Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?
Hey WP, I know their definitions differ, but I see lazy going hand in hand with unproductive.
I would not care to be classified as a lazy person, per se, but I think now I’ve reached advanced years, I should be able to loll around if I want to. Just bouts of laziness to enjoy for a while. But guilt will inevitably come knocking on the door, and it’s best not to answer to it, else the enjoyment vanishes in an instant.
So WP, when I am in lazy mode, I am really very unproductive. Nada. Nothing happening. Simple as.
You will be pleased to know when that spell is over. I’m up and about getting stuff done. And how virtuous one can feel after cleaning the bathroom, hoovering the stairs and the like, it’s quite something.
Now then rested that’s another ball-game altogether. It’s simply divine. This almost reaches the stage of an out of body experience. And it really does not happen enough.
Patch will have a spell of faffing around during the night and with the bedroom window open as far into the winter as I can cope with…there will often be things going creepeth out there. One of the gorgeous felines from the hood having the audacity to tip toe along the fence or have a face-off with another cat and His Nibs is not best pleased, and he makes sure I know of his displeasure. So a broken sleep is the norm for us, and that’s not conducive to ever feeling rested.
But my goodness when it does show its face from time to time it’s sublime .
When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?
Elon Musk.
He is the wealthiest man in the world. This South African has 500 billion dollars to his name. So, in monetary terms, the boy’s done good. Not a rag to riches story by any stretch, but still…
And of course the saying goes ‘ money can’t buy you happiness’…but if an electric bill doesn’t unerve you a tad, then there’s happiness to be had.
What goes on behind closed doors is a totally different matter. Whether Mr Musk is successful in other areas of his life is another thing. Word is he has issues.
To get your ducks lined up whilst the plates spin is no mean feat. Which brings us to balance. Maintaining a healthy outlook with gratitude and compassion. To have empathy and the ability to be kind to ourselves and others. To be truthful, authentic…and content. That is success.
It’s a good job really that Elon Musk has a shed load of money..to date he has 13 children and their mothers to support.
I had a sneak peak at today’s DP last night, and nothing came to mind. ‘Sleep on it’, I told myself. So I did, but the song remains the same. Inspiration is not with me today.
But what I don’t say often enough is a big thank to my fellow bloggers and readers who often stop by to read and acknowledge a post…even better when you drop in the Comments to say hi.
It was still dark outside when Patch was nudging me to get up. I’d had an early night, so it was no hardship.
We set off torch in hand to the closest green space and little wooded area. It was mild and calm. The birds sounded relaxed as they chatted idly. The light mist made me think of the soft Irish rain that gets written about in literature. The smell of nature this morning was divine. Crab apples scattered on the ground were bumpy and slippery under my wellies.
But I was feeling a bit down. Sad, even.
Whether Patch sensed this or not, I have no way of knowing. But instead of walking back home to collect the car to take his adventure further afield, he kept on walking. He was clearly on a mission. I felt relieved. Straight into a long walk suited me just fine.
I had been giving some thought to today’s DP. Principles that define us, and got to thinking sometimes however much you try to be the best version of yourself, there’s no pleasing some people.
Where this train of thought had come from, I have no idea, but being out with my trusted companion in the fresh air as the day was breaking was the very best thing to be doing.
Patch led me on a walk for over an hour. We saw lights come on. Cars leave drives. Dog walkers aplenty. There was traffic, but there was no rush.
It’s light now but overcast. Another grey Monday morning for many. All those lives, all those stories.
When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?
There are times when you have to be the grown-up in the room..and other times there is room to be something else.
When your charges need direction or affection, when their wellbeing and safety is your priority, then the grown up is there. Willing, able, capable reliable. Down-time opens the door a little for the child within to appear and join in the fun.
It’s about getting the balance right ( I guess we could say that about anything, everything in life). Recognising and acknowledging the time and place.
I have no idea if everyone has their child inside still active. No idea at all. But I am grateful mine is there, in the wings, just waiting to escape from time to time.
*Note to self when looking for images to accompany a blog post, it’s probably best not to put ‘ adult’ in the search box.
What’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.
Love him or loathe him, Donald Trump has successfully used mediators to bring about a peace plan for Gaza. I take my hat off to him for getting thus far.
Sadly, it is too late for the many souls who died, were injured, lost friends, their homes, and their communities. Whole regions wiped out, for what?
