New Year's Eve on Beale Street

What an amazing New Year's Eve.

We got to our campsite overlooking the Mississippi River in time to get set up before dark. After unhitching the rig we headed across the river into Memphis for dinner. Oh, my; the bridge is under construction and the lanes are very, very tight. So glad we didn't try that bridge with the big rig. Beale Street and Main Street were both blocked off in preparation for the guitar drop at midnight. How fun to be able to get a table at B.B. King's Blues Club right near the stage where we could enjoy the show.

And now, back at camp, we sit here getting warmed up while listening to trains going by along one side of the campground and tug boats pushing barges up and down the river on the other side.

What a night! I'm tired and probably won't wait up for the fireworks over the river.

But first I must get a few things unpacked and put away before we can really relax for our first night in the RV; at least get things off the bed so there is room to sleep.

Happy New Year!!!





 

My word for 2015: NOW

For a couple years now I've been choosing a word for the year - something I like lots better than New Year's resolutions. This year my word was "less" which coincided nicely with the serious downsizing we've been doing for four years. We have just sold our farm and packed our most cherished possessions into a storage unit. In fact, today and tomorrow we are finishing up that process and moving into our RV where we will live for the next year or so.

As we have pushed ourselves through this process, there were times I found myself unable to deal with a certain box or bin full of stuff - so I would move on to a different one, one that I COULD deal with. Consequently, there are still way too many piles of boxes stored away. I am not displeased with myself for deferring those decisions. It was a coping skill for that time and it served me well. That downsizing process has been intense and I'm thankful that I've been able to cut myself a little slack.

But now... Now we have turned the corner. We have locked the door on that storage unit and walked away for a few months.

I have begun to think that my word for the new year is "now" - that it's time to shift my practice toward dealing with things in the moment rather than to set them aside for another time.

"Now" is also a good time to let myself do some of the things I have not taken time for during this intense process. For example, I have always been an avid reader - until these last few years when I have not taken time to read much. Now I will allow myself to read again.

Now is a time to relax a bit - and maybe to even try some new things.

Now is a time to celebrate. Now is time to be present in the moment rather than worry about the future. As I've walked alongside a friend living with late stage cancer, I'm impressed with her focus on living in the present moment. In the now. I want to live like that. I want to be present in the moment. To be alert and mindful. To celebrate what I have rather than worry about what I might lose.

Now is what we have. This is the time to do the things I want to get done.

Even before choosing "now" as my word, I've noticed how living this way has helped me make the shift toward downsizing. Two things that had always contributed to my pack-rat tendencies have been the past and the future. I clung to mementos from the past because they were my heritage. Fortunately I'm learning that I don't need to keep every single piece of that history. As for the future, I used to tend to hoard things that I might need in the future even if I haven't used it yet. I am gradually learning that if I do ever need one of these, I can probably go and buy one. In other words, I realize that living in the now, in the present moment, has already helped me to downsize my stuff - even though I still have much to learn about that habit.

But perhaps the biggest reason for choosing "now" for my word for the year is because I am so tired of incompletions. I have not been a good finisher. But guess what! Unfinished projects cause stress. Big time. Loose ends make me feel frazzled so I want to learn to tie them up. To put things away. To let them go. To be able to walk away and be done.

Hubby always says there is no time like the present. I am learning how important it is to "get 'er done" so that things no longer hang over my head. I want to shift my practice to one of doing it now.

...

Okay; I've talked myself into it. "Now" is my word for the coming year. I plan to practice the art of doing it now. And yes, I know that it will take practice.

And here's what I hope. Once we return to Michigan in April and unlock that storage unit, I really hope that I will be so in love with the habit of doing it now that I will be ready to let go of more and more stuff that I previously stored away.

But now...

Now

I have this moment.

Today.

Butt-in-chair tactics

 As a writer who is always trying to improve the quality of what I create as well as to streamline my work patterns, I like to read tips about writing. But hey, I discovered it's even more fun when one of my very own tips is included in the list. Check out Tip # 20; it's a good one if I do say so myself. Serious nonsense. Here are just a few of the tips:

 

...
5 – Stop writing when you’re on a roll.
6 – Work on multiple projects.
...

9 – Take your writing and yourself seriously.
...
20 - Don’t be afraid to write nonsense. Seriously. Serious nonsense. Even like “I don’t know what to write today” which, in my case, often leads into a sort of journaling and processing what I’m thinking or feeling. But yes, sometimes just keep typing (or keep the pen moving) to reinforce the writing habit. And it often opens up the flow.
... 

Thanks, Bryan Hutchinson, for this list and for inviting input.

 

 

 

hope, joy, peace...

So this is Christmas and what have you done,
Another year over, a new one just begun.

And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun,
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.

A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one without any fears.

And so this is Christmas for weak and for strong,
The rich and the poor ones, the road is so long.

And so happy Christmas for black and for white
For the yellow and red ones let's stop all the fights.

A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one without any fear.

And so this is Christmas and what have we done
Another year over, a new one just begun.

And so happy Christmas we hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.

A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one without any fear.

War is over if you want it, war is over now.

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Two days. Eleven years.

Two days before Christmas.

Eleven years ago today. That day when I got the bad news. What we feared had come true. Yes, it was cancer. Two days before Christmas.

Yesterday. Lying on a table in another hospital for yet another medical test. Couldn't help but remember those days eleven years ago. The feelings and emotions. The crazy and complicated thought processes.

So much has happened in those eleven years. I survived cancer. Twice. I am grateful. So terribly grateful. I love life.

Life is different these days. Far less certainty these days. Lots more adventure. I've had to adjust to the idea of living with the unknown and the uncertain. I've chosen to embrace it - or at least I'm starting to.

Uncertainty pervades my life. I have no permanent address. I rather like the uncertainty. Or at least I appreciate the benefits of it. I think that I don't take things for granted like I used to. I think that I am even more grateful than I used to be. More aware of my blessings.

Uncertainty makes me a better person. I think. During the years of being so sure of what I believed and what I valued may have caused me to be a teensy bit rigid. And arrogant. Yes, I admit it. Having my certainty shaken up a bit has hopefully made me more flexible and more compassionate. Hopefully.