Out of the Gate!

It’s only a walk
Ten minutes a day - or as many minutes as one wants!
Or run, or cycle, or swim or ~ 
Any exercise outside of a work day….

Once more I almost played the age card on myself! 
All the team members will be younger so don’t even bother!
A kind of misplaced arrogance? 
Or is it false modesty?

Where is your humility!

A definition of humility  - according to The Free Dictionary online -
is: ‘modest opinion of one’s own importance or rank’

Do I want the rank of ‘too old’?
Sure don’t!
I can do minutes of anything…..

So - running (walking) shoes on, 
bathing suit at the ready, 
(I don’t cycle),
my daily yoga gear ready for morning - the challenge is accepted!

“Difficulites strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.”

~ Seneca

A Joyful Proverb

This month’s writing assignment in the Writer’s Ink group I belong to, was a difficult and awkward one.  One of the group heard a very colourful Haitian proverb quoted. Again, each of us had a different take on our topic. One member was able to write a quite a humorous piece!

This is my contribution:

A Joyful Proverb

“We are all walking with our coffins under our arms.”

Images from this Haitian proverb leapt into my mind, the metaphor lost in processions of stunned humanity walking towards their death in WWII Nazi Germany, ‘lookie lou’s’ running way out on beaches emptying as water receded just before the tsunami onslaught in December, 2004 or most recently the climbers on Mount Everest shaken from their perches by the violent Nepalese earthquake. And the riots, marches and protests when individuals of any race, place or time share their participation against towering and powerful foes.

Extreme disasters aside, for my own sense of immediacy, I needed a kinder, gentler approach to this colourful metaphor spoken by Haitian mothers to their children, one that applied to ordinary life/death situations. Death and coffins really have a bad reputation - fear of the unknown comes to mind along with the connotation that no one should ever have to choose their coffin, or have to meet with Death.

That however, is not especially realistic. It is rather arrogant, and futile, to fight against Death as we are all going to participate in that event anyway. So, a kinder and gentler interpretation of this most serious proverb is one of joy. It is interesting that, when I imagine someone speaking of ‘carrying our coffins under our arms’, in my mind the individual is saying it with laughter! And so the twist to this story is not about Death and coffins, but about how we choose to live our lives. The humility with which we live our lives, accepting circumstances as they come, working with circumstance to better our families and communities, determines how light or heavy the ‘coffin under our arm’ will be.

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life, A man 

who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”

~ Mark Twain

Stumbling Blocks and Stepping Stones

For too long I have been angry ~ maybe only resentful ~ at health care systems in general. And then fearful ~ fearful of their size, their power and their steady movement over us all.

In the last two weeks, letting go of all of that, my shoulders feel wider, my feet feel more firmly planted and I can see and hear and appreciate all of the people that work beside me in health care.

April’s theme of purpose, has been twisted, wrung out and to-night is folded and to be put away. My purpose ~ my personal belief about a life's purpose of mine ~ was to create something on a grand scale that would foster great change within the health care systems that have been around much longer than myself.

I also truly believed that I was writing with humility!

Yet, after all has been said and done, my greatest stumbling block in my ‘writing project’ was a great lack of humility. But, as a good, good friend told me years ago, each stumbling block can be a stepping stone. Without knowing that I would find personal humility, I took up my pen, wrote for hours and pages and sentences and paragraphs, slowly chipping away at the stumbling block on which I stood. This stumbling block has become a stepping stone into new challenges. Finding new ways of expressing my very real concerns in this world of addictions care is an exciting challenge for me, while opening myself to the world around me ~ family, colleagues, and friends.

“The disillusionment with our own abilities is, perhaps, 

one of the most important things that can ever happen to us.”

~ Tim Hansel

Writer's Burn-Out Extinguished

There were clues

Tiny red flags
Quite attractive really 
Not signalling danger
They were just spring flowers, right?

What were the clues?
Sticking to routine till it was a deep rut
No interest in baking, or much else in the kitchen - cooking only to make a meal
But of course the outcome causes added weight.
Sitting long periods feeling sad or bored or without purpose.
But of course it’s the weather, work, bills...the usual (oh and self-ageism)
Feeling cut off from the world despite telephone, Facebook, blog,……..
Yet attending every activity as usual
Quieter in groups
I know - that’s unusual for me - but it felt normal.

Relearning to treat myself with kindness - again.
Looking for tiny bits of beauty and joy
An attitude adjustment from poverty of spirit to wealth of gratitude.

Today I’m baking muffins - just because I wanted to
Twice in one week, I’ve roasted red peppers for my salads
Feeling looser, more relaxed
Visiting today with a pool mate (Peggy’s 92!) while we exercised
Great spaces of time when I feel like I’ve just woken up.
Crochetting again, writing easier again, feeling creative juices begin to stir
Breathing with inspiration and imagery
Feeling reconnected to life as it is.
This recovery from burn-out is slow but it’s such a relief!

“Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.”

~ Joseph Campbell

Umbrella….or Not?