What would I attempt to do given I could not fail? It would be to get involved in mediation in international conflicts.
This poem was written during a war…
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground, And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night, And wild plum trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire, Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree, If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn Would scarcely know that we were gone.
What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself?
You will be forgiven for glazing over today. Mostly, I like to keep my posts bite-sized but sometimes it’s impossible. It may be one of those days…
It’s interesting to read the replies to the DP’s. All our thoughts and memories in a big melting pot called living. How will my fellow bloggers define ‘ the hardest personal goal’ ?
Amongst them will be the souls who are just grateful to have survived this far. This I understand.
A few days back, we were asked how we would cope if we lost everything. I failed to mention the time I had walked away from home and a relationship with just the clothes on my back…Tough? Yes..
After a while, struggling to keep my head and dignity above water, I went overseas. I was away for years. When I did come back to the UK, I had a pup and an adult dog in tow. Street dogs I had bonded with and was not going to leave behind. ( Animals, I understand. Humans not so much.)
Luckily, I had managed to accumulate savings, but the flights for Tony and Joe from India. ( BA Cargo were stars) and six months in quarantine ( I believe things have changed since then) didn’t come cheap.
Having been a nanny at the top of my game and the mother of all references under my belt. I was sure it would help. And I had six months to find somewhere for us all to go. Right? I stayed in a small hotel in central London as I believed then it would be easier to go to and from interviews. I’d never be able to take a nanny role again with two dogs, but there were other jobs with tied accommodation I could do.
( I had to stay with my dad and his fourth wife at one point for a while = nightmare and another story which will remain buried. It was soul-destroying. Totally)
Despite being signed up to some fabulous and not so fabulous agencies ( another story or six) It took a year and the last of my savings to secure something for the dogs and me.
And so it went on forever, it seemed. I could have tugged my forelock and kept my head down and stayed in some jobs longer, but you know how it is.
To be fair, there was one lovely job with an elderly chap. I was gutted when he passed away. But I did get to keep his dog.
The jobs came and went, and I was with a difficult employer on a farming estate. All the other staff were obedient and had been there years. I simply couldn’t hack it.
And then it happened a complete fluke combined with stars aligned, and I finally managed to retire with the keys to a lovely rental, in the middle of dog walking nivarna and a landlady sent from the heavens.
A front door of our own, such a long time coming. Sure, I’ve had to tighten my belt, but things that make me happy cost nothing… Walks in the deepest of nature, birds bathing in the fresh and slightly warmed water I put out for them. Amazing skies, the sunset and sunrises, trees, smiles, and a few passing words with people on the street. All the dogs in the hood whose names I learn before their guardians. The changing seasons. Growing things, pottering around. Writing. Gratitude.
And then I have Patch. His Nibs 🐾🐾 who lives here rent free, because he can.
Without one shadow of a doubt, writing is the answer to todays DP. Having said that, Emily Dickinson will take the stage with one of her beautiful poems.
Hope is the thing with Feathers
Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land – And on the strangest Sea – Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me.
What’s a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind?
‘ Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything’.
~ Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
Bernard Shaw, Irish Playwright and Critic
When I first read the DP, I wasn’t quite sure what to say ( yeah, I know, that’s a first, lol) because I change my mind…or at least rearrange and alter my thoughts a lot. Especially now that I actually have the time to be still and see the big picture.
And what I see is quite staggering. A short while ago, the DP was about stuff we wish we had learnt earlier in life. My response then was that I wish I had known all those years ago that things are not always as they seem. The time and emotions I’ve wasted is quite something. Best not to dwell on it, really.
I love the expression ‘every day is a school day’ because I want to keep moving forward, updating myself, growing, living, learning, and changing my mind.
As writers, we are lucky to be able to put our thoughts down in black and white and then ponder them….
…it’s not yet 5am and I’ve already changed my mind several times this morning about whether should I get up now or not..and if so what to have for breakfast.
Bernard Shaw was asked towards the end of his life.. … “What would you do if you could live your life over again?” Shaw replied with a deep sigh : “I’d like to be the person I could have been but never was.”
And now I shall lay in the dark. Listen to the howling wind out there and feel the cool breeze on my face…..The birds will be hungry once the storm subsides.
IN THE BOOMER PIGEON HOLE? 
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