got through it. I am still not sure about the underlying problem because the virus has made logical medical care impossible. We will root it out eventually. At least the hospital stay ruled out major problems. I am sure there are others suffering from the same issues.

Something else to make life uncertain. We will all be lucky not to need a short time for what was called in the 50’s a hospital stay for out nerves. Too bad that’s not possible any more. A couple of days rest and relaxation with someone waiting on us would be wonderful. Anyone what to join me? A long time ago a friend suggested (when life was stressful) a Cruise to Nowhere. It showed up in the New York paper and sounded like a wonderful idea. Not so great now with the status of cruising.

Hamster hangs on a rope isolated on a white background
You can do it!

I do find myself without lots of energy to tackle any big projects. Some things I will have to do and will get done. Others will just have to wait. I think looking toward the future is a big question. We know that life will go on but will have to cope with the shape of things. We can do it! We can’t give up or the virus will have won. This is not acceptable.

Most of us are still here and still functioning. Keep going things will change.

 

Blowin in the wind

by worrylessjourney, posted in accountable, advice, answers, belief, choices, music, remembering, Uncategorized

I was in college when the great era of folk songs came about. I have always loved folk songs. I learned them early from a 4th grade teacher who played an autoharp and taught us to sing many of them. I love that they tell a story about the life of the people during whatever era they lived in.

In the late 1950″s and early 60’s they became popular and so many of the ones I had learned were sung by the famous groups of the day. The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, The Limelighters, Pete Seeger, The Mamas and the Papas…I could go on and on. Many new songs were written about what was going on at the time.

I find it sad that the problems they highlighted in the world are still there. Maybe we should listen to them again and really hear the message.