Pain is . . .

So, I came down with a cold. Had a massive headache Tuesday morning, thought it was a baby migraine, but by evening I was sneezing and snuffling, and by bedtime I was chugging the Nyquil.

Just as I was falling asleep, I felt a surge of pressure pain in my forehead and, in my typical fashion, I tried to mentally block and run away from the pain. Then a thought came to me, a soft very-back of the mind thought, which said, "Pain is just Nature's way of saying, 'Hey, you're not dead yet!'"

Funny thing is, as soon as I thought that, the pain lessened it's grip on me. And that was a good thing.

Today's lesson has been brought to you by Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon (quote is at bottom of page) and Ares, God of War.

Mottos for the Year

Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.
- Will Rogers
And
The world is full of cactus but you don't have to sit on it.
- proverb from cute Mary Engelbreit and Co gift bag

Random Pictures of the Garden

In lieu of actual posting, since my writing energy is now going toward my private blog. If you'd like to be invited to my private blog (which is about my personal spiritual journey) send me an email message and I will add you.

And now for pictures:

dwarf catnip

fire rosebush getting firey

Penny's favorite ruffled peach roses

blue/purple iris

Dr C and E's turtles

pentstemon / beardtongue



Evidence of my good mommy-ness: no only did I give E all those pictures of animals,
I let him put them on the wall and make my print go all eskew-y

Things I've Been Thinking About

So, I do think about blogging more regularly, truly I do. In fact, for the last 6 months I've been writing down random notes to myself regarding things I'd like to blog about. But I've never actually gotten around to writing full paragraphs about these ideas, so I decided to just post the random notes. Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to expand upon.

Consciously resting and taking time for myself as a way to soothe and care for my bodily self - i.e. moving away from a purely mind-identified life/self. Ironically, doing this helps me accomplish my mind-centered tasks (for example, writing a legal brief) easier and more efficient. So more time resting and nurturing my body = more productive mental energy time. Weird, I know.

If I stop revisiting a particular memory, does that mean I've gained all I need from that moment? Have I actually managed to move on? If that is the case, then awesome, awesome, awesome.

In October my women's support group encouraged me to unsubscribe, unplug, stop reading/listening to everyone else's thoughts and write some of my own. I unsubscribed from several over-posty types of blogs, gave up on a few podcasts, deleted some "samples" from my Kindle. What a sweet, sweet relief that was. And now I spend a least a few moments each day writing notes to myself. Not so much a journal, or maybe it is, if writing three or four incomplete sentences a day can be considered a journal.

Do dreams of rearranging, refurbishing, renovating my home (but not actually my house) = fixing up the house of my mind? And why is it that dreams of "my" house never remotely resemble an actual dwelling/building I've visited in the "real" world?

The social requirement for women to be thin, yet to never appear to be hungry. I notice this is a particularly middle-class requirement. In fact, the better off you are financially/materially, the less you are supposed to eat and the more food you are supposed to leave on your plate.

What is the difference between being nourished and well-fed? Or are they the same thing, really?

The awesomeness of my daily notes to myself and my Book of Me (thanks Havi!).

Okay, blogger's being weird, so I think I'll just post these for now. I have more notes, but I'll type those up later. :D

Oh, and here's a cute picture that never fails to make me smile (this is E, with crazy piggies):