Gravity When we were young we defied gravity, now when I think of falling down my heartbeat halts to a stop. Like an Igbo adage says, when broken bones are mentioned the old woman sighs in pain 🙂
I have come to recognize that I am a multi-layered human with a million facets of me used for different occasions. We are one body and many souls.
Mental break in progress This post touches me on so many levels. I am just HAPPY to read this. Here’s are snippets from Cavelle’s post.
About eight months ago now, I went through some serious life changes and in the process I felt it necessary to delete my blog entirely. In hindsight, I wish I had given it some more thought before hitting the delete button. Two years of written work gone. Just like that!
PLEASE, I urge you to read.
Small, little tiny shacks Painstaking piece of art that evokes inspiration of all manners of stories in my mind. I see folklore, I see ghostly haunting, I see little people and so much more.
I have no patience
for those who spend
a better part of their time
judging and labelling others.
You’ve never worn
the other man’s shoes,
how exactly do you know
how undersized and pinching they are?
Quit being obtuse
You don’t smell like roses yourself.
If we look hard enough, I bet
there’s are loads of manure in your garden.
Tend to your own garden
called your life.
Concentrate on being the best you
that you can be.
Concentrate on being a supportive anchor
for someone who might be adrift,
but leave your judgment at the doorstep
otherwise, you’ll wear out your welcome.
Remember that not all who wander
have truly lost their path,
they are simply in search of a beacon
to help them find their way back.
The first thing that drew my attention to Susie when I started blogging and during blogging 101 course which seems like eons ago is her consistent contribution and suggestions to a discussion. I find her frank talk refreshing and being in the business of trying to understand a personality through their words, I was drawn to her.
If my perception is not wrong, I would describe Susie as a gentle, conscientious, kind and tolerant woman.
Please read 🙂
Sunshine in one of our travel suitcases, that he loves.
A bit about me.
I am a 47-year-old woman, with a June birthday. I am a Syrian Christian by birth. I belong to the southern part of India. I come from a very loving background with caring, nurturing and guiding parents, who tried their best to instill Christian virtues in me. I went to a school that emphasized old-time values like love for one’s country, patriotism, helping others without care for who they were, and standing up for what was right. After school I went to a Medical School that had Christian values written all over it- this played a great role in my selection of this particular school for my higher education.
It was the first time I had stayed away from home and my parents. I was shocked beyond reprieve that the Christian values of care, love, putting others beyond self, helping one another, unity and patience were far from the real life of the people at the college. I went into an emotional and personal crisis at this stage. From being an A level student, I went to the bottom rungs of the academic ladder. Around this time, I lost belief in God and in my religion.
I wondered and pondered over a God that allowed all the atrocities that went on in the college in the name of Christianity. Injustice and blatant human right abuse abounded there. A system of ragging prevailed, that went to the heart and soul of a newcomer or a freshman to the college, which in many cases served to shatter the person from within. Being me, I protested openly against this and this made me hugely unpopular. A reign of terror was unleashed at me and I was made to feel hugely uncomfortable during my college life. Needless to say, I did not enjoy my college life.
It was divine intervention that helped me and kept me safe during this time and kept me away from the various vices a person could fall into while away from parental scrutiny. I survived and passed to become a doctor. A year after passing out, I married a man, who by some strange coincidence was from the same college. My marriage was a surprise to many of the naysayers in my college life as my husband was one of the most desirable bachelors of that college and I the least but again God brought us together. Over the years my faith in God has grown and I have come back to the fold like the lost sheep or the prodigal son.
I love writing. I have come to learn that I love listening to people. I can be a talker when I wish but I think I enjoy listening more and analyzing people and their thoughts and deeds. Most of these analyses lead me to life stories that I blog about. I guess I am an introvert.
I dislike two facedness. I am judgmental so am quick to find out if someone is not what he/she says he/she is.
I try to be a nurturer and love my two children very much. I am a dog lover by heart but the Good Lord has put so many cats in my life that I have lost count. I have come to believe that he really loves a good chuckle at my expense 🙂
The purpose of my blog.
At a low point in my life, about three years ago, I quit a job in Medical Research again because I didn’t believe in the work ethics of the place I was working at. I decided to move on, leaving a very respected job. For about a year and a half, I was unemployed and the object of a lot of ridicule. In an attempt to earn some money, I decided to do so by writing.
During this writing journey, I learned further that if one had a blog, writing jobs came easier. I didn’t land any major writing jobs but I got a blog and a lot of blog friends, many of whom are keepers. My blog is about my life. I have almost half a century of life lived behind me – perhaps I can be of good to some soul who has gone through issues like me and is hoping for a friendly listening ear.
I started this blog in order to write but became a reader and a listener by turn. So the objectives of my blog have done a U-turn now from when I started. When I started blogging, it was all about me and promoting myself. These days, it is more about being a listener and helping others, if that is possible. It seems to me that my blog is more about others now than myself.
