Tag: life
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Weekend Update
Saturday began with tea while grocery shopping, though my favorite barista wasn’t there and this one made my dirty chai very dirty!! Back home, I watered plants and tried to set up Alexa while my landlord, Slie, and the handyman, Sergio came. Sergio took the whole oven out and replaced the part he’d been waiting…
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Closets, Closets, Closets
MOFY fans will enjoy that title! So, what to say today? I thought I’d mention some interesting house observations. Mine and the few others I’ve seen the interior of. First, closets are not rooms you walk into if you’re lucky enough, or set back into the wall. Instead, they’re freestanding cabinetry. Although it takes up…
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Tuesday’s Tales
Again, some random pieces of information from today… If I die in South Africa, it won’t be from any of the horrible safety report reasons I read about before coming. It will be trying to escape my house if there’s a fire because I can’t get my dang skeleton keys to work! I’m hankering something…
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Monday’s Musings
Some musings on today… I had my first African thunderstorm last night into this morning. The thunder was loud, the wind kicked up and the lightning lit the sky beautifully. It poured just before the kids came in this morning, but by 9:45, it was clear and they went to their outdoor snack area. Everyone…
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Saturday in Pretoria
My first weekend in Pretoria and time to explore a bit while doing some errands. Today I took to the highways and felt totally comfortable. I only hit my wipers instead of my blinkers twice today, instead of every single time like most days! (They’re reversed.) Traffic lights are called robots and at the red…
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Animals and More
Today’s post is mostly about animals. I have some answers thanks to my local colleagues. The other day I mentioned my bird app and also that I may or may not have a pteradactyl fly over my house on the regular. I heard that same bird call while the three of us were meeting the…
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Writefully Hers
Not long after my mom passed away, I felt an urge to commit myself to writing and began an almost daily ritual of doing so. I also knew I wanted to share this passion with other women, so one day over lunch at my house, I told my friend Katie about my plan to start…
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How Do I Say Goodbye?
Having my siblings in for the weekend was so significant. After my mom (who gathered us for events big and small) passed, we knew we would have to make the effort to keep getting together and celebrating. None of us worried, but life has a way of getting busy and complicated and demanding and so…
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Ice Cream Truck
Out on a walk the other night,an ice cream truck passed me several times,its upbeat, repetitive music signaling cool refreshmentto the neighborhood kids and kids at heart.I found myself giddy with excitement each round,hoping that children were hearing the sound in their homes,begging their parents for money,and running out to the truck for their favorite…
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Victimization
the processing of pain began with an insistent ache in my belly,not long after sharing a story of trauma with my daughter.i recognized it to be my body speaking to me,she who has only been given voice in my system in recent years.(embodiment is such a foreign conceptto one whose mind believes it is a…
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SADurday
Today I am sad.I don’t need to be cheered up.I don’t need to look at the bright side.I don’t need to get busy and distract myself.Today I am sad.And I want to be.My youngest has left,pulled away in her little “Bean” carpacked to the gills with her bags,clothes, new bedding, new pillows,a case of water,…
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Too Many Tabs
“Want to do a May Challenge?” my friend texted me at the end of April. She loves doing plank, push up or dietary challenges and always tries to rope me in for accountability (or because misery loves company, as I often counter!). “Friend,” I responded, “May IS the challenge!!”May was progress checking in the form…
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Somewhere Right Now
Somewhere, right now, a woman is walking on cushiony clouds, each step bouncy and alive because a first date turned into a second and a third is in the books. Right now, she texts him to say she’ll bring dinner and writes a magazine-worthy description of his choices. “I just don’t feel like a woman…
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The Farm
“It’s smelly! I don’t want to go!” my great nephew exclaimed as he got out of the car. My niece had planned this day at the farm for all of us to gather, and knew her three year old would be delighted as he had been obsessed with farm animals since infancy. My brother and…
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The Lightness of Being
It’s been coming for some time, I can see that now.I sensed it now and then, yet…I didn’t note how the minutes became hours became days.I didn’t recognize the consistency and variations.I knew I felt peaceful, happy, content, alive, vibrant, tingly.But then it hit me, really hit me, last week.A regular Monday in March, nothing…
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The Final Say
“You will always have the final say in which experiences you choose to control and consume your life.” ~DodinskyMy friend’s husband always says, “Don’t allow people to take up space in your head rent free.” It always makes me smile because it’s said with love and concern for me when I am trying to make…
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Real Friendship
“A real friendship will give you that sense of “belongingness.” When you think the world has abandoned you, there’s that someone who helps you see your worth and makes you feel that you always matter to them.” ~DodinskyNext to my children (who are becoming more like friends the older they get), my friendships are my…
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Making Room in January, Part 2
I’ve MADE ROOM in the second half of the month for: 1. writing poetry and exploring new structures without self judgment.2. taking a photo walk. 3. a weekly donation bag.4. bringing the poetic structure to my writing group and enjoying where each woman took the prompt and how they expressed themselves.5. pleasure. 6. a night…
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Maybe Someone Can Relate
Wednesday Night Me was fired up,invigorated by the live match on tv,monitoring the scores of other matches on my app,and swapping tennis texts with my daughter.”It’s getting late,” a niggling thought jabbed,but I ignored it, because nothing is better than Grand Slam tennis.”It’s only for these two weeks,” I reasoned,”and then I’ll sleep.”Thursday Morning Me…
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Illuminate
I set my intentions,Align with my values,Turn my feet in the direction I wish to go,And see the path illuminate before me.The first step is bright and prominent,And I do not falter or question,But rather step boldly.But the way beyond is less obvious,Dimmer, shrouded in shadows,There, but not direct.Looking ahead (always looking ahead!!),The path diverges,Casting…
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Lift a Line
I’m nearly bursting at the seams,(At last that’s how it seems),So many ideas and thoughts,Some of which are fraught(!),I read and write and think,Run experiments in my sink,Puzzle, call and talk,Run and lift and walk,The excitement in me grows,And the inspiration flows,My Self is coming clear,Envisioning more this year,I don’t know what it means,But I’m…
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Beyond/Closer To
I am beyond winter’s plunging temperatures and closer to spring’s warm up,I am beyond the 100th day of school and closer to summer’s flexibility,I am beyond multiple layers and closer to t shirts,I am beyond dark wakes and closer to longer days.I am beyond puppy days and closer to better behaved days,I am beyond teenagers…
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The Path
“This way,” The Path assured me. “You’re right where you should be.” “How do you know?” I whispered in return, feeling the apprehension grow within me. “Because this is your path,” came the reply I hesitated. “But there are so many paths. How do I know this is the right one?” “Because you’re on it,”…
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River
It rushes along, Fed by storms, fed by thaw, Energized at a time When it usually feels sluggish, fatigued, Stagnant even. It stumbles and gushes, Grabbing bystanders and pulling them along as debris, Sharing the thrill of speed, Of exploration, Of adventure. It doesn’t waver or stop to think, It hasn’t planned for this Or…
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A Map of My Hand
My life story can be told using a map of my hand. I start with the obvious…the scars. There are the stitches I got when I was 8, on the inside of my middle finger and at my wrist. My fingers were bent as a child, and surgery straightened them, but left its mark. Years…
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Getting Comfortable With Anger
For me, anger and guilt have always wound around each other like a vine to a tree. Being raised in a household where we were not allowed to express anger (which was thus interpreted by me as we were not supposed to feel anger), it’s always been an emotion I’ve tamped down, felt shame about…
The Journey Inward 