Time to stop - #229

                

It is time to stop for now!

 This is the last exploring the mystery blog post until September.  

The first post that blogger has on file from this blog is dated January 1, 2012. It is not clear how many posts I've actually shared because for awhile, I was posting twice a week and only assigning a number to one of them.

I created the blog because I wanted to write. The rhythm of writing once or twice weekly has given me confidence to put my thoughts on "paper".  If you want to do something, the best advice I can give you is to just start doing it and not expect yourself to be perfect. Give yourself time and space to improve.

And ask for help. Don't expect it will be easy. Don't try to go it alone. Without help you will be tempted to give up.

For quite awhile I resisted putting an image with each post. Interestingly enough, finding the image is now the most fun part! 

There is something very seductive about posting online. The feedback from all of you can be addictive and I find sometimes I'm writing to please.

 I want the summer to write for me - not for readers. I keep reading that writers need to write for themselves - not for others.

I woke up this morning clear that this was the day to take action.    
Thank you for your support. All of you have been amazing, often in ways I wouldn't have guessed. It was always interesting to see which one of you would comment - nearly every post enticed one or two of you to respond. Your ideas impressed me and were an integral part of the whole blog experience!

I hope you all have a great summer. See you in September!

In the meantime, keep exploring the mystery - I will!
Nicky Mendenhall

*If you want to read older posts, go online to the blog and keep scrolling. Click on "older posts" and you can retrieve posts printed as early as January 1, 2012. 

Body As Foreign Land - #228

"....patients who treat their bodies like a foreign land."*

I think I am one of the patients the quote is addressing: The majority of time, I don't pay much attention to my body. It could be half a world away. If I decide to focus on standing up straight, I pay attention for a few moments, then my focus changes to something external. If my back hurts, I pay attention in an annoyed, irritated way. If my big toe hurts, it ruins my whole day.

On the other hand, when I am in a foreign land, I am wide eyed, paying attention to the scenery and the people. This is how I want to treat my body; noticing its functionality, faithfulness, and uniqueness. 

Do you treat your body like a foreign land? What do you think that means?  What kind of relationship do you have with your body? Please share your thoughts and experiences with us by email or comment section.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

This image was captured while we were sight seeing on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.

 *Page 72, (Aisenstein, 2006), in Psychosomatics Today (2010).

Flying Ants See the Light - #227

A work of art,

whether human-made or heaven-sent,

should call us to reflect

on our own creation,

what we bring to this existence.

It should awe us

to praise,

to grace,

to respond,

to change

who we are

and who we will become.

Poem from briarcraft on Barnstorming May 4, 2016.  To contact:

https://briarcroft.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/you-must-change-your-life/

Photo of flying ant outside my kitchen window.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Crows, Toes & Loss - #226

Have your ears been assaulted for hours, several days in a row by harsh caws of crows?  

As I typed that question, I heard the neighbor next door ask her husband how far their beebee gun shoots. 

What do you do about annoying animal sounds? (As I typed that, a car horn began honking in the distance.)

Has your big left toe hurt? I woke up with a painful toe, grateful for an acupuncture appointment scheduled today. My practitioner asked if I was around toxins yesterday? He made it clear he meant physical and emotional toxins. (He's a Chinese Medicine Doctor.) 

What toxins have you been around? Do your big toes hurt? (I hope that isn't too personal.)

Do the surviving members of your high school graduating class keep leaving the earth plane? Sending a sympathy card to the family and a check for the memorial fund seems appropriate. I don't want to make it a habit to go to funerals.

What do you do when a former classmate dies?

I assure you that all of this post actually happened and is 100% true. Let me know what you do in circumstances like these.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Whoops - Can't Find It - #225

This sweet Gerbera Daisy, marooned on the kitchen counter, wants to go outside!   

She is however, not the object of the Whoops in title of this post.

Whoops is because one morning this week, I read an idea that I thought would be perfect for today's post.  I marked the email with a star.

And now it appears to have disappeared, star and all!

Whoever wrote the email (thank you whoever you are) named a decision making process, the 10/10/10 way of  foolproof decision making. This appealed to me because my birthday is 10/10. 

If you want to decide whether or not to get rid of something, say a huge two inch thick blank book that mostly has blank pages, you put it in a trash bag and wait 10 minutes.

If you still want to be rid of it after 10 minutes, leave it in the bag and make yourself wait for 10 hours. This will undoubtedly get you into the next day. 

You've probably guessed the next instruction - put the trash bag somewhere out of the way for 10 days. After 10 days if you still want to pass it on, pass it on!

Use this on any decision and let me know how it works. I'm on the second day with the book in the bag, at least in my imagination. Let me know if you try this, how it works for you. I may report my experience though I'm not guaranteeing anything!

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall