What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?
‘ Count your blessings, Love ‘. The last words my mom said to me before she passed away. I do this, often and deeply. Acutely aware that so many folk worldwide are leading a truly horrific existence.
It’s not a strategy that works in lifting myself out of the rabbit hole though, just makes me cross with myself, that I couldn’t be more grateful.
So, down the rabbit hole I stay. I sit and I wait. Eventually it becomes light. Light enough to make my way back up and into the world….and I sit and I wait and I breathe. It’s quiet and I wait…The sun passes from behind a cloud and warms my face. A solitary robin watches me. His song tells me it is the start of a new day and I must embrace the moment. For I am lucky. I have blessings to count.
Mmmm, not sure it’s a good idea to be lost in thought. Too many roads, windows and doors to open. Too many paths to go down.
Lost in nature, sounds good doesn’t it? But then thought comes into play. What’s wrong with thought I hear you think? Nothing, I reply, but is it a relaxing past time? Isn’t that what getting lost in something means, surely? Not to be thinking of anything else but what you are doing? There that’s put the idea of lost in thought to bed.
Lost in music? How about that? .Errr emotive? Too emotive?
Cooking? That depends how well you know your recipe. If you have to concentrate hard on what you’re doing that would pass the Lost-In Test.
Reading is another good Lost In…as long as what your reading doesn’t make you think of something else, and of you go, ‘ in thought’. I think that’s why I like Auto/biographies so much. They are just giving you the facts…well, as far as the writer sees it of course. I used to love non- fiction, but that opens the door to the imagination, doesn’t it?
I do get lost in reading how you guys answer the Daily Prompt, there’s that.
Getting lost in sport is a good way to go, I imagine. Exhausting, but you can’t become distracted, you’d need your mind on the job. Which goes for bomb disposal, I suppose. Fire fighters, paramedics, surgeons,nurses all the emergency services, for example should by definition get lost in their jobs. But where does that leave me? ‘m not into sport or any of those respected professions.
It’s clear I get lost in my imagination, that no doubt leads me astray…..I think the Buddhists have the key..Being lost in an empty mind.
Ok, so here’s the edit. I’ve just been watching something on Netflix for the last 4 blissful hours.. and there are 3 more episodes and one more season of 10 episodes to go. Yep, lost in it!!!
I thought I would write for a little while to try and cheer myself up. I usually put a lot of effort into being upbeat , but it’s just not happening these last few days.
Waking the other morning, still dark, it felt cold, a kind of gloom hanging around. In the UK after an extremely long winter we were treated to over a week of the most amazing conditions. The British public, bless them, rose to the occasion. There was a wonderful buzz in the air and strangers passing in the street would exchange their personal joy and gratitude. Summer attire, sometimes creased and aged had suddenly seen the light of day, their first outing of the year.
But as quickly as it arrived it left. Leaving us all a little dispirited, I think. We had needed that. We needed more of that.
As usual each morning I listen to LBC and look to the socials for what’s new, what’s happening, what is still happening. With a mug of fresh coffee on my bedside table and tablet in hand I began scrolling. I knew I had about 30 minutes before the dog would be telling me to ‘get up, already!’.
Immediately I read the disturbing news that for COP30 8 miles of Amazon Rainforest had been cut down to build a four-lane highway, for the summit. How ironic is that? My heart sank.
We are all aware the lunatics have been let out of the asylum to rule our world, but really are there no grown ups left in charge? Who signed off on this madness? It can’t be happening, but it is. What is Joe Public supposed to do? They all go off to the Amazon, up to 3000 of them, for wonderful jollies and we are left asking why. How about they cancelled COP30 and used the money to provide clean water across the world to the people and animals that don’t have it? The ones who get sick and die in their thousands, every single day. They just want a water pump. Is that really too much to ask. #WaterAid. That would give COP30 meaning.
I carry my frustration, anger and sadness down the stairs and begin to get the dog ready for the first of his three outings of the day. He thinks it’s fun to give chase, but I’m just not feeling it. And then to my absolute horror and disbelief I hear the chain saw, and there he is, a tree surgeon felling right behind my home. ..And what of the squirrels who live and nest there?
The hours passed and more trees came down. Not one solitary soul visited my outdoor space during that time….Then this morning the same. I had to get us in my car and leave the neighborhood. I couldn’t bear it. The noise and destruction just too much. One squirrel came back, took a quarter of an apple and left. A blackbird his mate and a couple of robust pigeons remain.
On the scale of things I know I am incredibly fortunate and there will be women all over the world who would give everything simply to have the rehoming of squirrels their main concern and the Amazon Rainforest could not be further from their minds. I get that. But it doesn’t stop me hurting, knowing that those who govern us don’t see the big picture… Or they could if ego, greed and selfishness did not cloud their vision.