I like the blogging world a lot except when it airs the political opinions of people who often don’t agree with my political thinking. When it gets beyond a limit, I stop reading their blogs. But otherwise, blogging has been a wonderful experience to me.
To be honest, I don’t motivate myself at all. I go for days without writing and then there is a deluge of writing with more silence. I like writing when I feel the whim and not when I am forced to do so. During moments of silence, I read others blogs and get inspiration from them, sometimes commenting on their posts that touched my heart or pulled a string somewhere in my being. Often times, these posts serve as inspiration for my own future posts. I have a long memory and so I have plenty of feed to write about inside my own head.
My Blogging Challenges.
I would say, not being able to express myself to my fullness, with absolute freedom for my words and my creativity. I am a little worried and scared about whether people I know and work with or live with will come to know of my blog and my blog opinions. So my blog posts will often be tempered down from what they actually should be. In the process, I have learnt diplomacy but perhaps lost out on some of my innate honesty.
My Word For Others.
Yes, I would surely encourage people to blog and especially if you are going through a personal crisis being a blogger certainly helps when you are down in the dumps. There are so many people out there, who are going through pain just like you and maybe more than you. Perhaps you can be a comfort to them and they, to you.
I would tell new time bloggers to keep writing, small posts frequently, till you reach that place where you can be a model of writing to others. So practice writing as often as your heart tells you. Also, I feel that one needs to write if one feels the urge and not when one feels that one has to join a group of people to belong to a certain belief group. Be honest to your own true self, as much as you can and your honest voice will reach others.
Spend a day with me.
I wake up hearing before the crack of dawn to prepare food for my human and animal family before I go to work. But the first thing I do is open ” Our Daily Bread” and read the readings for the day, reflect on them, pray about them and give thanks. Giving thanks is becoming a bigger part of my life with each passing day. It keeps me positive and hopeful that good things will happen if we go looking for them. After the cooking and packing of lunches and feeding of my strays, I shower and dress up to go to work.
I work as a research administrator in a university college and need to be at work at 8 am. Often being caught in rush hour traffic, I reach work only around 8:30but because I have an understanding supervisor, I often get away with it. Life has been getting easier as my children need less of me and my husband has become more independent in terms of their needs – so I have more time for myself. At work, I complete my day’s work in about an hour and the spare time I have, I sit at my desk and write or think about what to write. Sometimes I study Math to keep up with my daughter’s math homework. I read some books at my desk too and when my watch tells me I have been sitting too long, I take a walk around the corridors of my university.
Looking to the future plans.
First I would like to publish my own research in the world of medicine and make a few publications in my name and then I would like to see my own name in my publications – whether scientific or creative writing. I would like to earn some money from my blog and help other bloggers who so deserve the help they can get and I am working towards this aim. As to increasing the outreach of my blog, I am letting things take their own time and I am pretty casual about it for now. I get joy in seeing a new follower of my blog but more than numbers, I am now interested in making good friends, and people whose company I love. I learn a lot from my fellow bloggers and those I follow and I would like to learn more and more each day.
In the moment I totally enjoyed reading this. Gave me warm fuzzies. Most times life takes us round a corner so that we can enjoy the moments that we are given.
When there are no words When we have no words to speak, let our hearts speak for us. This is a beautiful read.
In auto mode, I quickly tossed ingredients into the bubbling sauce, rehashed a passage for my book in my head while trying to pay attention to the cacophony of my children’s voices milling around me in the kitchen.
They had just returned from school, each voice was relaying some information, each child wanted some form of attention and as usual, my three ears was listening to them, responding to their inquisition, addressing the accusation from my third child that I wasn’t paying him enough attention, stirring the saucepan, figuring out my passage and reminding myself respond to that request that had just popped into my mind as a reminder…and the crazy beat went on.
Why I haven’t gone batty is a question I ponder fleetingly. When will the hecticness stop, if ever?
My bubbly sauce was almost done, all that remained was to toss in the shredded fresh thyme and as I lifted the chopping board to scoop it in, I literally heard a voice whisper in my head, ‘enjoy the time.’
I smiled at the pun, enjoy the time while scooping in the thyme, but my ever roaming mind gripped those three words and allowed it to marinate.
I realized that in the near future these young children craving my attention right now would all fly out of my coop and spread their wings.
They will go in search of their own dreams and set up their own little spaces and they won’t be underfoot in the kitchen all talking at the same time.
The thought certainly gave me pause.
It reminds me that we should appreciate and enjoy each fresh moment of time that we are given.
To catch the time and hold it as close to our heart as possible because it’s delicate and fleeting.
I am reminded to gratefully relish these moments like no other because no two moments are the same.
If you wish to participate in a gratitude challenge, there are several gratitude/thankful platforms in the blogosphere that you can tune into and get your ithankful going on. I can’t express in words the enormity of Joy and fulfillment that comes from having a heart of gratitude. Please check out Maria’s blog, Colline’s blog and Bernadette’s for thankful/gratitude challenges.
