Tuesday Blog Walk (Romantic Unicorn) - You are an author who is about to have their first novel published. Who is your novel dedicated to and why? If you would like, post the blurb that would appear on the back cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 photo credit: http://www.fromoldbooks.org/pictures-of-old-books/pages/p7110009-grose-antique-books-with-candle/1436x1104.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 The World In My Eyes http://wallpaper.digiocto.com/Art/index.php

 

By way of Michael @ Ripple Me This, (and before him, Pam) here's a challenge for you:

 

Comment on this entry and I will give you a letter. Write ten words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation of what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, there is so much for which I am grateful: my child, my parents, my brother and his tribe, friends (yes, you bloggers, that means you, too), lovers (past and future), even the modesty of my pains and sorrow.  I stand ever grateful for the wonders I have experienced.  When I was born my parents could not have conceived of where I would go or what I might do.  I barely conceived of these things myself.  Yet, they came and, as I engage in my 3rd career, I stand in awe of this Life of mine.  I stand grateful to Spirit for the Life I am living.

 

 

You'd have to see me naked after a few glasses of wine, singing at the top of my lungs with the remote as my mic, dancing without fear of throwing out my back and then gasping for air at the end of the song.  But that'll never happen 'cause I only do all that when I'm alone.  You can trust me though, it's totally ridiculous! 

 

 

I can sometimes be a little rough and tough but, look closely and you'll see I'm really just a scared little girl wishing for a happy ending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching by LAO TSU Translation by Gia Fu Feng and Jane English

Attention: Tuesday Blog Walkers 

Pinched this from my friend Lakota's space then tweaked it a bit, but here's this week's topic:

If you knew you were to be stranded in an isolated tropical environment (like survivor without the cameras), for one year, what would you want to bring with you (no more than 15 things can be brought and each piece of clothing counts as an item!)?  What would you want to learn in preparation for such a journey?  Who, if anyone would you want with you?

 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

 

(Don't forget to vote) Here's my closing tribute to Mom's around the globe.  Each of us stretching a little further than our own Mothers; each of us making new mistakes as we navigate through a vastly different world than the one we knew as children...

 

...All the things my Mom taught me weren’t great or even good things.  Like many men and women, then & now, my Mom believed that beauty lives on the outside of a woman.  For most of my young years I felt as if I my body parts were all imperfect.  My nose was too wide and needed to be pinched; my hips too broad, so Mom bought me a girdle when I was 10; my hair – well like most black hair at the time, it was considered too kinky, so it was fried/straightened with a hot comb.

 

Those of you who have read these pages over time know that I subscribe to beauty from the inside out.  I want to know what’s in your heart, not the size of your breasts or waist.  I care little which color your eyes refract, I want to know if I can see into the window of your soul.  Who are you? How do you show your Love? What do you stand for?  These things tell me if you are beautiful.

 

Yet, while I disagree with my Mom’s yardstick, I recognize that it is shared by most of the world.  So, in the final analysis, she taught me something useful.  She taught me how the rest of the world would view me.  That’s a mighty piece of knowledge to possess.

 

Mom also taught me about the power of a good mind, that it can be used to improve your Life and the Life of those around you.  "No one can take away what's up here", she'd say, tapping her forehead.  I read about 30 books a year.  Not nearly enough, but it's all that I can fit in.  I am a learner; Mom gave that to me.

 

Nana taught me about unconditional Love and commitment.  She Loved one man in her Life and together they had 7 children.  He left her a few years after the youngest was born.  I never saw her with a man while growing up - never.  Grandpa always made it a habit to join his family for major holidays.  Those were the only times I had contact with him.

 

When he became mortally ill, after over 35 years apart, my grandmother cared for him in the home she shared with my aunt.

I was angry that my aunt would invite him into her home after he left them.  I wanted my grandmother to put her foot down and say NO!  But instead, I saw her in the kitchen cooking and answering his call with a visit to his bedroom, when he needed her.

 

I came to understand, that in Life you may give more than you get to another person.  But, if what you are giving is Love and care, then the gift is yours as well, and the giving well worth it.

 

Lastly, these amazing women taught me that Life, though hard and often harsh can also be soft and very often is beautiful.  Both of them nurtured plants and always kept a great deal of green, lush plant Life in their homes.  I watch Mom, at 81, croon over her plants, talk to and with them, and care for them like they were her children.  She delights in their growth and does whatever is required to lessen the blow of moving from one window to another, from one pot to a larger container, from one home to the next.  Like she raised her children, she gives her plants everything she can.

 

In return, they give her the greenest leaves and brightest blossoms.  Our home is filled with beauty and serenity and Life.

 

There's a huge plant standing next to me as I write this entry.  It was Nana's, many years ago.  Mom has cared for it for the last 20 that Nana hasn't been around.  Looking at it makes me think I still have some growing to do, some things to learn from these women who have walked ahead of me.  Someday, that plant will be mine to nurture. 

 

I think of Nana and Mommy and, at almost 50, I realize being a good, strong woman is no small thing.

 

Thanks to all you Mom's who are sharing all the Love you have, everyday.  The world needs what you give. 

 

Dads I'll have words for you next month.  

 

For now, have a Happy Mother's Day one and all!

 

Take it light...

 

 Photo Credit: http://wallpaper.digiocto.com/Art/index.php#link

 Photo Credit: http://www.tropicalblooms.com.au/categories.php

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If you were here yesterday you know I've experimented with freedom today (if not just head to the bottom of yesterday's blog entry).  Here's what happened:

I had fun (my own personal brand) observing myself and others in my early morning meeting.  Ever notice how people like to be in charge, often talk about things they know little about and are always plotting their next move?  I saw all that before 10:00 am - amazing.  Usually I just take notes, add my thoughts and wait for my assignments.  Usually, it al feels routine.  Today I paid attention because I didn't know what might happen!  It was fun, and there was to be more!