Have I cheered myself by putting pen to paper here? No, not really, but if I can get one solitary person to begin voicing their concerns of how the world is governed, all is not lost. I thank you for reading this far. X
One of my earliest memories is rabbit’s foot brooch pinned to the coat of someone I loved dearly. I never remember asking about it, but I studied it a lot. What is a child with an affinity to animals, to make of such a thing? I remember it was encased in silver and has a small yellow stone placed in the centre. Maybe Citrine. This yellow stone from the quartz family was popular in the 1920’s. Is it possible it had been handed down?
In ancient times Citrine was carried for protection against snake bites and evil spirits. In latter times to spark imagination, fresh beginnings and prosperity. Over the years being used against bad luck and today towards the good.
It is incredible how many countries around the world share superstitions, even with varying forms it’s quite extraordinary that similar beliefs are held worldwide. The exact origins of the rabbit’s foot amulet are not clear, at all. With many areas having their own ideas. There are some dark and grim associations but I prefer to look to the light. For instance the slaves of West Africa are recorded as seeing the animal as witty, intelligent and willing to strike back ( Think Mr McGregor’s garden). Others say the fertility aspect of their characteristic to be a lucky thing.
Am I superstitious? I’m certainly interested in all things spooky. A black cat crossing my path, that’s fine by me. ‘ Morning Kat’ I’d probably say. Would I walk under ladders? Why would you? To see if you are unlucky enough to have something fall on you head. Do I count magpies? No. Would I drop coins into a wishing well or throw them into a fountain? Yes.
And yesterday I ‘ touched wood’, to rouse the deities for protection.
Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?
If there are any words in the English language that make me instantaneously mad it’s these ‘ They behave like animals’. (Another utterance ‘We (UK) are a nation of animal lovers.) We are not! We are so not. But that’s a topic for another day)
Considering it is Man who is the cause of all the mess and madness we live in today, it’s a bit rich to bring animals into the equation like this.
I cannot compare myself to any animal, like we have been asked here on WordPress to do this morning. But there are are animal bodies I would like to inhabit for a short time,to get their take on things.
A dog doing the Zoomies, how great must that feel? A cat all cool and aloof, strutting around the neighborhood. Flying high with a birds eye view of the world. A cheeky monkey nimbly lowering itself onto a balcony of a smart hotel, where breakfast is being served and snatching away a juicy slice of watermelon. High jinks. Or maybe the hippopotamus up to the eyes in fresh and cooling water, on a hot summer’s day. Bliss.
And then not so much a magnificent elephant or a slender and graceful giraffe stood stock still eating fresh leaves from branches high up..dead in an instant by a ‘ trophy hunter’. Those oxygen thieves who delight and boast in slaughtering beautiful and innocent souls. These monsters walk amongst us.
In the UK you may hear someone being called a cow or a pig, these are not compliments,but used by man to discredit another human without a moment’s thought to the animal they are alluding to.
Wow! You fellow bloggers here on WP answering the DP. What an inspiration you are. The letters you have written to yourself are magnificent.
When I read what we had been asked to write about this morning I really wasn’t sure how to approach the subject, at all. Let’s face it, ageing sucks. Well, in my humble opinion and from what I can ascertain, it’s not going to be a bed of roses and that’s for sure.
Already I get annoying aches and pains that come and go on whim. Weird sensations and moods with a mind of their own. Making it impossible to know if the next day will be fabulous or not. What a stupid thing to say. None of us know if even today is going to pan out ok.
The uncertainty of when sleepiness or a want for activity will arise. Night or day, it’s like being taken over by an alien. And don’t start me on how ageing affects your face! Who is that person in the mirror? I was never a natural beauty, or an unatural beauty, come to that. But I could ‘scrub up’ quite nicely, enjoying putting outfits together and fixing my make up. But those were the days when make up was a thing. I’ve lived through some exciting fashion eras with the cosmetic enhancements to match.
So, how is my 100 year old self with hopefully a shred of vanity ( as not to wear food stained clothes and hair a mess, to have whiskers a go go?) Going to cope. What do I say to you? I hope you are okay, that nothing hurts and you don’t feel ill or lonely. I hope you are not yearning for the end That you have company when you want it and help when you need it. I would want you to have a little dog at your side, but I know you would constantly worry what would happen to it should you slip away.
At the present time AI is pushing through. I know you will be interested in seeing where it all goes. I know for a fact you would like to see World Peace in your lifetime, but we don’t think that will happen, do we? Too much money to be made from it.
You are naturally observant so maybe you are still looking at and feeling the world around you and writing about it. Yes, the picture I have in my head is you sitting at a desk with your chosen device, putting pen to paper. Happy, healthy and content. Your reward.
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Warning, written by Jenny Joseph in 1961
When I am on old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat, which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit on the pavement when I am tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not shocked or surprised
When suddenly I am old and start to wear purple………
IN THE BOOMER PIGEON HOLE? 
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