The ring tone of the mobile cut into my reflection. I was just coming to the end of my evening walk. Answering the unknown number, her sweet Indian accented voice carried through and in a voice that I will place at 26 years, she chirpily informed me, Ms. Jacqueline, blah, blah, yadda, yadda… unfortunately, due to our employment policy, we can’t offer you the coveted position of events Manager since you are above 35 and too antiquated in my 4o’s (okay, I added this bit about antiquated).
Well, that gave me pause for mere minutes as I trudged up the bridge in front of me but the greatest emotion that I realized was that of relief that flooded me. An odd emotion I must say. I’ll analyze it later.
Let me give you a brief background. This is the latest venture in my attempt to find full-time gainful employment. One of the greatest challenges of being an accompanying spouse or should I say spice is the ‘not having a defined career and dependency on your spouse for periods of time that might cause discomfort.’
You could spend the better part of the time/if not all the time spent abroad searching for something suitable in the form of employment and yes, you learn frugality to the last letter y.
Except when one is up and pushing like I have to do each day – searching for freelance opportunities that come far and few in-between or occupying myself with things that enlarge my scope in the pursuit of my dreams to be a successful writer – one would probably end up a frustrated, emotional bag of chocolate cookie eating monster.
Over the years I’ve learnt to manage on what we can afford and sometimes squeeze out a bit for some side attractions but not having a strong earning power (yet) has stunted some things that I seek to do for myself.
If truth be told, my major interest for seeking this job is to earn in order to fund some self-development life-coaching programs that I want to attend and to save up to return to school next year without burdening my husband whose plate is full right now.
In my head, I was already trying to see how I would fit the job around my life that’s surprisingly full without a 9-5 job and was feeling somewhat stressed at the thought. Now, this explains my odd sense of relief when they informed me that they would rather seek a person with perkier body parts than mine, irrespective of the wealth of experience that I have to bring on board.
As a matter of fact, instead of feeling disappointed or upset about the rejection, last night I felt a deep sense of inexplicable peace and understanding. A quiet voice came to me with the verse of Jeremiah 29:11 saying:
‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
By the time I went to sleep last night, I was all excited and grateful. I have no idea what lies before me, but I know deep inside me that God’s plans over my life are exceedingly bountiful.
I woke up this morning and quickly checked my emails. A notification I saw simply made me burst into tears and laughter. Tears at my foolishness and human sense of worry. Laughter at the beautiful surprise.
A voice said to me, go back to the work that you are doing. Go back and finish the book that has been dropped in your heart to write. It’s a book on ‘finding wisdom and purpose.’
The interesting thing is that I never had a plan to write such a book. I have novels that I am working on, but ever since the instruction to write this book came to me late last year, it has not allowed me much sleep and has taken precedence over the novels. I am several days behind due to neglecting it during my trip, but all things being equal, it will be ready by March.
All that I can say is that even when things are not looking the way we want them in our human eyes, keep your eye’s looking up. Be grateful for the much that you’ve been given, for out of it shall abundance flow.
To the sister who gave me this surprising gift, may your circle of blessings never run dry. May laughter fill your mouth and may praise remain your portion.
Jacqueline
If you wish to participate in a gratitude challenge, there are several gratitude/thankful platforms in the blogosphere that you can tune into and get your ithankful going on. I can’t express in words the enormity of Joy and fulfillment that comes from having a heart of gratitude. Please check out Maria’s blog, Colline’s blog and Bernadette’s for thankful/gratitude challenges.
Experience Simple experiences bring out who we are and the true colour of those around us. I enjoyed reading this post.
Racists are stupid – spoiler alerts You’ve been warned! I didn’t think I would read this post word for word, but I read the entire thing, laughed out loud severally and shook my head in the obvious lack of common sense displayed by people who lay claims to high IQ. Enjoy reading.
There are none so blind A calm, wise post, to say the least, in face of the way we live today with political rage, paranoia, conspiracy theories and what not.
Familiar stranger This is set to be a scintillating, steamy romance. Read on.
Love Lost Kind of a sad poem, however, as an old married lady (almost 17 years) there are days we feel out of sorts and just not feeling the lovey-dovey stuff. A bar of chocolate or glass of wine, a good read, and a goodnight’s sleep helps 😉
Dealing with your fear. I hope you know that fear that dogs your life can be dealt with? Follow me through the series of getting a grip on those fears and living your life as fully as you can.
My hearing loss story It can’t even bear imagining that in one minute someone could hear and then the next minute and a loud popping sound, the hearing is gone
Chronic illnesses 5 sensible ways to take charge of your chronic ailment.
Most times where we are is not where we belong and to get to where we need to be, we must restrategize and keep pushing.
Sometimes life if like playing a game of chess. You must not rest on your laurels and take your opponent for granted. You can’t afford to tip your King before the battle is over because life continues till the last moment.
Your opponent in your life could be your complacent approach to life. It could be a bag of mixed factors that only you can identify and deal with in accordance with your aspirations.
You’ve got to keep holding on and nudging up to where you belong. You’ve got to take those adventures in life to truly find your sweet spot.
a cooking pot and twisted tales 