It seems I may be up for a rearrangement of responsibilities, which will come with a few extra bucks!  I hesitate calling this a promotion, because that's an official designation and this feels much looser than anything official.  But, raise/promotion or not, I feel affirmed, lifted, validated.  I do good work, have a good mind, make a contribution that has meaning.  One rare days, others recognize that as truth.

I loaded about 120 boxes today, lifting maybe 250 - 300 lbs in a few hours.  Wow, unexpected work out.  It was good and different to use my body and my mind at work.

Today was great. I decided to be free and that's how I felt all day long.  Nothing to hold me back, nothing to weigh on my mind; for one day I walked free.  What a gift.

Try it!

 

In honor of Mother's Day and MSN's What's Your Story  (click and vote) nomination, I thought I would clack the keys in tribute to those things my Mom and Nana taught me.  Some of the learning Mom provided I have amended for my daughter, CHAG (confused, hormonal adolescent girl).  In another 10 years, CHAG'll have her own blog and write about all the things I might have done differently.  Ten years after that, she’ll be writing about how I knew more than she imagined and she’s grateful to me for passing most of it on! 

 

That's as it should be.  For now though, here's Part 1 of my tribute to the women that shaped my psyche and my Life and the important things they taught me:

 

My mother taught me independence.  If she told me once, she told me a hundred times about her first date (because I begged her to tell it over and over).  An incredibly handsome young man, named Richard, whom she liked a lot, showed up at the family apartment dressed to the nines (that's how they said it in those ancient days).  She was excited and charmed by him.  He was polite to her mother, walked on the outside of the street and took her arm as they descended the subway station steps in East New York, Brooklyn.  As they approached the turnstile, he paused to retrieve his change and count out the amount needed for them to board the train (in those days they didn't have subway tokens - imagine that!).   When he looked up, there stood my mother, on the other side of the turnstile. Surprised and off balance, he asked her why she didn't wait for him to put in the change.  He assured her he had enough for both of them.  My mother's reply:  "Because when this date is over I don't want to owe you anything." 

 

A bit extreme?  Sure.  The moral of the story that she told me during those early teen years was this - always be able to take care of yourself.  If you can't, the day may come when you wish you had enough to leave, enough to be self sufficient, enough to exit a painful marriage like the one my Mom had. She forgot her rule when she fell in Love.  But I didn't.  Thanks Mom. 

 

Nana taught me about Spirit.  My grandmother was Episcopal and from Trinidad.  Her mother was a mix of African and Native Caribe; her father was French (and if he had other elements to his ethnic heritage I do not know them).  I tell all that because it describes an exotic mix of beliefs and culture; because that mix is my legacy and has shaped me as much as anything.

 

Nana would, on rare occasion look up after I had spoken and tell anyone within ear shot, "This child is an old soul."  For me, there was so much meaning and power in that statement; hearing it from the family matriarch as I grew up.  Sometimes she would make everyone (my aunts, uncles and cousins) quiet down and tell me to repeat whatever I had just said.  Then the adults would ohh and ahh.  I rarely understood why, but I knew I had something special, and I knew it wasn't really mine.  Some spiritual gift; because often Nana would follow my repeated statement with "And the children shall lead them".  Folks would start to talk about how children and old people are closer to God than the rest of us.

 

Nana made me think about all things spiritual; made me consider that, for me anyway, there was more to God than what could be found in a book.  And I could be close to Spirit, rest in Spirit and know that I was a part of Spirit no matter how far apart I might feel.  That knowing came in handy later in Life.

 

My Mom taught me about sacrifice. I have a vivid memory of being around my daughter's age (12 or 13) and my Mother and I are shopping in Gertz Department Store, on Jamaica Avenue, in Queens.  We are looking at a jacket for me, since it's getting cold and the one I have is too short in the sleeves.  "It's so expensive", my mother says.  "But, we'll get it.  I'll just go without a coat this winter.  That coat I have is more than 10 years old; but your grandmother put a new lining in it five years ago.  I guess I can wear it another year."

 

And I, full of myself and smug said "Oh no.  I didn't ask you to go without a coat.  You spend the money on yourself."  Inside my head that translated into - I am so tired of hearing about all the sacrifices you made for me.  I didn't ask you to; if you didn't want me, you shouldn't have had me.  We left without getting the jacket.  Not long after, my mother got a new trench coat and looked good in it. 

 

What was said by me and meant harshly, turned out to be a catalyst for something good and much needed.

 

We don't often get to re-think those everyday sort of moments.  I was an adolescent then, and fairly ignorant of Life.  I think that was a gift (of the times and a gift of my parent’s strict rules); to be innocent and ignorant of Life. 

 

The average child today doesn’t get that chance.  Between the media clamoring for their attention and their witnessing of world and national events, they are far more exposed to the harsher elements of reality than I ever was, at that age.

 

So, I have received many gifts, the greatest from my daughter - she made me a mother.  And because I am, now, a mother, I can reflect on my Mom's example.  I find, in spite of my earlier exasperation at her level of sacrifice, I easily ignore new coats, cars, shoes, dresses - even regular dating, because that's what's best for CHAG.  I miss these things sometimes, but I also see the good that comes from foregoing them. 

 

A Mother's sacrifices are sweet air for the soul.

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Today starts the Tuesday Blog Walk (see list of blog walkers to the left).  This week's topic - 10 Things You Would Never Do, For Love Nor Money

Drop in on my walking friends and have a smile, a laugh and a nod.  Next week I'll be back to walking and it's my turn to choose the topic.  Hmmm...All that power...

 

Later Gators!