The warm sun shone….and then it didn’t
The wide sky was blue….and then it wasn’t

Moody Victoria weather shifts to and fro
Unsettled, yet colourful flowers, and anything green, bloom anyway

They all enjoy sun and welcome misty rain ~
Unless tucked in a corner, giving petals away to the wind…or was it a breeze?

The sky was grey….and then the sun burst forth
Slate pillows of cloud reigned (rained?) - and then scattered away.

Wind and rain, sun and cloud, cool or warm
All work and play in concert for the entertainment of all.

“Weather is always unrehearsed.”

~ Marty Rubin

Joyful Purpose

Garry Oak trees velveted in moss new and old.
Blue and white flowers strewn and sprinkled through grasses.
Joyous expression from Mother Earth spreading her charms!

“Spring is nature’s way of saying ‘Let’s party!’

~ Robin Williams

Book Review - The Inheritance Cycle: Eragon, Brisengr, Eldest and Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

I was introduced to this series by several of my friends who had already read each of the four many paged books. Eragon was being discussed at work by colleagues. What I heard was ‘dragons’ and ‘elves’ and bits of plot.

I was intrigued. Borrowing the first three from one of my friends, I read them all in about a two weeks. In four or five more days, I read the last, Inheritance. Now, you must understand that each of these books are from 500 to over 700 pages long. And then there are pages with pronunciations of the various languages ~ Dwarf, and Elven to name only two~ as well as maps of the country of Alagaesia

Eragon, who begins in the story as a farm boy raised by his uncle and aunt, and knows his couson Roran as a brother finds a blue stone. This blue stone turns out to be a dragon’s egg that hatches, to Eragon's great surprise and concern. (Hiding a growing dragon from everyone is no small feat!) A magic bond is established between Eragon and Saphira, who grows to have crystal blue scales. The Ra’zac, a Shade, and Urgals, each with their own languages or ways of communicating invade Carvahall, the town where Eragon’s uncle Garrow gets supplies and visits friends. Brom, the town's Storyteller, begins to tell Eragon stories of the legendary Dragon Riders and further, tells Eragon and Saphira that they may be the last of the fabled Dragon Riders that kept the peace in the land. A bond is formed between Brom and Eragon. 

Fleeing from the Ra’zac, after they had brutally killed his uncle Garrow, Eragon and Brom on horse back, with Saphira travel to Farthen Dur, in a vast mountain range. During that trip Brom is killed leaving Eragon, Saphira and two horses alone. Deep inside the mountain is the city of Tronjheim where the dwarves live. After a time there, they continue their travels to Du Weldenvarden, the forest where the elvish race has their home. There they learn more about magic, their role of Dragon Riders and the ancient language.

Each book, from Eldest, Book Two to Brisingr, Book Three and finally to Inheritance, Book Four develops a fascinating story of the politics of a land filled with magic, while the armies, led by the Varden, from all these disparate ‘races’  gather to face a common foe by the name of Galbatorix who threatened all the lands, all the inhabitants and their families with subjugation. Throughout, Eragon grows and learns about how to become a true Dragon Rider. There are battles in the air between dragons and on the ground humans, elves, dwarves, Urgals and were-cats fight some pretty gruesome battles in this work of Youth Writing. 

This series is written by Christopher Paolini, who published the first in the series, Eragon, in 2003 at age 19. This authors own story is almost as interesting in this very fascinating and magical series. He has a website at http://www.alagaesia.com that has maps, the languages and so very much more. 

“The worth is in the act. Your worth halts when you surrender 

the will to change and experience life. But options are 

before you; choose one and dedicate yourself to it. 

The deeds will give you new hope and purpose..”

~ Christopher Paolini, Eragon

Title: Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Date: 2003 (Hard cover)
ISBN: 0-375-82558-(trade)
ISBN: 0-375-92668-2 (lib.bdg.)
ISBN: 0-375-82669-6
Type:  Youth Fiction

Title: Eldest
Author: Christopher Paolini
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Date: 2005 (Hard cover)
ISBN: 0-375-82670-X(trade)
ISBN: 0-375-92670-4 (lib.bdg.)
Type:  1.Fantasy 2. Dragons-Fiction 3. Youths’ Writings

Title: Brisingr
Author: Christopher Paolini
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Date: 2008 (Hard cover)
ISBN: 978-0-375-82872-6 (trade)
ISBN: 978-0-375-92672-3 (lib.bdg.)
Type:  1.Fantasy 2. Dragons-Fiction 3. Youths’ Writings

Title: Inheritance
Author: Christopher Paolini
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Date: 2011 (Hard cover)
ISBN: 978-0-375-85611-2 (trade)
ISBN: 978-0375-846321-1 (tr.pbk.)
ISBN: 978-0-375-95611-9 (lib.bdg.)
ISBN: 978-0-30797418-1 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-0-307-93074 (intl.tr.pbk.)
Type:  1.Fantasy 2. Dragons-Fiction 3. Youths’ Writings